Blog Entries tagged 'praise'

Praise Time

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

I wondered whether I would be so quick to thank God.

Luke 13:1-21

Reference: v.13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. (NIV Bible)

Explore: Imagine being crippled for 18 years. In this Bible passage Jesus heals a woman who has been crippled for probably the majority of her life. However, it was the woman's response that caught my attention. I was struck by the way that she was willing to praise God straight away. It was like as soon as she had straightened up she started praising Him. I wondered whether I would be so quick to thank God. When good things happen do I just feel happy and relieved or do I turn my thanks to God?

Application: The interesting thing to note in this story, however, is that the woman was praising God before she was even healed. This miracle occurred in a synagogue on the Sabbath day, therefore the woman was already in a place of worship before she was healed. If I saw the powerful hand of God at work I think I would turn and praise Him, however the bigger question is am I willing to praise God before I have experienced the miracle?! We often desire God to move powerfully in our lives however those that are truly faithful are willing to praise God even before the miracle has occurred.

Prayer: Lord, may I live out my faith so that I believe and trust in You even before I experience your power and might. Amen.

Are you willing to praise God before you see His hand at work?

Your Life's Soundtrack

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100

I was driving towards the city on this day and I had my sunglasses on, the window was down and I put my favourite song on the stereo.

Revelation 15:1-8

Reference: v. 2-3a And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb. (NIV Bible)

Explore: It was finally Spring. We had had a cold, grey and fairly miserable winter and, what seemed like over night, the temperature lifted, the clouds cleared and we were met with a stunning day. It was hard not to be happy on this day, as the weather had lifted everyone's spirits. I was driving towards the city on this day and I had my sunglasses on, the window was down and I put my favourite song on the stereo. I couldn't help but bop along in my seat and sing the words that I knew so well. While the day seemed near perfect I was able to make it even better by the music that I listened to. Some people are not that musically minded, but when I'm in good spirits I tend to sing or whistle or do a little dance to the music in my head. Songs are a great way to express our feelings and show our emotions.

Application: There are numerous times in the Bible where God delivers a group of people, or a person, and their response to Him is to sing and dance. They receive such a joy that the best way they can express their praise and gratitude is through song. Now, I know that most people sing songs to God when they attend church, but surely that's not the only time we can praise God. We don't have to be lead or have a full band behind us to give God praise. In lots of little ways, all throughout the day, there are opportunities where we can praise God. It would be like having a praise soundtrack to your life, and you're the artist. I think we would have a different outlook on life if we challenged ourselves to look for opportunities to praise God all throughout the week.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we don't offer You the praise that You truly deserve. Amen.

What does your life's soundtrack sound like at the moment?

God Hears It All

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100

If you followed our eating habits you would discover that the majority of times we eat our favourite Indian food we will take the food away rather than eating inside the restaurant. The reason...

Ezra 3:1-13

Reference: v.13 No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away. (NIV Bible)

Explore: We have finally discovered the best Indian food in our local neighbourhood. When you move, it always takes a little time and some trial and error before finding all the best eating places. So you can imagine our delight when Cafe Saffron opened up down the road and served us the best Butter Chicken we had ever eaten. The chicken just melts in your mouth and another delicious dish is served in a cool coconut shell. There is a downside, however... I can't handle eating in. If you followed our eating habits you would discover that the majority of times we eat our favourite Indian food we will take the food away rather than eating inside the restaurant. The reason: incredibly loud musicians. There is usually a band playing, which is great for the atmosphere, but it makes conversation very challenging. We went there with some new friends once and I left not knowing any more about them because conversation was just too difficult. I gave up talking because when people spoke back I couldn't hear them over the lead singer. While the food is out of this world, there is just too much noise going on that I struggle to enjoy the whole experience.

Application: After the Israelites had rebuilt the temple in Ezra 3 they held a worship service that sounded a little bit like my favourite Indian restaurant: people could hear that sound from far away! The thing about the sound of the Israelites was that some of them were rejoicing while others were weeping. It was such a conglomeration of sound that people could not discern whether people were laughing or crying. The beauty of this is that God can discern our emotions, no matter how loud the noise around us is. If we are in a joyful worship service but we feel broken and devastated, God will hear the praises as well as the pain. If we are chatting to a friend who is going through a hard time but we have just received great news, God will hear the praises as well as the pain. If someone has just been promoted ahead of you, God will hear the praises as well as the pain. We can not hide our emotions from God, He is able to hear us even amongst all the noise. So whether you are rejoicing or weeping, cry out to God.

Prayer: Lord, You know our deepest emotions. May we have the words to express how we are feeling to You today. Amen.

Do you feel like rejoicing or weeping?

Letting Things Slide

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100

It seems that throughout history, my daughter is not the only one who gets a little lax with the rules.

Malachi 1:1-14

Reference: v.8 "When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be please with you? Would he accept you?" says the Lord Almighty. (NIV Bible)

Explore: We don't have too many rules in our house. One we do have for our teenager though is that the TV must be turned off by 5pm on school nights. This is because the longer the TV is on, the less homework is completed. One day I arrived home at 5:15 to discover that the TV was still being watched. All I had to say was, "Oh, what happened to that rule about the TV being turned off at 5 o'clock? Has that rule been changed?" I may have got a roll of the eyes and a grumbled mumble but the TV was turned off and homework got underway. It's not that the rule had been forgotten, it's just that it was easier and more enjoyable to not follow it that afternoon.

Application: It seems that throughout history, my daughter is not the only one who gets a little lax with the rules. The prophet Malachi is sent to God's people to remind them of some of the rules that they are starting to let slip. It's not that they don't know what is expected of them, it's just that it is easier to let things slide a little. But when it comes to God, should we not give Him our best? If we believe He is a powerful, gracious, loving God should we not put Him as our number one priority? The thing is, we know how to give Him our best, it's just that sometimes we get a little lazy in our faithfulness to God. We can sometimes cut corners or do a second-rate job and take advantage that God will always love us in the end. But our God does not deserve our sloppy seconds, He deserves our best. We need to be reminded, just like the people Malachi is addressing, that when it comes to God, only our best will do. It's not about perfection, it's all about praise.

Prayer: Lord, You are an incredibly gracious God and when we come to You with all our faults we know that You love and forgive us. But Lord, we have let our dedication to You slide. May we acknowledge You are Lord in all our lives and may we live a life of dedicated praise to You. Amen.

What part of your faith in God have you let slide recently? What needs to change for you to make God the right priority in your life?

Words For God

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0100

No language on earth will ever contain the right words to sum up God.

Deuteronomy 10:1-22

Reference: v.17 & 18 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. (NIV Bible)

Explore: Last month I attended a week long conference for the Arrow Leadership course I am participating in. During the week we were away our Arrow leader had organised for our friends, family and colleagues to write us letters of encouragement. At random times throughout the conference we would be given a letter from someone close to us affirming our work and encouraging us to keep going. It was great to hear from our friends back home as well as to be supported with such great words of affirmation.

Application: When it comes to giving praise and adoration to God it seems there are no words that can fully encapsulate how great God truly is. In my reference today I didn't want to choose just one verse that spoke of God's greatness but have included two verses from Deuteronomy 10... and yet even those verses don't even come close to speaking of the whole of God's goodness! No language on earth will ever contain the right words to sum up God, however that doesn't mean that we don't try. When I received my letters of affirmation it gave me strength and courage to continue on. While God doesn't not need our approval, if we were to write/sing/quote/pray/paint our adoration to Him then it helps us to remember what a mighty God we serve.

Prayer: Lord, You are Good, You are Truth, You are Life and You are Love. Thank you for revealing Yourself to me. Amen.

What expression of adoration do you have for God today?

Giving Credit

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Pharaoh was Joseph's only chance at a 'Get out of jail free' card. And yet, when Pharaoh asks Joseph to help him, what does he say?

Genesis 41:1-40

Reference: v.16 "I cannot do it," Joseph replied to Pharaoh, "but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires." (NIV Bible)

Explore: There are some people who do not take praise very easily. When you compliment them they do their very best to deflect the praise on to someone or something else. On the otherhand, there are people who are keen to take all the praise. When completing a task in a group effort they are the ones at the front willing to take any of the glory that is meant for the whole team.

Application: If anyone needed some praise and a leg-up it was Joseph. For the last couple of years Joseph had had a roller-coaster ride of a time. He'd been in the house of royalty but in the more recent past he'd been kept in the depths of the dungeons. Suddenly one day he is cleaned up and presented before Pharaoh. Pharaoh is his only chance at a 'Get out of jail free' card. And yet, when Pharaoh asks Joseph to help him, what does he say? I can't, but God can. As much as I am a person who strives to give God praise in everything I do, I'm not sure I would have been so humble in this situation. If Pharaoh had the power to pull me out of the dungeons I'd be like, "Sure, I can do that for you, let me serve you." And yet Joseph knew that his gifts came from God and so he gave God the credit before the task was even completed. Joseph truly was a man after God's own heart. Even when he was in the lowest possible position he did not seek credit for himself to make his life easier, he continued to honour God and give him all the credit. It seems that Joseph had come a long way from flaunting his coat and his dreams in the face of his family.

Prayer: Lord, You are all powerful and worthy of all our praise. Thank you for the blessings you bestow upon us. May we give you all the credit. Amen.

What area of your life do you need to give God the credit for?

Undeserving

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Have you ever received a gift or some accolade that you didn't deserve?

Ephesians 2.1-10

Reference: v.8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God... (NIV Bible)

Explore: Have you ever received a gift or some accolade that you didn't deserve? Often it's the other way around: you do some tremendous amount of work and don't get any credit for it! But I use to live in a house with a great group of girls. They were all inspiring people and would often go out of their way to help others. There was a younger girl in need within the community and two of my housemates took her under their wing. A few months later I bumped into someone who knew the younger girl and they started thanking me for all I had done for her. No matter how hard I tried to deflect the praise this person would not believe that I had had very little to do with supporting her. This was certainly praise I had not deserved.
When we start to understand the sacrifice that God made for us we start to realise that He gave us a gift that we did not deserve. While we are the one who constantly fall from grace, it is God who has given us the gift of grace that we might be saved.

Application: After I had undeservingly received the praise for helping a younger girl it actually inspired me to do more to help others. It wasn't about received praise that I actually deserved but it opened my eyes to the positive impact that we actually can have on other people.
Likewise, when we start to grasp the amazing grace that God has offered us, even when we are undeserving, then we start to see a brighter future and yearn to be more like Him. God's grace, that is so freely given, is not there so we can slack off and just ask for forgiveness in the end. The knowledge of God's grace should give us hope that He does love us unconditionally and we can do all things through Him.

Prayer: Lord, your gifts are overwhelming and we are so undeserving. Thank you for your grace. May we live with the knowledge of your grace in our lives today. Amen.

How has an undeserving accolade made you feel? What situation in your life has inspired you to be greater in God?

Bless You

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

A blessing can be something life changing or it could be just a little boost throughout the day.

Matthew 26.1-13

Reference: v.7 ... a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. (NIV Bible)

Explore: As part of our weekly Bible study we were looking at the word 'bless'. There are four ways that someone can bless or be blessed.
1. God can bless us - an unexpected gift from God
2. We can bless God - they praise we offer to God
3. We can bless ourselves - relying on our own strength
4. We can bless each other - giving support or assistance to another.
A blessing can be something life changing or it could be just a little boost throughout the day.
In Matthew 26 we hear of a woman giving a public expression of blessing #2. While often we think of blessing God by singing praises, this woman lavishly gives of her wealth, her emotions and even her pride as she enters into a house and pours perfume over Jesus.

Application: While we may not be able to physically pour perfume over Jesus, we could give that kind of blessing in many other ways. God has given us so much and continually blesses us in many ways and yet we often forget to give our blessing back to God. There are endless ways that we can give a blessing to God, it saddens me when we only reduce our praise to one hour a week during a church service. Our King of kings and Lord of lords deserves more than that. This woman was able to show her adoration by giving of herself as well as her resources. The best way we can bless God is give him all that we are. He knows how broken we may be but he is still blessed by our humble offering.

Prayer: Oh Lord, you are mighty and glorious. May we not forget to praise you with everything we are today. Amen.

Outside of a church service, what is a way you bless/praise God?

Reserving our Praise

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:03:32 +0100

So often we reserve our praise for a Sunday morning while we're singing in church, however that is way too limited for our awesome God.

Acts 12.19b-25

Reference: v.23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. (NIV Bible)

Explore: What a crazy verse! Herod had given a rousing speech bringing people to call him a god. He didn't refute the claims and so an angel of the Lord struck him down. I love the detail of the verse as it explains he had been eaten by worms and died. I'm thinking that this makes reference to him being buried in the ground and maybe not in a kingly tomb, bringing more disgrace to his name, but it sounds pretty grose all the same!
I must say, I have never been called a god before (and if this is the result then I'm happy never to be called one!) but I have been given praise and been called an angel. What is my response then? Do I give the praise to God as Herod should have?

Application: I have been known to play some card games in my time and on occasion, when I have received a good hand (very rare in my case!) I will give a sigh of relief and say, 'Praise the Lord!' My mother-in-law pointed out one day that she didn't think the Lord was really all that worried about my hand of cards. I do tend to agree with her on that one, however I do think it's important that we give praise to God for everything. So often we reserve our praise for a Sunday morning while we're singing in church, however that is way too limited for our awesome God. If we really start to understand how high, how wide, and how deep God's love for us is, then we will want to praise Him with everything we have.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for loving us when you are so Great and we are often so simple! We praise you today with everything we have. Amen.

A praise worth living for

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:23:42 +0100

God declares His love for us when we live according to His purpose.

Zephaniah 3. 1-20

Reference: v. 17
"The Lord your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing." (NIV Bible)

Explore: What a beautiful verse. In our worship and adoration of God we tend to forget that all the praise that we can give to Him, He has already poured out on us. How humbling to think that our God is taking 'great delight' in us, that He would be willing to 'rejoice over [us] with singing'! I know some truly amazing singers, but I don't think they would even come close to God's singing.

Application: Surely if we could understand God's delight in us then we would live a life worthy of his love and adoration. When someone encourages you and compliments you on a job well done then you usually do your best to continue to please them. If the King of Glory is giving us his rejoicing then surely we would be asking ourselves how much more we could do and be to please Him.
It's amazing to think that the God who created us, who set the seasons and the planets in their place is willing to dote on us and share His love with us. How blessed we truly are!

Prayer: Lord, the more I find out about you, the more generous I see that you are. Thank you Lord for all you pour into my life. Amen.