A CRESCENDO OF PRAISE

"Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens. Praise Him for His acts of power; praise Him for His surpassing greatness. Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise Him with the harp and lyre, praise Him with timbrel and dancing, praise Him with the strings and pipe, praise Him with the clash of cymbals, praise Him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord."  (Psalm 150 NIV)

Psalm 150 doesn’t whisper… it shouts. It’s the final note in the Psalter’s symphony, a call to worship that echoes through every corner of creation. There’s no mention of struggle, lament, or petition here -- just pure, unfiltered praise.

The psalmist invites us to praise God everywhere (“in His sanctuary… in His mighty heavens”), for everything (“His acts of power… His surpassing greatness”), and with everything (“trumpet… harp… dancing… cymbals”). It’s a full-bodied celebration of who God is and what He’s done.

But this isn’t just about instruments -- it’s about intention. Whether you’re a musician, a writer, a teacher, or a parent, your life can be an instrument of praise. The question isn’t whether you have breath -- it’s what you’re doing with it.

Praise isn’t confined to Sunday mornings. Let your daily routines become sacred rhythms of worship. Use your gifts -- writing, photography, design, music -- to reflect God’s glory. Every medium can become a melody of praise. Are you using your breath to complain, criticize, or compare,… or to praise, encourage, and uplift? Let everything that has breath praise the Lord -- everyone, every way, everywhere, every breath. 

-- SOUND BITES Ministry™, compiled from a variety of sources

#6220

WE ALL HAVE SOMETHING

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”  (Romans 12:6-7 NIV)

Many years ago in Nuremberg, Germany, two young lads, Albrecht Durer and Franz Kingstein, trained and toiled to become artists.  Both showed promise and each dreamed of becoming famous.

As time passed, it became obvious that Albrecht's skills were those of a genius.  But Franz was not gifted and would never be more than an art lover.  Each had undertaken a rendering of the passion of Christ.  When Franz viewed Albrecht's lovely etching, he lifted his hands in an act of despair.

"Albrecht, it's hopeless.  I can never become an artist," he cried.  "You will be famous; I never will be."

Albrecht responded quickly, "Hold your hands just as they are.  Don't move them.  You, too, shall be famous."  Then the gifted artist grabbed his brush and painted the hands that have become famous as "The Praying Hands."

Not all of us have the same talents, gifts and opportunities.  But we all have something that can strengthen, bless or enrich others' lives.  We can use our resources to give them a productive future. 

-- Dr. Norm Wakefield & Jody Brolsma in “Men Are from Israel, Women Are from Moab”

#5847

BECOMING WHO GOD WANTS ME TO BE

“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.”  (Psalm 139:14 NKJV)

God does not call me to fit a certain mold, nor does He want to press out a bunch of cookie-cutter Christians, each exactly alike. No, when God created me, He made me a unique individual with particular gifts and abilities. This is my true self, and as I become this person that God intended, I find that I am happier and more free. I am also more united with the Holy Spirit, able to take the place God calls me to in His kingdom.  

-- Elizabeth Prentiss in “Stepping Heavenward”

#5690

USING OUR GIFTS

In His final words to His disciples, Jesus gives them their Great Commission. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)

God expects each of us to use our gifts to make disciples: to share the Good News and the Word, to help lives be changed by the Gospel. God desires for the world to believe in Jesus Christ, to call Him Lord, and to follow Him. As a result, God expects His gifts to you to be used to help make that Kingdom mission happen… Your faithfulness in using your gifts will result in changed lives, saved souls, new lives, and transformed relationships. 

-- Allen R. Hunt in “Nine Words: A Bible Study to Help You Become the Best-Version-of-Yourself”

#5471

AGENTS OF TRANSFORMATION

"If you love Me, keep My commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever -- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you."  (John 14:15-17 NIV)

I am confident that the Almighty God is fully able of saving, redeeming, and setting right everything that has gone wrong in this world [and doing it] by God’s own power. I’m sure that God’s Kingdom could come and God’s will could be done on earth solely by God’s own power. But the God revealed in the Bible is the God who chooses to bring that kingdom to reality through the gifts and energies of ordinary folks such as us…

The good news is that God has not left us to do God’s work alone. Jesus promised that He would send the Holy Spirit who not only would be with us, but also would be in us, enabling us to become that which we can never become on our own. 

-- James A. Harnish in "A Disciple's Path: Deepening Your Relationship with Christ and the Church"

#5018

A LEAP OF FAITH

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."  (Hebrews 11:1 ESV)

The African impala is well-known for its remarkable leaping ability. It can jump ten feet high and thirty feet long. One might think zookeepers would have a tough time keeping impalas in their enclosures, but it’s actually quite simple. A three-foot high wall will do the trick. Here’s why: an impala will not jump if it cannot see where it will land.

We have the same problem, don’t we? We want money-back guarantees before we take a step of obedience, but it eliminates faith from the equation. Sometimes we need to take a flying leap of faith.

We need to step into the conflict without knowing if we can resolve it. We need to share our faith without knowing how our friends will react to it. We need to pray for a miracle without knowing how God will answer. We need to put ourselves in a situation that activates a spiritual gift we’ve never exercised before. And we need to go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. 

-- Mark Batterson in “All In: You Are One Decision Away from a Totally Different Life”

#4867

A KNEE IS NOT A NOSE

“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body… and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many... God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body…. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”  (Excerpts from 1 Corinthians 12: 12-27 NIV)

Just as important as knowing what gift God has given you is knowing which gifts God hasn’t given you. Many Christians try for years to function with gifts they never had in the first place, and this doesn’t do the Lord’s work much good. It’s like trying to hear something with your knee or throw a ball with your nose. Knees and noses are [designed for] doing other things. 

-- C. Peter Wagner

#4425

UNOPENED GIFTS

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10)

When I think of the various spiritual gifts that God has given believers, I can’t help but think that the church is much like a Christmas tree with all the nicely wrapped packages. There is great joy in picking out just the right gift and knowing that the person to whom it will be given will need and appreciate it. How would you feel, though, if you entered your friend's home weeks after Christmas and found the gift that you had given them still unopened? Wouldn’t it make you feel bad if you heard a friend of yours complaining about an unmet need in their life, and yet you knew that you had given them a gift to take care of that need but they had simply not yet opened it?

That must surely be how the Holy Spirit feels at times, as He overhears the people complaining about unmet needs; needs that He gifted the church to be able to meet. When it comes to spiritual gifts… unopened packages equal undiscovered gifts equal unused gifts equal unfulfilled Christians equal impoverished churches equal churchianity (the religious counterfeit of Christianity).

The gifts God has given each of us were meant to be used.

-- Author Unknown

#4237

PASTORAL CARE GIVING

The person who is the best caregiver is a good listener. To a large extent, pastoral care is simply being present, being available, and being open to hear the needs and concerns of others.

In John 1:14 we read “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” God dwells with us with the grace and the truth only God can provide. For John, Jesus represents one who “is and will be present,” and humankind finds its wholeness and shalom on earth, as well as in heaven.

After the resurrection, Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, “as the Father has sent Me, even so I send you.” (John 20:19-23) Jesus then said, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” and blessed the disciples. That same Spirit abides with disciples today -- whether ordained or laity -- and enables all to work on God’s behalf. In the midst of providing care, clergy and lay pastoral caregivers alike lean on the support and direction of the Holy Spirit. As Christians we believe that the Spirit gives us certain gifts. By using these gifts, we continue the ministry begun by Jesus.

-- Timothy M. Farabaugh in “Lay Pastoral Care Giving”

#4164

USING YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFTS

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.”  (1 Peter 4:10)

Each Christian has a personality or disposition colored by the specific [spiritual] gifts present and practiced. The combination of gifts and their various manifestations determine how a person acts in relation to self and others in the body of Christ. … Many Christians, if not most, practice their gifts without being consciously aware of them. Usually after two years of growth, serious converts to Christ find a ministry consistent with their gifts -- without knowing it. I have heard many persons tell how their work for Christ was joy-filled, but they didn’t know why until they discovered that all along they were working out of their gifts.

A 70-year-old man gave an emotional testimony after a workshop where he discovered one of his gifts. He said, “All my life I knew there was something I really enjoyed doing for Christ and the church. But I’ve always had a tinge of guilt, thinking that I was doing my thing for self-gratification. This morning, while I was shaving and praying about the gifts, God revealed to me that what I had been doing and enjoying all along was coming out of my gift. I got so excited about it that I could hardly finish shaving without cutting myself. I’ve been singing all day long. And to think that I have felt guilty over the joy of doing what God wanted me to do!”

-- Charles V. Bryant in “Rediscovering Our Spiritual Gifts: Building Up the Body of Christ Through the Gifts of the Spirit”, Copyright © 1991 by Charles V. Bryant. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books.

#4162

DESIGNED TO FLOURISH

God showed the prophet Ezekiel a vision of languishing: a valley full of dry bones.  It was the image of a failure to thrive.  God asked “Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?” and Ezekiel answered, “You alone know.”  God did know, and he made them come alive.

I know a man named Tim who was an addict, lost his family, lost everything, found God, gave up his addiction, and got his life back again.  I know a man named Peter who was a tormented slave to sexual impulses, and God got ahold of him and that changed.  I know a woman who hated confrontation so badly she once drove on an extended road trip with her best friend for three days in silence to avoid confrontation.  Today she confronts recreationally.

God wants you to grow!  He created the very idea of growth.  The Talmud says that every blade of grass has an angel bending over it, whispering, “Grow, grow,” Paul said that in Christ the whole redeemed community “grows and builds itself up in love.”

Your flourishing is never just about you.  It is a “so that” kind of condition.  God designed you to flourish “so that” you could be part of His redemptive project in ways that you otherwise could not.  He wants you to flourish “so that” people can be encouraged, gardens can be planted, music can be written, sick people can be helped, or companies can thrive in ways they otherwise would not.  When you fail to become the person God designed, all the rest of us miss out on the gift you were made to give.

-- John Ortberg in The Me I Want to Be

#3677

THE GIFT GIVER

If the gift ever becomes more important than the Gift Giver, then the very thing God gave you to serve His purposes is undermining His plan for your life. God is no longer the End All and Be All. And when God becomes the means to some other end, it's the beginning of the end spiritually because you have inverted the gospel.


God-given gifts are wonderful things and dangerous things. One of my recurrent prayers is this: 'Lord, don't let my gifts take me farther than my character can sustain me.' As we cultivate the gifts God has given us, we can begin to rely on those gifts instead of relying on God. That's when our greatest strength becomes our greatest weakness.


-- Mark Batterson in All In




#3670

THE AMBIGUOUS GIFTS OF SUFFERING

"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us." (Romans 5:3-5 RSV)

One of the ambiguous gifts of our suffering (and they are ambiguous: they are gifts, and we would never have chosen them) is that it enlarges our perspective.  Petty complaints we had seem unimportant. People with whom we thought we had nothing in common become special friends.  Vocational prowess drops down on the list of our life's priorities; relationships are what matter.

At the same time that we feel more profoundly and gratefully connected to friends and family, we have a sense that all of us dwell in mystery, that we are connected to earth and sky, to the rhythms of the universe, to the whole range of living things in ways we do not understand.

Maybe I can relinquish my "white knuckle" grip on life, and trust that all will be well.

-- Martha Whitmore Hickman in Healing After Loss


#3526

WORKING TOGETHER

"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." (1 Corinthians 12:4-7)

Harry Artinian, formerly president of corporate quality for the Colgate-Palmolive Company, once said, "I like to tell the story about the entrepreneur who wanted to build the perfect car.  He rented a warehouse and filled it with the 150 best cars ever built.  Then he told his engineers to find the best part in each car he had bought.

"So they took the best engine from the Mercedes, the best door handle from the Buick, the best transmission from the Toyota, the best rack-and-pinion steering from the Ford, and so on and so on.  When he was done, he had a car assembled out of 15,000 best parts that human minds could engineer.  Unfortunately, the car didn't function because the parts didn't work together."  Artinian's point is clear: In order for synergy and teamwork to take place, the people on the team have to function as a team, not just a collection of individuals.

-- Pat Williams in The Magic of Teamwork


#3430

GOD WILL FREELY GIVE

"Since God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for the sake of all of us, then can we not expect that with Christ God will freely give us all His gifts?" (Romans 8:32)

"Freely give" means to give lavishly.  What do I need today?  Strength?  Peace?  Patience?  Heavenly joy?  Industry?  Good temper?  Power to help others?  Inward contentment?  Courage?   Whatever it be, my God will lavish it upon me.

-- Amy Carmichael in Edges of His Ways


#3298

FACETS OF GOD'S BEAUTY

We need the freedom to discover how God wants us to grow, for His design will not look quite the same for everyone. Perhaps God speaks to us in special ways through nature. Perhaps He made us to be formed by music. We may have an above-average capacity for silence and prayer. Or we might respond most strongly to images, symbols, and the fine arts. C.S. Lewis once surmised that each person is created to see a different facet of God's beauty -- something no one else can see in quite the same way -- and then to bless all worshipers through all eternity with an aspect of God they could not otherwise see. 

-- John Ortberg in The Life You've Always Wanted

#3024

TECHNICOLOR THEOLOGY

God gives us different gifts and talents because He values variety and because He wants us to need and enjoy one another. Each of us brings something to the table that is uniquely ours.

Over the years, I've developed this line of thought into what I call "technicolor theology." In other words, I've come to believe that God prefers technicolor over monochrome, community over isolation, Rocky Road ice cream over vanilla. As we come to value the gifts of others and welcome our differences, we produce a heavenly symphony that brings joy to the heart of God…

God created rainbows and color film. We serve a gracious God who values community, passion, humor, flamboyance, and all those other gifts, talents, and personality traits that give color to life and bring us joy. I like colorful people because they remind me that we serve a colorful God who gives different gifts and talents to be used for His glory.

-- Matt Donnelly, Christianity Online


#2348

GOD'S WORK, GOD'S WAY

"The gifts [Christ] gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ." (Ephesians 4:12-13 NLT)

God has called the laity to be His basic ministers. He has called some to be "player-coaches" ... to equip the laity for the ministry they are to fulfill. This equipping ministry is of unique importance. One is appointed to this ministry by the Holy Spirit; therefore it must be undertaken with utmost seriousness. This is a radical departure from the traditional understanding of the roles of the laity and the clergy. The laity had the idea that they were already committed to a "full-time" vocation in the secular world, [and] thus they did not have time -- at least, much time -- to do God's work. Therefore they contributed money to "free" the clergy to have the time needed to fulfill God's ministry. This view is rank heresy. If we follow this pattern, we may continue to do God's work until the Lord comes again and never fulfill God's purpose as it ought to be done.

-- Findley B. Edge in The Greening of the Church (Scripture added)


#2290