Thursday, November 26, 2009

I WILL BLESS THEE FOREVER

"I will extol thee, My God, O King and I will bless thy name forever and ever.

Every day will I bless thee and I will praise thy name forever and ever.

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable!!

One generation shall praise thy works to another and shall declare thy mighty acts.

I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty and of thy wondrous works.

And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts and I will declare thy greatness.

They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness and shall sing of thy righteousness.

The Lord is gracious, full of compassion, slow to anger and of great mercy.

The Lord is good to ALL and his tender mercies are over ALL His works.

All thy works shall praise thee O Lord and thy saints shall bless thee.

You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

The Lord is righteous in ALL His ways and holy in ALL His works.

The Lord is night unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.

He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him; he also will hear their cry and will save them.

The Lord preserves all them that love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.

My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and forever. " Psalm 145: 1-10, 16-21


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!


Wednesday, November 25, 2009

HAVE YOU EVER THANKED GOD FOR....

A good, warm bed?

What about just a bed? Many in the world don't have one, you know.

A hot shower?

What about just running water IN your house? Our ancestors didn't have it and there are millions around the globe who still don't.

An ice cold COKE?

Many would thank God just for a clean drink of water.

The home you live in...whether 1000 square feet or 5,000.

Many tonight are living under a bridge, in a ditch or under a tree. They have no place to actually call home. Many more are in shelters or missions because of a lost job and financial ruin due to the economy. Others are living in their car with their children. Where are YOUR children sleeping tonight? Do you live in a safe neighborhood or do you constantly flinch at the sound of gunfire? Are your children able to play in your backyard or are you afraid they may be shot if you let them out the door?

For someone to hug and who hugs you back?

There are many who NEVER receive a hug from anyone...day in and day out. They never are touched in any way of affection. They never hear the words "I love you". And no one ever utters their name in prayer.

For your food?

No, seriously. Even if you say the "blessing" every day, do you ever really stop and realize what it would be like to not have ANY? Worse yet, can you imagine what it would feel like to not be able to feed your kids?!! We will throw away more food tomorrow left on plates than many people eat in a week.

For the USA?

Our freedoms are precious and we better be careful to thank God for them for many of them are hanging in the balance. Our freedom to worship God, to speak of Him, to proclaim His word is a gift many in other parts of the world would give anything to have. Instead, they must meet secretly to worship, and hope that they do not get caught, for if they do, they will be imprisoned and tortured unless they renounce the name of Christ. There are more people martyred today for their faith around the world than at any other time in history!

Your children and grandchildren?

Yes, that seems like an easy one, but sometimes the most obvious things go unmentioned. Thank Him for the sweet, cuddly babies that are impossible NOT to love. Thank Him for the busy toddler who is wearing you out. Thank Him for the rebellious teen who is trying to figure out who she is. Thank Him for the adult child who has made you proud. Thank Him for the prodigal who keeps you on your knees. Thank Him for the precious grandchildren who bring you so much joy and mean that you have lived long enough to acquire them. Verbally thank Him for each one. There are some tonight whose arms ache for theirs because death has snatched them away this year or because they are far away or estranged. Cherish every moment you have with them!!!

So much to be thankful for. God daily loads us with benefits. Today take time to stop and really think about how blessed you are. Take time to thank Him the One from whom all blessings flow.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

TAKE HEART!

Have you ever felt like a failure? As a Christian, do you feel like you blow it more than you succeed? Then take heart, my friend, you are in good company.

Moses killed a man, ran for his life and hid in the desert for 40 years til God spoke to him from the burning bush and sent him to Pharoah with stammering lips and a rod in his hand. He also went into the mountain of God and when he returned his face shone from being in the very presence of God. What a life of ups and downs he had. God used him in a powerful way, but then the day came when he lost his temper, struck the rock instead of speaking to it as God commanded and he forfeited his opportunity to see the promised land of Canaan.

We would see that as total failure. He blew it big time. The very thing he had been aiming for, struggling to achieve and waiting a lifetime to see he lost in the strike of that rock. As you read God's pronouncement of the consequences of his action, you almost get the feeling that God says "OK, Moses. I'm done with you. You blew it. That was your last chance." Somehow we get the feeling that God just sort of wrote him off at that point. We would have.

But praise God He is not us.

Hear instead what God did. He took Moses up into the mountains overlooking Canaan and showed him what he would miss. Then He said,

"'This is the land which I swore unto Abraham, Isaac and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed. I have caused thee to see it with thine own eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.' So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab [NOT Canaan], according to the word of the Lord. And HE [GOD] buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor; but no man knows of his sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old whne he died; his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated.....And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord KNEW FACE TO FACE!" Deut. 34: 4-7, 10

After all the times Moses blew it....after all his failures....even after God had to exact punishment on him that must have broken His heart...God took him up and let him see what he was missing. Then, not to leave him behind while the others got to go forward, God took him home and tenderly and personally buried him Himself. Then He recorded for all time that there has not been a prophet since in all Israel like Moses who the Lord knew FACE TO FACE!!

Not a bad epitaph for one who made so many mistakes. Sure wouldn't mind having that written on MY tombstone!

But Moses was not the only one that God used and favored in spite of their mistakes and failures.

Abraham ran ahead of God and had a child by his handmaiden [with the help of his wife of course]. He lied about who his wife was, not once but twice. Yet God called Abraham his friend.

David committed about every sin there is....yet God called David a man after His own heart.

Those are just to name a few.

So today if you feel like you've just blown it AGAIN and that God must be getting pretty tired of your miserable failures. Take heart from these and know that GOD LOVES YOU!

He loves you....

IMMEASUREABLY...........there are no limits to His love.

INFINITELY............forever and always

UNCONDITIONALLY.........no strings attached. Not "I'll love you IF" and not "If you do this wrong, I'll stop loving you". HE JUST LOVES!!!!!!!!!!!

His patience is not like ours. He never gives up on us. He never lets go.

Take heart, my friend. God isn't finished with you yet!!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

GOD'S WAITING ROOM

WAITING.

Waiting is something no one likes to do, yet we all find ourselves having to wait from time to time.

We've all known what it is to wait in line at the grocery store, Walmart or the fast food place. You stand in line behind the skinny kid with stringy hair, chain dangling from his ripped back pocket and ear buds from his big ears so long that you could retrace the pattern on his wrinkled tee shirt in your sleep. But.....you KNOW that sooner or later you will reach the point where you pay and get to leave. Why? You always do.

You are rushing to your destination when suddenly traffic slows to a crawl then ultimately stops dead still. You crane your neck out the window and all you see for as far as you can see is a winding loop of cars and trucks. And...no one is moving! So you do what everyone else is doing...the only thing you CAN do. You wait. Why? Because you know from experience that eventually the wreck ahead will be cleared and traffic will once again move and you will be on your way, albeit two hours late.

The waiting room of a doctor's office is duly named. Because there you KNOW when you arrive you are going to wait. And, if your doctor happens to be one in particular that I know but who will remain unnamed, you KNOW that your wait will be at least four to five hours. And as frustrating as that is, you do know that in the end you will see him. How do you know that? Because you always do.

Being in God's waiting room is different. You do not always know what the end result is going to be. In fact, we rarely do. Nor do we know how long we are going to have to wait.

Take Abraham for instance. God told him his descendants would be as numerous as the stars, yet year after year, Sarah remained childless. Old age came upon them and it appeared that God had totally forgotten His promise. But then, at the ripe old age of ninety nine, the waiting ended and Isaac was born. Abraham was in God's waiting room for a very, very long time.

The children of Israel are another prime example of being in God's waiting room. When God led them out of Egypt he promised them a land "of milk and honey" in Canaan. It was a short journey from Egypt to Canaan, approximately 150 miles, and should not have taken them more than a month to get there had they taken the most direct route. But, God had other plans. His ways are not our ways. He had much to teach them along the way and, because they were slow learners, it took them forty years to get there!

However, the Jews that marched around Jericho for seven days...the Jews who blew the trumpet and shouted on the seventh day according to God's command....the Jews who saw the walls of Jericho fall down FLAT...were not the same Jews who left Egypt. They were not the same Jews who complained to Moses that they had been brought out in the desert to die. They were not the same Jews who complained about the food, longing for their leeks and garlic from Egypt. No, these Jews had seen God move in ways they had never dreamed. They had seen facets of His character never known to them before. They had learned that, indeed, he truly WAS the great I AM.

That was God's goal all along. It was not just to get them from point A to point B. It was to reveal to them His character. And when we are often in His waiting room, that is still His plan today.

God's character is multi-faceted just like a beautiful diamond. And every way you look at it reveals a different hue, a different dimension. He wants to reveal Himself to us so that we might enjoy the totality of WHO HE IS.

It is difficult being in His waiting room. We pray for some situation or someone we love, and then we wait....and wait.....and wait.....and wait. Sometimes we wait a short period. Sometimes it is for years. God does not keep us waiting to frustrate us or make us miserable. He waits to be gracious to us. I know...I know...it doesn't feel very gracious when you are the one waiting, I agree. But Isaiah 30:18 reveals God's purpose in waiting, "Therefore will the Lord wait, THAT He may be gracious unto you and therefore will HE be exalted that He may have mercy upon you..........blessed are all they who wait on Him."

So, the next time you find yourself in God's waiting room, know that He has you there to teach you more about Him and to glorify Him. After all, He knows the end from the beginning and He knows the plans He has for you, good plans, plans to give you a hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) Therefore, My Friend, "wait on the Lord; be of good courage; and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait I say on the Lord." Psalm 27: 14