by David Brenneman
"O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!" Psalms 8:1-9.
"and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?” Matthew 21:16.
How often in your week, outside of Church, do you really stop to dwell on praising God?
Now, dig deeper. How often are you praising and lifting up people in your life in that same week? Famous or not, family or not, friends or not.
How much more deserving is our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to receive our praise?
How often are you dwelling more on your situations than you're praising God?
A very huge portion of "set your mind on the things that are above and not on the things that are of this world " has to do with praising God. The model of prayer that Jesus taught His Disciples begins with praising God.
The final words in the book of Matthew Jesus said "And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20.
We are to live out lives of those who have been taught and are to be teaching others to do the same.
So I ask you again, my Dear Reader, how often are you intentional about praising your risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?
Oh how mixed up we can be. We can be wholly devoted on a Sunday morning but something happens after we leave the end of the service. Never realizing that Satan's right there to get our minds on the things that are of this world as soon as he can.
While there are and have been some rather important people in my life, none takes the place of my Savior Jesus Christ. Easy enough to write and say, it's harder to keep in practice. Intentionality is at the core of living for Jesus in all that we do.
It's rather easy to switch on the praise and worship when you walk in the door of your local Church but it's harder still to keep that on the rest of the week for many. They turn to television, streaming, podcasts, books, e-books, secular music, anything but continuing in praising God as they had been moments ago.
Take time to examine yourself in this area. Realize that in Heaven, and we are to pray "on Earth as it is in Heaven", the only famous, most important person is Jesus Christ. What the dead in Christ are doing in Heaven is offering praise to Him who is on the Throne. They aren't stopping.
Consider how you listen is what Jesus said. Consider where it takes you. Either towards Jesus or away from Him.
All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
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