Praising Jesus Everyday

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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. - 1 Peter 1:3

Sometimes our life seems to spiritually become foggy and we lose sight of what really matters. Pressures, trials, circumstances come in like weeds crowding out the very purpose and reason why we exist. When we lose sight of the cross, when we begin to lose our desire to praise and thank the Lord, we can know that we are failing to really focus on the matter of first importance. Christ was the one that became flesh, who shared our humanity. He suffered and died, and God resurrected him. He is our hope, our sure foundation, our mighty fortress, our promise of eternal life. Our response must be praise, thanksgiving, a singing of hallelujah. As St. Peter opened his epistle with "praise" we should also begin each day with praise to our God.

There is a wonderful chorus that goes: "Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus, Ha-Hallelujah, Ha-Hallelujah, Ha-Hallelujah, Ha-Hallelujah, Ha-Hallelujah." Take time even now while reading this short mediation to praise Jesus, He is longing for your adoration. Look again to the cross, see its beauty and glory. Glorify the risen saviour who paid so much for you. Thank Him who died for you. Heaven will be filled with praise and thanksgiving. God is looking for worshippers in the work of the Lord. It has been noted by godly men that we sing songs about God but our need is to sing worship to Him. Jesus deserves and desires this attention and focus. God alone our goal and sight. Look to Him today, take time to praise Him. This will be our heavenly occupation, enjoy it now.

 

[Peter Luke]

...Sometimes our life seems to spiritually become foggy and we lose sight of what really matters. Pressures, trials, circumstances come in like weeds crowding out the very purpose and reason why we exist...

Many years ago I was struggling being patient with my fellow workers who were giving me a hard time. Every morning I would pray for patience, and everyday I was struggling with it. Then one morning, I realized I have been saying the same prayer for four months, and I had not noticed any change in my patience. So I changed my prayer and asked God what was going on. "I've been praying for four months for patience and all I get is lots of trials and tribulations!" Then I hear in my head, quite load and abrupt, "How else are you going to learn!?" Suddenly I cancelled my prayer and all seemed to be smooth at work. No problems and no struggles. I learnt a lot from that lesson.

The important thing to realize that pressures, trials, circumstances come in like weeds crowding in for the very purpose and reason why we exist... so we can practice our faith, to accept and let go of our own created tensions of fear. To learn that we really are okay. If Jesus was willing to show us how to use faith and acceptance by dying on the cross, surely we can do the same.

It is by practicing our faith and acceptance, regardless of what happens, do we overcome adversity. In the overcoming is liberation. In that liberation comes gratitude, in that gratitude comes praising Jesus everyday for providing lessons of using our faith to experience serenity, truth and unconditional love.

 

[Egraine]

Years ago I began the practice of first thing in the morning thanking the Lord for all the blessings He has bestowed upon me and upon those I love. It starts my day in the mindset of keeping God in the forefront. The Lord loves to give us blessings and He loves it even more when we recognize what He has done and are sincerely thankful to Him via praise and thanks. It is very pleasing to God when we are grateful and thankful for what he has given us. It is a special feeling to thank the Lord for His blessings new and old. Then there are the invisible blessings - those things we are not aware of that He has done for us. In my thankfulness, I never forget to mention my gratitude for the Lord's sacrifice for our sins. No amount of thanks could ever make up for this incredible sacrifice .