Praise 3

How is your praise life doing?  Are you praising the Lord daily or have you become intimidated by others and turned off or have you become bitter, angry and unforgiving towards others?  I see many believers, or who I think are believers, sit through testimony times in church and hardly give out a peep.  But the saddest part of this is that I notice I am a lot quieter than I used to be also.  It seems like it is easy to be intimidated and lose your joy and enthusiasm because of others or maybe just get discouraged by circumstances or situations.  

If you have been to a baseball or football game or some other sport where there are many people, you hear people shouting their praises at the top of their lungs for the particular team that they love when they score.  They don’t worry about those that are for the other team; they totally express their joy and adoration without shame or guilt whatsoever.  The fact is they are so devoted to their team, that they may even get into a fight and some have even been killed for their enthusiasm and devotion to their team, so what does that say about us.  If we are truly believers, truly born-again, we have so much more to shout about and praise the Lord for.  Our enthusiasm, excitement and appreciation should boil over into shouts of thanks and praise without reservation.

Have you ever got excited in church and expressed it with an, “amen” or some other jester, only to have someone turn and give you what I might call a disgusted look?  If you have, how did it make you feel?  I have been there so I know what it feels like, but regardless of what happened we need to keep thanking and praising the Lord and make it a part of our lives.  

Remember when King Jehoshaphat went to battle with Moab and Ammon in 2 Chronicles 20:20-24?  Read what he did first, “So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever.” Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another. So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.”

I believe spiritual and other battles, are won when we first thank and praise the Lord then ask for His help.  The Word says that God inhabits the praise of His people so let’s praise Him wherever we may be.  If you are in a reserved church that doesn’t get too excited about the Lord, get excited anyway, maybe it will catch on.  

Remember the ten lepers that came to Jesus in Luke 17:11-19, “Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

So when He saw them, He said to them, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

So Jesus answered and said, ‘Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?’ And He said to him, ‘Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.’”

Can we receive God’s blessings and healings with an ungrateful attitude?  Nine of the lepers did!!  Another thing that should stand out here is that the one that came back was a Samaritan. The Samaritans were despised by the Jews because of their idol worship and being half breeds, but Jesus showed them all mercy and grace since on their way to the priest, they were all healed.  I think Jesus was very disappointed at the response of the other nine lepers who were Jews.

Is He disappointed at your response to what He has done for you?  I hope your attitude is not the same as the nine lepers?  Something to think about!  I hope you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours, and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord!!