Hello
All
I'm reading through 1 Chronicles.
One does not usually think of that book as a page turner. But I have been
encouraged the past few days while working my way through it. God
has given me several nuggets.
For example, 1 Chron 13:14. Thus
the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house three months;
and the LORD blessed the family of Obed-edum with all that he had.
(I have a note in the margin next to that verse--"where God is there is
blessing." )
Or in 1 Chron 14:11. So
they came up to Baal-perazim and David defeated them there; and David said,
"God has broken through my enemies by my hand like the breakthrough of
waters." For those of you who
can remember pictures of Hurricane Katrina, for awhile the levies held
back the rising waters. But when the levies were breached and the water
broke through, n o t h i n g
could hold it back. Nothing could stop it. By faith I'm looking for that
breakthrough by God for us, and for you and what you have been facing or asking
Him for.
Then today, as I was reading 1 Chron
16, there is a hymn or prayer of thanksgiving in vs 7 - 36. In verse 8 we
are told to "Oh give thanks to the
LORD, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him,
sing praises to Him; speak of all His wonders."
So I took my Bible into our bedroom
and knelt on the carpet to pray that hymn or prayer. I began to
sing (literally) praises, for He is so worthy. And then verse 8 said "make known His deeds among the
peoples." You are the peoples... so
I
thank God for my salvation.
I
thank Him for delivering me from drunkenness.
I
thank Him for giving me a godly wife. Carol is much better than I deserve. The
fine example of the Proverbs 31 woman.
I
praise Him for how He has provided for us through the years.
I
ask for His blessing on all who have prayed for us through the years or helped
us in any way. Don't forget a single one today Lord.
In
spite of the circumstances we've been facing You are being faithful and will
show Yourself faithful.
I
thank Him for how He has kept His hand on our children and grandchildren as
they are scattered about the world, because He knows where they are and what
they need.
I
thank Him for the angels that are camped around us and, although usually
unseen, help us.
I
thank Him that greater is He that's in me than he that's in the world.
I
thank Him for all His help, both asked for and just given to us.
I
thank Him for friends like you.
And
I thank Him for grace and mercy and peace.
Have you noticed how this year there
seems to be more blue sky and white, puffy cumulus clouds than in many years?
Have you either recently been to the mountains or the ocean (or seen them on
TV)? Aren't they beyond description, just magnificent. Have you stopped to
smell any of the roses that are now blooming? Or what about those of you
who still have children at home or on the way? Or two nights ago, over one of
the nearby corn fields was a blinking light show of lightening bugs twinkling
in the dark. (who needs Las Vegas) Verse 9b "Speak of all His wonders."
I'm getting ready to go to the
grocery stores. Try to imagine places in the world where there are none. Ours
are filled with more plastic bags or cookies or chips or meat or vegetables
than we know what to do with. Is God good, or what? All the time!
Yours for the Harvest
John
PS And one final verse. 1 Chron 18:
6b And the Lord helped David wherever he
went.
And
since the Lord is no respecter of persons, He will help each one of you today,
wherever you go. ("And what about tomorrow?" someone may be
asking. He tells us He's the same, yesterday, today, and forever.) Praise
His name.
*************************************************************************************
Dana weighs in
on Fri, Mar 17, 2017 at 3:18 PM
Hi John,
Praise
is funny animal. I’ve taken part in
effusive Pentecostal worship services, solemn a Reformed worship, and a
plethora of other denominational services from Anglican, to Baptist, to
Catholic, although so far not a snake handling church, and, all that to say
that the term “praise,” as expressed in denominational worship is indeed quite different
body to body. Each worshipping
congregation believes it is praising the Lord during the worship service,
although how they define and practice said praise is not at all the same way as
the church down the road does it, and…they all believe they are right, and that
the other church is probably not doing it as well as they are.
Pentecostals would probably not enjoy a
steady diet of Presbyterian worship services, and vice versa. Yet, I believe if
the heart is sincere, then the manner of practice is incidental. If people want to give thanks and praise to
God, and their intent is pure and loving and respectful, then I believe God
gets glory from it, and accepts it, and loves it, much the way parents who have
several children, each of different temperaments and abilities and inclinations,
love them equally. God loves solemn,
stick in the mud Reformed Presbyterians, and, He loves those wild old
Pentecostal boys as well. Why? Because our Lord looks on the heart, and not
the particular style in which the praise is offered. So a bit of charity might be in order when it
comes to judging how the other guy praises the Lord. It’s all good, and what fits one’s particular
comfort zone is the best way for that one.
When it comes to thanksgiving, one of the
more sobering passages in the New Testament is found in Romans chapter
one. Paul is describing the sinfulness
of the Gentile world before turning his attention to his own people, then to
all mankind in general. It is a passage that deals with God’s wrath on their
encyclopedia of sinful practices, of which many are listed—too many to go into
here without this turning into a commentary on Romans chapter 1.
Romans 1:18-25 (ESV)
”For although
they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they
became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling
mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”
Interesting, isn’t it, that at the base of
gross sin, Paul lays…un-thankfulness. The Christian community’s embracing of modern
psychological thought and method has led many to become adept at coming up with
all kinds of reasons for personal depravity.
And, while there may be some merit in their assessments, Paul is saying
that aside from the original sin factor in general, the neglect of, or the
intentional refusal to be thankful to God is the spring that feeds the well of
evil behavior.
That kind of puts a whole new spin on how
we view sinful behavior, doesn’t it? To
neglect giving thanks to God for everything, continually, while a sin in and of
itself, can, according to aul lead to much more grievous thought and action.
We find ourselves today living in a sea
of entitlement. Everybody is entitled to
everything, and, unfortunately our governments go out of their way to foster
that mindset. Not trying to get political
here, but it is a fact of life, agree with it or not. Before anyone thinks me just a cold hearted
right winger—I’m not. On the other hand
I’m not a left winger either. No wings are on this boy. I’m not much on
“wingers” of any stripe unless they be angels from Heaven. Admittedly there are
some in our society who have not the ability or the wherewithal to provide
their own support. As a Christian, I
believe it is our God-given obligation as the Church to help those who cannot
help themselves. To those who are able
to help themselves, if they are down on their luck, then we should give them a
“leg up” so as to get back on their feet again and henceforth help
themselves.
Our national, state, and local governments
have gone way overboard with the concept, and pretty much if you have a face
and breathe oxygen then you are entitled to just about anything and everything.
The ones receiving it get addicted to it,
and the rest tend to develop a “what about me—where’s my piece of the pie?”
attitude. So in one way or another we
feel “owed.” That attitude has the
potential to creep into Christianity too.
It would be easy to take for granted thanking God for one’s food if said
food is somehow thought of as “owed.”
And while on the topic of thanking God for
food, we must also be careful to not “say grace” mechanically, because we
always do it, and have been since becoming Christians, or before if raised in a
home where the blessing was said before eating.
Sometimes it’s good to thank God for food when it’s not time to eat.
And while we say grace before meals, do we
ever thank God for a good cup of coffee?
Or tea, or whatever your pleasure?
Our lives are very busy. I lived
in the Northeastern US for about 10 years in and around Philadelphia and New
York City. When I came to my senses and
moved back home to North Carolina, I remember thinking as my back tires rolled
across the state line, “Now, I’m finally done with the fast life and rat race,
and I’ll move at a much slower pace….” Hah! I’ve never ceased to be busy since I’ve been
back, and I live in too much of a hurry still. It’s inescapable.
The point is, that in the midst of our
busy, busy lives whether we live in Mayberry or Manhattan, it can get easy to
take things for granted...not for the above reason that we feel “owed,” but
just because we’re way too busy. When
you think of it, there are many excuses and causes of excuses as to why our
thankfulness fades. And that must not
be. We wouldn’t be too busy to pray for food if we were hungry would we?
I believe in a previous letter and blog
(indulgences please, dear readers) I mentioned to you that my favorite
Christmas movie is Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas,” you know, the Bing
Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, and Danny Kaye classic. There is a song that is particularly
memorable for me: “Count Your Blessings
Instead of Sheep.” There is much
wisdom in that song, and I’ve found that that is indeed a good way to go to
sleep—counting your blessings. Trust me, even if you have trouble sleeping,
you’ll nod off long before you run out of things for which you can thank God.
Another exercise that is good for
devotions if you get tired of reading Biblical genealogies, is to take a
notebook or paper, and just begin listing all of the many many things great and
small for which thanks to God is due.
I’m telling you, it will become a project that will end with pages
(plural) covered front and back, if you’re honest and
persistent in your intent.
Lastly, I think that after an exercise
like the above, it helps to develop a life habit of thankfulness. Be thankful all the time and for everything,
because all that comes our way, for the good and the bad (because God uses even
the bad things to make us more like Jesus) give thanks. He deserves it, and the practice will do us
no harm.
Mmmmmm, that was a good cup of
coffee. Thank you Lord.
Dana
+++++++++++++++++
PS John adds after church on Sunday 3/19/17
Today was communion. After the
pastor finished teaching in James 3:1-5 about the extra responsibilities church
leaders have, and the power of tongue, we had communion. Before passing out the
elements, he told how Jesus was thankful, all the while knowing of His soon
betrayal and crucifixion. (Matt 24:24-28
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26%3A24-28&version=NIV ) In spite of your enemies, can you follow
Jesus example today, and be thankful?
No comments:
Post a Comment