Day 1: Praise Him

Hey, everyone! As you may know, my husband is a Worship Arts minister at our church and this week he is sharing a 5-part devotional online Monday-Friday on the subject of being blessed. I hadn’t planned on sharing the posts but after reading today’s message I wanted to share it with you guys! I will be posting them here every night for the rest of the week (M-F). 

God wants everyone in creation to live a blessed life. It is part of His plan for creation. In scripture, there are many layers to being ‘blessed’. To live ‘blessed’ includes things like living happy, prosperous and enjoying an abundant life. Over the next several days, I will lay out this idea and what it means to live ‘blessed by God’ regardless of your current circumstances.

The Bible is full of people that I consider to be heroes. Looking at the Old Testament specifically, there is a wide range of characters. However, there is one that really stands out to me. I love his outlook on life and his thinking. His name isn’t mentioned but he loves by Bible principles and in Psalm 112 we read how God’s blessing orbits his life. I believe that by looking at this blessed man of Psalm 112 and applying some key principles of how he lives his life, we too can live a blessed life.

The first thing this Psalm begins with is a statement of praise, “Praise the Lord!” Having a blessed life has to begin with a relationship with God. And from that relationship an attitude of praise and thankfulness will develop. We learn from Scripture that we express our thanks to God by acts of worship. You see, worship is not just a ritualistic act that we do on Sunday morning at a church service. It’s not an obligation. Worship is a heartfelt response of honor and respect to God. It can and should be included in our lives wherever we are and whatever we are doing. Worship is more than church on Sunday morning – it is a way of life.

Is there anything that is weighing on your heart today? There is a numerous amount of things that can bring us down day to day. But when we readjust our focus from our problems to the Solution, it is amazing how our outlook on everything will begin to change. Don’t get me wrong – living a blessed life with God doesn’t mean that troubles won’t come your way, but we can live through those seasons of life knowing that God is always good and that we are truly blessed – even in the most difficult of times.

We have to remember that God is not some distant being. He is a close, loving God. He is ever-living and all powerful. And the greatest thing is that no matter what comes our way, we can always be confident in our God. However, living a blessed life requires us to make choices in how we live our lives. So today, take your first step towards this – lift up your voice and praise God!