He is All Things

 Rev. 4:11
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Revelation reveals Christ in all of His glory. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of all things. “And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.”(Col 1:17). He is our all in all. All things for every circumstance in life. We wake up in the morning and breathe in all that Jesus has given us. We go through our day and submit our will to the one who will work all things for good so that He will receive glory, honor and praise. We end our day with thanksgiving for all the things He has done and will do. He is worthy today and into eternity to be praised and glorified. Who can stand before Him and not bow the knee and worship Him? We worry about many things in life. He knows our frame, that we are weak and need Him to make the impossible happen. We can do all things through Christ, who gives us the power to do what is needed. In return, we give Him all the glory for all the things He has done and will do. We don’t have to wait till we get to heaven to cast ourselves before Him as John saw the 24 elders do. We live each day knowing that He is in control of all things in our lives, and we give Him praise. He is worthy as we lift our voices to Him in praise. We are His creation and worthy of our worship in word and deed.

Cast Down in Our Soul

 Psalm 42:5&11
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
There are days when it seems that everything has gone wrong. Discouragement settles in, and we may even have a pity party. It does appear that the Psalmist is feeling sorry for himself and wonders why God appears to be far away. Human emotions are subject to feelings of abandonment and loss. We all, no doubt, have been where David has been. His life was being threatened, and he was on the run. Saul was in pursuit, his best friend Jonathan was doing what he could, but he was also at the mercy of his father. During this time in David’s life, he was seeking the presence of God. His desire was to dwell in His temple and feel His presence. On purpose, David chose to praise and worship God even when he did not feel like it. His hope was grounded in knowing that God was in control. Praising God is the best way to lift yourself out of discouragement or when depression starts to settle in. When our prayers hit the ceiling and seem to go nowhere, we can praise our way through to God. He delights in the praise of his people. Our hope in God is found when we look to Him, even when we are cast down and everything looks hopeless. Tears of sorrow can be turned into smiles of delight when we choose to praise Him, regardless of our circumstances.

Through the Fire

 Psalm 66:12
…We went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.

The verse brings to my mind the great hymn of the church, God Leads Us Along, “Some through the waters, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood; some through great sorrow, but God gives a song, in the night season and all the day long.” The fire purges, and the water cleanses. Everything in life happens for a purpose. God’s intention is to bring us through. Things in life happen and we may be tempted to give up and quit trying. Even when we stand for what is right, the devil has a way to twist things and have us question if we have done the right thing. The fire is sometimes intense and we are tried and proven.  We don’t necessarily praise God for the trials and tough times, but we can praise Him in spite of the difficulties of the circumstance. Going through the fire looks different for everyone. Whatever the fire is, God is not tempting us so that He may see us fail, but He desires that we put our trust in Him, and be willing to give thanks in everything.(1 Thess 5:18) Through the fire, you will prove your character by praising Him.

Worship Him

 Psalm 95:6
O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.

Worship is demonstrated in our willingness to bow our hearts to him in praise and adoration. He loves to hear our lips praise Him and give HIm glory. He is so good and is worthy of our worship. But worship goes beyond the uplifting of our voices and hands to Him. We worship Him in true holiness when we live our lives in harmony with His word. The way we live says more about our worship than the words that come from our lips. “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” Words are meaningless if they don’t come from the heart of love. A true love for God and others. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” The golden rule, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself” is the heart of true worship.From a heart that loves God will come the uplifting voices of praise to Him. It is good to praise Him morning, day and night with our voices. He loves the worship of his people when they come together collectively to worship HIm. Let our voices be heard, but more importantly, let our lives worship Him in the beauty of living holy and blameless in Him.

Hope in God

 Psalm 43:5
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
The soul that is cast down can be caused by many reasons. It appears here that the psalmist is in a state of discouragement or depression. His enemy is constantly oppressing him. The circumstances in his life are not in his favor. Life is happening and it is not good. It appears that God is far from him and is silent. Where does one go when life is not going well? The answer is still in trusting God. Look to Him and lift up your heart in praise. Praise Him in spite of the circumstances. Praise Him in the face of adversity. Praise Him even when your emotions are in a state of despair. He is a great Physician and will send the Holy Spirit to heal your broken and discouraging heart. “O my soul, trust in God, believe that He will see you through, put your hope in God”.

I Will Praise Him

Isaiah 25:1 O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

We praise Him not because we feel like it. Praising the Lord and exalting His name is not necessarily a cause and effect action. Yes, He is good and does wonderful things and for this we praise Him, but praise is an attitude of the heart. Even when things are not going so good we praise Him. Even when life seems to be given us lemons and nothing appears to be working out. With purpose and will, we make the choice to praise Him in spite of all that is happening. We praise Him because He is God and is worthy of our praise. I don’t claim to understand all the workings of God, and I certainly don’t have all the answers to the “why” and “why nots” of life, but this one thing I know, God is love and He is all that I need to make life complete. For this, I will praise Him.

Wonderful Things of God

Isaiah 25:1 Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

The wonderful things of God are seen everyday in our lives, even when things don’t always seem to be wonderful. When everything in life appears to be going wrong it is hard to see the wonderful things that God is doing. In spite of the circumstances, God is good and every good things comes down from the Father above. We may not always get what we want or what we thing we need, but He who knows best provides for the things we need. Let us look beyond our troubles and start to see what God is doing. Praise Him for all things, for those who love Him, all comes out for good.

Yet, I Will Rejoice

Habakkuk 3:18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

In spite of all that may happen or all that may go wrong, I will still rejoice in the Lord. Praising God is a choice that we make. We can choose to blame God for our circumstances and hardship, or we can believe that God has everything under control. Believing that He is in control of life’s situations and yet choose to rejoice in Him is to have faith as a grain of a mustard seed. The prayer of faith looks beyond what seem possible and rejoices to know that all things are possible to them that choose to trust in God. Habakkuk faced things that seem to be unsurmountable, but He set His eyes on someone that was greater than His problems. Rejoice forevermore, even when things are not going so good. 

Praise The Lord

Psalm 148:1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise him in the heights.

He is worthy to be praised! Creation sings out His praises. Jesus said that even the rocks will cry out in praise. The magnificent splendor of a sunrise or a sunset captures the heart to praise Him for His wondrous creation. We live in a world that has been damaged by sin, but God will someday make all things right and this world will be as it was meant to be from the beginning of time. Adam and Eve were created in His image to have fellowship with God and praise Him, but the fall of man into sin took the shout out of Him, and they went hiding in the bushes. But Christ has paid the price for sin and man can now come out of the bushes and lift up their heart in praise to Him for all that He has done. Let everyone that has breathe, praise the Lord, Praise Him all ye people for He has done great things!

He Alone is God

Psalm 86:10 “For Thou art great and doest wondrous things: Thou alone art God.”-

He alone is God. In all the earth there is none greater than the great three in one. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Holy, holy, holy is He and worthy of all our praise and worship. There is no God compared to Thee on God, no not one. The gods of this world appeal to our earthly flesh and passions to serve them, but God appeals to our soul and spirit. He works in ways that are beyond our imagination. He is God alone who is in control of world affairs and no matter who our world leaders are, He is greater and nothing that happens will change who He is and what He allows to happen. He alone is God and in Him alone will I put my trust.

Praise Him

Psalm 107:31 “ Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!”-

Praise Him in the morning, praise Him at noon, praise Him in the evening, praise Him every moment of the day. My lips shall praise Him for His goodness to me and to my family. Even in the storm, He is good and worthy of praise. Life comes with a lot of emotional ups and downs. We all face times of heartache and disappointment, but God is good and He sees the storm we are in. Storms always bring uncertainty, we may wonder where God is and think He does not care, but God is working to keep us even in the storm of uncertainty. Praise Him for He is God and He is in control and governs the event of this world. Sin is rampant across this land, but God is not taken by surprise. He sees what sin is doing to man, but to them that will praise Him, He will draw near and bring them through this maze of sin. Jesus, our haven of rest in the storm will be with us through it all. Let us put aside our fears and look to Jesus and praise Him for all He has done.