“Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.”
—Psalm 147:1
Have you thought about what a soundtrack does to a movie or to a small screen, even television? There actually was a time when movies did not talk, and then the talkies came in, and then later on music was added to the script to underscore the feeling and emotion of the story being told.
If you’re watching a scary movie and the scary music comes up, then it affects you. If you’re watching a love story and along comes the music, the romance is heightened in the movie. Well, in life when you read the Psalms, praise to God becomes the soundtrack of your life.
Now it’s always appropriate to speak our praise, and I do that often. Sometimes I’ll just be driving down the road and I’ll say, “Praise You, Lord!” In that, I’m speaking praise. But not only are we to speak praise, but we are to sing praises to God!
If you’re not singing as worship to God, then you are missing an incredible blessing in your life! You say, “Well, I don’t sing very well. People don’t like it when I sing.” You’re not singing to other people! You’re singing to the Lord our God! You are praising God!
He shows up when we praise Him. We invite the supernatural presence and power of God when we praise Him! We welcome into our life His very presence!
SING TO GOD BECAUSE HE DESERVES YOUR WORSHIP.
Good Works without Reward
Thursday, February 28, 2019
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.”
Matthew 6:1–4
Though many of us are blessed to find great enjoyment and fulfillment in our work, that is not true for everyone. Some people are, for various reasons, working at jobs they do not particularly like. But in either case, the fact that the job brings a paycheck is a major factor for most people in choosing their employment. Very few people would willingly work for an extended period of time if they knew that the paycheck they received from their employer wouldn’t be honored when they tried to cash it. We expect to receive the agreed upon reward in exchange for our work.
Yet it is possible for us to do the right things for God and not be rewarded. This is not because God is unfair or unjust. He rewards just as He has promised. But if our good works are not done with the right motives and for the right reasons, we have no valid reason to expect to receive rewards for them. Even the most generous and extreme gifts have no eternal value if we do them out of selfish motives. Paul wrote, “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3).
Today's Growth Principle:
God examines our motives as well as our actions to determine the value of our work for Him.
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