Do you know many Ephesians 5:20 people? That great text says this: "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Manie Payne was born in Carlow, Ireland in 1850. She was a Christian but she did not know peace. She struggled with her old sin nature until she began to experience the fullness of the Holy Spirit... the only One who according to Romans 8:13 can give us victory over our old sin nature. When that victory was hers, she wrote the following hymn:

Joys are flowing like a river since the Comforter has come.

He abides with us forever, makes the trusting heart His Home.

Blessed quietness, holy quietness what assurance in my soul!

Peace to me - how the billows cease to roll.

Manie Payne realized the issue was not how much she had of the Holy Spirit, but rather how much the Holy Spirit had of her. At that point she became and Ephesians 5:20 example. Now Psalm 103 describes that kind of life-style and what we can expect from our christian experience.

Psalm 103:1 states that praise is the natural result of the filling of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 is the starting point and that leads to the result of Ephesians 5:20. Why? The answer is that praise is the direction the Holy Spirit takes us. Thus Acts 1:8 takes on new significance. "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

One of the reasons the control of the Holy Spirit results in effective witnessing is due to the fact that the Holy Spirit produces Ephesians 5:20. The norm today is mood swings because unfortunately the filling of the Holy Spirit is a forgotten doctrine, largely due to all of the psychological substitutes available. I remember my days living at 650 Huntington Avenue in Boston. The elevator was crowded by the time I went from the 25th floor to the lobby. I'd meet a lot of people and the best way to communicate Christianity was to smile and say, "Good morning". Often I'd hear the question, "Why are you so happy? It's a miserable day out there and think of that traffic!" I have a dear friend who hardly ever has a well day and yet she is the one I call when I need an uplift. Dealing with the death of her husband many years ago, she has been used of the Lord to raise five children. She is an Ephesians 5:20 person. That is Psalm 103:1

"Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name." Think about it .. why is such praise under the control of the Holy Spirit possible? I'll start the list. You read the Psalm and complete the list yourself.

I. WE PRAISE GOD FOR WHAT HE IS. (vs. 8-12, 17)

Read those verses and watch for two key words -- "grace" and "mercy". Grace is God giving us what we don't deserve and mercy is God keeping us from what we do deserve. Contemplate on that and you'll realize that the norm is not a negative mood swing but "praise the Lord". People will soon want to be around you because according to the standard of Romans 15:32 you refresh them! "That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed."

II. WE ALSO PRAISE GOD AND LIVE PSALM 103:1 BECAUSE GOD IS OMNIPOTENT.

Verse 19 says "The Lord hath prepared His Throne in the heavens; and His Kingdom ruleth over all." Let me pull a Treasury of Scripture Knowledge technique. This reference book which should be in your library shows how to compare Scripture with Scripture.

That takes us to Romans 8:35-39 which reminds us that it is impossible to challenge the Omnipotence of God -- impossible! I have some wonderful friends who have been facing very difficult times. Grace Horst from St. Louis had to face the removal of both legs. Mrs. John Thomas is known by so many of us as that wonderful lady behind the counter in the 60's and 70's at Willow Valley Family Restaurant in Lancaster, PA. She also had to deal with the loss of a leg. What can you say to these gracious people? Very little except Romans 8:35-39 and the fact that nothing can challenge the Omnipotence of God. Again, I don't ever remember a time when so many in our radio audience are dealing with cancer. Thank God that He is an Omnipotent, Omniscient God. Perhaps all of this is a reminder that at best we are temporary residents here; therefore, it makes sense to be occupied with the eternal and not the temporal.

III. WE PRAISE GOD BECAUSE OF OUR DEPENDENCE ON HIM (vs. 14-16) "For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more."

James put it this way: Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow, for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanishes away." (James 4:14)

My goal in 1997 is to make the devil as miserable as he has tried to make me! I don't believe I have ever had to help so many churches dealing with potential splits. I also don't believe I have ever seen so many Christians fighting one another instead of the devil! One of Satan's techniques is to get us occupied with people. Read II Corinthians 10:10 and imagine how the Apostle Paul felt. We deal with II Corinthians 10:10 people and then we see the unconditional loyalty of our canine friends and we wonder!

Let me share something that has been a tremendous help. A good friend recently sent me a copy of The One Year Book of Hymns. I have never found anything better. It not only gives you a hymn for the day plus a devotional study but this amazing book gives the stories behind the hymns. Read, for example, about John Newton (author of Amazing Grace) who felt so inadequate until the realization of the complete work of Christ reached him. Then his terrible self-image left him and he wrote this hymn:

Let us praise and join the chorus of the saints enthroned on high.

Here they trusted Him before us, now their praises fill the sky.

Thou hast washed us with Thy blood - Thou art worthy, Lamb of God.

Study the devotional, read the stories behind these great hymns being lost to our generation and understand their struggles and you'll "grow in grace and never groan in disgrace."

This marvelous volume is available for a gift of $25 or more to Songtime USA. Give it to your friends dealing with trials. God will use it. I use this volume daily...and you will too.