SACRIFICE OF PRAISE, FRUIT FROM LIPS THAT CONFESS HIS NAME!

DAILY DEVOTIONAL 

❃፝ "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that confess his name." 

Hebrews 13:15 

THOUGHT: We can praise God in good times and we can praise God in difficult times. And I don't know if we're going to fully understand what's good or bad for us this side of eternity. When we're younger, we think that certain things are good, like success, while other things are bad, like difficulties. But over the course of life, after a while, we look back and realize that success actually may have been bad for some and hardships good for others. So we started looking at things differently. And sometimes things we thought were very good turned out to be bad. On the other hand, the things we thought were bad actually turned out to be those really really good things. God can take all things - good or bad - and, according to Romans 8:28, act in all things for the good of those who love him, those who are called according to his purpose. He takes all the events of our lives, the good things and the so-called "bad things", and puts them in the oven of adversity. When it's done, we say: That's fine. But maybe we won't say that until the time comes. As Christians, we must understand that God is in control of all the circumstances surrounding our lives: the good things as well as the bad. We must also know that God loves us and is always looking out for our eternal good, even when we go through difficult times. As 2 Corinthians 4:17 tells us, for our light and momentary sufferings are producing for us an eternal glory that outweighs them all. Therefore, we need to give thanks to God. There are so many things to be thankful for.

 *Have you given thanks today?*