2009-12-18T09:05:51-05:00 GCI info@gospel.com http://www.gospel.com/feeds/topics/praise http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-most-important-relationship/dispelling-the-fog-5985 2009-12-18T09:05:51-05:00 Praise acknowledges a sun that is shining even when the fog is the heaviest. If this is a dark time, don't deepen your sadness by ignoring the Lord, or abandoning the Lord, or turning on the Lord. This is a time to throw yourself on His goodness; a time to ask Him for the grace to praise Him for all that He still is, all that He's done, and all that He is going to do. As Amy said, "Praise lifts the sadness." It dispels the fog. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-most-important-relationship/how-to-banish-the-darkness-5949 2009-10-29T09:29:49-05:00 When it's the darkest, when it's the hardest to praise Him, that is when you need to praise Him the most, because praise is that blinding light from heaven that dispels the darkness and banishes your enemy. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-mission/night-lights-5934 2009-10-08T09:10:37-05:00 Don't be intimidated by the darkness - you are the most important person in that dark place because you have the light of Jesus. Without you, darkness is all there is. Humbly, gently, lovingly, be the light there. You are one light that should never be turned out! http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2022:3&version=KJV 2009-10-05T16:28:07-05:00 Holiness is one of God's most defining characteristics. This psalm describes God as embodying, or being present alongside, the praises of His people. http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2012:1-6&version=NIV 2009-10-01T11:23:32-05:00 This psalm speaks of the day that God forgives and redeems His people after their long separation from Him. It will be a time of praise and rejoicing, as His people acknowledge God's love and mercy. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-relationships/dining-from-the-garbage-cafe-5929 2009-10-01T09:15:19-05:00 If you're wondering why you feel defeated so many times, why you don't feel as close to Jesus as you used to, or why your dark side keeps winning and bringing you down, well consider your diet: what you're watching, what you're listening to, who you're spending time with, or the things you laugh at. http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20145:2&version=NIV 2009-09-27T14:21:33-05:00 The psalmist pledges to praise God not just occasionally, when things are going well--but every day, rain or shine, no matter what circumstances life has thrown at him. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-personal-power/more-than-a-launch-3501 2009-09-22T09:29:01-05:00 True worship results in repentance. So you say, "Lord, I'm a mess." Like Isaiah, you see the ugliness of specific sin - in his case, it had something to do with his mouth - but you melt into repentance. And then, because He shed His blood to pay for that sin, Jesus comes and cleans you up for this new day. http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2047:6&version=NIV 2009-09-18T10:51:41-05:00 A simple but powerful exhortation to sing our praises to God. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-personal-power/stubborn-singing-2633 2009-09-15T13:30:33-05:00 You may be in a sickbed, or an unemployment line, or a lonely time, or a time of overwhelming stress, but it is not what should determine your attitude or your talk. It's the Christ in you, not the circumstances around you. I want to be like our little canary friend - singing, no matter what. And turning the sadness of others to singing, too.