Lessons from the Dog (part one)

Since we are in the midst of the Dog Days of Summer, though the Chicagoland area has been nice and cool, thought I would do a couple of blog posts that somehow relate to dogs. And God, of course!

There was a time when I would put the leash on the dog and he ended up taking me for the walk. After a while of watching the Dog Whisperer on Animal Planet, I discovered what I was doing wrong. One of the things dog trainers teach you is that when you do get them to the point to where they obey you, you must continuously give them praise. You pet owners out there know the drill, "Good Boy" (or girl), "Good Boy", throughout your walk. Then, if they do well, after your walk you reward them with their favorite Scooby Snack. Now Francis the dog finally gets it!

So now I can walk him through the neighborhood with some kind of dignity.

Parents, teachers, coaches, and supervisors have all been taught the importance of using praise on their:kids, students, team members, and employees. When you throw some praise upon them it not only makes them feel good, but they will take that praise you give them and turn it into positive results. You are also showing them that "you care", boosting their confidence so that they may excel in all that they do.

Our praise upon the Lord kind of has a reverse effect. When we give Him praise, we are ultimately making ourselves feel better. This is probably the biggest reason why we are told to

praise Him in all things.

Lately I've become enamored with a new version of the old hymn Blessed be the Name of the Lord:

When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say,

Blessed be the name of the Lord,

Blessed be Your Name.

In Psalm 24 the Psalmist ask's,

"Who may stand in His holy place?" (v.3)

Then in the next verse we get our answer,

"He who has clean hands and a pure heart". (v.4)

And our reward is this:

He shall receive blessing from the Lord,

And righteousness from the God of his salvation. (v.5)

Most importantly we need to remember that:

It doesn't matter if we receive a blessing or not, for,He Is Worthy Of Our Praise.

But.. you will be blessed!