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Devotion for Wednesday, April 29
SINGING AND DANCING
Give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
talk of all His wondrous works!
1 Chronicles 16:8-9
Do you remember that old song that says, "If you're happy and you know it, then your life will surely show it"? I think that should be the theme song for Christians everywhere. Why? Because we know Jesus!
We are told to praise God in the good times as well as in the bad times - to praise him with everything we have, to honor him with singing and dancing. We are to clap our hands, stomp our feet, and shout hurrah so we can show the world the joy we find in the Lord. And, except for the few people we may scare off by our enthusiasm, our joy will be contagious. It is infectious. It's impossible to resist. Even God himself is drawn to us when we praise him with all our being.
This means we can and should praise God right now - even though we may be suffering from "cabin fever", when we haven't seen our friends and family for what seems like forever, when the news keeps telling us that we need to have fear - that's when we need to praise God. God deserves our praise!
Honestly, that's almost too much for my poor little mind to grasp. But I do know with all my being that when I sing praises to God, something is happening in heaven. I know that because my spirit gets relief, my emotions change from negative to positive, my mind feels inspired to think more wisely, my heart is guarded from the pain and the fear I might otherwise experience, my physical body relaxes, and I enter into His presence knowing that His loving arms are wrapped around me.
Singing praises to our heavenly Father is good medicine!
Let us pray: Dear God, help us to always have a heart full of gratitude - even in the hard times - especially in the hard times! Amen.
Pastor Ruth
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