A Reason To Praise!!

As I look at the world around me, there is some really hard stuff going on right now...  Japan is at the top of that list...  My heart just breaks for what the people of that nation are having to live through, especially in the areas hit hardest by the tsunami...  but as I watch news reports, my heart also aches for the people of Li*b*ya...  To live in fear under such an oppressive, evil regime...  To fight with all you have to be set free...  I can't imagine a day to day life like that...

And yet (and this is not where I had planned to go with this blog, but wow... what a parallel!!)...  That is such a picture of the spiritual regime that the world is under, apart from Christ!!  There is a very real enemy who oppresses...  enslaves... seeks to kill and destroy...  and people will fight him a million different ways to try and escape...  food, alcohol, shopping, promiscuity, pornography, even tv...  But here's the thing...  Just like the re*bels fighting in L*ya...  On our own, we just don't have the weapons to win...  But all is not lost, with Jesus, victory is already won...  It may not look like it some days... maybe alot of days...  But we have got to learn to live in the truth of what's already been accomplished on the cross!!  Jesus WON!!  We He arose on the 3rd day, He defeated sin and death, once and for all!!  Now that's a reason to praise...

But I had another reason this morning too...  It's where I originally planned to go with this post... I read Psalm 100...

"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.  Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.  Know that the Lord is God.  It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.  Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.  For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations."

What an awesome Psalm...  Because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross, we belong to God!!  We are His people...  His treasured possession!!  No matter what is happening in our lives, we can still praise Him because we can trust His faithfulness and His love!!

When I think about our Great and Mighty God, comparing Himself to a shepherd...  WOW... a dirty, nasty job... yet the shepherd loved his sheep... he would do whatever he could for them... and that's the image that God gives us of Himself...  AMAZING!!

I know life can be so hard, but keep your eyes on THE Shepherd... He loves you beyond anything you can imagine... He is faithful, no matter what the circumstances might look like...  and He is victorious!!  He paid with His life to buy us back from the enemy...  What more reason do we need to praise!!

Have a GREAT weekend...