LET'S GIVE GOD GLORY

Psalm 44:8 O God, we give glory to you all day long and constantly praise your name.

It's very easy when talking to people to join in with all the doom and gloom and go over all the 'wrong' things going on in the world. But our Psalmist has a different approach because he wants to give God glory all day long, and I thought what a wise man!

He wants to recount all the things God has done and will do for us. v.5 Only by your power can we push back our enemies, only in your name can we trample our foes. v.6 I do not trust in my bow; I do not count on my sword to save me. v.7 You are the one who gives us victory over our enemies; you disgrace those who hate us.

This man had learned the importance of putting all his hopes and focus on God Himself,  and he'd learned a thing or two about praise too.

v.8 O God, we ...constantly praise your name. We know praise defeats the enemy at every turn  and there is power in constantly praising the name of our Wonderful Saviour, our Great Deliverer. It moves our focus from our problems to our Problem Solver.

So rather than us all going on about what's 'wrong' let's try and remember to turn it round and constantly praise our God for what's good and what's lovely, because only He has the power to change the unlovely and He deserves all the glory.

Have a blessed week.

ENCOURAGEMENT THROUGH FORGIVENESS

Philemon v.20 Yes, my brother, please do me this favor for the Lord's sake. Give me this encouragement in Christ. Nlt

The Apostle Paul is writing to Philemon who was wealthy enough to have a slave called Onesimus who had run away from him. Somehow Paul had met Onesimus while in chains and this young man had become a Christian through Paul's teaching. Now Paul was asking Philemon to forgive his slave because he wasn't just a slave anymore but was now a beloved brother in the Lord and of a great help to Paul in prison. He was asking Philemon to welcome back his slave as though he was Paul himself!

We know Paul as a great man of God who wrote a huge chunk of the New Testament, who went through shipwrecks, recovered from beatings and just seemed such a hero of the faith. But here we find Paul is now an old man and we see a side of him that reveals how much he needed encouragement just as much as we do. 

I take heart from that because God knows we all need encouragement in our walk with Him, especially when things are hard, no matter how long we've been walking with Him. We all need each other, to show the love of God to one another, even when we'd rather not forgive those who've wronged us or someone else, or even someone who has now passed on. 

Paul reminds him that God forgave him so would he now please be willing to forgive this man for the Lord's sake. It would encourage Paul if he knew his friend would forgive. 

Is there anyone we need to forgive for the Lord's sake because He's forgiven us? Is there anyone we can show some encouragement to today in some shape or form?

Let's be a people who show kindness, who listen, who are there for those who are hurting, who are willing to forgive and who want to find ways to encourage others in the coming days. 

Have a lovely weekend.