Thoughts for Life: #3 Celebrating God Through Prayer

~ Alvin Vandergriend- Everyone loves a good celebration. And life gives us plenty of opportunities to celebrate. We celebrate Christmas, the new year, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, victories, and more. But there is no better reason to celebrate than God. (Google image, Time to celebrate.)

To celebrate means "to honor or praise publicly." God deserves honor and praise more than anyone or anything else. The great Scottish preacher Alexander Whyte used to counsel his hearers to "think magnificently of God." People who think magnificently of God, calling to mind His greatness and goodness, cannot help but celebrate God and declare His praise.

We live in a society that delights to celebrate worth. We exalt Super Bowl heroes, we gush over favorite movie stars, and we glory in our nations' victories. Not all of that is bad. But in the process of lifting up and extolling let's not forget the One who is the source of all good things.

To celebrate God means at least three things:

First, it means recognizing God for who He is. God's glory is His majestic splendor shining out so it can be seen and known. When we glorify God, we don't give Him anything. We don't add luster to Him. That's as impossible as it is to add splendor to a sunset by viewing it. But we can gaze in wonder at a sunset, and similarly we can behold in awe the beauty and glory of the Lord.

Second, it means loving God for who He is. This means laying aside our concerns, our demands, and our prayer lists to focus on God and to enjoy Him. Nothing does more to quell pride, self-centeredness, and selfish desires than to focus beyond ourselves on God alone.

Third, celebrating God means giving God the only thing we can offer Him—our loving, praising hearts. He already has everything else. He is totally self-sufficient and needs nothing from us. But God does ask us to give to Him our hearts, our love, and our adoration. When we do, He is pleased and blessed.

Let's pray-

Father, help us take personal time to just think about You and Your goodness and to worship You. May we discover different ways to do that, starting today.

We praise You for Your splendor that we see all around us in all You created, especially the beauty of mountains and their majestic appearances. The flowers, so intricately made, the various animals, birds and all living creatures show us Your beauty and creativeness, for they all came from You, and are by Your design.

Thank You for helping us see your majestic splendor in these creations, and for revealing Your glory to us through them. May we offer heartfelt praise for You and Your living, viewed in all creation. We ask for forgiveness for thinking so little of You!

We pray our prayer today in the Majestic name of Jesus. Amen.

Let's start today by thinking "magnificently of God."

Josh Card's message on Stories and Bricks Excellent! Are there "bricks" of remorse in your past that are hindering you to be all the Lord wants you to be? Listen to Josh's message, and be encouraged to deal with them, so you can move forward without them dragging you down.

Today's Bible verses-

Psalm 145:18 "The LORD is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth."

Psalm 18:6 "But in my distress O cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears."

Isaiah 46:11 “Indeed I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

Quote for today-

~ Mark I. Bubeck- "Satan is always busy manipulating us to doubt God in some way, as he did Eve. He wants us to question God's goodness or wisdom, or some other attribute of His. God's character and attributes are never measured by our circumstances or by the things we see over a short span. If we know God by His attributes as they are divinely revealed in His Word, we will always know that He is loving, good, kind, etc. His very nature means that He could never be anything but what His attributes make Him -- a great God." [p. 109, THE SATANIC REVIVAL]

Words of wisdom-

~ Memories of the past may bring us stories that bless us, but what about today? Are we seeing what happens as new times and circumstances to embrace? As God doesn't change, He is still in control, and we are encouraged to look to Him for new experiences that embrace His goodness and mercies.

Today's guest post-

Butterflies

Diane Furlong

“Look! There’s a butterfly!”

"When we say those words, any person within earshot will turn to look at the butterfly. As the tiny creature glides through the air, we observe them with wonder and awe.

What is it about butterflies that makes them so universally loved? Perhaps it is the beautiful colors on their delicate wings. Or the graceful way they fly from one flower to another. It might be that butterflies suddenly appear at the same time each year when winter turns to spring and flowers have begun to bloom."

Upcoming posts

#4 Does God Need Our Prayers?

29th- Thursday's post by Alvin Vandergriend

Fueled By Fire

31st- Saturday's post by Alyson Kieda

#5 Your Welcome to the Throne

8/3rd- Tuesday's post by Alvin Vandergriend

#6 The Necessity of a Clean Heart

5th- Thursday's post by Alvin Vandergriend

The North Country Christian Fellowship Center Churches,

located in the St. Lawrence county of NY,

broadcast their Sunday services at 10 or 10:15