We entered our second week of 31 Days of Praise and discovered there are times praise can be a challenge:

• We praise Him for His accomplishing Word. Our readings were Isaiah 55: 8-11; Psalm 119:11; 2 Peter 1: 20-21; and 2 Timothy 3:16-17. God’s Word is sent with purpose to accomplish something in our lives. He alone causes it to prosper and produce fruit in us. Our responsibility is to hide His Word in our hearts so that we do not fall away. Every Word has come from Him specifically for us as it is a personal word. It is for every generation, for all ages. As we read, absorbing Scripture into the marrow of our bones, He uses it to prepare and equip us to do good works. May we praise Him for His Word which accomplishes all things in our lives.
• We praise Him for weaving us together. Our readings were Psalm 95:6 and Psalm 139: 13-16. My friend, Patricia Earley, shared this thought, “We are not misfits or mistakes. Our lives are not catastrophes or collisions waiting to happen. We are not after thoughts or throwaways. We are created with purpose and promise. God intimately took the time to weave us, mold us into who we are. At no time did He give up or walk away because of our decisions. Even though we only see in part, He knows our entire picture and it made on a tapestry of His love. When I consider all that, I have, we have no choice but to worship our Savior and Lord.”
• We praise Him for His visible majesty. Our readings were found in Isaiah 43:7 and Psalm 8:3-9. Isaiah reminds us that we have indeed been created by God to display His glory to a watching world. The thought could go to our head but when aligned with the Psalmist’s words, we should be humbled, brought to our knees by His majesty. It always astounds me, especially at night, to see the spread of darkness and the little flickering of stars. Our God who has created each one, set them in their place, and has authority over ALL things and yet He cares for you and me. He crowned us with glory and honor. Let that settle into your soul. God alone is worthy of our praise. May we see Him in all things in the heights He has stretched out above us. In our frail and fragile beings, He has chosen to crown us with a smaller portion of glory that points to His greater glory. Praise Him for this mystery of relationship He has blessed us with. Declare the excellence and power of His name.
• We praise Him for the strength He gives. Our attention turned to Psalm 40:17; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; and James 4:6. It can be difficult to admit our weaknesses as the world often tells us to “be strong”, “dig deep”, “we can do it”. But the truth is, only as we admit our weaknesses do we become strong, and only in the strength which the Lord gives to us. It was Psalm 40:17 which became our prayer … “Lord, may we remember that we are poor and needy. We need You, every day as You are our helper, our Savior, and always with us. Amen.”
• We praise Him because He is sovereign and can redeem any situation. Our readings were Isaiah 46:9-10 and 1 Thessalonians 5:18, which were wonderful to read side by side. Life would be totally discouraging if we did not remember God is God alone. He knows what each day holds for us presently and He alone knows every day yet to come. He has control over every event in this world. I need to remember this each time I watch the news; and when I receive news! Remembering this is the key to the command we are given: “Be thankful in ALL circumstances for this is God’s will.” So often we want to know God’s will and here Paul specifically tells us – being thankful in all circumstances is His will for us all. We can be thankful because God is sovereign and He can redeem any situation.

With that we closed the week with an old song:

You can read Week 1: 31 Days of Praise.

Today I am joining … Porch Stories and Let’s Have Coffee and Woman to Woman and Recharge Wednesday .