Life of Praise Pt. 2
Dear Partners and Friends,
It is so good to have you back with us today. Let’s continue with what we talked about the last two weeks. Our key scripture can be found in the book of Ephesians 1:12, and we are looking at it in the King James Version.
“That we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His Glory.”
I like the way the Voice Translation states it also,
“As a result, we- the first to place our hope in the anointed one- will live in a way to bring Him glory and praise.”
Our lives should bring God glory and praise.
Last week we gave you a list of six ways you can bring glory and praise to God with your life. As we said earlier, there is a lot more than those six; but let’s just begin with them as we go through the next several weeks of blogs. (If you want to look at the full list, please go to last week’s blog.) The first thing listed in bringing glory and praise to God is by telling others about Jesus. So, let’s focus on this topic.
When we tell others about Jesus and what He has done in our lives, we bring God glory and praise. A great example of this is found in Luke 15:4-7:
“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!
I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.”
A lot of times, this parable is taught about how wonderful Salvation is because Jesus will leave the ninety-nine to go save one and how all heaven rejoices in this salvation. Praise God for that part of the parable, for without Jesus so loving us and laying down His life for us, we could not live for eternity with Him. But, that is not all there is to this story! There is a hidden gem in the middle of this story. You see, when the “man” comes home from finding the lost sheep, he calls together his friends and neighbors and tells them about the salvation! Just as this “man” told others about his salvation, we should tell others about Jesus and how he saved us. One of your greatest witnessing tools to others is your own stories of salvation. Whether that story is of the day Jesus saved you into His kingdom or the day He set you free from an addiction, that’s salvation. Or maybe your story is the day He healed your body or the day He brought peace into your life. Maybe your story is when He saved you from a great catastrophe or you were led by the Holy Spirit into a great business opportunity. In every season of our lives, we have stories that we can share with others about how Jesus saved us!
Telling others about these stories, and how Jesus saved us, brings God glory and praise. And all of heaven rejoices when you do so. So, get out there. Start telling your stories!
-Candace Brim