God, Our Source of All

I remember as a young child wanting to give my Dad and Mom something for their birthdays or at the holidays. I wanted to express my love  in thankfulness for them being such good parents. Often, since I had no money of my own, they would give me what I needed to buy them a present. They appreciated my heart to give back for all they had done for me.

Our heavenly Father appreciates when we thank and praise Him. That reminds me of King David’s sacrifices and praise to God. He figured out that God is the source of all we have.

I Chronicles 29:10-14:
Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our father, for ever and ever.
Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.
Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.
Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.
But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.

God wants us to give willingly–and of “thine own” we have to give. Whatever we have to give back to our heavenly Father, or to one another, comes from Him. He is our sufficiency (II Corinthians 3:5). Let’s look at some of the detail of these verses to see how great this is.

I Chronicles 29:10:
Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our father, for ever and ever.

David considered God to be his Father. That was figuratively true in that God lovingly cared for His people like a father. Today, as born-again believers, we are literally God’s children through what Jesus Christ has accomplished for us. God has fathered us by incorruptible seed (I Peter 1:23). And as His children, we praise and thank Him for His goodness to us. David did the same.

I Chronicles 29:11,12:
Thine, O Lord, is the greatness [might], and the power [strength], and the glory [beauty], and the victory [splendor], and the majesty [grandeur]: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.
Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power [vigor] and might [strength]; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.

Riches and honor come from God. Most children depend upon their parents for help. We have a Father Who is mighty, strong, beautiful, splendid, grand, and vigorous. And…all in heaven and earth is His! That’s a heavenly “Daddy” we can depend upon.

I Chronicles 29:13,14:
Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.
But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.

When I sit and think about how wonderful and great my Father is, I just want to thank Him and praise Him. But who am I to have something to offer back to Him? As David said, all things come from Him—and that is exactly how we are able to thank and praise Him.

Here’s how our Father gives us the ability to thank and praise Him. When we are born again, we receive God’s gift of holy spirit (John 3:5,6,8; Galatians 4:29). With that gift comes the ability to speak in tongues (Acts 2:38; 10:45,46; I Corinthians 12:7,10). Speaking in tongues is perfect thanks and praise to God (I Corinthians 14:14,17; Philippians 3:3).

Jesus Christ made the new birth available for us by his sinless life as our redeemer. Now we are the sons of God (I John 3:1,2). And we can praise our Father with our understanding and in the spirit, by speaking in tongues.

I Corinthians 14:15:
What is it then? I will pray with the spirit [by speaking in tongues], and I will pray with the understanding [in the language that I know] also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. 

Whether we thank our Father in the language that we know, or by speaking in tongues, the fruit of our lips can give thanks to His name!

Hebrews 13:12,15:
Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

If you’d like to learn more about speaking in tongues, please see:

The Father Sent His Son so We Can Have Holy Spirit, Part 3

Fired Up for God!