Praise the GREAT God

"God has a first name—"Yahweh" or "Jehovah"—a Hebrew word that means, "I am." "Lord" should be translated "Jehovah," which means that Jehovah Almighty is His name. Jehovah is a personal name that reveals the very core of God's being, sufficiency, and holiness. God wants to be on a first name basis with us and wants us to come to Him just as we are, in our weakness and incompleteness. When we come before Him, sharing our deepest needs, with honesty and transparency, God then shares His last name, which is based on our current need in life."- Mary Sutherland, Girlfriends in God

Yesterday I had the humbling privilege of speaking in church for our Sunday morning service. Talk about nerve wracking. I've spoken on numerous occasions but in my head, there is something "different" about Sunday morning. Anyway...I talked about finding freedom. My message was entitled "Prison to Freedom, through Praise".



I wanted to share a short snippet of it on praise...and the quote from my GIG devotion this morning fit in so nicely.

Two things happen when we praise:

1. There is a shifting of our gaze (focus) to God: we become like Peter on the water...we can have the mental/emotional/spiritual and even physical strength to move out of the bondages [situations] that have already been unlocked and to move through the gates that have already been opened.
Also, praise helps us to re-align with God and to see a bit how God sees, that is...we get some insight into our situation AFTER we take our eyes off ourselves and look at God.

2. Through praise we establish, reiterate, remind ourselves of who God is, what He has done and what He is doing.

To praise means that we give commendation, accolades, honour to someone or something. We are highlighting a particular characteristic that we admire or like.  The act of praising means that there is a focus off of ourselves and onto the object receiving the praise.

When we praise God, I feel its easy to "get caught up". That is, to begin giving accolades about one characteristic and then easily be reminded that there is something else to give commendation to Him about.

For example, I can't help but to praise God for provision. He is Jehovah Nisse to me. There are so many situations where I know that it was Him who made the way...and in those situations, I can't help but think how He protected me and to be ever grateful that He is omniscient and loves me so much. So I praise Him for being Almighty God (El Shaddai), for being my protector and for being all-knowing (omniscient).  This then reminds me, that He sees everything...and particularly He sees me (El Roi) and my situation and He's working on my behalf. He is my Shepherd (Jehovah Rohi) and being the Good Shepherd, He will always lead me into truth and safety once I trust Him and I can always trust Him because He is faithful and GOOD!!!

Yes, its very easy to change our perspective from doom and gloom and despondency  to one where God becomes bigger and hope can rise and faith can be built!

Whatever your circumstance today, especially if its particularly heavy, sad, discouraging...shift your focus and begin to PRAISE. Recognize what God has already done, what He is doing and what He is about to do!

We were born to praise!

Grace peace and love,
Gia