HOPE DEVOTIONAL: DECEMBER 22 HELPING PEOPLE GIVE GOD PRAISE (1) SCRIPTURES: HEBREWS 13: 16; PROVERBS 19: 17
The Beloved, December devotional on praises is just very revealing. As a last month of the year, it is proper to allocate all praises and Thanksgiving to God. Living through a day in a world full of uncertainties as it is today, calls for giving God praises. It calls for more praises if one lives till a full year. Failure to do so shows that such an individual is a greatest ingrate. We must give God extra praise this December because it is a month we commemorate the birth of Jesus, the greatest Gift of LOVE from God to the entire world (John 3: 16).
Today’s devotional looks at helping people as a critical way to give God praises and being thankful to Him. Someone else would say this is not true. Opinion of others deferring from this notwithstanding, I stand to say that helping people is as good as giving thanks and praise to God. When we do good to our fellow men and women, we make praise available to God in two ways. First, we enable the person helped to say “Thank you God”. This word carries praise. Second, our giving to the needs manifests our appreciation to God for enabling us motivating someone expresses joy towards God.
As Christians, we must be willing to help people God places us a little better than in life to experience love. We are always blessed to be blessings to others. Our helps to people makes them happy and their thanking God for bringing us to them makes God happy. In Hebrews 13: 16, we are told that doing good for others allows God to be pleased. Our sacrifice to others gives God joy. In another passage, Proverbs 19: 17, we are told that whoever gives to the poor lends to God; and God repays the giver. If any Christian believes that giving praises to God attracts upon him or her blessings from God; he or she must know that helping people makes God happy, give God praises and joy too. God in turn gives the helpers extra blessings. We are told that “givers never lack (Prov. 28: 27).
As we move closer to December 25, it is important to think of the poor society, the less privilege around us and come up with plans to help them. We must show the love of God on the world, which caused Him allows the birth of Jesus flows out of us towards our fellow men and women. Anyone who celebrates Christmas without helping others to enjoy is committing sin as such action is selfishness. Sin of selfishness makes God sad. Love that is not shared is not love but manifestation of selfishness. One preacher, Marci Ferrell, writes thus “selfishness truly is the ‘mother of all sins’ as it is common to each of us and keeps us from loving God and others as we are called believers to do.” This simply says that selfishness stops us from loving God as well as loving our fellow mankind’s as we are called to do as Christians.
PRAYER:
LORD JESUS, I pray for heart to give those in needs in order to cause them give praises to the Almighty God. Amen.
CONTACT US? You can contact us for prayer requests or discussion through ubasimon341@gmail.com
Bishopubaudenyi@hopealivechurch
