Principle of Magnification

I had a lot of people ask me to tell them again what I said about magnifying the Lord, so I'm providing a bit of what I talked about Sunday here.  It's a very simple principle that I have certainly oversimplified, but it's certainly effective nonetheless.

I will bless the Lord at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Oh, magnify the Lord with me, 

and let us exalt His name together!

(Psalm 34:1,2 ESV)

What happens when you magnify something?  It looks bigger, right?  What happens when you magnify your problems?  They look bigger, don't they?  That's one of the reasons David (who had way bigger problems than you or me), says, "magnify the Lord".

God doesn't get any bigger because we magnify Him.  He's already as big as He's going to get, and that's way bigger than any problem we will ever have.  But when we magnify God, He gets bigger in our view!  The more we magnify Him, the bigger our view of Him becomes.  The bigger our view of Him becomes, the smaller our view of our troubles becomes.

If your troubles are all you can see, it's because your view of God is too small.

How do we increase (or magnify) our view of God?  Instead of cursing, nursing and rehearsing your troubles, begin to praise Him for Who He is and thank Him for all that He has done.  Praise Him continually, regardless of the circumstances you are facing.  Don't know where to start?  Start by thanking Him that you're sucking air right now.  It is God who gives us life.  Work from there.  Let Scripture be your guide for praising Him.  Read Psalm 145 aloud.  Do it again.  Do it again.  Are you fearful and concerned for your own well-being.  Read Psalm 91 aloud.  Do it again.  Do it again, but louder this time!  Turn on some good praise and worship music and lift your voice.  Are you bummed out, depressed, sad, or filled with grief?  The Bible says to "put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness".  Literally clothe yourself in the praise of God, by speaking or singing aloud (telling) of how strong and mighty God is, and recounting all the wonderful things He has done for us.

When you and I center our thoughts on Gods gift of His precious Son Jesus Christ, and the fact that His sacrifice paid for our sin so that we'll be in God's presence for all eternity...our troubles in this life become smaller and smaller and smaller until they're hardly noticeable in the light of God's glory!