The Mirror of the Word by C.E. White can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Word-Devotions-Reveal-Refine/dp/B0DFZS83C7  To learn more about this author and other words, visit https://cewhitebooks.com/

“Through him then, let’s continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips praising his name.”

—Hebrews 13:15

The word “praise” has somehow come to mean only the time of singing at church. But this says praise is “the fruit of lips praising his name.”

So it’s not simply praising his name, but the fruit that acknowledgement bears in our lives.

1 Samuel 15:22–23 says, “Does the Lord have as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than a sacrifice, and to pay attention is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as reprehensible as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as reprehensible as false religion and idolatry.”

Living a life that acknowledges God and his goodness is not only something we do for half an hour before a sermon; that will be an empty ritual before the Lord if we are not also allowing his Word to transform our moments and our days.

If we praise the Lord with our lips in truth, that will cause us to live our lives in a way that requires sacrifice. That is our praise—to do the work of the Father and live according to his Word. Real praise will never only be singing and speaking of his goodness; it will also transform our lives into fruit, which comes by obedience.

And it says to do this continually.

May we continually and intentionally use both our words and our lives to acknowledge God throughout the week and praise him not only with songs but in action.

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