II Timothy 1:7; Psalm 150 - "Best News Ever"

God woke me up this morning to the words to Mercy Me's song called Best News Ever. He knew I needed encouraged after the day we had yesterday.

What if I were the one to tell you
That the fight's already been won
Well, I think your day's about to get better
What if I were the one to tell you
That the work's already been done
It's not good news
It's the best news ever
Best news ever

So won't you, come
Come all you weary and you burdened
You heavy-laden and you hurting
For all of you with nothing left
Come and find rest!

He provided me with rest yesterday as I soaked in Him. There was nothing that 'had' to be done and I took advantage of that by not doing a whole lot of anything. I did some computer work but it wasn't anything that took much thinking, read for pleasure, watched TV with my hubby, and relaxed. My Momma said she always heard Mondays were suppose to be 'take it easy' days for pastors. Since I preached Sunday I told her I was going to listen to her. My time with God yesterday morning was a carry-over from my sermon on praising Him. I'm so grateful He reminded me of that as the fatigue set in my body. I'm grateful for the reminder as I watched Doc not be able to keep even liquids in. I'm grateful for the reminder when I found out some disturbing news about a loved one. Plain and simple. I'm grateful. There is peace in knowing God is in control of everything. I will continue to praise Him through the 'tough' days as well as the 'good' days. Just as I said in my sermon Sunday, praising Him is not an option...it is our responsibility! I want to always remember what Matt Maher wrote about praise. Praise isn’t something that we do to avoid our problems. Praise is the way through our problems. Yes! I will strive to praise Him no matter what happens in the day ahead. Yesterday when I received the check from the insurance company for the replacement tires on the Honda I praised Him! When I made a decent pie crust for Doc's quiche, I praised Him! When a friend told me her and her husband found a church home, I praised Him! Once again the Lord has taken me back to Psalm 150 this morning. He reminded me of the richness in this Psalm. I was reading some notes in The Voice that are interesting about the book of Psalm and specifically about Psalm 150. At the beginning of Psalm 150 it reads:

If Psalm 150 is any indication, then the worship of the one True God ought to be full of life and energy. Consider what it must have looked and sounded like in those days: voices lifted, shouting for joy, trumpets blaring, stringed instruments playing, people dancing, pipes humming, tambourines keeping rhythm, cymbals crashing. There are times when worship ought to break out in joy. Is it possible that our worship is too quiet, too reserved, too structured?

I am so missing corporate worship due to the COVID-19 but it doesn't stop me from having a personal time of worship. I love to turn on Christian music and let it flow in and through me! I've enjoyed listening to different ones share their singing on Facebook during the COVID-19 time without corporate church services. It has taken me a long time to adjust to not having live music in our corporate church services and I pray that changes in the near future. There is such freedom with live music that you don't have with 'canned' music. I pray God will send musicians to us sooner than later. This is written at the end of Psalm 150:

This doxology not only closes Book Five, but it also closes the entire Book of Psalms. Up until now, the songs in this book have reminded us of all the reasons we should praise God. Some songs have even commanded us to praise Him. But this closing remark takes the command to praise one step further: everything alive—humans, animals, and heaven’s creatures—must praise Him. Praise is what God created us to do; it is one of our highest purposes in life. So it is no wonder that the longest book of the Bible is purely devoted to helping us do just that.

This reminded me of something I read and shared in my sermon about Psalm 150:

Praise is the theme of each of these psalms. It is like a mounting crescendo at the climax of a great symphony. The theme of praise has dominated all the psalms, but as the end approaches, the “conductor” brings in each section of the orchestra in one grand finale of praise. Psalm 150 is the climax of the climax, where we are exhorted 13 times in six short verses to praise the Lord. It is telling us that ...

 God’s people should be caught up with praising Him.

Yes! We need to remember to praise Him with every breath He blesses us with. We need to lift Him up in our thoughts and words at all time. I love this word picture of an orchestra coming altogether for a grand finale. A few months ago our friends took us to my first orchestra event. Wow! Watching all the different instruments come together and making such beautiful music was a treat! I get a picture of how our Heavenly Father must be in awe of us as we praise Him. Woo hoo! I asked the question on Sunday, 'How can we praise God through tough days?' The answer remains the same. We need to praise Him through these days and allow Him to work in and through us to accomplish His will. We must remember…praising God is not an option…it is our responsibility! The more we get our focus on Him, the more we will praise Him. The more we allow Him to empower us through His love by the Holy Spirit as II Timothy 1:7 tells us, the more we will praise Him. The more we live a Christ-like life, the more we will praise Him. The deeper we go in our walk of obedience with Him, the more we will praise Him. The desire of my heart is to praise Him more every day with every breath that He blesses me with.

Dear Jesus,

Thank You for the day of rest yesterday! Thank You for the fatigue that brought about the day of rest! Thank You for the way You are going to be with Doc today! Oh how I pray he feels better. I pray what he eats stays in. I also pray against pain in his body and against anything harmful that he may come in contact with as he goes for blood work. Lord, I pray for my friend who received 'bad' blood work results and needs to adjust his eating and exercise. May You give him Your wisdom. I pray for families who are going through difficult days to seek You. Lord, I pray for a cleansing in my spirit so You can fill me to overflowing with more of You. Lord, be my words, actions, attitude, and thoughts throughout this day. I am praising you in advance for some prayers to be answered in regard to: the church building rehab; Doc to be able to be out of bed and functioning; David as he heals from the bike accident; emotional healing for my friend Tricia; physical healing in my friend Linda who had surgery yesterday; and the MS tingling I am experiencing. Thank You for not only being My Good News but My Best News! Amen.