Date: Thursday,
July 09, 2015
Chapters: Psalms
146-150
Message Title: Praise Him Anyway

Hello
My Friend,

There are times in our lives, even when we are
faithful to God, that we get grumpy and are not so pleased with what
is going on. We tend to pray and even thank God for what He has
blessed us with, but we still have a bad attitude. Can I tell you
that not only does God see our attitude, so does everyone else, even
if we are not being mean to anyone, our countenance is just not the
same, and people notice. What do we do with our grumpy attitudes? We
praise God. Praise Him when we are happy, praise Him when we are sad,
praise Him when we are content, and praise Him when we are
discontent. “Praise ye the LORD. Praise God
in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise
him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent
greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with
the psaltery and harp. Let every thing that hath breath praise the
LORD. Praise ye the LORD.” - Psalms 150:1-3,6.

When
you walk the Christian life you can truly see the hand of God in
every part of your life, He really gets us through every challenge we
face. However, when we seem to keep going around in circles or
hitting obstacles every step we take we can become discontent with
things, which brings the grumpy attitude. We cannot always control
our emotions, but we can control how we handle them. When I get
grumpy and start complaining about everyone and everything that I get
near, God is faithful to remind me that He is not too happy with my
attitude. “Praise ye the LORD. Praise the
LORD, O my soul. While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing
praises unto my God while I have any being. Put not your trust in
princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath
goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts
perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose
hope is in the LORD his God:” - Psalms 146:1-5.

People
are going to let us down, things are not going to comfort us for too
long, and eventually it's all going to crash on us if we do not get a
handle on our attitude. Did you ever notice when you have a bad
attitude how everything bothers you and you take it out on other
people? Did you ever notice that you do not always make the right
judgment on things either? We have to learn to be content where we
are. No, God does not want us to stay the way we are, but if we do
not find contentment in what we already have, why would God give us
what we really want? When we learn to be content where we are, God
will show up. “Not that I speak in respect of
want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be
content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound:
every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to
be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me.” - Philippians
4:11-13.

I get it, walking with God you learn to depend on
God, and when it seems like everything you are doing is not enough,
and you are still not where you want to be, that's when we need to
really praise Him. We do not realize what God is actually doing when
He gives us a little glimpse of hope, then another challenge to face,
He's preparing us and making us ready to receive what we have been
longing for. “Praise ye the LORD: for it is
good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is
comely. The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the
outcasts of Israel. He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up
their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all
by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his
understanding is infinite. The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth
the wicked down to the ground. Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving;
sing praise upon the harp unto our God:” - Psalms
147:1-7.

The majority of the time, God makes us wait for
things simply because our heart is not right. Whether we carry some
bitterness or resentment from the past, or grief that we cannot let
go of, God wants our heart right before He gives it to us. Think
about it, when you heart is not right do you take joy in things that
you are being blessed with already? If you are like me, sometimes we
forget how blessed we are when all we think about is what we do not
have. We have to mend our heart before God will give us what we
desire, and the only one who can mend our heart is God. When we
praise God with a broken heart, He will turn things around, and we
will see things moving once again. “And
hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts
before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our
heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not,
then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive
of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that
are pleasing in his sight.” - 1 John 3:19-22.

We
must realize that God loves us, He knows everything about us, our
wants, our needs, our desires, after all He made us. I often ask God
why He taught me something or gave me some gift if He didn't want me
to use it. Now, God gives us all our skills and talents for His
glory, so, if we are going to use them merely to satisfy the flesh we
can be sure that He's not going to be happy with us using them.
However, if God gets the glory, such as getting a great job or
business going, a wonderful relationship, or the recognition you
deserve you can be sure that He will let you use them. We are to
praise Him when things are going our way, and when they are being
challenged. “Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto
the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.
Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be
joyful in their King. Let them praise his name in the dance: let them
sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. For the LORD taketh
pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. Let
the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.
Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword
in their hand;” - Psalms 149:1-6.

When we praise
God in the midst of our challenges, it is likely that we not only
change our grumpy attitude, we give hope to others as well. We are
going to face lots of challenges to get the things we are after, as
long as we keep praising Him, we have hope, as long as we have hope,
we will get everything we need and desire. “Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not
only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation
worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And
hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” -
Romans 5:1-5.

Today's Prayer:
God, I know it's not healthy being grumpy, all it does is put hatred
and doubt in our heads, and the more it accumulates the worse we get.
I do not want to be grumpy, but life's challenges seem to make me
that way. Then You remind me that my attitude is not acceptable and
when I stop to think about things I have to laugh at how silly I was
being. You know what's best for me, You are preparing great things
for me while I endure these challenges, and You are expecting me to
praise You right now. I praise You God, for all that You are, for
mending my broken heart piece by piece, for You mercy and grace, and
for Your love for me. In Jesus' name. Amen.

God Bless
You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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