Life really does look upside down and backwards to us sometimes. Especially when trouble hits. World Life says we should cry and moan and blame God when trouble hits.
Any fool can carry on like that. Most of them do. You can see hundreds of examples of it every day, at home, at work and on the television.
Christians trying to live a transformed life through God do it differently, according to Scripture : "Rejoice always... in everything give thanks..."
The crying and complaining that we do in ordinary world life only makes it worse. It doesn't help us, and the people around us don't appreciate it either.
Praising God during our problems has three amazing effects:
*It brings us into God's throne room for a personal consultation;
*It helps us in surprising ways; and
*It breaks the devil's grip on the situation.
Psalm 100:1-5
Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 3 Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5 For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. (Emphasis added.)
God's presence has a gate. You can enter freely with thanksgiving and you can enter His courts with praise.
Of course, you DON'T have to enter by the gate. You can stand stubbornly outside the walls, hoping to get God's attention by the volume of your complaining. That's ordinary world life.
You don't have to settle for ordinary world life. You can be transformed by praising God, especially in time of trouble, when you're really hurting.
But WHY does God want me to praise him in tough times?
It shows you TRUST Him. It shows that you BELIEVE His promises to carry you through.
1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
"Now That's the God I want to believe in!" Hopefully that's the God that you believe in, too. Because He's the only God there is.
When we praise God, we focus on His proven character and His faithfulness to His promises. We demonstrate that we put more trust in God's promises than in our problems. That is faith. And our Lord responds to faith.
Philippians 4: 6-7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
In every difficult situation, like the temptation in Matthew 4
Jesus concentrated on the truth of Scripture and the character of His Father.
We must do likewise. Because we know that if we focus on the problems, we can make ourselves as miserable as we choose to be.
When the problems get REALLY bad, start praising and thanking God out loud. Let yourself hear the words. Let the child say, "This doesn't make sense!" Praise God, knowing that He won't allow you to be swept away by the problem.
Romans 8:28:
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
God says that "all things work together for good to those who love God..."
I totally believe that!!
Because many of our difficult situations are amplified by the devil. In addition to the real problem content, he comes along and makes it worse. The usual attacks serve to make us feel guilty or unworthy or like total losers. Fear and doubt are his big weapons. Most of the time, it's so subtle that we don't realize we're under attack. But praising God shatters the devil's grip on the situation.
James 4, verses 7-8 tell of this:
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
Praise lets you draw near to God. Praising God means that you DON'T buy into the fear and doubt generated by the devil. Praising God means that you believe in God's promises and character despite the lies of the enemy.
The enemy's nastiest weapons can't touch you anymore. And the enemy can't STAND to hear you praise God out loud. It eventually drives him right out of the room, covering his ears.
Lord, I praise You for Your faithfulness and love toward me. Thank You for volunteering to take charge of my problems in every difficult situation. Help me to walk in Your truth and help others to also be victorious, I pray, In Jesus Name .. AmenShow & Share:This is a toddler size sweater I am using as a trial run! If it comes out the way I hope... I'm wanting to make several more in various sizes from infant to adult for my family and friends!
hugs... love and blessings,
.::Tam::.
**"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks,for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18**
Okay ... so here is a list of reasons I would like to have one. For me and my whole family.
enjoy
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