Reasons to Praise God

Today’s thoughts are from the blog Filled with God’s Fulness by a writer who simply goes by the name Gracious. In reading this in preparation, the thought occurred to me that I have fallen out of the habit of simply offering praise to God that is not motivated by circumstances; simply taking time to express something back to God that goes beyond the emotions of a specific moment.  Click here to read this at source.

Why You Must Praise God

If we are to praise God effectively, we must know and have a reason for doing so. The popular saying goes: ‘where purpose in not known, abuse is inevitable’.

When we don’t know why we must praise God despite our prevalent challenges, it is possible that we might abuse such virtue, express ingratitude and become unappreciative.

Let us learn more reasons we must praise God so we can do it confidently and effectively.

1. Praise God for who He is. Psalm 48:1 He is God, the maker of all things. He is our father and friend. He is our sustainer- He sustains us even when we have nothing to rely on. He is the ultimate and final authority over our lives. It doesn’t matter who said nor did anything to us- God is the final authority over that situation.

He is God, He is not a man. He doesn’t change.

He is ever faithful. He is the, I AM.

2. Praise Glorifies God. When you praise God, you glorify Him. Psalm 50:23  Do you want to see God’s glory? Praise Him!

3. God commands Praise. Romans 12:1 All through the Scriptures we see different commands as regarding our praise and worship to God. ‘Praise God, Make known His praise, offer and give yourself to God.’

4. Praise God for all His benefits. Psalm 103:2. His grace, infinite love, mercies, protection, provision, health, redemption, family, life, job, home- all His benefits to you and those you love.

Praise Him for all the benefits and display of love you have enjoyed.

5. Praise Him for His Goodness and for His works. Psalm 107:21. If the Lord has been good, kind faithful and loving to you in any way, then you owe Him your praise.

6. Praise Him for His mighty acts. Psalm 150:2. Praise Him for all His acts of love, redemption plan and mercy. Praise Him for all the miracles, healings, deliverances, divine provision, and protection and any other act you have experienced personally and have seen in the lives of other believers.

7. God is worthy of our Praise. 2 Samuel 22:4, Revelation 4:11. Even if you do not have anything physical or tangible thing to praise God for, He would still deserve your undivided praise and worship even till the next age.

God has given us all things He owns, all that He is, Himself and all things that pertains to life and godliness.

You know the saying: ‘a living dog is better than a dead lion’? But we are neither dogs nor dead lions. We are God’s most treasured and priced creature. He put all that He is and had to make us.

For the fact that we are alive and have everything working well alone, He deserves our highest praise. Whatever our situation is or challenge we face, as long as it has not taken our lives or robbed us our salvation; then God deserves our highest praise.

8. Praise magnifies God.

9. Praise is proper and comely.

10 God dwells in our praise

11. Praise generates power.Praise moves God to begin to act on our behalf. Praise provokes prophecy, Psalm 89:3-5. God speaks more often when we praise Him than He does in prayer.

12. Praise brings our heart desires. Psalm 37:4. Praising God is one way we can receive immediate and instant answer to long years of prayer.

Worshiping God produces more effective and instant results, and solution to problems.

There are various instances of miracles, healing and met expectations in the Bible that occurred as a result of worship and praise. We can see it in Mark 7:24-26, John 11:32-34, and John 6:11.

13. Praise precedes victory. In 2 Chronicles 20:1-29, we see practically how God used the praise of His people to procure victory against the Moabites and Ammonites. Do you want victory over the battles in your life? Praise God.

SO, my Friend, what reasons do you have to praise God? Praise Him, and praise Him NOW!!!

Here’s another article from the same blog: Five Good Ways to Praise the Lord (Some of you might #4 a bit of a stretch!!)

Reading Leviticus With Jesus

Joe Amaral is one of Canada’s leading experts on understanding the New Testament in the context of the Old Testament. Originally self-published, his book Understanding Jesus was published by FaithWords, who have just released What Would Jesus Read, a daily devotional.  To learn more about Joe’s books and videos, visit First Century Foundations.

Our post here is actually two consecutive devotionals from the book.

^{Leviticus 9:22} Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offering, he stepped down.

This passage is about the beginning of the priests’ ministry and their responsibilities.  You have to remember that at this point in time, the people themselves were not able to approach God.  They couldn’t even come into the tent.  The priest did everything for the people when it came to their spiritual lives.

The priests sacrificed the animals on the people’s behalf and would make atonement for their souls.  There were many daily rituals and rites that could only be performed by the priests.  But they were also responsible for blessing the people.  They would speak God’s Word and blessing over them.  It’s a pattern that needs to be carried out today by believers.

We are all priests.  We all have the responsibility to be a blessing and to bless those around us, both in word and in deed.  As people of faith we need to be a light in a dark world.  People are verbally beaten down on a daily basis.  Be like Aaron: speak a blessing over and into people.  Live like a priest today.

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^{Leviticus 9:23} Moses and Aaron then went into the tent of meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.

Everybody loves to read about the glory of the Lord appearing to people.  Not just in ancient times, but still to this day.  How do we get to see His glory?  Is it when we whip ourselves into a spiritual frenzy during worship?  Is it when we pray for hours at a time?

It’s not that God can’t or won’t move during these times.  However, we seldom think of the context in which God moved in this particular passage.  It’s no secret, yet very few catch it.  Here it is… are you ready for it?  The priests had just finished performing the sacrifices as God required; then they emerged and blessed the people.  After that, that’s when the text says the glory of the Lord appeared to the people.  Did you catch it?  The priests obeyed God’s commands… and He appeared to them.

That’s the not-so-secret to seeing God’s glory.  He has called us to live a life of obedience.  When we walk in His ways, it brings glory to His name.  And in turn, He shows us His glory.  Obey Him today and release His power and glory in your life.

Joe Amaral

King of Heaven Come Down

NIV Daniel 4:37
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

Including periodic worship songs here was part of the plan from the beginning. I’m a strong believer in “worship and the word.” I can publishes pages and pages of Bible study here, but a simple worship song may connect more with some individuals on certain days than all the paragraphs of text I could have used.

I usually like to feature worship songs that offer “rich text” or songs which are being widely used in many of our churches, like this new one. Today we feature the writing of composer/musician Paul Baloche with King of Heaven. Lyrics appear onscreen, though there are not a lot of words, so I also invite you to close your eyes, turn up the volume and let this prayer saturate where you are today.

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Blog Update:

While Thinking Out Loud continues to be my most visible blog project, Christianity 201 is fast becoming the more active franchise. Each day more people sign on for this potpourri of Bible study discussion and devotional thoughts culled from the widest variety of the Christian blogosphere.

At the same time, going on a daily “hunting and gathering” routine can be exhausting, so I’m looking for someone who is already familiar with the WordPress platform who might want to eventually have editing privileges here. To start, needed is someone who has been blogging regularly for at least a year themselves, so I can see where they are coming from, and then they need to be able to source out material suitable for C201 subject to the guidelines posted in the sidebar.You also need to be able to generate appropriate post tags; and need to work with HTML in terms of setting blockquotes within quotes and adding color to scripture passages and subheadings and adding to superscripts on Bible references. (Note: This particular theme is not H1, H2 responsive so you have to change font sizes.) Initially, submissions would be emailed in coded text.

A needle in a haystack person, basically; but if you feel that’s you, start by contacting me at the address on the “Submissions” page. Anyone who does not feel up to this task, but wants to send a particularly strong C201 guest post is welcomed to do that anytime by email.

Unfashionable Worship

A shorter post today to make up for yesterday! This is from the worship.com blog where it appeared under the title, Worshipping Unfashionably.

Isaiah 6 teaches us something foundational about public worship. If you read the first few verses you’ll notice the first thing Isaiah encounters in the house of God is the glory of God. It doesn’t first say he encountered friendly faces or hot coffee, or soft bagels or a booming sound system. It says he encountered the glory of God. In the Bible, the glory of God is God’s “heaviness”, his powerful presence. It is God’s prevailing excellence on display. In God’s house, Isaiah meets a God who is majestically in command.

What does this mean for our worship services? It means we ought to come, first and foremost, expecting to encounter the glory of God–his powerful presence. We should come ready to sing of who he is and hear of what he’s done. We come to feel the grief of our sin so that we can feel the glory of his salvation. We come, in other words, to see God on display, not preachers or musicians. A worship service is not the place to showcase human talent. It’s the place for God to showcase his Divine treasure.  A worship service that contains the power to change you is a worship service that leaves you with grand impressions of Divine personality, not grand impressions of human personality.

Isaiah did not leave the temple thinking, “What great music, what a great building, what a great preacher.” He left thinking, “What a great God.” This is why songs and sermons need to be about God first. Everything done in worship ought to communicate God because it is God and God alone who can transform your life and mine. Seeing me will not help you. Seeing God is the only thing truly capable of moving you from one place to another. This is why John Piper rightly asks, “How shall entertaining worship services – with the aim of feeling light hearted and friendly – help a person prepare to suffer, let alone prepare to die?”

We’re a Big Deal

Those cute (or annoying depending on your perspective) talking vegetables known as the Veggie Tales cast may tell you that “God made you special and he loves you very much;” but did you ever consider that “being made special” actually brings God glory?  It has to.  The creation speaks as to its creator.  John Fischer, at the blog The Catch, recently blogged this under the title, Big Deal:

Job argued with God. Moses bargained with Him. Jacob wrestled with Him. Nehemiah changed His mind. What do these amazing stories tell us about God if it isn’t that He wants a relationship with us probably more than we want one with Him. What does it tell us about God if He is willing to be persuaded, cajoled, bargained with and wrestled? It tells us He created us like Him so we could participate in a relationship with Him that means something in terms of integrity. It’s no small thing for God to be swayed by a puny human being, but such is the wonder of His will.

The Psalmist has declared a similar wonder when he wrote, “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you have set in place—what are mortals that you should think of us? For you made us only a little lower than the angels, and you crowned us with glory and honor. You put us in charge of everything you made, giving us authority over all things—the sheep and the cattle and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents” (Psalms 8:3-8 NLT).

In other words: What’s the big deal here? We’re the big deal. Does this bring us glory? Yes, but that only brings Him more. That He would create us with this much power and authority says a lot about our Creator and what He created us for. He created us with intelligence and emotions. He created us like Him so He could relate to us and we could relate to Him. And He gave us the right to refuse Him, accept Him, argue with Him, badger Him—even tell Him to get lost if that’s what we want to do. Think about that. Even unbelief has integrity. What kind of God would create a being that might not even believe in Him? A God who wants a relationship with him when he does.

That’s why the very next verse of this Psalm reads, “O Lord, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth” (Psalm 8:9)! We are part and parcel of God’s glory. That He would do it this way—that He would create a world, people it with beings like Him, and then give them authority over that world—even the opportunity to believe Him or not—says as much about Him as it does about us. You and I are a big part of God’s glory. Imagine what we could accomplish if we really believed this!

~ John Fischer

Tell Out My Soul

This is a hymn that is not well-known in North America, though I heard a version here once with a tune that did not do the lyrics justice. This is a song worthy of a resurgence; a composition that sounds like much of today’s Sovereign Grace titles with a melody that holds up well in the 21st century and lyrics that affirm the majesty and glory of God.

And here’s a bonus version, done in a high-church style, which is how I heard this song the first time over 30 years ago. I’m a huge fan of today’s modern worship, but here is a case where the traditional music and lyrics blend perfectly.

“Make know His might, the deeds His arm has done.”

What Does It Mean to Glorify God?

This post combines items from two different articles both put up on the same day — today — from a new blog* simply called Glorify.

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…Jonathan Edwards persuaded me that glorifying God is God’s main purpose in creating the world and man’s chief purpose as well in his rigorous dissertation, The End for Which God Created the World. With a few brief examples of this theme in Scripture, I refer to Christ’s prayer to His Father before His death, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you…  I glorified you on earth…  And now Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed,” (John 17:1,3,4-5).

Everything, even the most routine things in life, should be done to glorify God.  Paul says this applies to, eating, to drinking, or to whatever we do, (I Corinthians 10:31).  These actions should take in mind the love, the righteousness, the power, and the holiness of God…

If we are to glorify God, how should we understand the word glory?

Jonathan Edwards elaborates on the meaning of glory, and I take the following observations from his work, “The End for Which God Created the World.”  The word ‘glory’ in Hebrew comes from a root word meaning: to be heavy, to make heavy, or heavy.  The word for glory also means ‘gravity, heaviness, greatness, and abundance.’

The word is used in several different contexts in Scripture, including an 1) internal quality, 2) the display of that internal quality, as in a light, 3) the knowledge of God’s greatness, and 4) the quality eliciting praise.

Glory:

• Think of it as something of immense weight and abundance-“And Haman recounted to them the [glory] of his riches…” (Esther 5:11).
• Think of it as light- “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” (II Corinthians 4:6).
• Think of it as knowledge- “But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD,” (Numbers 14:21).
• Think of it as praise- “I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols,” (Isaiah 42:8).

For a more detailed treatment of this, please read: Edwards, Jonathan.  The End for Which God Created the World, Sect VI.

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*I told some people at the beginning of the summer that I wanted to use Thinking Out Loud and Christianity 201 to encourage new bloggers, but this one is really new.   Not having a track record to follow is risky, but while I don’t know the person who posted this, I trust Jonathan Edwards’ writing!

Re-reading Noah

I spent a number of years attending an Assemblies of God type of church in Canada, where the AG is known as the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada.   It was also the denomination my wife grew up in.

As a result — and don’t ask me why this is — she has a much better handle on parts of the Old Testament than I do.   In the short time I attended a PAOC church in Toronto, most Sunday mornings we opened our Bibles to O. T. texts.

And oh… what great messages they were able to derive from those texts!  (My non-Pentecostal friends might say, “Where did they get that from?”)  If you haven’t been exposed to Pentecostal preaching, there ain’t nothing like it.

I was reminded of that today as I read this post on the blog, Thoughts for Daily Devotions.

“The flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth” (Gen 7:17).

When Noah obeyed God’s Word and entered into the ark, it gradually lifted him up from the earth. This is amazingly true in our spiritual life also. Our ark is Christ. As we respond to the gospel-call and enter into Christ or as Christ enters into our life, He lifts us up from the earthly sphere to heavenly heights. The higher we rise the smaller the things of the world seem. The things of the earth no longer seem glamorous and attractive. Things which once held us in allure now hold little appeal for us. “The more of heaven we cherish, the less of earth we covet.”

The more the ark was lifted up, the higher Noah went. Similarly, the more we lift up Christ, the more we are lifted up for the glory of God. We become the light of the world, a ‘city set on a hill’; seeing our light, men glorify the father in heaven (Matt 5:14,16).

“The mountains were covered.” As we go higher in our spiritual life, the mountain-like problems that once loomed large before us, disappear from our view. Our life is now a joyful song – a song of worship, praise and adoration.

Down At Your Feet: No Higher Calling

Here is another one of those “lost” worship songs.   I knew the song connected to Lenny LeBlanc, but didn’t know it had been recorded by Maranatha! Music.

The actual title is “No Higher Calling,” but you may remember it as “Down At Your Feet, Oh Lord.”

Down at Your feet oh Lord
Is the most high place
In Your presence Lord
I seek Your face
I seek Your face

There is no higher calling
No greater honor
Than to bow and kneel before Your throne

I’m amazed at Your glory
Embraced by Your mercy
Oh Lord I live to worship You

Greg Gulley & Lenny LeBlanc
© 1989, 1999 Doulos Publishing (Maranatha! Music [Admin. by Music Services])

The video version here is a little more “polished” than I remember this song; I appreciate worship that is a little more “raw” than this.   But it’s a great song worthy of some updated exposure.

“I’m amazed at your glory; embraced by your mercy…”

Bonus video:  Here’s another version of No Higher Calling.