It’s time to step outside of ourselves and give God some praise!  I mean when you take just a minute to stop and think about it:  He deserves all the praise!  He created us, He sustains us and He blesses us with amazing and unbelievable blessings.  Everything that you and I enjoy flowed from the creative mind of our God who loves us and wants us to live blessed and fulfilled lives!

 We need to praise God – Because He did in our life, what we could not do for ourselves!  I cannot save myself – no matter how bad I want to!  I don’t have the power or the ability.  But God – out of His great love for me, sent His Son to come and show me the way and pay the price with His life that I could not afford to pay and still live!  If you are really looking for a motivational reason to praise God – how about because He forgives you, so that you can live in a relationship with Him.

The truth is:  If you are a Believer – praise is the natural response of your life to the goodness and grace of God!  Even when life throws you a curve ball and things are not going as good as you would like for them to, it is still God’s grace that gets you through those impossible situations that we all expereince!

Praise is not something that you have to make up or manufacture!  Praise is not something that you have to force!  We need to learn to open up our hearts and lives and just let it flow!  Stop holding back the praise – let it out – you’ll feel better!  Trust me on this one!

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought up close and personal by the blood of Jesus Christ!”  Ephesians 2:13-14

 Most of us are in to in!  We like to get into ourselves – what we like, what we want, what will make us happy and the list could go on and on and on!  But what we need to do is get into Jesus!  Now before you go running off – thinking I really don’t need any more of this spiritual stuff, stop and think about it for just a minute!

We get so into ourselves and what will make us happy, but seem to always be chasing after something that we can never catch!  Could it be that we have been chasing after the wrong thing?  Could a relationship with Jesus, a real, meaningful and life changing relationship with Jesus – could this be the thing that we need to seriously consider!

When you stop for a minute and think about it – the reason that we are so into ourselves is because we are looking for fulfillment.  Fulfillment comes when our life gets near to the place that it needs to be – wherever or whoever that is!  Could it be that this place where our lives need to be, is in a real relationship with Jesus?  I’m not talking about the “come to church and pretend that everything is perfect” kind of relationship!  I’m talking about a relationship where I admit that I can’t, believe that He has and will for me if I will let Him!  I’m talking about the kind of relationship where I realize that it’s not about being perfect, but forgiven!

In Christ Jesus -I am brought up close and personal!  I used to live far away from the blessings of rightness!  But now through my real relationship with Jesus I am brought up close and personal – how amazing is that?  Stop trying to make things happen and take some time to enjoy what Jesus has already done for you.  What might really surprise you is:  the place you are trying to be – you could already be at through your relationship with Him!