Praise, Part 1 — A ‘Time With God’ Devotion

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Transcript

Good morning. As we get this day started, we want to take some time with God, and you know, your time with God each day is your lifeline in this crazy world that we live in. This world is full of stress, isn’t it? And, pressure, deadlines, even anxiety can press in on us, but there is someone to go to in our lives and someone who is able to take our anxiety from us and give us a reason to trust and have peace no matter what.

That relationship is your relationship with God, and nothing is more important to your life than building and maintaining that relationship.

So let’s read a little bit of what He has to say to us as we spend this week focusing in on the theme of praise.

Psalm 103, a Psalm of David starts out like this:

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits, who pardons all your iniquities.

Who heals all your diseases. Who redeems your life from the pit.

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Who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion, who satisfies your years with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

And he goes on and on with the benefits and blessings that we have received from the Lord.

Forget none of his benefits.

You know, sometimes Christians struggle with the idea of praise. Some people feel like it’s just mindless words, telling God how good He is, but you know those words don’t have to be mindless. They can come from the very depths of your being, all that is within me. Bless his holy name.

Your circumstances may get tough, but if you hold in your heart all that God has done for you, all the ways that He has blessed you, it provides a source of faith in your life.

Do you know that discouragement and anxiety are your enemy’s number one weapon against you. And that’s why praise is so important for you. You must learn to hold in your heart all that God is, all that He is to you, all that He has done for you.

God has throughout your life been there for you. You may have been through terrible times, but God was always ready to walk with you through those times, to carry you, to support you, to strengthen you. And of course there’ve been the times of blessing as well, haven’t there, and times of joy.

In the sun or in the rain though we need to be giving glory to God as someone has said – anyone can sing in the sunshine. But you and I should sing on when the sun has gone down or when clouds pour out their rain. Why, for Christ is with us, and He’s there with you right now. So let your heart fill up with the remembering of what He has done for you, and you will find praise coming to your lips and fear and anxiety slipping away.

I’m John North.

To go deeper in your faith, visit AFCI.com.au.