The Joy of The Lord Is My Strength
We have been chosen to praise the Lord! We are part of a chosen generation and custom-made to praise God. He did not find us by accident. He found us on purpose. This is something to proclaim and shout about!
1. Woman At The Well
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John 4:13-14
In this Bible story Jesus had to go through Samaria. It wasn’t on the way to where He was headed. In fact, it was out of His way. So why did he go through Samaria? There was a woman in Samaria who had five husbands, and the man she was living with wasn’t even her husband because she had given up on marriage. She was at the well looking for another man.
Jesus knew this woman hungered for a relationship and love. When He found her at the well and touched her with His power, she praised Him and went to testify and proclaim His power to others. God knows where to find us, how to find us, and how to get us to praise Him.
2. Chosen Generation
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
1 Peter 2:9
The Latin translation for the word chosen means to gather or collect–one that was picked from the larger group. In the pile of people buried in the pile of abuse, pain, addiction, bondage, etc. God went into all of it and picked us out! He didn’t have to choose us but He did. We can never say we chose God because the truth is, He chose us. He was not lost, we were. He chose us for a specific purpose, a specific assignment, and a specific plan.
3. Spiritual Warfare
We praise Him because of His goodness and His miraculous power. But sometimes the devil tries to put a bad day on us: the tire is flat, the world is coming against us, the bills are due, etc. We can’t let the devil steal our joy! No matter how bad of a day or how bad of a season the devil throws at us, it is never ever comparable to the hell God brought us out of. Now that is something to shout about!
4. Custom-Made People
“For the people I chose, the people I made especially for myself, a people custom-made to praise me.”
Isaiah 43:21
God is saying here in the scripture that He custom-made us to praise Him. He chose you for such a time as this. He knows our past, our present, and our future.
“As a belt clings to a person’s waist, so I have made the entire nation of Israel and the entire nation of Judah cling to me,” declares the Lord. “I did this so that they would be my people and bring fame, praise, and honor to me. However, they wouldn’t listen.”
Jeremiah 13:11 (God’s Word Translation)
God has made us to cling to Him. Not our job, our career, our education, or anything else. He made us to cling to Him. This means when God saw us, He saw us clinging to our sins. We clung to it like an identity because we thought we needed it to survive. But God knew once He stepped into our world, He would wash away our sins and we would cling to Him. We would praise Him for rescuing us from that sin and giving us a new life.
Final Thoughts
God knows where to find us, how to find us, and how to get a praise out of us!
No matter how bad of a day or how bad of a season the devil throws at us, it is never ever comparable to the hell God brought you out of!
God has made us to cling to Him and He chose us for a specific purpose, a specific assignment, and a specific plan. But the number one plan He chose is to get a praise out of our testimony!
