Teleios and other authors have shown Christian
belief actually can improve personal wellbeing! Therefore, we are examining the
Christian life in more detail to see if we can uncover some of the potential
underlying causes for improved wellbeing.
Last week we began studying the Christian lifestyle
by examining the 2nd half of 1 Thessalonians 1:6, the importance of
accepting God's word in our lives. “And ye
became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much
affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost.”
This week let’s consider mimicking Paul. For this
part of discussion of the practice of Christianity we will use Acts 2:42 and 47
specifically to provide more detail to 1 Thessalonians 1:5-7, our primary
passage.
These fascinating verses in Acts describe the
Christian walk and its measures are repeated throughout the Epistles. I call them the ‘5 tools to maturity.’ These activities most easily can be
summarized as: prayer, praise, fellowship, outreach and Bible study.
Let's examine each of these in detail starting
with PRAISE.
Definition of
‘praise’ – Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ‘praise’ as:
To express a favorable judgment of: commend
To glorify (a god or saint) especially by the attribution
of perfections
Content of
praise – Therefore, as a Christian what should be the
content of biblical praise? The Bible gives some hints:
Acknowledgement of God's perfect character (Ephesians1:6)
Acknowledgement of God’s righteous actions (Psalm 139:14, Psalm 148)
Thankfulness (Hebrews 13:15)
Reason we praise – Why do we praise God? The reasons are vital to
our Christian life and are listed below:
The Bible commands us
to praise - It is our duty to praise God. However, God
does not give us commands without reason, so several potential explanations follow
below (Psalm 150, Romans 15:11, Hebrews 13:15).
He deserves praise
- Our Father in Heaven is the almighty God who has
provided for us salvation through his Son, Jesus Christ, as a free gift through
faith that we could have eternal life. This salvation is a sure hope and anchor
for our souls. Surely, He deserves glory, thanks, and praise (1 Peter 4:11, Hebrews6:19).
It is good for us to
praise - God made us! Therefore, He knows what is good for
us. It is good for us to praise at least for the following reasons:
· God
ordained order – Praise reminds us of the order of the universe.
We are not the most important thing in creation. God’s goals and priorities are
above, and better than, ours.
· Humility - Realizing that God’s plans are more important than ours might limit
our complaining and remind us that we are here to serve our great God.
· Attitude – Praise teaches us thankfulness in realizing God’s gifts to us in creation,
in Christ and His benefits in this life as our Father. These should promote an
attitude of thankfulness and reduce expectations (Philippians 4:8).
We do indeed have a great God who is worthy of
all praise! Thank you for joining me today. Come back next week and we'll
discuss prayer as the second of the 5 tools to maturity.
WC Stewart
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