Start Your Year in Praise – Part 5

Let Everything that Breathes Praise the Lord!!!

Psalm 150

¹ Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heaven!

The Location: Our Father, to whom we give our praise, dwells in heaven (Matthew 6:9) and that is where our praise will be directed.

² Praise him for his mighty works;
    praise his unequaled greatness!

The Reason: We worship God for who He is and praise Him for what He does. So, it is important to identify and acknowledge the reason for your praise.

³ Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn;
    praise him with the lyre and harp!
⁴ Praise him with the tambourine and dancing;
    praise him with strings and flutes!
⁵ Praise him with a clash of cymbals;
    praise him with loud clanging cymbals.

The Instruments: There's all of these and more to utilize as you praise God - your hands, voice, dance, testimony, offering, etc - nothing is too small or too big to be deployed in praising God.

⁶ Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!

The Who? Everything and everyone with breath is qualified and mandated to praise God. Except you do not have life in you but if you do, please join us throughout this year and beyond to continually praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!

#PraisingGod... #StartYourYearWithPraise...

Start Your Year in Praise – Part 4

Don’t Take Praising God for Granted!!!

Psalms 34:1-3, “I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. ² I will boast only in the Lord; let all who are helpless take heart. ³ Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt his name together”.

King David was one man who praised and worshipped God with boundless enthusiasm. We can find a plethora of his praises in the Book of Psalms. He would not only recount God’s numerous blessings to him, but also, call on others to join him to praise God. David is unique when it comes to praising the Lord. As he recalled his many blessings from God, you can feel his genuine admiration and appreciation for them.

What about you? Do you truly appreciate God for all He does for you? As teenagers, life seems to revolve around your parents who give you things you need. Have you ever thought about who gives your parents what you need? What about those things you have that your parents can’t give you? Besides, do you appreciate God when you do well in school, escape from trouble, learn from an experience, recover from illness, receive sudden but greatly needed gifts, etc?

If you do express gratitude to God in these times and others, good for you but if you do not, you may be taking God’s blessings for granted. God expects us to praise Him in good times and in bad times too but in many cases, as teenagers, we only remember to praise God when things are going well for us. That is why it is easy to take things for granted when the going is good. We just expect His blessing as our entitlement rather than something we should receive with gratitude.

Why do we take the blessings of God for granted?

1.           We feel entitled to them. We neglect to praise God because we believe we have ‘earned’ whatever we have. Like ‘I studied so hard that I passed my exam’; ‘My uncle is the boss there so he gave me the job’. That is a dangerous path to walk. We cannot afford to overlook God’s goodness and faithfulness at all times. We should never do so.

2.           We are greedy. We take for granted what we already have and yearn for more that we’d like to have without praising God for any of them. This has every likelihood of getting us into trouble. Step back a little – count today’s blessings and praise God for them; whatever you need next, He’ll provide according to His will.

3.           We consider them insignificant. Have you ever praised God for the gift of sleeping and waking up every day; for the air we breathe; for good health; for sound mind; for journey mercies; for ability to eat and drink unaided; to read and study with understanding; to see the sun, moon, stars, and flowers; to speak effortlessly; for food on the table, clothes on your back, and a roof over your head; for your family, friends, neighbours, and colleagues; just to mention a few? These are great blessings that we ought to praise God for but because they seem inconsequential, we take them for granted.

4.           We forget easily. In the same manner that we take the blessings of God for granted, we easily lose sight of the enormity of what we receive from God. Do we remember to praise God for His grace; for forgiveness of sins; for the Holy Spirit that guides, directs and empowers us; for the Bible that is our Manual for godly living; for our parents, teachers, pastors, people in government, etc; for your school, the church and people who help and support you daily?

1 Corinthians 4:7, “For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift”?

Whatever we have; whatever we are; and whatever we will be is given to us by the Almighty God. We are nothing without Him and whatever we claim to have is insignificant without Him. When we take the things of God for granted, we become ingrates like a man called Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26:14-15, who received help from God and became very powerful which made him arrogant and led to his downfall.

To be concluded next week by the grace of God…

Start Your Year in Praise – Part 2

Praising God – In all Situations!!!

One thing that is certain about life is that troubles and disputes are inevitable (Job 5:6-7) and we are living in very difficult times right now with economic failures, health epidemics, severe unemployment, political instability, terrorism and other levels of insecurity - riots, conflicts and uprisings, ethnic, communal and religious killings, etc.

Individuals, communities, nations and continents are affected all over the world and teenagers are not exempted. If teenagers are not direct victims (as child soldiers, rape victims, victims of assault, kidnapping, unemployment, sicknesses and diseases, poverty, truncated education, death), they have family and friends who have been victims. These are incidents with horribly unpleasant memories and pain but as believers, the Scriptures calls on us to praise God (1 Thessalonians 5:18) even in these times.

Perhaps, that is because the Almighty God desires that we overcome every adversity and the best strategy is a joyful attitude. You are not joyful and praising God for traumas and tragedies… you are joyful because you know that God is in control of every situation and He will pull you through whatever happens to you. Ultimately, those difficult times bring out the strength, resilience and creativity in you. Where the devil expected you to wallow in unending sorrow and misery, you get to triumph over those trials with a joyful disposition that puts the devil to shame.

Stella, a 16-year old young lady, needed money to pay for her examination into a tertiary institution that year. She was a very brilliant student and always made good grades in school. But her dad had just lost his job and her mom’s petty trading business was picking the family’s bills with little or nothing left after buying food and paying the bills. It was a difficult time. Stella put pressure on her parents, got angry, threw tantrums (with threats in between) but nothing changed – there was no money anywhere.

Stella became miserable and moody, a countenance that attracted the attention of her teacher in the Teens Church. With just a little persistence, Stella cried out her pain and frustration to her teacher. Her teacher gave her a short exhortation about hardship everywhere and how God promised to take care of us during such times. Then she asked Stella, “Are you ready to help your parents?” The young lady was a little confused and even wondered, “Help my parents? Are they not the ones to help me?” Unknown to Stella, her teacher ran a very successful restaurant in the locality, but she unconsciously stuttered, “How?” And that was how Stella went to work at the Restaurant on weekends to pay back the money that the teacher loaned her to pay for her examination and extra classes.

Instead of sitting back at home to play, eat and watch the television, Stella not only helped her parents by paying her examination fees but also acquired some knowledge of accounting at the Restaurant, a subject she later read for her first degree. Today, the family never ceases to praise God for that timely breakthrough.

What about you? How are you handling your trouble-times? Are you murmuring, complaining and wallowing in self-pity and misery? Heed the word of God and begin to praise Him. There is victory in praise!!!

Continues next week by the grace of God…

Start Your Year in Praise – Part 1

“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

The Bible enjoins us to praise God in all situations. Whatever was our experience during the past years, whether good or bad, pains or gains, tests or testimonies, sickness or health, we must give thanks to God. 

Johnson Oatman Jr. (1856-1926) wrote the hymn, “Count Your Blessings”. The chorus is especially poignant;

Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

As we enter into the New Year, it will be good to spend some time to count our blessings through the past months and years. And you will discover that despite the difficulties, trials and temptations, challenges and disappointments, God has granted us countless and unquantifiable blessings.

Why Praise God?

As teenagers, it may be hard to see praise in unfavourable circumstances. We love good times, success, testimonies, victories, abundance, etc, and praise is easy at these times. But then, that is what differentiates the Christian teenager. Life is not a smooth journey. Jesus never said we’d not encounter hardship – He said He’ll see us through them. So, holding on to the promise of God keeps the believing teenager in praise-mode in all times and seasons. However, we need to understand our reasons for praising God.

1.           God deserves our praise. He has given us the gift of life. He is the reason we have breathe at this minute – the air we breathe is FREE. He created us (Psalms 100:3-4) – what a unique manufacturer. Have you looked at yourself lately? Do you know that you are the only ‘spec’ in this whole world? So let us praise Him. For as they say, ‘Where there is life, there is hope’.

2.           God loves us. The Bible tells us that God loves us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). His love never dies; His mercy never ends; and His grace is infinite (Psalms 100:5, 136:1). He gave us the best gift anyone could have – the salvation of our souls and the hope of eternal life (Colossians 1:12-14). All because of His love!!! Let’s give Him praise.

3.           God has blessed us spiritually. Some of us today can read, study, and meditate on the word of God; we can understand the deeper secrets therein; we can pray and receive answers to our prayer; we have been baptized (by immersion and by the Holy Spirit); and we manifest such other extraordinary gifts beyond that of our peers. So, you should jump up and shout, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).

4.           God has blessed us materially. Our wants and needs, as human beings, are insatiable but God has been equal to the task of providing for our necessities (not our excesses). Whatever has sustained us to date has been as a result of divine provision – food, clothing, shelter, good health, protection, etc… and these He has given to us FREELY. So why won’t you praise God, “Who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalms 103:5).

5.           God has blessed us with His presence. He is not called Omnipresent for nothing. How many times have you found yourself literally ‘between the devil and the deep blue sea’ only to be miraculously rescued? God’s presence comes with His awesome power and you have been a beneficiary through the years. As you sleep and wake up daily, have you any idea the drama that transpires in between? That is why you should, without prompting, give God praise. Psalms 106:2 says, “Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare his praise”? Your answer had better be good!!!

Continues next week by the grace of God…