Category: He Is Worthy of Our Praise

“⁷But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” ~ 1 John 1:7

During this week we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We honor Him for this Holy week, but do we honor Him the other 51 weeks of the year? We tend to make excuses on why we don’t have to live the way we ought, and when someone tries to correct us we are very quick to shout, “Ye who cast the first stone,” or “only God can judge me.” We love to say Jesus died for our sins, but we never really take it much farther.

This week I encourage you to go beyond just words, I encourage you to take action. I encourage you to hold true to what Jesus came to Earth, died, and rose again for. Don’t be like those who praised Him one day and crucified Him the next. But be like those who praised Him one day and praised Him the next and then praised Him for the rest of their life, even going as far as to praise Him with their lives even to death. Don’t allow this what Jesus did 2,000 years be counted as nothing. Walk in the light, as He is in the light, so that His death and resurrection still means something to us today and isn’t just a meaningless tradition we celebrate once a year.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Walk In The Light.

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“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.” ~ Acts 16: 25-26

First of all, I want you to understand that Paul and Silas were chained up in a Philippian jail. Then I want you to notice what they were doing. They were singing and praising God. Now, look at what those hardened criminals were doing. They were listening to them sing and pray. The audacity and faithfulness of their devotion to God in such dire circumstances did not go unnoticed by their fellow prisoners. They were wide awake and listening.

Maybe Paul and Silas’ unrestrained and unbridled praise and worship service relieved the burdens of the other prisoners who were sitting or lying down waiting for their judgment to fall. But watch this now, then “…suddenly there was a great earthquake…and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.” The chains that bound them fell off. The cell door that held them in swung open. They were free.

Do you want to be free today? Do you want your chains gone? Do you want a new start at life? Begin with praise and thanksgiving. Your praise and worship will change everything. What you cannot change for yourself WILL change through praise, prayer, and thanksgiving.

Heavenly Father, help us to be consistent, determined, and fully persuaded about the things of God. Standing on Your promises, praying always, and never giving up before we receive an answer from You. Let Your praise never end or stay hidden in our mouth. Give us boldness and confidence to praise you in every situation, no matter who may be listening. Help us to have the mindset that whoever is listening may be freed as a result of our praise. Thank You, Father, for Your faithfulness and love.

In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

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“Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.” ~ Psalms 150

This is a hymn of praise to the LORD. The Psalmist is imploring everyone everywhere with everything to praise the LORD. In the little church that I grew up in as a young boy, we did not have musical instruments like electric guitars and drums, worship was done acapella. Now to be fair, we did have a piano in the corner by the platform, but no one ever played, that I can remember.

But instrumentless worship is not God’s way, He wants us to praise Him with all of our instruments, which include hand clapping and singing. Psalms 100 says, “make a joyful noise unto the LORD…come before His presence with singing.” Look also at the last verse of Psalms 150. It says, “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.”

In our churches today, don’t let a sinner come into our congregation and raise their hands in praise and worship, for the thoughts that will fly through our minds about ‘that hypocrite.’ But think about it. God did not make a distinction, in fact, He was very specific, He said let EVERYTHING that has breath praise Him.  If you have breath in your body, you ought to be praising God. Now don’t get confused with intercessory prayer and praise they are different. Prayer – except for the prayer of repentance- is for the saints, praise is for everyone, so go on praising Him today.

Heavenly Father, I lift up a shout of praise to You today for all the blessings I enjoy, all the prayers You have answered, and for all the times that You have been there for me when no one else understood. I praise You LORD for who You are and what You have done for me. I praise You and give thanks for the great work of salvation that You so freely give to everyone who will accept it. LORD, may Your great and matchless Name be lifted up in my life and among the nations, and may Your praise never depart from my lips. May songs of rejoicing continually be in my mouth, and may You be exalted in all the world, for You are good and Your mercies endure forever. Be glorified in my life I pray; in Jesus name, Amen.

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“Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.” ~ Psalms 146:1-2

Here the Psalmist is encouraging himself to praise the LORD. He probably doesn’t feel much like praising. Maybe things are rough at work. Maybe home-life is a mess. Maybe he is being unjustly persecuted. But still, he encourages himself to praise the LORD. He almost demands it, when he exclaims, “Praise the LORD, O my soul.”

“Don’t just sit there wallowing in your self-pity,” he seems to say to his soul. “Come on and praise the LORD, for there are benefits in praising. Things change when I praise. So come on soul, begin to praise.” Please realize that the soul is the mind, will, and emotion of a person. Therefore, the Psalmist is not caring about his own feelings, but rather, he instructs his mind to override his will, and praise the LORD. He doesn’t hold a council meeting to find out if it is a good idea. He doesn’t ask his soul to praise, he instructs his mind, his will, and his emotion to praise.

Now notice this. After encouraging his mind, will, and emotion to praise in verse 1, he disregards his feelings completely in verse 2 and makes an executive decision to overrule everything, not caring how down, or how depressed, or how weary from the fight his mind, will, and emotion are, he compels them to praise. “I will praise the LORD as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being” (v 2). He is determined to praise his way out of the desert and sing his way out of the flames. He is determined to not let circumstances keep him down.

Also, did you take note that he makes the object of his praise personal? He says, “…my God…” Not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or the God of his father, David. No! It’s his God. He knows him personally, and he remembers the benefits intimately. So, whatever you’re going through today. Put them in check and sing praises to your God!

Heavenly Father, I ask You to envelop each and every one who reads and accepts this prayer today with Your love and compassion. Let Your loving arms hold them and let them feel the love You have for them. Make their rough paths smooth and their crooked paths straight. Give Your angels charge over them and answer when they call. In Jesus name, Amen.

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“‘¹⁸ I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them. I will comfort those who mourn, ¹⁹ bringing words of praise to their lips. May they have abundant peace, both near and far,’ says the Lord, who heals them.” ~ Isaiah 57:18-19^NLT

The people of Israel were punished for their sin, the LORD God withdrew Himself from them, but they were stubborn. Though they were stubborn, their hearts were not against God, so in His mercy, God looked down and said, I will heal them anyway. I will lead them in spite of their stubbornness. I will comfort the mourners, and in doing so, I will bring praise back to their lips. I will rain down peace on them. Why?

Because He is the God that heals. He is the God of mercy. And most importantly, He is the God of love. His love is never-ending. When we are in trouble, no matter our past, He will run to rescue us, heal our land, and bring us back to be a people of praise. Our nation is in unrest, but just as God brought back the people of Israel, He will bring back our people. He will heal our land and bring comfort to all who mourn. If we allow God to, He will bring peace back into our nation; we just have to open the door to Him and set our hearts towards Him.

So that when He returns to us and heals our land, praise will return to our lips. When praise returns, God returns and abides, for He abides in the praises of His people. Through praise, we are healed, restored, renewed, changed because we grow closer and closer to God. It wasn’t until they praised that the walls of Jericho fell down. It was the Tribe of Judah (praise) that led the People of Israel out into battle. Praise changes everything, so let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Pray For Lips of Praise.

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“³ Death wrapped its ropes around me; the terrors of the grave overtook me. I saw only trouble and sorrow. ⁴ Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘Please, Lord, save me!’ ⁵ How kind the Lord is! How good He is! So merciful, this God of ours! ⁶ The Lord protects those of childlike faith; I was facing death, and He saved me. ⁷ Let my soul be at rest again, for the Lord has been good to me.” ~ Psalms 116:3-7

Death has called each of us by name. It had each of us in bondage and prepared a gravestone to mark our eternal prison cell. But LORD God heard the cry of His people and came to us. He got off of His throne, willingly took our abuse, and then died in our place. He took our gravestone and wrote His name. He took our prison cell and He filled it. On the third day, He broke down the prison cell, destroyed the gravestones, and took the keys from Death. Death has been defeated. The Grave has been overcome. We have been freed.

So, when we say ‘Oh Death where is your sting? Oh Grave where is your victory?’ It’s not just something just for so. When we say this statement, we are declaring the victory of our LORD Jesus Christ. Because He was resurrected, so shall we be. Because He lives forever, so shall we. So, praise The LORD for He has given us the ultimate gift, Eternal Life.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Praise Him For He Did Not Abandon Us.

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