July 7 Joy Has a Language Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing; for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:15,16, NASB I will never forget what the Lord has done for me. Every one of us has a testimony. If we have been set free and delivered from sin in our lives, we should be exuberant in our praise and thanksgiving to God. Joy was one of the first Christian characteristics that welled up in my life after receiving Christ as Savior. It was hard to explain. It was joy unspeakable. All I could do was lift my hands and glorify God through enthusiastic praise. I have learned the same lesson Matthew Henry taught more than 200 years ago. Let us be much in the exercise of holy joy, and employ ourselves much in praise. Joy is in the heart of praise, and praise is the language of joy. Let us engage ourselves to these. God has made joy and praise our duty. All the other parts of our duty to God will be pleasant to us when we abound ourselves in joy and praise towards God. Let us not crowd our spiritual joys into a corner of our hearts, nor our thankful praises into a corner of our prayers, but give scope and vent to both. Let us live a life of delight in God, and love to think of Him as we do of one whom we love and value. If we truly value our relationship with God, if we honestly esteem Him as the Savior of our soul, if He is the one who has set us free, then the most natural response should be the praise of our lips. Joshua 9; Psalms 140-141 Jeremiah 3; Matthew 17 ~Steve Hill
Posted on: Sun, 07 Jul 2013 10:55:53 +0000