1.04.2013

With My Whole Heart

'I will praise the Lord all my life. I will sing praises to the Lord as long as I live.' - Psalms 146 vs 2, NIV 
Happy New Year Everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday season with family and friends and are looking forward to a bright and shiny 2013 that is sure to be  a year full of joy and promise!
Every year I spend time to go before the Lord and try to pick up a theme from the Word and use it as a direction to build upon throughout the new year. This year the Lord brought Psalm 146 vs 2 as my theme for 2013. The whole psalm is awesome an example of singing the Lord's praises but the second verse hit a special chord for me.

We are commanded (not requested) and granted the privilege as children of God to praise Him with our whole hearts.
For the most part we sincerely do that but in this year, 2013, I feel the Lord is saying we really do need to step up and step deeper into what it really means to Praise The Lord. To 'sing praises the Lord as long as I live' means in the good times, in the bad times, in the unspeakably terrible times we need to sing praises to the Lord. Not just speak the praises, not just give lip service but sing His praises from the very depths of our being. When you sing, you use your 'whole breath', your 'whole heart' and all of your power and strength to belt out those words. Your whole physical and spiritual being is involved when you give your all to singing. This year 2013, we need to give our whole breath and all of our power and strength to sing the praises to the Lord. For our whole lives and with our whole hearts for as long as we live, we need to sing  - sing, not just speak - praises to the Lord with our whole hearts.
There's an old saying in the church "When the praises go up, the blessings come down!" Send up your praises to the Lord this year - whole hearted, full throated praises using every bit of your breath and strength and witness what the Lord will do in your life!
Would love to hear what you are praising God for this year. Year 2013 is still young but it's never too soon to start. Sometimes it's just "Praise God that last year is over!"Let us know what you are singing praises for so we join in the song with you!

14 comments:

  1. Hi Cassandra,

    Welcome from Create With Joy! Thanks for stopping by from Missional Women... I hope you have a chance to read In The Land Of Blue Burqas, it really opened my eyes to the world around me and strengthened my faith in ways I did not forsee!

    I love your PRAISE theme for 2013... I am hosting a One Word 2013 Blog Hop and would love for you to share this with us! My word/theme for 2013 is JOURNEY... you can read more about it on the post and on my blog in the upcoming year!

    I also host Inspire Me Monday, a place to share your creative, inspirational and devotional posts, and Friendship Friday, a place to connect with other bloggers. I hope you'll check these parties out and join us in the weeks to come!

    Look forward to getting to know you in the upcoming year at

    Create With Joy
    http://create-with-joy.com

    Bless you! :-)

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    1. Thank you for stopping by and for the invitations. I will definitely take you up on them! I think 'Journey' is a great word. It brings to mind all sorts of delightful possibilities! Looking forward to seeing where your journey takes you this year.

      God Bless!

      Cassandra

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  2. Hi Cassandra! Thanks for stopping by my blog! I'm praising God for the opportunity to connect to so many other women through this practice of one word. It's been a great encouragement for me as we try to settle back in to life in the States. :)

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    1. So glad you came by Gina!

      I am just starting to hear about the 'One Word' practice for this year and am also looking forward to finding out more about it and the women involved including you. :)

      Thanks for stopping by.

      God Bless!

      Cassandra

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  3. This is such a good post. It is so good to think about our spiritual focus for the year. I hope and pray that you have a blessed year for 2013!! Thanks so much for linking up over at WholeHearted Home. I hope to see you again in the morning!!

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    1. Happy New Year Judith!

      It's good to meet you. Thank you for the good wishes and I will definitly be visiting every Wednesday to see all the new link-ups for the week. I enjoy seeing what the other ladies are writing about on the net. I appreciate you giving everyone a place to share.

      Have a Blessed Week and thanks for stopping by!

      Cassandra

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  4. I agree, Cassandra. I know that the more praises I give, the more blessings I receive. Have a wonderful day.
    Laura

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    1. Hi Laura,

      Those beautiful photos of your roses started my day off wonderfully. I'm still smiling thinking about them. I love roses. They are my favorite flower.

      Thanks for stopping by and Happy New Year!

      - Cassandra

      (I'll be thinking of you next week.)

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  5. Love stuff like this! I stopped by after you commented on my guest post over at Deidra's blog. My word for the year is Depend (I wrote about it here: http://theduryees.com/2013/01/01/my-word-for-2013/). No matter what, I want to have depended on God more this year.

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    1. Hi Rose!

      So glad you stopped by! I just finished replying to your reply, LOL.

      "Depend". Wow. That's a great word and a tough one walk out. Rolling our cares onto the Lord sounds like it would be an easy thing to do but I know from experience it's one of the hardest aspects of our walk. I will pray that God gives you the strength to depend fully and completely this year.

      Glad to have met you! Come back anytime!

      ~ Cassandra

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  6. Hi, Cassandra. This is Anna Marie checking out the blog hops from Home Sanctuary. I am encouraged by your post to use my whole heart and whole breath to praise my Lord and Savior this year! Gonna give it some GUSTO! Thanks for leaving your link. God bless you this year!

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  7. Hi Anna Marie!

    Gusto is a great word. It means 'enthusiastic and vigorous enjoyment' or 'appreciation or vitality marked by an abundance of vigor and enthusiasm'! That is so awesome!

    You are so right - we really do need to praise the Lord with GUSTO!

    Thanks so much for stopping by and giving us a great word to go along with Praise!

    God Bless!

    ~ Cassandra

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  8. Good Morning, Cassandra! WOO! I love this theme! I was reminded that even in the tough times, there is SOMETHING to praise him for. I am grateful this year...maybe "gratitude" is my word...and praise goes right along with that. Thanks for linkin up today...bless you my dear!

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    1. Hi Rachel Anne!

      Gratitude is a great word and I think it is the beginning of Praise. In what ever situation we find ourselves in we can give God wholehearted praise, in joy but also in gratitude in the worst of times that God is with us and we don't have to go through it alone.

      So glad Company Girls Coffee is back! I really did miss it!

      Thanks for stopping by and God Bless!

      ~ Cassandra

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God Bless and Have a Great Day!

Cassandra from Renaissance Women