Rom 1:19-20 (NIV) Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. What a wonderful thing God did! He gave us a beautiful place to live. It is incredible the amount of resources that are available. When Satan tries to get you to trade the desires of the body, the cares of the world, or the temptations of Satan, you could spend all your time resisting; but, that isn’t the answer.

Concentrating on your body’s desires, the world’s cares, or Satan’s temptations isn’t the process of submitting yourself, then, to God, resisting the devil, and he will flee from you. The resisting the devil part comes from the submitting yourself to God. If you put a bowling ball on one side of a scale and a feather on the other, the scales would definitely lean toward the bowling ball. That is what Jesus is trying to do with you. He wants you to be so filled with the excitement, appreciation, love, and beauty of God and the things of God that ANYTHING the devil has to offer is repulsive; let that be your procedure for resisting.

Let Jesus take you through Psalm 148 and give you plenty of reasons for loving your heavenly Father and resisting anything your body, the world, or Satan has to offer.

Psa 148:1 (NIV) Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above. When you see a beautiful sky, the Bible presents that beauty as the sky giving praise to God. Just like it fills your eyes and heart with joy, the Bible is saying that God responds the same way. He enjoys the beauty of a sunset or sunrise just like you do; with His supernatural enjoyment of course. But, He enjoys the things He created for you to enjoy. You enjoying God and the things of God keeps you from wanting something evil; that is godly resistance.

Psa 148:2 (NIV) Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Have you ever sung a song that should have brought positive emotions to your heart but it didn’t? Have you ever been so distracted with some major problem that you couldn’t feel any kind of joy or praise toward God? When the angels and the heavenly hosts praise God, it comes out of great excitement, powerful emotions, and supernatural praise. Their emotions are bubbling over into praise. Rather than praising so as to get happiness, joy, and excitement, they already have it to praise God with. That is what Jesus wants for you.

Psa 148:3 (NIV) Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. The light and the heat that come your way are radiant praise to and from God. When you get to heaven, you will be amazed at all the things that were going to God and being gifted to you from God that you didn’t realize. God wants the sun, moon, and the stars to bless you like they do Him. He created them for blessing you, encouraging you, speaking His love into you. All these things that are out in front of you of God’s creation are trying to talk to your heart. They are trying to tell you how much your heavenly Father loves you. If you will listen, it will inspire praise to God from you and turn your heart off to your body, the world, and the devil.

Psa 148:4 (NIV) Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. The clouds can take interesting shapes; but, they can also be the variety you need. In a world of categories, organization, structure, and symmetry, the clouds give you change, unexpected appearances, unpredictable beauty, and ever-changing unique shapes. God doesn’t want you in a box. He doesn’t want you falling into the crowd and getting lost. He who keeps a running count of how many hairs you have on your head, wants you to be special. Let His clouds say that to you. That will help you not even notice the temptations of the devil.

Psa 148:5 (NIV) Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created. The animate and inanimate things in God’s creation didn’t just get created. They were created for a purpose. Just like fruit can be a special food for you, all of God’s creation has a special purpose for God. If you will ask Him to, He will help you see the relationship He has with all of these created things so you can benefit from them too.

Psa 148:6 (NIV) He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away. You are going to get a new body; there is going to be a new heaven and a new earth. That doesn’t sound like they will never pass away. However, before you are caught up in the air to meet Jesus, your old body will unite with your spirit and you and your body will go up together. Why? Because your old body will be used to produce your new body. As you are being caught up to meet Jesus in the air with your old body, your old body will be TRANSFORMED into a new glorified body. IT will be awesome; but, it was birthed out of your old body.

Psa 148:7 (NIV) Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, The fish and other sea creatures aren’t all seen by humans. Some are so deep in the depths of the ocean that humans don’t get to look at them; but, God does. They are a blessing and a joy to Him; He considers their uniqueness and beauty praise to their Creator. Some of them may be food for humans or be caught for sport; but, God also created them for enjoyment and pleasure.

Psa 148:8 (NIV) lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, The things that humans call weather are things that are praising and serving God. Some of these weather events may be predicted by people; but, they cannot be controlled by people. They belong to God and do His bidding. People may evacuate an area; but, God knows why things are happening the way they are. Weather professionals may be able to predict the path of a storm to some degree of accuracy; but, God knows where it is going and what it is going to do.

Psa 148:9 (NIV) You mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, Mountains, hills, and trees can be quite beautiful; but, inside the mountains and hills can be metals and materials that are very important. Trees have been blessing mankind for all of their existence. The way they bless mankind gives great pleasure to God. He saw to it that they were all invented so you could be blessed and could see what kind of a God you have.

Psa 148:10 (NIV) wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, The unity, the distinct purpose, the special features, the beauty of uniqueness, and the incredible variety all testify. They testify about the creative artistry, attention to detail, brilliant cooperation, and unifying symmetry of all living creatures occupying one planet together for centuries. They give praise to God and they help you praise God. Once you see all these things, it helps you totally devote your heart to God and resist any other opposing offer.

Psa 148:11 (NIV) kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, Depending on the spiritual condition of nations, kingdoms and countries, God chooses leaders to rule over them that deal with that spiritual condition. He makes it clear that He sets them up and takes them down. It may take you recognizing that God is smarter than you even though you don’t like some of those He picked. But, this world and all living things on it would long since be gone, if God hadn’t made the leadership decisions He has continued to make.

Psa 148:12 (NIV) young men and maidens, old men and children. Every person who has, is, or will occupy this planet have been chosen by God. He picked them, their gender, their parents, their geographical location, the time of their existence, their looks, their circumstances, and a lot more. He made all His decisions based on giving each person the very best opportunity to become His child. And, He gave them the very best opportunity to excel to the highest potential. They all have a God-given free will; but, God made sure NOTHING got in the way of them being able to use it. It may not seem like everyone got that chance; but, they did.

Psa 148:13 (NIV) Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens. No one is being force to praise God. Only those who can see how great He is will do it. God is doing everything to help you see it all. The more you see, the more you will be ABLE to appreciate, be excited about, be thankful for, and find the time to praise, worship, and thank the very best God humans could possibly have.