Psalm 148:13 Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven.

God alone is holy! The only being in the universe worthy of our praise is our Lord Jesus Christ. If we are silent, the whole creation will rise and shout praises to the Creator, Most Holy God. In Jerusalem, the Pharisees told Jesus to tell the crowds to be quiet, to cease their praise. Jesus replied, "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out" (Luke 19:40).

In the Book of Revelation, John is blessed to see the holiness of Jesus revealed to him in a dream. The heavenly beings never cease in saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come" (Revelation 4:8). How wonderful to know that we will someday join with the nagels is proclaiming the holiness of God face to face with our Savior!

Until then, we can live life in His presence, worshiping and offering our hearts to Him. He loves us so much! Loving Him in return is what He desires; as the song says, "it's the least we can do." And when we live in praise we find great blessings. He will keep us safe in the shadow of His wings (Psalm 17:8), watching over us as a mother hen would protect her young by spreading her wings over them. He allows us to drink from the "fountain of life" (Psalm 36:9).

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Psalm 122:1  I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.

Jesus Christ is your Savior and Friend, but He is also your sovereign Lord. When you approach Him, whether in a house of worship or on your knees at your bedside, you must show reverence and respect.

When you step into church, how do you feel? What do you see? What brings you to the realization that you are in His house, His courts? Do you ever contemplate the fact that you are there by His grace alone? When you praise with a pure and contrite heart, reverently stepping into God's presence, you can meet Him anywhere, transforming an elevator, your backyard, or even your car into a place where you are in His awesome presence.

When you come to God in worship, you come knowing that you are worthy of His blessings only because of His undeserved grace. In Psalm 28, David calls out, "Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift my hands toward your Most Holy Place." You can receive all God has to offer when you reverently approach the throne of grace with heart and hands open to the blessings of the Most Holy Lord.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Jeremiah 1:5 I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world.

On a transcontinental flight, cruising along at thirty thousand feet, everything on the ground looks miniscule. Mountains appear as bumps in the landscape, roads are thin ribbons, and houses and people are indistinguishable.

How awesome it is to know that God, looking down from His lofty throne, knows your name. He sees your struggles and pain; He hears every prayer and longing of your heart. He sees each tear that falls. You aren't just a tiny dot in the landscape on planet earth. You have a Maker and Redeemer You have worth. You are loved.

Not only does He know you, He has a purpose for your life. He calls you His own. He never leaves you; He walks with you wherever you go. Each day, you interact with dozens of people who don't know you and may never interact with dozens of people who don't know you and may never interact with you again - from the telemarketer to the cashier at the grocery store. How you respond to others is a witness to your relationship with God. When your life displays the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control), you show to whom you belong.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

1 Peter 1:7  These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold - and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold.

As gold is heated to a temperature of nearly two thousand degrees, impurities rise to the surface, making them easy to remove. When the remaining gold is cooled, the result is a refined, pure, high-quality gold; it is precious and valuable.

We are precious to God and valuable enough for Him to have sent His Son to earth to suffer death on a cross. His death served as a payment for us to spend eternity in heaven with Him. As Christians, we know we have been cleansed of our sins, yet we constantly face the struggle with our sinful natures. What can we do? We can continually ask for God's cleansing fire. Each day, we can ask Him to purify us.

There is no need to fear the Refiner's fire. Isaiah submitted to the cleansing fire of a burning coal upon his lips. A cleansing process was necessary before Isaiah could fulfill his purpose as a prophet of God. God's method of purification may not be comfortable. It may force us to wrestle with issues buried deep with our hearts. It may even be painful. But submission to the cleansing fire of God will allow us to be made pure in His sight.

And that is all we could ever desire.

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

Psalm 133:1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!

Try this experiment. Go outside and and pick up a twig. (Maybe wait until it warms up!) Grasping each end, bend the twig. It bends easily, doesn't it? It may even break. Now pick up four or five twigs. Holding them together in a bunch, try to bend them. Not as easy, is it?

The same principle holds true for families. When all in a family are united in harmony - staying together, praying together - the storms of life may shake us, but they won't break us.

How much more powerful, then, the family who stands together in the Lord! In Matthew 18:20, Jesus promised, "Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." When we invite Jesus to fill our homes with His presence, we will be blessed to find harmony and love which could never exist without Him.

We need one another in every way - praying before meals, doing devotions daily, attending church services as a family, working in the yard, and watching TV together. The family that is unified, that vows to live according to God's Word, will weather the storms of life and be stronger for the journey.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

Joshua 24:15  And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

What better example to your family than proclaiming and living the words, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord"? Most people, especially children, learn by example. When you take a stand for God, not only proclaiming His lordship over your life but also living it to the fullest, others will learn to do the same.

However, sometimes we run into trouble. Many daily activities tend to take priority over our lives: the quest for a promotion at work, striving to be a top athlete, or putting excellence in academics. While all noble causes, when we slip into seeking to control our lives in order to reach our goals, we rebel against the lordship of Jesus Christ and we are serving other gods.

God knows the desires of our hearts. He knows our needs and our wants. He wants us to be happy, but He also knows what is best for us. When we serve the Lord, we open ourselves to His blessings. When we surrender ourselves to His will, we let Him be Lord of our lives - every part of them.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Ephesians 2:19-20 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

If you have ever stood on a sandy beach as the waves lapped at your feet, you know that the longer you remain, the further your feet sink into the shifting sands. Eventually, you'll be up to your ankles! On a rocky coastline in Maine, however, you can stand on the shore with wave after wave rushing over your feet and you won't sink at all. You stand firm on the strength of the boulders beneath you.

Shifting sands don't make a very good foundation - for our feet or for our faith. We need solid rock - strong and unchanging. Like the wise man who built his house upon a rock (Luke 6:48), we can rest secure in building our faith upon the firm foundation of Jesus Christ. When the winds of change blow and the waves of uncertainty rush over us, we can cling to the immovable, unchanging love of Jesus.

For this we have reason to praise, Christ is the solid rock on which we stand. We can depend upon His words, trust in His tender mercies, and praise Him day after day for the grace that has saved us. Praise the risen Lamb and in everything be glad. Our foundation is firm; our salvation is sure. Praise His name!

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,