Praise as snowflakes - making everything new - Changing our experience!

“Rejoice at all times. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 BSB

I remember many years ago a friend sent me a picture of her alley. This was a downtown alley, in not the best part of town, full of garbage cans, and honestly, garbage. However, this particular morning it had snowed about 4 inches, and nobody had ventured outside yet, so the entire alley was perfect, and white, and all the unmentionables were completely covered in white snow. It looked glorious!

I was thinking of that this morning as I was walking in a dusting of snow, and how different everything looked when the whole forest is covered with a dusting of snow. Of course, the forest is beautiful anyway, but it made me think of that inner city alley.

I started meditating on Jesus’ blood making us white as snow. You could just spend all day thinking of it.  Feel free to if you want, just stop reading and meditate on that, and thank Jesus!

However, on this day, my mind wandered to this analogy… what if every single snow flake was a praise to God, a giving of thanks to God, a word of honor, gratitude and blessing to God. What a wonderful thought!

In the analogy we are going to say that we are in the inner-city alley, instead of the beautiful woods. We are to give thanks in every circumstance. Not for the circumstance, but in it, because no matter what is going on, God is good. The circumstance may be very bad, but God is good, and worthy of praise. As we praise Him, our experience in the circumstance changes, and it is just amazing, thank you God for that!

Just like the snow flakes completely change the inner-city alley, and the woods, our words and thoughts do too. “Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Proverbs 18:21 BSB. We are told to “Rejoice at all times. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 BSB.  Rejoice at all times, that means not just when things are good in the world’s eyes. The thing is, in our eyes, it is always good. If we still have our salvation, it is good. We should be zealous for the good works of sharing that goodness of God, His free gift of eternal life with others. We are going to have eternal life with Him (we already do), so we can rejoice, no matter what.

Pray without ceasing… the word pray really means to exchange our thoughts for God’s. What a great thing to do, just continually be aligning our words and thoughts with Gods, as in what would Jesus do in these situations? He walked around, healed the sick, cast our demons, raised the dead, proclaimed the good news to the poor, and spoke the truth in love to set the captives free. We get to do these things, and thank God no matter what is going on, because He is the author of life, and the author and perfector of our faith, and worthy of praise, thanksgiving and adoration.

Science shows that doing what the bible says, and having gratitude and thanksgiving to God, is very healthy for our brain, and changes neurochemicals in our brain, and can be extremely healing in mental and physical illness conditions. God is so smart!

We are told to praise and worship Him. “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.” “Those who look to Him are radiant with joy; their faces shall never be ashamed.” Psalm 34:1, 5 BSB.  We get to continually praise Him, and it causes us to radiate with joy as we look to Him, and worship. “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.” Hebrews 13:15 BSB.

God is worthy of praise for so many reasons, but one reason is that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.” James 1:17 BSB.  You can just start praising God for everything good in your life. It helps our perspective. What is our focus? Are our eyes on Jesus like Peter had his eyes on Jesus when he walked on water, and then looked at the effect of the wind (the waves), and started immediately to sink (but called to Jesus and was rescued)? When we praise God no matter what, it keeps our eyes on Jesus; on the kingdom of God, with an eternal perspective. We know where our help comes from… Our “help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:2 BSB.

There are many instances in the bible, where praise powerfully changed circumstances, along with the obedience to praise as commanded. They go hand in hand. However, the circumstances didn’t look any different as they started praising, so we praise, regardless of how it looks. Jehosophat and all of Judah, in 2 Chronicles 20, were obedient to follow the Lord’s instructions to face 3 armies at a specific location, just praising God, not lifting a physical weapon. In the end, the 3 armies killed each other, and Jehosophat and all of Judah were completely victorious, without fighting in the natural at all. Joshua and his army, were obedient to march around Jericho in Joshua chapter 6, for 6 days, and then 7 times on the 7th day. They were obedient to loudly shout the praise that God had given them the city. In the natural, nothing was different those 7 days, until after they were obedient to praise God, and trust in Him and His promises, which is a form of praise as well. Then the walls of Jericho fell and they were victorious.

We get to step forward, and decide to praise and thank God, and worship Him, no matter what it looks like in the natural. Even if it doesn’t change the circumstances, it will change our experience of them. Paul wrote the book of Philippians in jail, chained to a Roman guard, and he clearly was experiencing so much joy and rejoicing of things God had done for him. We can do the same.

Paul and Silas were another example, of praising and worshiping God in very bad circumstances in the natural. Paul and Silas were put in jail, in an inner cell, so likely the dungeon in isolation, with their feet bound. “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. At once all the doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose.” Acts 16:25-26 BSB. Isn’t that just great? Freedom with praise and worship to God. Their songs you will note, were loud enough for others to hear and listen, that is confident praise. When they were set free, the jailor was scared, for he would be blamed, so they stayed, and ministered to him, and because of it, the jailor and his whole family were saved. That is Paul and Silas, walking in the light, sharing the heart of Jesus. They were not just self-focused to get out of joy. They were so free and joyful in spite of the circumstances they were in, that even when they were freed, they didn’t run. They stayed and ministered to someone who in the natural was free, but in the spirit, they knew was bound. They all get to be free together now. Its so important to keep that perspective. That we are free indeed, because of the truth of Jesus, the word of God. Therefore, praise, thanksgiving, and worship, is always available.

I would venture to guess, that if Paul and Silas had been super focused on their circumstances, and how awful they were, instead of praise and worship to God, if they had been freed, they would have been self-focused and would not have preached the gospel to their jailor and his family. Their demonstration of believing God is good, in spite of bad circumstances, is them doing the word of God, not being hearers only. Since they are doers of the word, when they look in the mirror, they know who they are, ambassadors of Christ, children of God, full of the Holy Spirit, and they are blessed in what they do (from James 1:22-25).

Therefore, focus on the supernatural. You are in the kingdom of God. You are full of the Holy Spirit. You have the same spirit in you that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, you have eternal life now, knowing Jesus Christ and Father God (from Romans 8:11 and John 17:3). Walk in the light as God is in the light, and do everything as unto the Lord. Thank Him, praise Him, and see the experience of the circumstances change, as that inner-city alley is covered with beautiful snow flakes of praises and worship.

And I leave you with “let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 BSB.  Keep praising. Read and proclaim Psalm 100 BSB “Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; come into His presence with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and bless His name. For the LORD is good, and His loving devotion endures forever; His faithfulness continues to all generations.” Join us to praise God together, by subscribing for free live zoom mind renewal sessions HERE The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB Copyright 2022 by Bible Hub Used by Permission. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.