Praise!

Over the last 2 years I have been meeting with friends from around the Ipswich Circuit and beyond for a time of Reflection & Prayer, led by Sue France. This has been done from the comfort of our own homes on a Monday morning, some of us eating our porridge, (and possibly some of us still in our pyjamas – shh!) We reflect on a word and associated images and then share in a time of open prayer both spoken and silent. This series of T4TD is based on this idea.

PRAISE

Yesterday was Palm Sunday when we remember Jesus riding into Jerusalem, to the sound of the crowd shouting Hosanna!, people waving palm branches and laying their cloaks down along the road into Jerusalem.

How often do we stop and shout praise to God? How often do we lay our cloaks on the road for a king?

Have you ever seen a sunrise? It’s not something I do very often, but when I have made the effort to get out of bed and stand on the seashore, or to climb up Haytor on Dartmoor, the cold wait has always been worth the effort.

Slowly the sky changes from black, to pale watery blue, and the sun gradually rises over the horizon. I am more and more amazed at the beauty as the sun comes up, yet with each minute what I think of as truly magnificent, just gets better and better, brighter and brighter until the sun is completely risen.

Just think that star, is 150 million km from earth, it is the source of our light and warmth, and that without it we would not survive. Even on a cold foggy morning, the sun is shining above the clouds.  It’s energy reaches every square centimetre of earth, is essential for life…..and it was God who made it happen.

Scientists say the earth was created after the Big Bang, but why did that Big Bang happen when it did?

God was before the earth was, he breathed over the chaos and brought about Creation.

We have so much to praise God for, he the source of life, our strength and our refuge. He is good and his love endures forever – just as that big orange ball in the sky shines on us all and will be there long after we have gone.

Sing, shout, wave, whatever you feel- but praise God today!