Words to Live By... praise

“...I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1).

The word of the week is PRAISE.  Since God inhabits the praise of His children (See Psalm 22:3 KJV), that's reason enough to praise Him, inviting His presence and power into our pain or into our joy. 

It's interesting to note that the Psalmist declared an intentional and continual act of praise, blessing the Lord at all times. And yet, a look at the definition of continual (as compared to continuous) shows us that continual praise means frequent, often, and occurring at regular intervals whereas continuous means without ceasing. Somehow i am comforted by that distinction. It's almost as though the Lord gives us permission to pause, catch our breath, ask some hard questions, and then choose to trust Him and praise Him rather than expecting our praise to flow continuously. After all, it's sometimes a challenge to praise Him when we're hurting or watching someone we love walk through a dark valley, right? Although we may not be able to praise Him FOR the circumstances or the pain, we can praise Him for being WITH us at all times.

It also helps to remember that "Nothing too good or too bad lasts too long."  Our joys may seem fleeting and our trials seem forever, but in reality, they cycle through our lives like the seasons. We can certainly praise the Lord for the change of seasons!

For other ways to activate the word PRAISE in your lives, please join Linda and Dalene on their Weekly Words to Live By Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/weeklywordstoliveby/ and in their Words to Live By book, pages 127-132.  

we are loved and chosen by God,

may we live like we believe it,

veneal