Worship Him

You gotta love Gideon in the Bible. So many folks can relate to him. He has major self esteem issues. When confronted by the angel of the Lord who called him a "mighty warrior" in Judges 6 and told he will defeat the Midianites for the Lord, he responds in verse 15 "My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." In God's amazing compassion and patience, He miraculously responds when Gideon puts Him through a couple tests to get affirmation of his new calling. And the night before the attack, God knows Gideon is still yet afraid of the oncoming battle so he encourages him to go down to the camp of the Midianites in the valley and listen to what they are saying. Down Gideon goes and while there hears a Midian man recount a dream he has to a friend. The dream, the friend says, is confirmation the Lord has given the Midianites into Gideon's hands. It's Gideon's response to this in Judges 7:15 that we want to focus on today ... "When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God." He didn't just offer up thanks. He worshiped.

How worthy our God is of worship! We go to Him all day asking for help with this or that, thanking Him for answered prayer. Do we remember to worship? Just worship Him. Tell Him how awesome He is. Do we wake up each morning and praise His name for yet another opportunity to share His love with people? Do we worship Him in our challenges as well as our joys?

One of the reasons I love to go to the beach so much is because it is one place in particular that shows me the amazingness of God. The power and beauty of watching waves crash on the shore; the vastness of the infinite horizon; the sun or moon rising to herald the day or night; the wildlife He created dancing in the sea or flying overhead; the uniqueness of each shell on the beach; the exhilaration of the breeze blowing by or the comfort of the soft sand underfoot ... all of it compels me to instantly worship. I cannot tell you how many times I just burst into praise song while walking along the shore. Glory to His name!

God loves it when we worship Him ... and not just on Sunday morning. A day of corporate worship is indeed blessed and necessary, but to worship by yourself, to adore Him for the God He is - loving, merciful, powerful, saving, generous is ever yet blessed because we can do this anytime, anywhere.

Take time every single day to worship your Almighty Father. Sing to Him. Pray to Him. Glorify Him. Let His Spirit fill your heart! Need a little help ... then read the last few Psalms. They are filled with words of praise. And you can feel yourself lifted in His grace when you do it. "Praise Him for His acts of power; praise Him for His surpassing greatness! Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!" Psalm 150:2, 6.

Discussion: Do you remember to just praise God daily? Where is a place where you feel compelled to worship? Tell of a time when you spontaneously worshiped the Lord.

Prayer: Lord, You are worthy of praise. We lift our praise to the heavens. We exalt your name! We join Your angels in singing and rejoicing! Holy, holy, holy are You, O Lord! We glorify and adore You! In the name of our sweet Savior we pray, Amen.