PRAISE...

The Lord taught us that good intentions do not justify wrong actions. Worship that feels right may not be right. God has a prescribed way for us to praise Him.

First, our praise must be "through Jesus Christ."

Apart from Him, I am nothing! I am miserably separated from God. We must understand that God will not accept the works we do for Him, our attempts to obey His commands, countless prayers and our singing to the Lord without our Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts. It is the blessed gospel of Jesus Christ that brings eternal relief to our hopeless condition. It is through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ whom reconciled me to Himself and to His Father. Now, God accepts me (and all of you who have believed, repented of your sins, confessed Jesus is Lord, baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and daily walk with Jesus) as holy, without blemish and free from guilt.. What an awesome thing! As long as I am walking with Jesus everyday, I am forever rooted in Christ! He's my High Priest! He's my Sacrificial Lamb! He's my Savior and Lord. He's the Ruler of all my life and I surrender my life to Him. And each of us ought to do the same!! He is my Righteousness. He's the Holy One. He's my Prince of Peace. He's the Mighty God. He is my Intercessor, the One who pleads my case before Holy God. All that I offer (in my praise to Him) to God is acceptable in and through Him.

Awesome, huh? He's the reason why we praise Him. Isn't that encouraging? Have you ever felt that you just couldn't praise God as well as other people, sing as well, or be as free in your expression of worship? Lift up your hearts to God! If you come to God through Christ, your offerings are perfectly accepted. Your songs are beautiful, your words of praise are treasured, and your heartfelt gratitude rises toward heaven as an aroma pleasing to Him.

Second, we must remember that praise is a sacrifice, a giving of something that is valuable.

In the book of Malachi, the Lord came to Israel and rebuked them for showing contempt for His name. If He came to Israel thousands of years ago and rebuked them for the way they failed to worship God, could He do so in our worship to Him. How often have we failed to worship God? Israel was puzzled. They asked God a question, "How have we shown contempt?" One way was by placing defiled food on the altar, and bringing blind, lame, and sick animals for sacrifice (Malachi 1:6-8). Now, this is interesting here.. We do not bring a "blind, lame or sick animals" to God for sacrifice. Israel gave God something that wasn't important to them. They gave God the least, not the best. And God wouldn't accept it. Think of it, now, when we come before God, what are we robbing from God? We rob God by giving Him our heartless praise. You may come to God though you feel it's not important to you. Probably show up in church because you have nothing to do or maybe you need company. When we give back to God in offering, suppose you have two bills, one dollar bill and 20 dollar bill. You decided to give God the one dollar instead of the twenty. That's what Israel did in the old days. Not only does this apply to our monetary offering, it applies mainly what our hearts offer..

Matthew Henry continues the thought:

"If we worship God ignorantly, and without under-standing, we bring the blind for sacrifice.
If we do it carelessly, and without consideration, if we are cold, and dull, and dead, in it, we bring the sick.
If we do not make heart-work of it, if we suffer vain thoughts and distractions to lodge within us, we bring the torn (lame).”

Strong words, huh? Is that happening in your hearts? Are you coming before God ignorantly (blind), or cold and dull (sick) or in vain and with distractions (torn)? It's a good reminder of the reverence we owe to God. I have sometimes caught myself singing thoughtlessly and offering prayers that were repetition (meaning you haven't really taken the time to find words to express your thankfulness to the Lord but merely saying the same old phrase day by day, week by week), approaching God with coldness, boredom of heart. Day after day, I must ask the Lord to magnify Himself in my sight. I need to see His matchless beauty again, so that my offerings are a fitting response to His great worth.

Finally, praise that is acceptable is the fruit of our hands (ASL), evidence of hearts warmed by the reality of an intimate, vital relationship with Christ.

An unknown author wrote in regards to worship: "Worship is the submission of all our nature to God, the quickening of conscience by His holiness, the nourishment of mind by His truth, the purifying of imagination by His beauty, the opening of the heart to His love, and the submission of will to His purpose. All this, gathered up in adoration, is the greatest of human expressions of which we are capable.”

"That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever." Psalms 30:12 (niv)