III- Praise is a natural response to the love of God
God, our Heavenly Father loves us.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 1:12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Ephesians 1:4
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
John 17:24
Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
Jeremiah 1:5
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
How awesome is that! God almighty is my Father. I am his child in Christ. He loved me before I was even born, before the foundation of the world.
We need the Lord to reveal himself unto us. We need to walk daily in the revelation of Who God is, the revelation of His mighty love for us, his children. We need to praise Him because He is Love. He does not just have love, HE IS LOVE.
1 John 4:8,10,12,16,19
8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
12No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
16And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
19We love him, because he first loved us.
We need to be childlike in our faith and awesome daily discovery of the great love of God for us. We need to keep the flames of passion and love burning in our hearts toward God daily. Because God loved us so much, we just can’t help it but praise him in return.
Our God enjoys to keep the dialog of love alive between Him and His children. When we praise Him, we enter into his presence, and respond to the love He has for us. God is looking for moments of intimacy with His beloved children. God does not have this kind of love relationship with the angels.
Hebrews 1:5
For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
John 4:23
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him
Praise is not only a one way communication toward God. Actually praise is initiated by God. By his great love toward us. We then respond to that love, by praising, honoring, and exalting him. And God finds pleasure in speaking to our hearts. The revelation that God would even care about us human beings to talk to us, would make us want to praise Him even more.
The love of God for us is not just about empty words. God has proven and manifested His love for us by sending His only Begotten Son, Jesus, to die for us, while we were yet sinners. From the moment Adam and Eve, representing mankind, fell in the garden of Eden. God moved the heaven and earth to set up a great plan to re-deem human kind, to re-establish the communion he had lost with Adam.
Genesis 3:14-15
14And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Romans 5:8
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
So when we praise God, we are forever greatful for what God did to save us, what Jesus went through at calvary. In other words praise is saying “thank you Lord from the bottom of my heart” for what you did for me. Responding to God’s incomprehensible love just for me.
