" I will extol Thee my God, O King.  I will bless Your Name forever and ever. Every day I will bless Thee, and I will praise Thy Name forever and ever.  Great is the Lord and highly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable."  Psalm 145:1-3    To bless - to  speak well of, to honor and praise with our voices.  This psalm of David emphasizes verbal, out loud words of praise to our God.   Over and over the verbs are focused on what comes out of our mouths -  I will extol Thee,  I will bless Thy Name,  I will bless Thee, I will praise Thee,  ( they) will declare They mighty acts,  men shall speak of the power of Thine awesome acts,  I will tell of Thy greatness, They shall eagerly utter the memory of Thine abundant goodness,  shout joyfully of Thy righteousness, give thanks, speak of the glory of the Kingdom, make known.. Thy mighty acts.  V. 21 sums it up " My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord; And all flesh will bless his holy Name forever and ever. "   Looking forward to  studying this psalm this week.  It seems a good one to memorize.  Lord help me to open my mouth every day to bless You and praise Your Name!

Moving to the NT book of Philippians this week.  Today just reading the whole book through.  What jumps out to me is Paul's love for this church.  He prays for them and encourages them.  He gently corrects them and he comforts them.    He wants so much for them to stand firm and to keep moving ahead in their faith walk. He wants them to keep their eyes on Jesus. To stay " sincere and blameless".  His prayers for them are full of joy.  They are precious to him.   Not perfect, but then neither is he, but pressing forward.   This is a letter one would write to your grown children.  Encouraging and confirming, yet reminding them of what is truely important.  The day of Christ's return is drawing near.  Be ready.  But more than that, be excited and look forward to that wonderful day.  For " to live is Christ and to die is gain"

The Shepherd's voice this morning sweetly and gently whispers, " Are you ready?"   Am I living with expectation of His coming or of my death?  Like Paul I hope that I shall not be to shame in anything, but that Christ shall "be exalted in my body whether by life or by death. " 1:20