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Saturday, January 22, 2022
Scripture Series: Full of His Glory Card---It's Anything/Inspirational Goes Challenge Happening at Word Art Wednesday!
Thursday, January 6, 2022
Scripture Series: Praises Unto My God Card---Join Us for our First Challenge in 2022, Inspirational/Anything Goes at Word Art Wednesday!
Hi there, Crafty friends! HAVE A BLESSED AND GLORIOUS NEW YEAR TO ALL! We have a new Challenge happening at Word Art Wednesday (WAW). As always, we feature a Scripture Word Art that you can download for free at the WAW site. So, our inspiration Scripture for this Challenge that I featured in my card below comes from Psalm 146:2 which says, "While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being."
"While I am still alive, I will sing praises unto my God." This is what resonated with me as I read our highlighted verse and the whole chapter of Psalm 146. Praise is defined as "the expression of approval or admiration for someone or something." By this, we can say that Biblical praise takes place when Christians (Born-again, John 3:3) express gratitude and respect (reverence) towards God, most commonly in a song. Gotquestions.org shared this article on the importance of praising God. It says, "When we consider the reasons why we should praise God, we find a list of His attributes. He is full of glory (Psalm 138:5), great (Psalm 145:3), wise and powerful (Daniel 2:20), good (Psalm 107:8), merciful and faithful (Psalm 89:1), and much more. This list of attributes is complemented by a list of His wonderful works. He is the One who saves us (Psalm 18:46), keeps His promises (1 Kings 8:56), pardons sin (Psalm 103:1-3), and gives us our daily food (Psalm 136:25). To try to list all the things God has done is impossible, but it is a wonderful exercise because it turns our hearts back to Him and keeps us mindful of how much we owe to Him. Psalm 148:1-10 tells us that all of creation is commanded to give praise to God. Praise is a vital part of a life surrendered to God, and it gives credit where credit is due. “O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! (Psalm 107:8)"
The Scripture told us in Genesis 2:7 how God made man into His image and likeness and even went to the extent of breathing unto us the breath of life. Revelation 4:11 says, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” Other things were created through God's spoken word. But we were different! He formed us from the dust with His own hands and gave us a portion of Himself---His breath, His life! We're His masterpiece! He wanted us to walk with Him, rely upon Him in a love relationship between a Father and His children as He entrusted us with authority to rule the earth (with all the animals and plants in it) like He ruled the heavens. We are to follow God's order and example. But everything changed when mankind fell into Sin. People became greedy and rebellious and their evil hearts desired to dominate not only the things of this world but each other too which gave birth to war, chaos and all sorts of unrighteousness. We no longer seek to worship God as our hearts succumb to deception and spiritual blindness which led us to worship things God created than He who created it all!
Why do you think God despises idolatry? Because it is framed upon a lie! Isaiah 42:8-9 says, “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.” Giving honor and glory to something that would not exist without its Source---a Designer I should say, is like being lost in the beauty of a painting without recognizing the artist. So those worshiping the beauty of nature with its sun, moon and stars and admonishing these (created) things to be responsible for a good harvest or your existence is an abomination in the sight of the Lord. A successful businessman attributing his success primarily to his own talents and abilities is a travesty. We have to recognize that it is God who sustains us (supplies our every need) and that without Him, we would not exist. The world and everything in it answers only to God, who designed everything solely for His purpose. It is by Him, through Him and for Him alone that they function! As much as we desire to receive all the credit for our labor, we don't have the right to do so. God is Truth, He is Holy and Righteous! He wouldn't tolerate anyone/anything that would like to take the glory that only belongs to Him. Psalm 29:2 clearly says, "Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty and majesty of His holiness [as the creator and source of holiness]."
As a child of the Most High God, I am so grateful for the gift of salvation that Jesus Christ imputed on me. Because I completely trusted in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross, I no longer identify with man's fallen nature as the Father received me (justification by faith) and set me apart (sanctification by faith) for His purpose as if the Fall of Man never happened. Since then, I recognized the Only One that deserves all of the glory, all of the honor and all of the praise---He is Jesus Christ, my Savior! He has done so many great things in my life that I could sing praises for His glory not only here on earth but throughout eternity. I would like to share what My Life Application Bible wrote about Psalms 146 to 150 as it truly blessed me. It says, "These last five psalms overflow with praise. Each begins and ends with "Praise the Lord." They show us where, why and how to praise God. What does praise do? (1) Praise takes our minds of our problems and shortcomings, and focuses them on God. (2) Praise leads us from individual meditation to corporate worship. (3) Praise causes us to consider and appreciate God's character. (4) Praise lifts our perspective from the earthly to the heavenly. (5) Praise prepares our hearts to receive God's love and the power of the Holy Spirit." Wow, just wow! Whose ready to praise the Lord with me? See VIDEO at the end.
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