Making Praise More Meaningful

"No good thing will God withhold from those who walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11).

What are your heart's desires? If you delight yourself in God and His service, He's promised to give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4).

God apparently feels that nothing is too good for His obedient children. If we please Him, we not only get what we need, but usually even what we want, above our needs, "exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20).

He's willing to give us anything that's good for us, but He doesn't always let us have those things that He knows aren't good for us. He tried that on the children of Israel. He let them have the desires of their hearts a few times when it wasn't good for them, but then He had to send leanness to their souls to try to teach them a lesson (Psalm 106:15).

(Prayer:) Lord, help us to put You first, to delight ourselves in You and Yours most of all so You can trust us with other things—everything we need and even things we want—because they will not come between You and us. If it's good for us, let us have it, but if it's not good for us, please keep it from us. Amen.

Daily Praise: April 30

Jesus, I just love to praise You. I love to know that You're listening and happy to hear what I have to say. It's so encouraging that You really like my words of love and praise to You. It's so exciting to think that You, the great King of the universe, stop and listen and drink in my praises. It's wonderful! It makes me so happy to know that I'm making You happy. It touches my heart to be able to openly express my love for You and know that You appreciate it. I love to praise You.

Words From Jesus: April 29

There are cycles in life when things go well, then they go bad, then I bring about victories and they go well again. You must hold on to Me, seek Me, and follow Me through each phase of life's cycles.

When you're faced with obstacles, tests and hardships, don't let them discourage you. Don't be downcast or worry that they will not be solved, or that victories will not be won; for I say to you, they will, because they are part of the cycle. But you must go through this portion of the cycle to come out at the other end with victory.

That's the purpose of the cycle: that when the problems and the difficulties arise, you rise up to meet them in faith. You fight and you win, and that brings forth the next portion of the cycle: the victory, the progress, the forward movement. Then you are faced with new challenges, new fights and new tests, and you must once again fight, take up the challenge, seek Me, and cry out to Me, that you may overcome these tests and difficulties, and that you may then move out of that portion of the cycle, and again on to the victory.

Like a wheel, the top goes down to the bottom and comes up to the top again. That is motion, and that moves the vehicle forward. That's what these cycles do--they move you forward.

So you must take up the challenges, you must seek Me, and you must win the victories, so that the cycle can be ever turning, ever revolving, ever moving forward--so that you will constantly be moving forward, growing, going on, ever upward, ever forward and on to victory!

For God's sake, know what you believe and stand up for it!

For life to have real meaning and purpose, we have to believe in something. Then we have to be ready to stand up for what we believe; we have to have conviction.

God likes wholehearted, stouthearted men. If He is what you believe in, have you got the guts to be one of these? If you're going to serve God, know what you believe and serve Him no matter what anyone else says. Be prepared to take a stand of faith, like Martin Luther (1483-1546) did on the issue of salvation by grace before the religious council of his day: "Unless I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture, I can and will not retract. Here I stand. I can do no other. So help me God!"

You cannot stop the man of faith. You cannot dissuade him. You cannot divert him. He'll go on with or without you or right over you, if necessary. He is determined to go on by faith because he has found the truth. He is of one mind, one heart, one soul, one spirit, one purpose, and will not quit!

Daily Praise: April 29

Jesus, I've loved You ever since I first heard about You--since I saw and felt Your tenderness and Your love reflected in those who told me about You. Then, when I met You, that was it. I felt Your love firsthand. Thank You for touching me. You reached the places in my heart that nobody even knew existed. Thank You for knowing the depths of what was inside--my longing for You, my desire to know Your truth.

God is our Sun

God created the Sun, the Moon, the stars, and the planets in part to illustrate His spiritual truths, so we could better understand our relationship with Him and how necessary He is to our spiritual solar system.

Life itself wouldn't be possible without the Sun. Without the light of the Sun we'd be in total darkness except for starlight, just as without the Lord we would be in almost total spiritual darkness. Without the warmth and heat of the Sun's rays, we'd also freeze to death, just like without the Lord we'd be dead cold spiritually. Without the Sun's rays, the plants that provide our food wouldn't grow; likewise, we would die spiritually of hunger without the Lord and His Word. Without the Sun's gravitational pull on Earth, instead of staying in its well-planned orbit, Earth would go wandering off through space. Just so, without God's guidance—His gravitational pull on us in the spirit—we too would certainly get out of the well-planned orbit of His will and go wandering off into the darkness of spiritual space.

If the Sun has that much power, think how much power our spiritual Sun, God, has and how much we need Him!

Daily Praise: April 28

Thank You, Jesus, for the joy of praising You. I take such pleasure in Your creation, and in You most of all. You are the Creator of every pleasure imaginable, every delight conceivable, and I thank You and give You honor and worship. I feel so privileged, so very honored to be Yours. I take pleasure in knowing that You desire my praise, my worship, my attention.

Thank You that I can partake of the divine nature in these few simple moments, as I stop and savor the wonder of all that You've done for me, all that You are to me. I feel a soft glow within, and an aura surrounds me. At these times I feel as though there is an almost tangible link between me and the heavenly realm, up there where every breath, every thought and every movement expresses praise to Your omnipotence and Your glory.

How marvelous to have a taste and touch of Heaven as I sit in this earth-bound clod that is my body. Oh, how my heart yearns to be united with You, forever leaving behind the pull of gravity, the weakness of the flesh, and the limitations of space and time. Yet I thank You for these earthly bonds, that in this body I may learn to praise You all my days.