Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today let’s brag on our God who answers prayers.

In Today’s scripture, Psalms 34:1‭-‬4 (NASB1995) Testifies…
I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul will make its boast in the Lord; The humble will hear it and rejoice. O magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears.

Consider…
When is the last time that you bragged on God? What did you brag about?

I admit, today’s post was set as soon as the theme for the week was given to me. And the inspiration for the preset post was today’s song, which immediately became one of my favorites the first time I heard it.

My favorite lyric in the song is…

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine
He’s been my fourth man in the fire, time after time

That’s my testimony!

I’ve been through my share of fires, and more than I remember Him delivering me from them, I recall the Lord being with me through them.

When you look back over your life, are there fires that God saw you through, rather delivered you from?

Of course the lyric is making a specific reference to the three Hebrew Boys in the fiery furnace. Let’s revisit the testimony…

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. – Daniel 3:24‭-‬25 KJV

Notice, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego’s persecutor was the one who testified about seeing the Son of God dwelling with the men through the fire.

Don’t be surprised if your persecutors testify about seeing Jesus in your fire too.

Speaking of a persecutor testifying, remember the prison guard, who got saved after witnessing Paul and Silas’ midnight praise party. Acts 16:27‭-‬30 (KJV) testified…
And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

When your haters see how you stand in adversity, they will most likely see Jesus standing with you, and can’t help but acknowledge that He’s the Real One!

Yet, as rewarding as it may be to have others see the God in/with you (shout out to Mary Mary), it cannot compare to your personal testimony.

For example, look at Paul’s humble brag on God…
Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. – 2 Corinthians 12:9‭-‬10 NLT

Paul bragged that God’s grace makes him strong although he was weak. I could hear him saying, “God’s strength looks good on me!”

And there’s Stephen bragging on seeing Jesus, in the midst of his imminent death. Acts 7:55‭-‬56 (ERV)
shared…
But Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked up into heaven and saw the glory of God. And he saw Jesus standing at God’s right side. Stephen said, “Look! I see heaven open. And I see the Son of Man standing at God’s right side.”

How about the David’s brag that begins the most famous Psalm…
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. – Psalm 23:1 KJV

As a matter of fact, the entire 23rd Psalm is bragging on the Lord!

There are a ton of bragging Psalms, like my mom’s favorite, the 103rd for example. I encourage you to find some and be inspired in your God brag too.

One more brag that I especially like is Job’s, which was shared in Job 19:25‭-‬27 (NLT)…
“But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!

I think you get the point, it’s good to brag on God, especially in the midst of adversity. That’s because it’s in our adversity we most often see Him the clearest.

I love today’s scripture, because the first three verses brag on God, and the fourth verse starts to explain why. It says…
I sought the Lord, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears.

Notice the delivered the Psalmist from his fears, not his situation. That’s the perfect picture of peace. It’s the same thing David describes in Psalm 23:4 (KJV)…
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Today brag on God, not just for what He’s delivered you from, but for what He’s stood with you through!

We serve a stand and deliver God!

Trust in God, because He will never fail to be with you, regardless of whether He delivers you or not.

Today’s song is…
Trust In God

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)