The sincerest form of flattery

Our Daily Bread
I am not a father, so I don't see this very often.  While visiting my young nephew, I knelt down next to his small frame so I could hear him better and relate to him.  After pointing to something and looking down to make sure he was paying attention, I noticed that he was kneeling down the exact same way I was.  I understood the saying "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" in a new way!

Our Lord doesn't need flattery, but he does want us to imitate the example he gave us when he was here on earth.  He loved.  He forgave.  He served.  He spoke out in ways that no other man ever did.  Shouldn't we imitate the God of all creation as best we can?  Yes!

It is not easy in our world.  We often think our lives are so much more complicated than in Jesus' time.  How could a God who lived over 2000 years ago understand our lives?  The God of all time and being understands.  He is there.  He gives us his strength to imitate him to the best of our abilities!

Lord, thank you for being our great example.  Please help us live for you!

Psalm Sunday
Psalm 113 is a "typical" praise hymn.  It has several cultural references from Old Testament times that muddles the message in my opinion, but it is still a great psalm!

Psalm 113

1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, you his servants;
    praise the name of the Lord.
2 Let the name of the Lord be praised,
    both now and forevermore.
3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
    the name of the Lord is to be praised.
4 The Lord is exalted over all the nations,
    his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
    the One who sits enthroned on high,
6 who stoops down to look
    on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
8 he seats them with princes,
    with the princes of his people.
9 He settles the childless woman in her home
    as a happy mother of children.
Praise the Lord.

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I pray the weight of my sins doth not crush me back to dust from where I came. I pray that God create in me a new, clean heart and place a right spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of my salvation. Praise the Almighty God from whom all blessings flow.