Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: faith

His Name Is Praised

Encouragement

My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord , And all flesh shall bless His holy name Forever and ever.
Psalms 145:21

Did you know that God will take what Satan intended for evil and make it good? That is how good our God is!

Sometimes it seems like when we get closer to God is when the spiritual battles occur in our life. But that is when Satan tries his best to make you stumble.

If you are not facing Satan’s opposition it may be because you are not doing anything for the Lord. When you boldly praise the Lord and live righteously for Him, Satan will attack like never before. Be on guard!

Satan’s strategy is to defeat you but God is there to empower you and lift you up. He will give you strength in times of weakness and grace to overcome any opposition.

God will be praised by those who truly seek Him and follow Him. His name will be blessed and honored by people who trust in Him for all things. His name is on the tip of our tongue all the day long.

If you were to have a recording of everything you said yesterday, what percentage of your speech was praise to the Lord? Was the majority of your words used to glorify God?

We need to be more attentive in speaking praise of the Lord. We are to bless His holy name all the day long. If we were to speak more praise we would be full of His joy. Praise the Lord today and watch what happens.

Pray

Lord, I praise and honor You with all of my heart, soul, and mind. Your wonderful works bless me and keep me strengthened. Let me see Your glory today.

Heaven Bound

Encouragement

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1 Peter 1:3

Peter was writing to a group of believers who were being persecuted for their faith in Jesus. They were facing rejection and severe hatred from the world around them.  So Peter began his letter encouraging them to endure the difficult times that they will face in this world.

Perhaps one of the best solutions of how to deal with difficult living is to look toward our heavenly future. This serves not only as encouragement but as a promise from God.  Troubles in this life are temporary and small compared to eternity in Heaven.

We all need to be reminded from time to time that we will suffer trials in order to build stronger faith.  So we need to view our suffering and trials as good things and keep glorifying God through it all.  

In the Old Testament, Job is one of the best examples of suffering as he kept on praising and worshipping God.  He never lost faith and he never stopped worshipping God.

Suffering should never direct you away from worshipping God.  Instead it should draw you to Him.

As Christians our inheritance is Heaven.  All of Heaven!  As children of God we are given eternal life that is free from sin and full of grace.  

It is hard for us to comprehend what life in Heaven will be like but Paul says it best, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Pray

Lord, show me what I need to learn through my sufferings. Let my trials and difficulties bring me closer to You. Help me to see a heavenly perspective.

All Praise To God

Encouragement, Trust

Where there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?
Luke 17:18

Luke 17:11-19 tells the story of a marvelous miracle of Jesus healing ten men from the dreadful disease of leprosy.  Luke tells that there were ten healed physically, but only one was healed spiritually.  Jesus used this event to open the eyes of the spiritual blinded especially the priests.

Leprosy was associated among the people as a curse on mankind.  Lepers were the most miserable people.  Their physical pain was awful enough but they also endured complete isolation from family and friends.  

By law they were considered outcasts and remained so until their death because there was no cure.  And that is where we find these ten men, standing afar off, as Jesus passed through their village. As soon as they saw Him, they lifted their weak and raspy voices and cried out for mercy and help.  

Luke doesn’t tell us that Jesus heard them but rather He saw them.  With great compassion and mercy Jesus sent them to the priests in order to fulfill the Levitical law of healing.  And as they walked toward the temple they were all healed of the deadly disease.

Verse 15 is the climax of the story.  One of them, when he saw he was healed, returned and worshiped Jesus.  With thanksgiving in his heart and praise in his voice, the Samaritan received the spiritual blessing of salvation because of his faith.  The other men didn’t consider Jesus as God.  They were healed but not saved.

We should always be thankful for our physical blessings but we certainly show our gratitude to Jesus for saving our souls.  We do so through faithfully worshipping and serving Christ and showing compassion and forgiveness to all people.  If the only blessing we received was salvation, it is enough.  All other blessings are extra benefits.

Is there something God has done for you and you didn’t praise Him for it? Take a moment and praise Him.

Pray

Lord, I thank You for giving me spiritual insight.  I confess You as my Savior and I worship You only. I give You glory and honor for who You are.