Isaiah 25:1 O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

God not only knows everything we say but everything we think and feel, so why should we exalt and praise Him?

If you think that the primary reason is so that others will hear our witness, be not surprised if I tell you that is the secondary reason. The primary reason is because of our human nature. We are weak, beggarly, flighty, forgetful and easily distracted.

Look how easy it is to fall off the wagon of determination. Will power is not our strong suit. We are creatures of habit however and if we can get in the habit of exalting and praising Him, then the only danger we run is insincerity.

Being sincere in exaltation and praise is neither a matter of will nor habit, it is a matter of character. Be that person who is the new creation which God has transformed. The new creature with the new nature, who is not outwardly appearing but inwardly real.

Ephesians 3:16-19 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Would you rather be filled with God or full of yourself?

That is not a mere matter of determination, it takes humility and submission. God will do in you everything required to conform you if you surrender to His will.

Ephesians 6:6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;

Levítico 20:5 Nueva Versión Internacional (NVI)

yo mismo me pondré en contra de él y de su familia; eliminaré del pueblo a ese hombre y a todos los que se hayan prostituido con él, siguiendo a Moloc.

Excuse my Spanish, but it struck me this morning as I was releasing yesterday’s devotional Sound Familiar that it is possible that the root words for both family and familiar might well be familia. Who do we know best if not a family member? We hope we do anyway.

Being the youngest of four with an eight year spread, my siblings know me much better that I know them. They have been a part of my whole life, while I know only what they care to share about those years before I came along. By the time I was old enough to realize that fact my older siblings were gone from the house.

I cannot speak to the issues of familiarity from any aspect except what was common between us, and what little they are willing to share. Now within this new family called church, the fellowship of saints, we are all connected in that same manner. I only know as much about your life before I came along as you are willing to share.

I understand that parts of our past lives might be painful. Mine was for sure. If we do not share those things with our new family it makes it all that more difficult for us to fit in, to become familia.

Ephesians 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

This is the purpose of family, to edify one another in love!