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I give props to Beyonce and Mrs. Obama.  This video is pretty slick in getting boys and girls to exercise.

I’m praying that I will not be like the Israelites in Exodus 16.  For the Lord provided them salvation from the oppression of Egypt.  But just as fast as they were blessed and saved from Pharaoh, they complained about their hunger and wandering in the desert.  I fear that once I am blessed by God in one area of my life, I will just complain about another thing.

Today is an especially “Hosanna” kind of day…

From John Piper’s Sermon Manuscript from a Palm Sunday in 1983 in reference to the meaning of “Hosanna”:

“But something happened to that phrase, hoshiya na [hosanna]. The meaning changed over the years. In the psalm it was immediately followed by the exclamation: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” The cry for help, hoshiya na, was answered almost before it came out of the psalmist’s mouth. And over the centuries the phrase hoshiya na stopped being a cry for help in the ordinary language of the Jews. Instead it became a shout of hope and exultation. It used to mean, “Save, please!” But gradually it came to mean, “Salvation! Salvation! Salvation has come!” It used to be what you would say when you fell off the diving board. But it came to be what you would say when you see the lifeguard coming to save you! It is the bubbling over of a heart that sees hope and joy and salvation on the way and can’t keep it in.”

John Piper has such a great explanation about the meaning of this well-known, yet sometimes misunderstood Christian word.  “Hosanna” means a cry for salvation, but also means how salvation has come…Jesus is our salvation and He has come and will come back.  What a great comfort because there is salvation! “Hosanna!”

NOTE: I didn’t forget about the 31 Ways to Praise God. Imma update later about them…

#16 – God, My Shepherd

A famous verse that comforts as well as speaks of God’s tender love and justice.

¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 
 ² He makes me lie down in green pastures, 
he leads me beside quiet waters, 
 ³ he refreshes my soul. 
He guides me along the right paths 
   for his name’s sake. 
⁴ Even though I walk 
   through the darkest valley,^[a] 
I will fear no evil, 
   for you are with me; 
your rod and your staff, 
   they comfort me.

 ⁵ You prepare a table before me 
   in the presence of my enemies. 
You anoint my head with oil; 
   my cup overflows. 
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me 
   all the days of my life, 
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD 
   forever.

(Psalm 23)

#17 – God, My Victory

“Jehovah-Nissi” means “The Lord My Banner.”  Banners were symbolic of victory after a war and in Exodus 17, Moses built an altar (representative of a banner) dedicated to the Lord after their victory over the Amalekites.  When praising God, Moses used the name of Jehovah Nissi for God.  This was appropriate as God allowed them to win that battle.  We know today, that God is our ultimate victory as because of Him, we have salvation from our sins…we have life.

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.” (2 Cor 2:14)

#15 Provider God

Reading this verse reminds me of Philippians 4:19, in that “God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Jesus Christ.”  God provides what we need, not necessarily what we want.  And with what we have been given, we are to use it wisely as well as give generously.

⁶ Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷ Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. ⁹ As it is written:

“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever.”

¹⁰ Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹ You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

#13: A Personal God

I never thought of it this way, but God is such a personal God that He will give those who believe in Him honor by inviting us to feast at His kingdom’s table…

¹¹“I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; ¹²but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”¹³And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very moment.” (Matthew 8:11)

#14: A Giving God

This is such a rich and powerful verse that rings with so much truth, love, humility and sacrifice.

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

three selections from very different genres of music. eclectic is the right word:

Eternal, Saving God

²⁵ to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 1:25)

The Holy One

⁸ Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” (Rev 4:8)