But
it is good for me to draw
near
to God: I have put my
trust
in the Lord God, that I
may
declare all thy works.
Psalm
73:28
Well,
Easter has come and gone. New Easter clothes have been worn and most
mothers have enough colored boiled eggs to make egg salad for the
next couple of weeks. Children are stuffed with jelly beans and many
Easter baskets have been put up on a shelf somewhere. “Christ the
Lord is Risen Today” has been sung in churches across our country
and the anticipation of sunrise services and choir cantatas are now
history.
So
now what? Is Easter finished and over with for another year? Is the
message of Good Friday and Easter Sunday morning completed in some
way? Do we ever give a thought to the Saturday in between those two
days? This wonderful holiday gets treated much like Christmas in
that those two precious times seem to be reserved for only two times
each year while the messages of both times are messages that should
for Christians, ring through every day of the year. Easter should
give rise to songs and moments of praise in us all for our gratitude
and appreciation to God for showering us with so much while we
deserve so little.
In
the afterglow of a wonderful weekend of turning thoughts and grateful
hearts toward God who sent His Son Jesus, and to Jesus for doing all
He did, shouldn't we be persons of praise on an everyday basis and
not just during holiday times. I'm not talking about praising the
Lord as we might in a church service but praising Him in a very
individual way for His goodness in our lives, a goodness God bestows
that leaves me in wonder.
Maybe
the following acrostic can help us in taking a fresh view of praise
that will encourage us in this area of our spiritual walk:
P
- Pray
Just
as my car gets me from my house to the grocery store, so prayer is
the conversation vehicle that gets me from where I am to where God
is. Prayer isn't just for us to ask things of God. If that's the
only conversation my children ever wanted with me (asking for
things), I'm afraid we wouldn't have been conversing very much and my
children would have received very little. Prayer is the blessing of
relationship. I can talk to God about anything, private things and
concerns...yes, I can ask things of Him but I want my relationship
with Him to be a balanced one. The one thing I can always do is
praise God. He can't hear enough of that from His kids. Any of us
like to be given compliments and praise when appropriate. God REALLY
loves it from His children.
R
- Relationship
Neighborhood
children used to play in our yard a lot. We were usually the one
house in the neighborhood that didn't have a fence around the
backyard. When I would go to the back door and simply say, “Supper's
ready” or some such statement, there were only three children that
came into the house...Jennie, Beverly and Johnny. The rest either
scattered or continued playing. Why did only three children pull up
chairs to our supper table...relationship. They were our
children...we fed them, clothed and protected them. We could talk
with each other as a family. Well, I'm welcome at God's table
anytime. As God's child, I'm welcome in His presence...I'm fed,
loved and protected by Him because He's my Father. Because of that
relationship, I have so many privileges in Him that should give rise
to my being a person of praise.
A
- Adore
“Oh
come let us adore Him...Christ the Lord.”
Do
we remember our first love? Adoration isn't a sufficient word to
describe the adoration we felt. We could see no wrong in the person.
That person was the best looking, most considerate, smartest, etc.,
etc., etc. Remember? Unfortunately, for many, reality eventually
set in and some fault lines were discovered. Not with our God, our
Savior. He never tarnishes, rusts or changes. We can justifiably
adore Him, dote on Him because He is so worthy of it all.
I
– Integrity
I
could have put several words here but chose this one because I
thought it important. We need to realize that we can fool people
sometimes and they us. We can dish out phoney compliments and feed a
general line to anyone at anytime. Those people may or may not
believe us because people desire to be trusting of others. However,
our approach to God has got to be with integrity, honesty and
character. You see, we can't feed Him a line. We can't be insincere
in our praise because God can read us like a book. God wants us to
be honest with Him. We don't have to sugar coat anything...I can
just be me in His presence. I've confessed being upset with a
situation and even with Him for not fixing it. I'm not rude or ugly
about it but confess my lack of understanding. He's not going to
strike me with lightening. He knows and loves me. I often do think
though that there must be times when He smiles a very knowing smile
in my direction.
S
- Sing
Why
is it the only time we sing a hymn or chorus is when we're in church
or a church meeting? I'm not talking about singing along with a CD
in a car. I'm talking about singing to God minus any backup music.
We don't have to make fools of ourselves in public but there are
private times we can sing praise to God...in the shower, car,
exercising, cooking dinner or just in the quiet of our homes when
there's no one around. Even sincere humming can be more acceptable
to God than insincere singing aloud. Make up your own song...put a
verse from Psalms to some tune. No matter how lousy our voices may
be, God our Father loves to hear us sing. Just as parents smile
with pride as their child sings in a school program, so God delights
when we, His children sing just for Him
O
sing unto the Lord a new song;
for
he hath done marvelous things...
Psalm
90:1
E
- Exalt
Who
do I have in place before God? Who do you? Be careful before
answering that question. We have a lot of distractions in our lives.
God has placed us in families and a family is a heavy responsibility
with all the emergencies, quirks and unusual happenings. Perhaps you
are called to a job outside the home. Such can be very demanding and
at times can seemingly absorb every ounce of strength from you. Even
church work can take much of our thinking and time. This area seems
to be our best excuse for not putting God in His rightful place.
After all, we're doing His work. When we exalt Him, we are taking
everything else off of the pedestals of our lives and putting Him
there...high and lifted up, holy and loved above all others, be they
people or things.
Thou
art my God, and I will
praise
thee: thou art my God,
I
will exalt thee.
Psalm
118: 28
In
writing this section, I must say this has been a very convicting
section for me. We just finished building a house. I've often said
that if you can build a house without killing a sub-contractor,
you've had great victory in your life. Our children have had various
concerns. I've had some health issues. We all have lots of things
of great importance that come into our lives that can crowd God out.
In
it all, we are to be people of praise...prayer, relationship,
adoration, integrity, song and exaltation. Can we give God any less
than that whether it be Easter Sunday or the day after.
Dear
Father...We do praise you on this day and every day. I know it
doesn't have to be a special holiday but praising You can be a part
of my life from this time on. Thank You for all of Your goodness in
my life. I love You more than anything or anyone. May it ever be so
through the power and love You bring into my life. Amen!
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