The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him. —Psalm 28:7 (ESV) A couple months ago, our theme for the month was praise and I loved that because . . . not only is our God deserving of all the praise we can offer Him. But giving Him praise also does something in us. You see, throughout the Bible we are called to lift up our praise to God. Yes, because He is worthy and it blesses Him, but also because the act of giving Him praise uplifts and blesses us. In other words, lifting up our praise to God – focusing on Him – releases His power into the areas of our lives where we are weak. It’s not that it simply changes our circumstances, but it shifts our perspective. And thankfulness produces the same kind of effect in our lives. Giving thanks is one of the most powerful weapons in the life of a believer because it takes the focus off of the problem and onto God, the Provider. So, I want to encourage you today to give thanks to God. Meditate on His faithfulness, His love and His goodness. You might just be surprised by how different everything in your life will look when you see it all from His perspective