Praise the Lord! - July 29, 2015

Praise the Lord!

July 29, 2015

Today as I was doing my daily reading I wondered why God’s Words were not standing out to me. What did God want me to see, hear and apply to my life? Then I felt compelled to go back to Psalm 103, specifically verses 1-5:

¹ Let all that I am praise the Lord;
    with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
² Let all that I am praise the Lord;
    may I never forget the good things he does for me.
³ He forgives all my sins
    and heals all my diseases.
⁴ He redeems me from death
    and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
⁵ He fills my life with good things.
    My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

That first verse … as I read it I feel like I am not just telling myself but everyone that I will praise the Lord with every fiber of my being. That just sends shivers through me as I think about it. Every breath, every movement, every thought, every word I speak is done in praise. It doesn’t matter what mood I am in, I should be praising God. That thought can really drive how one looks at life. If I am praising God with all my heart then that changes the mood that I am in. It takes me from being down, angry, etc. to being filled with God’s love.

Have you ever noticed that when you are down nearly every thought is one that magnifies the feelings that you are having. But if we are praising God, then it is easier to forget those and concentrate on the good things that He has done for me. Think about the good things God has done for you. Some may be things that at the time you thought weren’t so great. God allows us to go through trials so we can grow. Can you imagine if He gave us everything ‘we’ wanted? We would be such spoiled brats, wait … we are. Even if you do not have very much we have more than most people in the world do.

Then on top of all that God does for us He forgives us. Notice I said forgives. It is not something that was a one and done forgiveness, it is ongoing. That does not give us a blank check to sin all we want. As Christians we need to strive to live like Christ. Now I said it before and it needs to be said again, we will all stumble over our sins. The difference comes down to being repentant or unrepentant. If we are repentant then we are working, with God and others, to overcome our sin and asking for forgiveness. Unrepentant sin runs wild and unchecked and it also grieves God’s heart.

Through God’s amazing gift, Jesus’ death on the cross, we are redeemed from death. Not the earthly one. Our earthly bodies all have expiration dates. The death that we are redeemed from is eternal separation from God. As God’s redeemed we will spend eternity with God. It is in that time that we will know what true forgiveness is like. We will be healed. We will be renewed!

Loving Father thank you so much for the gifts that you give us. So often we overlook all that You do because we are caught up in our own stuff rather than looking to You for help. I pray that in the worst of times that we are able to seek Your leading and that in the best of times we are rejoicing in all that You do. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Amen!!