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God's Words For US
by Cecelia Lester
Praising God
“Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.”
Psalm 89:15 (NIV)
The act of praising God is a learned response. As we learn of his goodness, we feel the need to give back to God. We don’t say “praise the Lord” to impress those around us. We say it because we feel thankful to Him for what He has done for us in our time of stress- emotional, as well as financial- a need, or physical illness.
As we go through life, we walk paths assigned to us. We are not alone as we are on our path, God is with us. Even when our ‘path’ diverts to trying circumstance, God’s presence makes those circumstances easier for us to get through them. However, we don’t have a pass that allows us a life with no problems.
As an experiment, we should mentally ask God if any person we pass in our daily activities- grocery shopping, going into the pharmacy to pick up something, getting gasoline, people we deal with in our jobs. We might find that those people we see are dealing with deep hurts or an illness of a close family member. Then, we should add that person or persons to our prayer list. By doing this, we take those people into the presence of God.
Blameless and Holy
“May he strengthen your hearts so you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.” 1 Thessalonians 3:13 (NIV)
The Apostle Paul states that God will make the Thessalonians and future readers strong so that they, and we, will be innocent and holy when we all come before God when Jesus comes to reign on earth.
What does it mean to be blameless as we stand in God’s presence? Jesus has taken away our sins, every one of them. He looks on us as we have not sinned. (Justified) We are deemed innocent by Jesus. When we go into God’s presence, we are not kept at arm’s length. God beckons us to come closer. He wraps His arms of love around us and draws us up beside Him.
God doesn’t think of us as anything but His children. He speaks words of greeting into our ears. He makes us feel at home because we are. We feel special. He has set us apart for His Kingdom’s work. We have been used of God while we were on earth; we will continue to be used of God when we enter His presence.
Someone may ask us why God does this for us. The only answer that makes any sense is that He loves us that much.
Dear Father:
Thank You for loving us so very much. Thank You for taking away our sin. Lord, we thank You for looking upon us as Your dear children. Please guide us through the tough times and help us to grow in knowledge of You. We give You praise. In the name of Jesus, we pray. AMEN
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Cecelia Lester has been serious about her writing for over two decades..
She composes Christian essays and posts them to her blog quietspirit-followingmyking.blogspot.com/
She has served in a faith-based organization, Grace In Action by writing two newsletters and searching for possible grants.
In July 2017, she published her first book, 'Times of Trouble Bring Rays of Joy.'
She and her husband of 54 years live in central Indiana. They have one grown son.
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