Praise

Looking Ahead – Following Behind

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Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” Mark 10:9

For those of you following my 12 gifts of Christmas series you might be wondering; “Aren’t we getting our 12th gift today?” Sorry! You cannot open your 12th gift until Christmas Eve! It is scheduled for noon tomorrow so have some hot chocolate and Christmas cookies and be patient. I confess with my wife away caring for her sister I am sometime having an extra cookie right after breakfast! But enough family talk – let’s take a closer look at today’s verse.

Most of us connect Jesus’ riding into Jerusalem on a donkey to Palm Sunday and the Easter season But it is also a key here for every day; whether it is Christmas, Easter or the 4th of July. Remember Jesus teaches us to pray by starting with “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done.” And how else does His kingdom come but humbly riding in on a donkey every morning of our lives?

So as you begin your busy day, so close to Christmas, remember that This is still the – Day that the LORD HAS MADE. We can rejoice like those people did who went ahead of Jesus as He came riding into the city that morning 2,000 years ago. Just like them, we don’t know yet what Jesus might be doing today; but we can give him praise because we believe it will be great!

Then, tonight as we lay our heads on our pillows we can be like those other folks who followed behind Jesus and we can look back and say; “Hosanna! What a blessed day Jesus has given!” We will probably never understand all the details of His plan even for a single day. What we can do is to give Him praise as our day begins and ends. Have a blessed day! What you can give God praise for today?

Worshipping our Maker and Shepherd

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Come let us now down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, for He is our God and we are the flock under His care. Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts… Psalm 95:6-8a NIV

First thing every morning I make my coffee, find my Bible and sit in the same chair to pray. But commendable as it is to be consistent, real worship isn’t about the position or our words. Worship begins instead only as we listen with softened hearts, ready to hear what God has to say.

He is our Creator. All we are and have came from Him. He never asks us to give anything that didn’t come from His hands.

He is our Shepherd. We belong to Him and He will never lead us anywhere that He will not go. Our Good Shepherd has committed Himself to His sheep and true worship is simply a reflection of His great love! So this morning without fear or second thoughts let’s give Him praise!

Behold Our God

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I was so moved by this simple yet powerful song from the Weaver family and friends. It starts a bit slowly but if you stay with it all the way through you will be singing along by the end. God bless you on this special day of rest and worship.