Have you ever had that itchy sweater that you loved,
but it drove you nuts to wear? I currently
have a green one like that. It’s warm
and the sleeves are plenty long, but wherever it touches my skin, it
itches. I have found myself not wearing
it as much as I would like. I just
cannot find the right shirt to wear underneath it. Some of the shirts I have tried leave too
much uncovered skin. Others show around
the collar and just make the sweater look wrong. Unless I want to wear a turtleneck that
matches, I seldom wear the sweater at all.
Do you feel that your armor is like that itchy
sweater? Quoting the truths of the word
of God may not be natural unless you are already seeing them at work in your
life. Believing who you are in Christ
may be very difficult, when all you see is your past or current mess-ups. Desiring to take the message of God’s peace
to others may be far from your thoughts, when you are clinging to pieces of it
yourself. Dreaming about all God has
planned for you may seem futile when getting through today takes all the energy
you have. Having the energy to pick up
the shield of faith or sword of the Spirit seems nowhere in sight. I’ve been there. I get it.
So what is the perfect undergarment for this heavy
armor? Praise! “Let everything that has
breath and every breath of life
praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)” (Psalm 150:6 AMP) That includes
all of us. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “…
To grant to those who mourn in Zion – to give them a beautiful headdress
instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of
praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of
righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.” (Isaiah
61:3 ESV) God has given us this garment.
Praise replaces a tired, ready to give up, spirit. He will make us strong like an oak tree.
Praise, according to Webster’s dictionary, is “to express thanks to our love and respect
for (God).” Synonyms for praise
include admire, appreciate, celebrate, command, honor, bless, magnify and
proclaim. This is far from a complete list, but gives us a sense of the meaning
of the word. Praise is a verbal expression of how we
feel about the greatness of God. We can best do this by proclaiming to
ourselves and to others just who God truly is.
There
are many verses in the Bible that we can speak out loud to remind ourselves
just how big and powerful the God we serve is.
Prophets of old like Nehemiah and Jeremiah express their acknowledgment of God’s
greatness. “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made
heaven, the
heaven of heavens, with
all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in
them; and
you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.” (Nehemiah 9:6 ESV) “Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth
by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” (Jeremiah
32:17 ESV) They can be examples, as we
make these expressions our own. Throughout the Psalms you read proclamations of
how great God is. “For I know that the Lord is
great, and that our Lord is above all gods.” (Psalm 135:5 ESV) “the
Lord is righteous in his ways and kind in all his works.” (Psalm 145:17
ESV) We can go on through the
Scripture finding examples of how others praised God. In Revelation the angels
cry,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is
and is to come!” (Revelation
4:8b ESV)
Besides
the examples from the Word, we have many modern day examples of praise. There
are great worship songs continually being written. Many of these touch our
hearts as we sing along. Songwriters are expressing their praise of our
heavenly father. I also find myself encouraged when I put on worship CD.
Something inside me cries, “I feel the same way. You are great, God! I love
you!”
These
examples from the scripture and from music are great ways to begin to
praise. Then go on and tell God what you
feel. Acknowledge how great He is. Express you love to Him. Before you put on the armor of God, take out
your Bible or some good music and focus on who God is. Allow yourself to be
amazed by his character and power. Let your heart and mouth cry out praises to
our great and mighty God. And then the task at hand and the weight of each
piece of armor will be lightened. When you start by putting on the garment of
praise, that uncomfortable feel, like my itchy sweater, will no longer be
there. Just as I enjoy the warmth of my sweater, you will begin to enjoy the
feeling of protection your armor provides. And you will be ready for whatever
battles may come in the day ahead.
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