Praising God is so delightful! This kid had it right! Jesus is awesome! We cannot say it enough! He is so loving, kind, big and warm and peaceful! He is everything to us! We read all over the Bible about how good He is, and see His love in nature. We see His heart in people, as they help each other and look to Him! One of my favorite passages is, "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love live in God, and God in them" (1 John 4:16). God loves us and sent His Only Son to die so that we don't have to! He desires to be in love with us, and has made us completely close to Him. Just with childlike faith in Jesus, we are in a right relationship with God and others! This calls for praise!
Well, why don't we praise Him then all the time all day!? This kid had it right, because He was celebrating! And He was celebrating because God is here! "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means "God with us")" (Matthew 1:23). And also, Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to be in us after He went to heaven! He said, "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you" (John 16:5-7; Jesus says Counselor here to refer to the Holy Spirit!). Plus, we read in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." (See also, 'Breakthrough! An Introduction' for more!) God is indeed with us and in us all the time! This is amazing and He is AMAZING! God IS AWESOME! Wow! Well, because of that fact, that God is with us right now, and all we have to do is have faith, we can rejoice! Hallelujah, which means, Praise the LORD! He sets us free to sing and dance and move and live! We are freeeeee! "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36). Let's praise Him!
For so long, though, I've incorrectly thought that I praise God to get to Him! Like, I praise Him and think of Him (See also, 'Breakthrough 3: God is everywhere'), to be with Him more. Or, I think, if I sinned, then I have to praise Him to get right with Him again. Well as you probably realized, these ideas are wrong! He sets us free! You can read more in, 'Breakthrough! An Introduction', and the other articles too, but He set us free! On the cross, Jesus paid for our sins once and for all! He died for us so that we don't have to! It's finished! As He said on the cross before giving up His Spirit, "It is finished" (John 19:30). After that, three days later, He defeated sin and death forever! Through faith in Him, we are set free to be with Him; in love peace, joy, freedom, forever! Hallelujah! "It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy" (Romans 9:16). God showed us His mercy by sacrificing His Son! And He raised Him to life, and through faith in Him, we are also alive! Wow! Praise Him! So, we don't need, and can't add anything to that. It's finished! Hallelujah! When we are praising God, it is not to enter into His Presence. We are already in His Presence! (See, 'Breakthrough! An Introduction'). As we praise Him, we can become more and more aware of His Presence, but we are actually not getting closer ourselves! So, when we worship and praise Him, it's more like, 'Hi!' He is right here! Let's worship Him!
So worship and praise and thanks are so fun! Why are they fun? Well, because we are hanging out with our Dad, our God, the creator of the universe! (Romans 8:15) He is so cool! And He is love! He is so good and nice and friendly! When we hang out with Him we realize that He is smiling with us and singing over us! He is welcoming us to dance with Him! Did you know that, that God can dance with you! You never have to dance alone! He dances with you! Just check this verse out, "The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but rejoice over you with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17-for Jesus paid the price of death! We read in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.") We have received this gift and He is in love with us! In fact, God died for us when we were still sinners! "But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). God has paved the way! "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). It's all taken care of, so let's praise Him! We are free to sing and rejoice! Let's do it always! "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near" (Philippians 4:4-5).
One of my new favorite ways to praise God is dancing! I love to dance now and sing praises to Him! It's so fun!!! I've always enjoyed singing to Him, but at first was embarrassed to sing out loud. Well, God doesn't mind! He just desires a relationship with us! There are no regulations, in fact, "God is Spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). He sets us free, so we are free to worship Him! Well, anyways, I love to sing now, and dance to Him as well. It took a while, though, because for a long time I thought dancing was just showing off your body. 'Why are all of those people showing off?' That doesn't have to be the case!!! Since God sets us free, we are free to dance, laugh, and play! Just look at Him! Look into His eyes! He loves you! Do you feel like dancing! It doesn't matter what you look like, just dance!
Also, I've often wondered the means to 'just dance!' I've heard people say this before and didn't quite understand. I found myself still feeling self-conscious. Well, if your in that boat, just realize that you can use your brain, you don't have to not think about it! When we worship God and praise Him, it is with everything that we are! We engage everything He gave us with Him! When we are completely focused on Him, fixing our eyes back on His loving gaze, dancing just comes out! Try it! Just think of God! Your not getting to God, remember, but just realizing that He is right here and He is in love with you! Hallelujah! Laugh and enjoy Him! Then just start dancing! It flows right out! It's silly! It's fun! Just enjoy Him and move around because He makes you feel joyful!
Let's just relax and enjoy our Daddy!!! He is here and He is LOVE!!!!!!! He is so good! He is smiling at you! Hallelujah!!!!!!! Look to into His loving eyes! Thank You God!
Praise Praise Praise to you God, for we are already with You! You set us free God!!! Hallelujah!!!!!!! I love You Jesus!!! JESUS YOU ARE SO AWESOME INDEED!!!! I'm so glad Your with me right now, and I love praising you all day! It is so fun to praise You, my God and Dad!
See also, 'Breakthrough! An Introduction', for more on breakthrough and how God is always with us through His LOVE!!! Hallelujah!
