PRAISE THE LORD

It’s almost 2026, a new year.

A new, exciting, and mysterious new year.

Now, while I could go into so many different topics such as love, service, humility, and others, I decided on a different topic today.

Praising the Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 117:1; O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise Him, all ye people.

Wow, it has been a year. There have been so many ups and downs, and in taking some time to think about it, I do not believe I could have gotten through this year without Jesus. In the middle of plenty of battles, whether they had to do with things going on in the outside world or the personal struggles I had in my heart, God was with me.

Even in the lowest moments, God never stopped being God, meaning He never stopped being good. In fact, when I felt like I couldn’t go on anymore, there was a love that kept me going. It was the same love Jesus had for us at the time He was on the cross. The same love the Father had for us when He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. When I thought a step forward was impossible, it became possible because of how much love Jesus has for me. That is the love that kept me going.

I look back at everything, and realize that God had me in everything. I believe if we all just looked back, we would see we were being held in every single moment. There was not one time God left any of us, even if we left Him.

I just have to say it, God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.

Can I get an AMEN?

While that by itself is reason enough to praise God, that isn’t the only reason we have. Another one is God wants us to have a relationship with Him, and He chose us to serve Him. Even with the fifty million other things we can do, there is (in my opinion) quite literally nothing that could even come close to that. The fact that we are hand picked by God to serve Him for our entire lives is just incredible to think about. Then to make this so much better, He doesn’t want us to just serve Him. That isn’t who our God is. No, He wants us to talk to Him, spend time with Him, give Him our burdens, and help us. All we have to do is place our trust in Him.

Somebody praise God for that!

Want to hear something crazy? I have barely even started with the list of all the reasons we have to praise the LORD. I do believe if I went through all the reasons we have to praise God, I would be typing for another good year or so. Reasons such as the life we have in Him, the protection, the assurance that everything works out for the good of those who believe, the joy in the midst of sadness, the peace in the storm, and so many more things I could go on and on about. That would still be the case even if I wasn’t going into a lot of detail as I am doing right at this moment. So for the sake of time, I unfortunately will not be going through this whole list, as much as I would love to.

The thing I want all of you to remember is, no matter what you are going through, good or bad, there is always a reason to praise. With this year getting closer and closer to the end, I want us all to just take a minute and give God some praise that we made it through another year, which in its own right is a huge blessing. Remember that it also doesn’t have to be just about making it through this year, just give God some praise for everything He has done for you.

I love you all with the love of Christ.

Christopher Haney