It’s week 4 of our month of Praise. As we continued to study, we discovered we are to:
- Praise God with our whole heart. The readings were Psalm 103: 1-2; Psalm 128: 1-4; and Psalm 89:11. The Psalmist reminds us to praise God with our whole heart – to hold nothing back. We are not to be stingy with our praise. There is joy which comes from following the Lord and His ways. Everything is the Lord’s and belongs to Him, and this meant all we have is His and from His hands. He is a faithful God who will never deny us, never disappoint us, and never desert us. May praise arise in our hearts and burst forth from our mouths!
- Praise God during the hard times. We turned our attention to 1 Peter 3: 1-9; Philippians 1: 9-10; and 1 Thessalonians 5: 18. It is not easy to praise God during those hard situations, yet God desires for us to keep on growing. He wants us to understand what really matters in this life is the fruit He produces in and through our lives. Each adversity can bring growth – in knowledge and understanding of God and His ways – and this is how our lives bring Him much glory. It is imperative for us to move this down deep into our hearts so that we cling to Him in trust!
- Praise God for His wisdom. Our readings were James 3:17-18 and James 1:5. Wisdom – we need a good dose every single day, in one way or another. James reminds us that God’s wisdom is pure. We so quickly seek counsel from a family member or a dear friend, yet only God’s wisdom is pure. His wisdom is uncontaminated. It is always right and just and good, and also readily available to us. All we need do is ask. How precious is that?
- Praise God for reigning over our lives. Our focus was Romans 8: 28-29 and Proverbs 3:5, as we praised God for being our God over every part of our lives. He chose us fully knowing we were a frail and broken people. As we lean on Him, He calls us to be His people who do things far beyond our understanding and/or our abilities. May we trust Him with all our heart, not depending on ourselves but wholly dependent on Him.
- Praise God for His continual refinement. We read Isaiah 57:15; Psalm 73:18; Jeremiah 18:3-6; and 2 Corinthians 4:7. We were reminded that we are fragile vessels and yet God continues to work with us. When our defects emerge, He continues to refine us into vessels that He uses to bless others.
We closed the week with a prayer: Lord, we thank you that while you are high and lofty, you come to those who are contrite, humble, crushed, and broken. We praise you that you are the one who sends our enemies away from us. We praise you that even when we mess up, you take our lives and you reshape them, molding them anew in your hands. We praise you for using our brokenness to reveal that you are the One at work in our lives. We may be fragile and cracked pots, but you are the powerful and mighty one at work within us. For this we praise you today. Amen.
You can read the entire series:
Week 1: 31 Days of Praise.
Week 2: Praise Can Be A Challenge.
Week 3: Praise Brings Much to Our Lives.
Today I am joining … Tell His Story and Grace Full Tuesday and #RaRaLInkup and TrekkingThru .
I love the visual of each of us being a fragile clay jar containing the power of God’s love and grace. He is worthy of our neverending praise, pure like the snow in your photo. Thank you for sharing your Praise study with us!
Thank you for joining me 🙂 We may be fragile but we contain great power.
So many reasons here to join you in praising our great God!
This was beautiful, Joanne! So many truths to take. The one God keeps bringing to my attention is this:
“Each adversity can bring growth ”“ in knowledge and understanding of God and His ways ”“ and this is how our lives bring Him much glory. It is imperative for us to move this down deep into our hearts so that we cling to Him in trust!”
When I face adversity, how will I face it? Leaning into Jesus, or leaning into myself? I’ve done it both ways, and leaning into Jesus is the MUCH better way to walk through trials.
This has been a great series, friend!
Jeanne, you have raised a question for us all to think on – How will I face adversity? We need to have our minds set before hand so that we will lean into Jesus and remain steadfast. So grateful you shared!
A month of praise. What a blessing. I stopped at praising God for His continual refinement. The words from Jeremiah 18 and 2 Corinthians 4 really spoke to me today. Love visiting your place! 🙂
Amen. Praising God every day. 🙂
Joanne, a great reminder that when we are in Christ there is so much to praise him for. First of all, that we didn’t live our whole lives without knowing a God who bends down from heaven to touch us, minister to us, walk through this life with us. Thank you for your reminder. I love the focus that you brought to the fact that his wisdom is pure. And no one else’s could be.
Amen!