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| View Over Crystal Lake by C.V. Lacroix |
Some who have been to heaven have testified that the flowers and trees sing praises to God and give thanks to Him continually there. This is actually in the Bible.
David said, “Bless the LORD, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the LORD, O my soul!” (Psa 103:22)
In this verse, David is speaking to the works of the Lord, ordering them to bless the Lord. He does the same elsewhere in the Psalms, where he commands various things that God has created to praise Him. And he commanded all His works in all places in His dominion to do this, so that includes everything both in heaven and here on earth.
The Hebrew word for “works” in this verse is “ma‛aśeh,” meaning here a “thing made, ware of making, possession, handiwork.” (Strongs). In other verses of Scripture this word is used to describe some of His handiwork, such as man, the heavens, the sun, moon, and stars.
David said, “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.” (Psa 139:13-14). This psalm shows the wonderful work that man is, in the way that he is fearfully and wonderfully made by God.
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| Majestic Sunset by C.V. Lacroix |
The heavens are also God’s works. David said, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;” (Psa 8:3; cf., Ps 102:25)
Those very heavens that God made are telling of His glory. “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” (Psa 19:1)
Not only the heavens, but everything that God has made on earth are His works and His possessions. David said, “O LORD, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your possessions. There is the sea, great and broad, In which are swarms without number, Animals both small and great.” (Psa 104:24-25)
Sailors have seen His works in the ocean. “Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters; They have seen the works of the LORD, And His wonders in the deep.” (Psa 107:23-24)
His works are great, splendid and majestic, and include what man calls “wonders,” such as the Seven Wonders of the World. “Great are the works of the LORD; They are studied by all who delight in them. Splendid and majestic is His work, And His righteousness endures forever. He has made His wonders to be remembered; The LORD is gracious and compassionate.” (Psa 111:2-4). Some of the His wonders include the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef in the Coral Sea off the Australian coast, Mount Everest, The Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights, the Parícutin volcano in Mexico, Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and the Amazon Rainforest.
Indeed, all of His works give thanks to Him. “All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD, And Your godly ones shall bless You.” (Psa 145:10). All of His works include everything He has made in nature. So this verse shows that not only His godly ones will bless Him, but even all of His works of nature will give thanks to Him.
Angels give praise to God, and so do the sun, moon, and stars. "Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light! Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the LORD, For He commanded and they were created." (Psa 148:2-5). This is yet another example in Scripture where we see David speaking to the works of the Lord, commanding them to bless the Lord.
We also see in other parts of Scripture where we can speak to God’s creation, such as when Jesus spoke to the fig tree and commanded it to never bear fruit again, and it withered (Mt 21:19; Mk 11:12-14,20-21). Another example is where Jesus said that we can speak to a mountain or a mulberry tree, commanding it to be taken up and thrown into the sea, and it will be done, as long as we have faith in God and believe that what we say is going to happen (Mk 11:22-24; Lk 17:5-6). He said these creations of God would surely obey us. So we can also speak to them like David did to the angels, the sun, moon, and stars, and command them to praise the Lord, being confident that they will do what we say.
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| The Bloom of Spring by C.V.Lacroix |
Not only the heavens but the earth and all that is in it praise the Lord, including the creatures of the sea, fire, hail, snow, clouds, wind, mountains, hills, trees, beasts, cattle, birds, and all people small and great, young and old. "Praise the LORD from the earth, Sea monsters and all deeps; Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word; Mountains and all hills; Fruit trees and all cedars; Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and winged fowl; Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth; Both young men and virgins; Old men and children. Let them praise the name of the LORD, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven." (Psa 148:7-13).
Immediately after I was born again at age nineteen, while serving as a soldier in the US Army, I could see that the grass was greener and the sky was bluer than I had ever realized before, and when I heard the birds tweeting, I knew they were praising my Lord. It was like I had been dead all my life, and I was alive for the first time. Now I was experiencing life vividly in the kingdom of light, as it was intended to be.
As I pointed out in the beginning of this article, Psalm 103:22 says that all of the Lord’s works are commanded to bless Him, which includes everything both in heaven and here on earth. In heaven there is nothing to hinder anyone from seeing and hearing His works giving Him praise and thanks. But I believe it is also happening on earth, even though we do not see it or hear it. As we have just read in Psalm 148, all of the created things we see on the earth below, in the depths of the sea, and in the heavens above are supposed to be praising the Lord, including non-human creatures and lifeless objects.
Not only do they praise Him, but also because of all the sin and idolatry on the earth, all creation suffers and groans with earnest expectation, as it waits eagerly for the sons of God to be revealed.
“For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.” (Rom 8:19-22)
It is subjected to futility until one day when it will be set free from slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. That glory will be revealed on the day of the Lord.
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” (2Pe 3:10-13)
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| Prepare the Way by C. V. Lacroix |
Then the Scripture will be fulfilled that says: "For you will go out with joy And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” (Isa 55:12). So when the Scripture says that mountains and hills will shout for joy to the Lord, and trees of the field will clap their hands to Him, it is literally true that they will do so.
As I wrote in
James Agboola Revelation of Heaven and Hell, brother James said of his experience in heaven, “The flowers there, you will see them going left and right, singing praises to God…You could see trees moving…Everything in the Kingdom of God are living things. There’s nothing dead. Everything you will see there [is] moving. If you see a mountain, it can move. It can talk. It can praise God.”
Therefore, when the Scriptures say that all of His works everywhere in His dominion shall bless Him and give thanks to Him, it’s really true. The Kingdom of God is like this!
Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, unless otherwise noted. The "View Over Crystal Lake", "Majestic Sunset," "The Bloom of Spring," and "Prepare the Way," paintings are by my seventeen-year old daughter, C.V. Lacroix. You can find more of her lovely, inspired artwork at A Brush with Life.
Author's note: If you enjoyed
this post, please also read
The Kingdom of God as Revealed to James Agboola,
James Agboola Revelation of Heaven and Hell, Michael Thomas Sambo's Revelation of Heaven and Hell, The Link Between Two Realms, and The Secret Kingdom. You may access the Main Directory for The Kingdom of God is Like This, and you may also my complete blog
directory at "Writing for the Master."
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you
repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible
says?
“Jesus
came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time
is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in
the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and
believe.
Please see my explanation of this in my post called "
Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
_________________________________________________
Len Lacroix is the founder of
Doulos Missions International.
He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as
well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who
multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of
planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United
States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission.
