Meant to Praise

"Praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD from the heavens;

praise him in the heights above.

Praise him, all his angels;

praise him, all his heavenly hosts.

Praise him, sun and moon;

praise him, all you shining stars.

Praise him, you highest heavens 

and you waters above the skies.

Let them praise the name of the LORD,

for at his command they were created. . ."

Psalm 148:1-5

God spoke the world into existence.  Without Him, nothing would be present:  no heaven, no earth, no angels, no sun or moon or stars above, no water or land, no sky dotted with fluffy clouds, no creatures, no me, no you.  What is the response of His creation to such a revelation?  What is the fitting reaction when realizing we owe our very existence to this Creator-God?  Praise.

As God's creation, we are meant to give Him adoration and honor.  This is what we can give to the the God who has everything, and this is how we can honor and thank Him for our life: praise.  

All of creation is meant to praise Him.

Word.  It is said humans use an average of about 16,000 words per day*.  If I were to take inventory of how often I use my tongue to give God praise it would probably be a small percentage of the total.

It's time to start intentionally using my words to honor God and make Him look good (Colossians 3:17).  I can give glory to God in the way I build others up with my words, not tearing down or looking for ways to criticize (1 Thessalonians 5:11).  May I make it my mission to find the good that others are doing and point it out to them.  I can also use my words to direct the attention of others to God where they will find healing and purpose, and to turn all compliments and congratulations back to Him, giving God credit as the ultimate source of what is needed for me to do well in life.  It's also wise for me to use my tongue to show respect for all of His creation, realizing He made it all so it is worthy of my esteem, especially in regard to His image-bearers.

Since I'm created by God and thus meant to praise Him, I can use my tongue to honor and give glory to Him.

Attitude.  The heart is so important to God (1 Samuel 16:7).  Why I do the things I do is more significant than what I actually do.  He cares about my attitude while going about my day not just how I conduct myself.  Is my motivation to bring glory to God, to make Him look good, to give honor to Him, or am I focused mostly on my own reputation, on getting what I want, or meeting my expectations?  

As I grow closer to Jesus, He continues to transform my inner-self (Romans 12:2).  As I submit myself to Him, He goes through the process of opening the eyes of my heart where I start to understand His purposes for me (Ephesians 1:18).  Instead of only looking out for myself, I begin to look out for the welfare of others first.  While I tend to be plagued with doubt and insecurities, He grows my faith until He takes up more of my vision so that I'm unable to notice that which used to scare me or cause me to not believe.  Even though I'm naturally negative, noticing all the ugly stuff, the suffering and the pain, He changes me so I think positively, seeing all the good He is always busy doing (John 5:17).

Since I'm created by God and thus meant to praise Him, I will find my attitude changing in ways that bring honor and glory to Him.

Deed.  I'm task and performance driven.  I tend to live according to my to-do-list and judge the worth of my life according to how much I've accomplished.  God is working on me in this wrong way of thinking. He is teaching me to focus more on Him and my relationship with Him as my highest concern.

As I walk in this new way I learn that I am already valuable to Him, apart from anything I do.  I don't have to earn my keep, prove my worth, or work my way into His good graces.  Through Christ, I already am securely placed in His kingdom, worth more than all the gold in the world, and swimming in His grace and mercy.  There is nothing I can do to improve His love for me, thanks to Christ (Romans 8:38).

Thus I am free to simply follow Him, no longer bound to ambitiously work to make my presence necessary.  My work is to obey Him, doing what He places on my heart to do and going where He points me to go.  No matter how small the request, when I obey, I am bringing honor to Him.

Since I'm created by God and thus meant to praise Him, I can bring honor and glory to Him when I follow Him in obedience.

As part of God's wonderful creation, I am meant to give Him praise.  I can do so by using my tongue in ways that will make Him look good, by cooperating with His mission to align my attitude with His, and to learn to follow Him exclusively.  In these ways I will bring glory to God in word, attitude and deed:  What better way to honor God in the way I was meant to praise?

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can pay attention to how He is working to transform the way I look at things.

When do I get stuck in a rut, keeping to the same old negative attitudes?

How do my words fail to bring God glory?   

*http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/women-talk-more-than-men/