Wednesday, June 19, 2024
Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Romans 12:1
Praise Him With Your Whole Life Submitted by Ethan Cook
God deserves our praise in all things, in all seasons, at all times. He is a faithful, promise-keeping, and never changing God. Our circumstances are changing all the time, but God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes and remains true to his character and attributes throughout all time. He is always deserving of our praise and the true way to worship and praise God is with our whole life.
Before we even begin to praise God, we must worship Him by surrendering all we are. Part of the beauty that's found in a corporate worship service is the melting pot of individual voices lifting up praise to our Father, a harmony that becomes discordant when our selfish wills supercede that of the Lords. If the condition of our hearts is hardened towards God, then we cannot praise Him. Worship and praise have become synonymous to the average church-goer, but in reality one precedes the other; we must worship God with all we are before we can praise Him.
How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How joyful is a person whom the Lord does not charge with iniquity and in whose spirit is no deceit! When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was drained as in the summer’s heat. Selah Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah Psalm 32:1-5
If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8-9
Anytime we aren’t living fully surrendered, we are living apart from God and repentance is needed. As we see here in this psalm David speaks of the suffering caused by unconfessed sin and a rebellious heart and in 1 John 1:9, we see the way to remedy such a state. God meets us in our sinful states and cleanses us of our unrighteousness. He ushers us back into a place where we can truly praise Him. If we are living fully surrendered, then our lives should be marked by obedience. Conversely, one way we can tell our hearts have shifted from surrendered to rebellious is the presence of sin we aren’t willing to acknowledge or fight.
In order for us to genuinely praise God, our hearts must be surrendered to Him. The greatest version of our lives is the version where we are fully submitted to the Father. The Master Painter analogy is one I like to often think about. Imagine our lives as a blank canvas waiting to be filled out. At first, we have the paint brush in our hands and are doing our best at creating a masterpiece, however due to our sinful nature all we can do is fail. When God comes into our lives it’s as if a Master Painter has asked for the paint brush so that He can show us how it should be done. We have to willfully give up our paint brush, and when we do, the Master Painter creates for us a beautiful masterpiece. He even goes so far to turn the caveman scribbles of our attempts at painting into something beautiful. It is in this state of surrender that we can truly see God at work in our lives and give Him praise for all he does.
Are you living surrendered and praising God with your whole life?
Do you need to repent and reconcile your heart to him so that you can?
What are some things you can change so that you are praising him with your whole life?
An attribute of God is something true about him. Here are some attributes of God from Got Questions. Spend some time today focusing on who God is and what kind of God he is: He is all these things and so much more. Surrender and give him
· God is eternal, meaning He had no beginning and His existence will never end.
· God is immutable, meaning He is unchanging.
· God is incomparable; there is no one like Him in works or being.
· God is just; He is no respecter of persons in the sense of showing favoritism,
· God is omnipotent; He is all-powerful and can do anything that pleases Him,
· God is holy; separated from all moral defilement and hostile toward it.
· God is righteous, meaning that God cannot and will not pass over wrongdoing.
God is one; not only is there no other, but He is alone in being able to meet the deepest needs and longings of our hearts. God alone is worthy of our worship and devotion.
