- July 2008 -

July 22nd

*Psalm 100

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise…” Lately, this portion of scripture has been something that has been coming to mind every time I bow my head to pray. When approaching the throne of God, as important as my requests are to Him, I find I must first begin by thanking my creator and my king for all things, knowing that it is only by his power and his grace that I am even able to approach him.

Life gets busy, and unexpected things happen. At the first sign of a need or an issue, my instinct is to ask God for help. Although I realize that this instinct to pursue God is good, I often times forget in those times how good, faithful, and loving he is. I have found that by beginning my times with the Lord with gratitude in my heart and praise on my lips, it has helped me to right my heart before our God…to see things more clearly and to allow the Holy Spirit to work in me.

God knows our needs…he knows everything about us and what we are going through, but just as a human desires affirmation, so does our father in heaven. We are very good at asking God for things and our expectations of him are often high, yet amidst all of this, how often do we take the time to thank him for this undeserved life and the blessings that come with it? How often do we pursue God just to say “thank you…I am nothing without you”?

God has a plan and a purpose for all of us, and in that, he works everything out for the good of those who love him, remembering that God’s good may not necessarily be the same as what we imagine would be good for us. It is great to know that God is for me regardless of what I do for him. May we always attempt to give God the glory, the honor, and the praise he so much deserves.

Thank you, God, for your amazing faithfulness to us…your children. We love you and desire to know you the way you want to be known. Thank you that we can approach you anytime, anywhere, with anything. We ask you this day to help us to praise you more and more in all that we do. In the name of Jesus…Amen.