Shout for joy and sing His praises

“Shout for joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious.” Psalm 66:1-2 NIV

“As a Soldier, you hear Army Strong quite often, but I have to shout from the rooftops that my strength comes from my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is so good.” Those were the words my dear friend and military member, Rachel, posted yesterday after hitting her yearly run goal of 1000 miles. She went on to say, “This is the longest I have ever ran in a year... I needed 19 to hit my 1k mark but I ended up completing 20.21 miles.” Is that amazing or what?? Rachel was so thankful and joyful over what God had given her the strength to do, in fact, that she was singing out loud to worship music as she ran! “I know I looked like a crazy person singing loudly and sometimes with my hands held high,” she said, “but I don’t care. GLORY BE TO GOD!!!!!!” Indeed! To Him be all the glory.

And you know, when it comes to publicly praising God for the good things He has done, the Bible tells us that we are to, “Shout for joy to God, all the earth!” Do you get that? We aren’t to just whisper or speak about our amazing God who gives us all the good things we possess in life, including the ability to run, but to shout and “sing,” like Rachel, “the glory of His name” and “make his praise glorious.” And let me assure you... you and I don’t have to sing well (thank goodness because I sure don't) to do this, we just have to sing His praises LOUD for all to hear!

So, like Rachel, don’t be shy about declaring that your strength comes from your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ my friend. Shout it from the rooftops so that others would hear the Good News and be drawn to this God who inspires such praise and joy. Could there be anything better than that?

Heavenly Father, thank You for blessing us above and beyond what we could ever deserve. Lord please cause us to understand that if Jesus had not died on the Cross, our sins would have sentenced us to death and that Jesus not only saved us but gives us the strength to make it through each day. May that thought have us singing at the top of our lungs. It’s in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen.

Happy Running!!!