From: Beverly French [frenchb@vcss.k12.ca.us]
Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 6:15 AM
To: Heritage
Subject: October 31 Greetings

"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised..."  Psalm 48:1

Yes, our Lord is to be greatly praised for He is worthy of all of our praises.  Our so loving God has made the way for sinful man to be reconciled with Himself; the very Creator of all things!  Let your mind dwell on the awesomeness of this fact and you can do nothing less than praise and glorify Almighty God.  Praise then becomes the natural expression of our love for Him.

The Lord says in Isaiah 43:21,
"This people I have formed for Myself;
 They shall declare My praise."

Also, in Isaiah we see,
"Sing to the Lord a new song,
 Sing His praise from the end of the earth...
 Let them shout for joy from the tops of the mountains,
 Let them give glory to the Lord,
 And declare His praise in the coastlands."  Isaiah  42:10-12

How shall we give praise?
In song:
"I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart;
 I will tell of all Thy wonders.
 I will be glad and exult in Thee;
 I will sing praise to Thy name, O Most High."  Psalm 9:1-2

With musical instruments:
"Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
 Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings."  Psalm 33:2 And do not forget the list of instruments in Psalm 150:3-5

Universally:
"Let the peoples praise Thee, O God;
 Let all peoples praise Thee."  Psalm 67:3 and 5

Perpetually:
"Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name."  Hebrews 13:15

Notice our praise is to be continual, that means in good times and hard times!  For as we see in Isaiah 61:3 we have been given: "...A garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness..."

What happens when we start praising?
Our focus is on God.
We remind ourselves that He is sovereign.
We count His wonderful blessings.
We remember that He works all things to good for those who love Him. Then remembering these things, our hearts are filled with joy and we can do nothing but glorify our God..

1 Peter 2:9-10 gives this glorious reason,
"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of  God..."

And above all else we praise Almighty God because He is God and all praise, honor and glory belongs to Him alone!

Therefore, let us glorify God with our praises as we sing the Doxology: "Praise God from whom all blessings flow,  Praise Him all creatures here below,  Praise Him above ye heavenly host,  Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost!  Amen