I know many of you love hazelnut coffee, but I don’t!

Dear Friends at Rise Up Lubbock,

Have you all noticed how the coffee companies all tell us their coffee is the best we have ever tasted? The other day I purchased several flavored coffees, (from a company I usually don’t buy from) and I was very excited about tasting them. In the mix was some hazelnut flavored coffee. I know many of you love hazelnut coffee, but I don’t! Vehemently no… I do not like hazelnut. I thought I would save that flavor for my guests. I brewed up one of the flavors promising a chocolatey taste. To my dismay it tasted like hazelnut. I brewed up another one promising a vanilla taste. It too tasted like hazelnut. I was unhappy. Every flavor in the group tasted like Hazelnut, and as I said… I thoroughly dislike the taste of hazelnut. The company had promised a delightful variety of flavors, and yet, all I could taste was hazelnut. Blah!

Their advertisement team had sold me on the flavorful delights contained in the box, but in my opinion it was a less than superior product.

Many of you know that I am a writer, and by that I mean I have several excellent novels and short stories available on Amazon.com and available in some local Lubbock bookstores. When I first started writing I found it very hard to advertise myself. It was so foreign to everything I had been taught. My Sunday school lessons on being humble and preferring my brother didn’t seem to fit in with the need to advertise my branding and the books that goes along with it. I had to learn to make myself a literary commodity. I was taught to give all praise to God and I try to do that in every speaking engagement I have. However, someone just looking at my stack of titles might not see it that way, and sometimes I feel like I’m in conflict with my own agenda (as I try to make my agenda and God’s agenda run parallel.) Anyone in the media (news anchors) or entertainment (singers, comics, artists, and writers alike) find the same thing I’m sure. In short it is a matter of praise.

Paul wrote in Hebrews that we should give thanks to God by the fruit of our lips we need to praise.  Praise to God may be done publicly, (and that is expected by God) but the kind that gives us real peace in return is private praise. Sometimes we need to seek solace in the sanctuary of private praise. When it seems that the world is crushing every effort we make, it is time to step back and through praise to God assess our motives. Are we working for Christ with the tools of daily life? Are we giving Him the praise he deserves through our actions and conversations? Yes, Praise is a specific kind of prayer with specific kinds of results. Praising God is a source of Joy; however, there is not only joy in the act of praising God but also a healing miracle called restoration. Through praise we find a restoration or a renewal of purpose and a reset system for our goals. It is hard to stay on track without setting aside time to praise to God.  

Just Sayin’

Dan-Dwayne

Hebrews 13:15

    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.