Editor’s note: This is part two of a four-part article. Find part one here, part three here and part four here.
“I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Ps. 34:1, NASB).
I imagine that some of you are like me. Sometimes we can wake up in the morning, and we feel refreshed, encouraged and ready to start our day. We often do not even know why; it just seems like it is going to be a good day.
Yet other times when we open our eyes in the morning, we feel sluggish and unmotivated. We just seem empty or out of it. We do not feel like praising God. But even when we feel nothing, even when we have no emotions that are compelling us to worship Him, we still have a choice. We have the power over our will.
Beloved, I want to encourage you to make the decision to spend time with the LORD every morning. Start each day with God by choosing to bless Him. We can begin our day like that, regardless of how we feel. We do it because of a decision of our will. By doing so, we set the course of our life for the rest of that day. This is the “law of first fruits.” When we give God the first part of our day, it orders our entire day.
Again, sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I can feel impassive, disconnected and tired. Maybe I had bad dreams the night before or just did not get enough sleep. Still, I have a choice to praise Him—or not—just as you do. So what I choose to do is say, “Father God, thank You for today. Father, thank You for the life You have given me and for the opportunity, Lord, to know You and to love You. HaShem, I praise You for the possibilities in this day. Father, help me to be transformed into Your image. Thank you for all the goodness You have shown me over all these years.”
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When we make the decision to praise Him, to bless Him, to speak forth His glory and to confess His wonders, all of a sudden, our emotions change, and God begins to empower us. Just five minutes earlier, we were feeling detached, and we had no desire to praise Him. But since we elected to do so, because we have a will and we can choose, we began to declare God’s majesty.
After doing that for five minutes, all of a sudden, we feel good. All of a sudden, life comes into us. All of a sudden, we have joy. All of a sudden, our perspective of the day has been completely changed. Why? Because we transitioned ourselves in the spirit by our choice and through our will to put God first. As a result, we shifted the atmosphere.
Jesus did not say, “Whosoever feels, come.” No, He said:
“Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34b, KJV).
When David said, “I will bless the LORD at all times,” he was making a declaration that determined the course of his life. It was based on a decision of his will. Through his will, he set his course in the LORD.
Consider the Marines. Every day when they get up, they are not making choices based upon their feelings, whether they feel like being a Marine that day. No, they say to themselves, “I am a Marine today. I am going to get up. I am going to do my job. I am going to be strong.” They surpass their feelings by making a choice with their will.
And, beloved ones—you and I have the same power to choose.
Begin by declaring:
Enough of being lukewarm and submitting to my feelings. I am not going to allow the enemy to control me anymore by my emotions. I am going to set the LORD before me. His praise shall be in my mouth. I am going to begin every day, Father God, with You, sitting before You. I am going to choose to bless You, Father. I am going to thank you for Your goodness, for all that You have done for me. Father, I bless You today. I thank You for today!
It may not be easy at first, but as you continue to do this, you are going to get strong, and when you get strong, you will be happy!
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Rabbi Kirt Schneider hosts the impactful television program “Discovering The Jewish Jesus,” which is available in more than 200 million homes in the United States and nearly 200 nations worldwide. In 2021 he began broadcasting on radio and now airs across America. Rabbi Schneider imparts revelation of Jesus’ Jewish heritage and His fulfillment of Messianic prophecy. Questions of how the Old and New Testaments tie together and how Yeshua completes the unfolding plan of The Almighty Yahweh are answered with exceptional clarity. www.discoveringthejewishjesus.com/about-2/rabbi-schneider/. His new book, “Revelation Decoded,” releases in January 2025. Pre-order a copy at this link.
James Lasher 
Abby Trivett 
