Tag Archives: praise

April 28 – All Glory To God

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Psalms 81, 88, 92-93

I was watching an NBA game the other night, and one of the players was being interviewed after helping his team with the win. He answered the question asked him, but before he did he said, “First I want to say thank you, Jesus. All glory to God.”

Now I don’t remember the player’s name, and know nothing about him personally. I pray his relationship with God is as real as it sounds. I have no reason to believe otherwise.

Then, reading these psalms today and remembering what this young basketball player had said, got me to thinking about how important it is to praise God, to recognize His hand in the events of life, and to purposefully acknowledge Him with a grateful heart.

God, through the psalmist, says that if we listened to Him, and walked in His ways, He would “feed us with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock (He) would satisfy (us).” (81:16)

And if we obey Him and are blessed by Him, people will want to be associated with us. In other words, we would be the cool people, the ones everyone else wants to be like.

God wants us to make Him an integral part of every day, a Presence in all we do or say. He really wants to hang out with us.

I want to praise God because He deserves to be praised. And especially when good things happen to me, I want to always give the glory back to God.

It’s what He deserves.

April 22 – It’s A Great Day

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Psalms 6, 8-10, 14, 16, 19, 21

Reading these psalms this morning has my heart praising God for my salvation. Even when there is no good in me He loves me. He forgives even my secret sins. He has written His love letter to me, my owner’s manual, my guidebook.

He walks with me. He defeats my enemies, those things which would come between my God and me.

I rejoice in my salvation. How majestic is God in all the earth.

“Be exalted, O Lord, in Your strength; we will sing and praise Your power.” (21:13)

“You will make known to me the path of life; in Your Presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” (16:11)

It’s a great day to walk with my Savior!

March 29 – Come On In

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Joshua 22-24

They built a replica altar. The two and a half tribes that chose to live close to, but not in, the Promised Land built an altar as a sign to those in the Promised Land that they were their equals. They wanted everyone for generations to know they had the right to worship at the tabernacle, that they were the children of Israel, too.

They were. And they did have the right to worship with their brothers. God hadn’t forced them to enter the land. And He blessed them with their own land on the other side of Jordan.

But they had settled for second best. They never experienced the abundant riches living inside the Promised Land afforded. It wasn’t that they weren’t happy, or that they couldn’t call themselves Jews. They just missed having everything God wanted them to have.

Is it possible to be a Christian and not experience the abundant life? I believe Scripture tells us it is. Can you be a Christian and not read your Bible every day or pray? Can you be a Christian and not be involved in a church fellowship? I believe so. But hear me when I say non-Christians don’t read their Bibles, either. They don’t pray. They don’t go to church.

Can you be obedient to God as His child, and not nurture a close relationship with Him?? I don’t see how.

God wants you to live in the Promised Land of fellowship with Him, enjoying the abundant blessings that come when you walk with Him. Why would you be satisfied living within arms reach and not grabbing hold of the best God has to offer?

God won’t force you. But that door is wide open, and He’s standing there inviting you to come on in and be blessed beyond what you can even imagine.

Ans speaking of blessings… Thank you for praying for Sheri yesterday. Her daughter reports that surgery went better than they had hoped. There will be radiation and chemo for Sheri in the days and weeks ahead. But God is in this and we are just praising Him today for answering prayers with this successful surgery.

Sheri lives in the Promised Land. She faces her cancer with hope and confidence and assurance beyond what many people can imagine. She walks with Jesus. And she knows she’ll walk with Him today either here on in eternity.

I trust you can say the same.

March 14 – Our Awesome God

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Deuteronomy 8-10

Now Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? (10:12-13)

Moses has been reminding the Jews all the things God has done on their behalf. Now he wants to remind them WHO God is. I hope you read Deuteronomy 10:12-22 today, and let yourself worship this awesome God of ours.

God created the heavens and earth, yet set His affection to love us. God who loved us so much He sent Jesus, so that anyone who believes in Him will live forever with Him. (John 3:16)

God is the God above all Gods, Lord of lords, great, mighty, and awesome.

He is our praise and He is our God.

Amen!

Jesus

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Jesus.  Name above all names. Beautiful Savior, Glorious Lord. Emmanuel, God is with us. Blessed Redeemer. Living Word. (Naida Hearn)

My year long Bible reading plan had me reading several passages this morning as usual, and today they were all about Jesus. Isaiah’s words, in chapter 53 of his book, are written as though they had already happened. They paint an accurate picture of Jesus’ work on the cross. It was a done deal thousands of years before Jesus took on human form. You’ve got to read this chapter. It’s amazing. It’ll make you love Jesus even more. “… the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all”. I can’t help but praise Him!

Psalm 113 tells us to do just that. Praise Him. He deserves to be praised.

Then I turned to the third chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. The apostle reveals the mystery hidden in ages past, and that is that salvation through Jesus isn’t only for Jews. Believers of every nationality are fellow heirs, of the same body, partakers of God’s promise! More reasons to praise Him!

And Paul encourages us to know the love of God through Jesus, that Christ might dwell in our hearts through faith. “That (we), being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that (we) may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:18-19) My praise continues!

Jesus. Name above all names. Beautiful Savior. Glorious Lord. Emmanuel, God is with us. Blessed Redeemer. Living Word.

Oh Give Thanks

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Psalm 107 begins with these words:

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! For his mercy endures forever.

I am reminded that we have every reason to give thanks. God is good. And the mercy he has shown us is eternal. But it seems that the author of this psalm realized that thankfulness isn’t necessarily one of our strong points. Several times these words are repeated:

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

I’ve been in a funk lately. I find myself sitting alone in my home, watching TV or reading, and sighing a lot. I haven’t been motivated to walk even though the weather in my part of the world is nearly perfect this time of year. I read my Bible every day, and continue to write in my journal. I just haven’t felt led to post anything for several weeks. It seems God has been silent. Can that be? Does he have nothing of value to say to me through his Word?

Then I read Psalm 107 and recognize the problem is in me. I’ve neglected thankfulness. God has rescued me time after time, he has seen me through hard times, he’s revealed himself through victories. Every day there is evidence of his love and his presence. But I think I’m taking him for granted. I’m too busy feeling sorry for me.

So it’s time for an attitude check. I stopped this morning to consider how blessed I am, and the words of an old hymn came to mind. The lyrics are old school, but powerful:

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

I don’t know what life is like for you right now. But if you know Jesus as your Savior, you are blessed beyond what could be recorded in the skies. I would encourage you (and me) to take our eyes off situations, other people, the challenges of life, and consider God. He is personal. He is present. And he wants you to know how much he loves you. Isn’t that reason enough to be thankful?

Here’s how my Father nudged me to read this psalm today:

Oh that Connie (you can insert your name if you are led) would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to her personally, lovingly, intimately.

May my life be lived out of a thankful heart to God, through whom all blessings flow.

My Praise Prayer

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I read Psalm 103:1-5 this morning and was encouraged to just praise God in prayer, instead of telling Him what I need. So using the Psalm, this is my praise prayer:

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy Name!

You are holy, God. You are all powerful, ever-present, eternal, loving, gracious, kind.

You have forgiven every sin I’ve ever committed, and have paid the price to forgive the sins I’ll yet commit while on this earth.

You are the Great Physician who heals, who gives me the ability to get up in the morning, who gives me eyes to see, ears to hear, fingers and toes, arms and legs, the privilege of tasting and smelling. I have witnessed your healing touch in the lives of family and friends, and also have seen the ultimate healing you provide when you take your children home.

You changed me from a self-centered, sinful person, to a woman who wants only to please you.

You help me resist temptation, to guard my heart, and you arm me with all I need to be victorious every single minute of every single day.

You shower me with love and mercy, beyond what I even realize, in ways I often neglect to recognize.

And God, I can still come to you like a child, as trusting as a child, as dependent, excitedly and expectantly, knowing You are there with arms open wide.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy Name!

A Moment of Praise

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I was reading my MacArthur Daily Bible this morning for March 28. Moses prophesied concerning the coming Messiah, and Jesus told us that he is that one!

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, ” Moses said in Deuteronomy 18. And in Luke 4, Jesus read from the book of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me… to preach… to heal… to proclaim…” Then he said: “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

The whole Bible is about Jesus, isn’t it? Every page, every verse points us to the Savior.

He is our priest, our prophet, our shepherd, the way, truth, and life, the sacrificial lamb, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is God in human form who went to the cross to buy me back. He is love. He is holy. He never leaves or forsakes us. Nothing can separate us from his love.

He died on that cross once and for all, that WHOSOEVER believes in him will have eternal life. He died and rose again. He went to heaven to prepare a place for us.

And one day, HE’S COMING BACK with the sound of a trumpet to take us home.

Praising God today!

Nothing Is Impossible For God

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Nothing is impossible for God. (Mark 1:37) To me, that’s a given. He’s God. He can cause a virgin to be pregnant, and her older cousin to have a baby. He can heal diseases, and soften the hardest heart. He can move mountains if he wants, or dry up the Red Sea.

I know some people claim this verse as a promise. I don’t see it like that. If you read this verse in the context it was written, I don’t think you’ll see it as a promise, either. I just don’t see that God promises to give us what we want if we conjure up the right kind of faith, or “claim” a verse.

The fact that God “can” doesn’t mean that he will. The question isn’t, “what’s in it for me?”, but rather, is what I want able to be used to draw someone to the Savior.

My dad fully believed God was going to heal my mom of her cancer, right up to the second she took her last breath. Her death shocked him.

Could God have healed her? Of course. Nothing is impossible for God. But God, being God, took her to be where he is.

Dad thought Mom’s healing would be an amazing testimony of God’s greatness. Think of the people who would be touched by that miracle! Instead, God chose to reveal himself through the mourning of her family, and our steadfast trust in our Savior in all circumstances.

It would have been easy to praise God for healing Mom. But God did the impossible. He gave us the desire to praise him in our loss.

Yes. Nothing is impossible for God.

A Lesson From Solomon: Pray!

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Solomon does some things in his prayer that convicted me this morning when I read it. (I Kings 8, 2 Chronicles ) His prayer began with telling God what he meant to him. God, there is no one like you. You keep your promises. Your love is unfailing.

Then Solomon lays down his specific requests. And while Solomon is asking, he’s still praising God. Solomon’s prayer ends in praise, too.

I have to confess I don’t have a good prayer life. Oh, I whisper short prayers throughout the day, thanking God for this, asking him for that. But I don’t often sit still and talk to my Heavenly Father. 

I want to pray like Solomon did. I want to remember to praise God every day for WHO he is and not just a quick, “thank you for today”. I want to lay my requests down at his feet with more than, “God bless so and so”. I want to learn to tell him how much he means to me with something other than a two word, “thank” and “you”.

So if you’ll excuse me, I’m about to enter the throne room and have a private conversation with my King. I hope you’ll do the same.