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2 P&P Weekly Blog for week of 2-8 November 2024
It was a chilly day in Autumn when I captured this image. Birch trees with their dark tree trunks wrapped in white bark rose toward heaven. The forest was gently lit by the sun, and the atmosphere was charged with God’s majesty. How could you not feel His nearness in the midst of such a beautiful place? How could not sense the wonder of His holiness? How could you not see these treetop branches as if they were arms raised in praise of our great God and King? I wish you could have been there with us to experience it firsthand.
Where are these ideas echoed in Scripture? Let’s take a look at how the Lord is magnified through creation and how we are to praise Him with wholehearted devotion.
Isaiah 55:12 NIV: “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”
1 Chronicles 16:33 AMP: “Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the LORD; For He comes to judge and govern the earth.”
How does a Christ-follower’s life emulate a tree?
Psalm 1:2-3 NASB: “But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and on His Law he meditates day and night. 3 He will be like a tree planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season, And its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.”
Jeremiah 17:7-8 NASB: “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose trust is the Lord. 8 For he will be like a tree planted by the water that extends its roots by a stream, and does not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought, nor cease to yield fruit.”
And where is praise described as the “lifting of hands”?
1 Timothy 2:8 NKJV: “I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.”
1 Kings 8:22 NET: “Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward the sky.”
Psalm 63:4 NASB: “So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.”
Psalm 141:2 NASB: "May my prayer be counted as incense before You; the lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.”
Dear Lord, thank You for places such as this that lift my eyes toward You, my heart to feel Your nearness, and my hands toward offering You my praise. You are an amazing Creator, Father, Savior, and Companion Whom I trust with every step of my journey. I am so proud to be called Your child and to walk life with You. May I be like a tree planted by the water whose roots grow strong and deep in You. And may my praise be lifted high unto Your throne to bring You glory and magnify Your holy name. Amen.
Lifting your arm(s) to praise God is not a display of emotion—instead, it is a demonstration of devotion and prayer of a heart that is seeking God. It’s a silent communion with our Maker that speaks volumes to the heart of our Abba Daddy!
2 Pause and Praise Creations ©
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