Friday March 16, 2012

Read Deuteronomy 8:10-18

 

We said it before and we’ll probably say it again. God hates pride. But how can you and I fight off pride?

 

Verse 10 gives one way of dealing with potential pride - praise the Lord.

 

When we offer genuine praise to God we are putting both Him and ourselves in their proper perspective. Praise is a public acknowledgement that all that we have achieved or all that we have is from God. When we praise God we are reminding our selves and each other of God’s active involvement and provision in our lives. Praising God is an act of humility where we put God in His rightful place.

 

As vs 12-14 show, an absence of praise allows pride to grow and develop.  The glory and honour that should naturally go to the Lord will flow onto someone else, usually ourselves. If we are not praising God then we will be looking at our own power, our own strength, our own intelligence, our own ingenuity and we’ll lap up the praise and adoration.

 

Let us develop an attitude of gratitude. Let us work at giving genuine praise to God at every possible opportunity. After meals or before them, it’s easy to praise God for His provision.  When we are blessed with wealth, we can praise God. When things things go well we can sing God’s praises.  But we need to develop this ability to include even the rough times, the slippery slopes of life and the trials and temptations.  At all times our praises and adorations need to be genuine and from the heart. As a general rule, don’t praise God for anything that you’re not genuinely thankful for. There is nothing more insulting and off putting than half hearted praises. Initially it may seem contrived and fake but pretty soon you’ll be praising God and singing His glories in everything. Like any new skill or ability it requires practice and work. Why not practice today. Start praising God.
Prayer:

¥ Think of 10 things that you can praise God for since yesterday. Spend a few minutes thanking and praising God for each one.

¥ Praise God for 10 believers in your congregation. Tell God why you are praising Him for these believers.

¥ Pray for our elders. Ask God to bless these men with wisdom and a deep love and understanding of the Word of God. Pray that these men will apply the Word firstly to themselves and then that they would help us apply it to our own lives.

¥ Pray too that all our cell leaders would be equipped to lead cell and to pastor/shepherd the people in their cell. Pray that they would be wise in managing and juggling time, family commitments etc.