March 08, 2010
Numbers 6:24–26 - "May the LORD bless you and keep you. May the LORD show you his kindness and have mercy on you. May the LORD watch over you and give you peace."
May the LORD.
A phrase I hear all the time (and just really irritates me) is, "I feel so blessed." It's usually said in a rather flippant type way. I think what irritates me is where the emphasis is put or implied. "I" feel so blessed. Or, another way to say it is, look at what God has done for me! That is what irritates me. Being thankful for God's blessings should not be a means of bringing attention to ourselves. Our thankfulness and praise should be directing people towards who is worthy of the praise—God.
May the LORD - bless you and keep you.
May the LORD - show you HIS kindness and have mercy on you.
May the LORD - watch over you and give you peace.
Blessings come from the LORD. It is NOT because of "me/us." He is the One! He is the One who blesses, keeps, shows kindness, has mercy, watches over us and gives us peace. Something is wrong if we are saying "I" and "me." It is the LORD! He is the One. If our praise to God is placing praise upon ourselves instead of pointing people to Him "from whom all blessings flow" then we better take a deeper look at our own lives and priorities. The single most important thing Jane taught us is found in the first scripture she told us to read—Psalm 150. "Praise the Lord."
There is a difference between "praising God" and "thanking God," and for many years we failed to understand the difference.
Praising God: the act of acknowledging who God is and praising Him for it. This has nothing to do with us. Psalm 8 - "who is man..." It has everything to do with who He is. He is God, the maker of heaven and earth and all creation. He deserves our unending praise because of who He is. And, He deserves it first, before anything else. It puts Exodus 20:3-4 into practice. Everything else falls into place when we get this right. i.e. Faith and trust. These are so much easier to "do" when you begin to get a glimpse of the awesomeness of who God is through praise.
Thanking God: the act of acknowledging what God has done. If you are not careful the focus can become what God has done for me instead of what God has done! When we are praising God for who He is first, then thanking Him for what He has done, it becomes an extension of WHO HE IS!
It is ALL about HIM.
Next Entry: Numbers 7:1 – 9:14
Numbers 6:24–26 - "May the LORD bless you and keep you. May the LORD show you his kindness and have mercy on you. May the LORD watch over you and give you peace."
May the LORD.
A phrase I hear all the time (and just really irritates me) is, "I feel so blessed." It's usually said in a rather flippant type way. I think what irritates me is where the emphasis is put or implied. "I" feel so blessed. Or, another way to say it is, look at what God has done for me! That is what irritates me. Being thankful for God's blessings should not be a means of bringing attention to ourselves. Our thankfulness and praise should be directing people towards who is worthy of the praise—God.
May the LORD - bless you and keep you.
May the LORD - show you HIS kindness and have mercy on you.
May the LORD - watch over you and give you peace.
Blessings come from the LORD. It is NOT because of "me/us." He is the One! He is the One who blesses, keeps, shows kindness, has mercy, watches over us and gives us peace. Something is wrong if we are saying "I" and "me." It is the LORD! He is the One. If our praise to God is placing praise upon ourselves instead of pointing people to Him "from whom all blessings flow" then we better take a deeper look at our own lives and priorities. The single most important thing Jane taught us is found in the first scripture she told us to read—Psalm 150. "Praise the Lord."
There is a difference between "praising God" and "thanking God," and for many years we failed to understand the difference.
Praising God: the act of acknowledging who God is and praising Him for it. This has nothing to do with us. Psalm 8 - "who is man..." It has everything to do with who He is. He is God, the maker of heaven and earth and all creation. He deserves our unending praise because of who He is. And, He deserves it first, before anything else. It puts Exodus 20:3-4 into practice. Everything else falls into place when we get this right. i.e. Faith and trust. These are so much easier to "do" when you begin to get a glimpse of the awesomeness of who God is through praise.
Thanking God: the act of acknowledging what God has done. If you are not careful the focus can become what God has done for me instead of what God has done! When we are praising God for who He is first, then thanking Him for what He has done, it becomes an extension of WHO HE IS!
It is ALL about HIM.
Next Entry: Numbers 7:1 – 9:14
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