Shout with joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of His name! Make His name glorious!
Say to God: "How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cringe before You. All the earth bows down to You. They sing praise to You. They sing praise to Your name!" (Verses 1-4)
The Superintendent of Schools came into the library on an ordinary day near the end of the school year. I was there with my high school students helping them prepare for debate speeches I was teaching them how to write. The year before I taught in the middle school. It was an interesting year for me. Because I was hired to teach speech and debate as a quarterly elective class for these students, I met everyone in seventh and eighth grades. What came with the job was teaching, listening to teenage angst, breaking up fights in the hallways and endeavoring to motivate several Fonzies into learning lines from a play. Daunting, but rewarding. I was asked by the eighth graders to give the speech at the graduation ceremonies that year. As I looked out over the crowd of students who had captured my heart, I told them they must have a higher motivation for their success than just getting out of school alive. I took the chance and told them they need God. Thought I might be fired, but I knew these students. They, like I, weren't going anywhere positive without Him. I got a standing ovation, though, because the kids knew me, too. It wasn't the first time I talked with them about my God. The Superintendent of Schools was there that night.
I moved to the high school on the other side of town to create a competitive speech team the next year, so I didn't really know why the head of the schools was approaching me in the library.
"Kay," he began, "I came over to present you with this myself." In his hand was a formal looking certificate. "Congratulations! You have been named a distinguished teacher!"
Really? I was a little dumbfounded. So were my students whose ears were quite large by then.
"Thank you so much," I choked out. "Oh, my gosh!"
I asked around about who might've recommended me for the award. Turns out, the Superintendent was mainly responsible. He heard the speech the year before and was impressed with it and the student reaction to it. A good friend, a fellow teacher, put her two cents worth in, too. But it made me want to be a better teacher. The award ceremony was humbling because I was surrounded by other great educators who had never been given this honor. I spent the next four years working really, really hard on creating a winning team.
Positive reinforcement is so motivating. Great job! You were awesome! That pat on the head that stirs the heart to action. To be better than I was before. Knowing someone saw what I did. Understood the hours I put in. Acknowledged my gifting.
Say to God: "How awesome are Your deeds!" How He must lift His shoulders when He hears us acknowledge His greatness! My Father waits to hear me say how much I admire His amazing deeds performed on my behalf. When I look out over the ocean on my beach walks and sing "This is my Father's world," He must burst with pride that I noticed and understood that He made it all. Amar is the Hebrew word for say in this psalm. It means to speak and do. Not only to speak our pride in our Father, but to live it. Our lives a reciprocation of His love. Can't you just hear God say: "I love that she praises me for my awesome deeds, but even more, I love that she lives like she loves Me."
His awesomeness should be obvious to others not just because they see and hear us worshipping on Sundays, but because our lives are completely motivated by our amazement over His awesome deeds for us. When we focus on all He can and will do, we forget that we are small and troubled. In giving back to Him the glory that is due Him, we shine in the reflection of it.
So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to Him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to Him, which is your reasonable service to Him. Romans 12
Say to God: "How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cringe before You. All the earth bows down to You. They sing praise to You. They sing praise to Your name!" (Verses 1-4)
The Superintendent of Schools came into the library on an ordinary day near the end of the school year. I was there with my high school students helping them prepare for debate speeches I was teaching them how to write. The year before I taught in the middle school. It was an interesting year for me. Because I was hired to teach speech and debate as a quarterly elective class for these students, I met everyone in seventh and eighth grades. What came with the job was teaching, listening to teenage angst, breaking up fights in the hallways and endeavoring to motivate several Fonzies into learning lines from a play. Daunting, but rewarding. I was asked by the eighth graders to give the speech at the graduation ceremonies that year. As I looked out over the crowd of students who had captured my heart, I told them they must have a higher motivation for their success than just getting out of school alive. I took the chance and told them they need God. Thought I might be fired, but I knew these students. They, like I, weren't going anywhere positive without Him. I got a standing ovation, though, because the kids knew me, too. It wasn't the first time I talked with them about my God. The Superintendent of Schools was there that night.
I moved to the high school on the other side of town to create a competitive speech team the next year, so I didn't really know why the head of the schools was approaching me in the library.
"Kay," he began, "I came over to present you with this myself." In his hand was a formal looking certificate. "Congratulations! You have been named a distinguished teacher!"
Really? I was a little dumbfounded. So were my students whose ears were quite large by then.
"Thank you so much," I choked out. "Oh, my gosh!"
I asked around about who might've recommended me for the award. Turns out, the Superintendent was mainly responsible. He heard the speech the year before and was impressed with it and the student reaction to it. A good friend, a fellow teacher, put her two cents worth in, too. But it made me want to be a better teacher. The award ceremony was humbling because I was surrounded by other great educators who had never been given this honor. I spent the next four years working really, really hard on creating a winning team.
Positive reinforcement is so motivating. Great job! You were awesome! That pat on the head that stirs the heart to action. To be better than I was before. Knowing someone saw what I did. Understood the hours I put in. Acknowledged my gifting.
Say to God: "How awesome are Your deeds!" How He must lift His shoulders when He hears us acknowledge His greatness! My Father waits to hear me say how much I admire His amazing deeds performed on my behalf. When I look out over the ocean on my beach walks and sing "This is my Father's world," He must burst with pride that I noticed and understood that He made it all. Amar is the Hebrew word for say in this psalm. It means to speak and do. Not only to speak our pride in our Father, but to live it. Our lives a reciprocation of His love. Can't you just hear God say: "I love that she praises me for my awesome deeds, but even more, I love that she lives like she loves Me."
His awesomeness should be obvious to others not just because they see and hear us worshipping on Sundays, but because our lives are completely motivated by our amazement over His awesome deeds for us. When we focus on all He can and will do, we forget that we are small and troubled. In giving back to Him the glory that is due Him, we shine in the reflection of it.
So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to Him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to Him, which is your reasonable service to Him. Romans 12
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