Give Thanks To God...And declare It To Others

Psalm 107:1-3 -  Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.  Let the redeemed of the LORD say this-- those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,  those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.

 

This anonymous Psalm tells us to do two things.  We are to give thanks to God for all he has done…and we are to tell of the many ways he has shown his love to us…to everyone that we meet. It is not so much a mandate to give thanks and witness…it is a reminder that the love God has shown us should be declared to world.

 

At least one thank you should be included in every prayer. It might be easy to just say a blanket thank you at the beginning of a prayer…..but sometimes we need to really reflect on the things that God has done to help us the most...even if it happened years ago. God needs to hear on a regular basis that we are thankful for his love and help.

 

It develops an attitude of gratitude that keeps us humble…and guards against pride taking humilities place.  We naturally want to share the great stories of how he rescued and saved us from our own destruction. We bubble over in thanks to God…as we share with others how loving and merciful he has been to us.

 

The more he has rescued us from…the greater our praise.  The more sin he has removed from our lives…the greater our love for him.  Like that woman in Luke 7 that washed Jesus’ feet with her tears…anointed them with the costliest perfume she owned…and dried them off with her beautiful long hair.  He forgave a ton of sin in her life…her act of love was definitely not to witness…but to try and thank him for loving her so much.

 

Father…thank you for reminding me that I need to really thank you ….not just say a blanket thanks when I get a chance.  Help me to really reflect today on the many sins you have forgiven in my life…and say a heartfelt thank you for each one.  Help me come to you like that woman you forgave…and wash your feet with my tears of joy for how you saved me.  Then let allow me to cross paths with someone that needs to hear the story of how you saved me….so they can begin to know your love too. Amen.

How Many Times Have You been Rescued?

Psalm 106:6-8 -  We have sinned, even as our fathers did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.  When our fathers were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.  Yet he saved them for his name's sake, to make his mighty power known.

 

This anonymous psalmist’s reflection on the sin of the Israelites…brought him to understand that he was a sinner…that could be saved only by the great mercy and compassion of God. He goes on in this great Psalm to recount and give a complete history of the sins committed by the people of God each time they became complacent with the gifts God had bestowed on them.

 

I sure can’t claim that I am any better than them….for I could write my own history of how many times I have messed up….and how many times God has rescued me from my own selfishness. I believe that the real lesson here is accepting the knowledge that God is our only way to salvation….and the many times he has saved us is part of his plan to teach us how to be more humble ….and release the pride that causes us to grumble in the first place.

 

My Life Application Bible commentary listed 7 powerful things we should grasp from the many rescues God allows us when we fall.  The major concept of Humbleness expands to include…..weaning us from dependence on material worldly things…quickening and deepening our prayer life….deepening our faith…make us more dependent on God than we are on ourselves….encourage us to submit to his plan and purpose for our life…..and increase our compassion toward the others that cross our path.

 

Father…I thank you for the reminder that I have to completely trust everything in my life to you.  I thank you for the many times you have shown compassion and mercy to me…and blessed me in spite of my many sins. Forgive me for complaining…and failing to trust you in so many ways.  Help me to start new this morning…and remember to thank you instead of complaining….and ask you to reveal the bigger purpose for the gripe I started to vent. And God…thank you for the amazing program man has named Celebrate Recovery.  I thank you for the lessons you have been able to teach me through the many friends I have met in the last 4 years.  I thank you for the way it has helped me heal form the hurt divorce caused…and the deep pain the death of my second husband caused. Thank you for using it to teach me that I had more problems in my life that kept me from having a full relationship with you.  And thank you for helping me to start removing some of those sins from my life as I healed from other hurts.  Bless every CR program this day….and strengthen the leaders that run them. Amen.

Search....Search....And Search Some More

Psalm 105:1-5 -  Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.  Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his miracles.  Exult in his holy name; O worshipers of the LORD, rejoice!  Search for the LORD and for his strength, and keep on searching. Think of the wonderful works he has done, the miracles and the judgments he handed down,

 

David started out thanking God and proclaiming to anyone who was close enough to hear him that God was great. He told them to search for God…and keep on searching till they found him.  He told them to think about all the great things he had done to give them strength while they searched. Then he reminded them of the great history of their people…starting with the moment God made his great promise to Abraham…through the whole history of 1,000 generations of Israelites.

 

Their history is our history…it became our history the moment that Jesus offered salvation to all people with his great act of love on the cross.  I have no clue how many generations that is now…nor do I have a handle on the complete history of the miracles he has done for all the people of the world…but if it is anything close to the miracles that I have seen just in my small section of the world ….it would take volumes and volumes and more volumes to record it all on paper.

 

We need to be like that widow that searched her house for a lost coin in Luke 15.  She turned things upside down….and did not stop till she found it.  That chapter also records two other parables that Jesus used to tell us that we need to be willing to leave the familiar routines we have built for ourselves and go out and look for the lost.  If we do then we will experience the joy of that father…who watched his wayward son return home.  But we will only experience that joy if we keep searching for God…and never believe that we have found enough of him. That joy truly becomes complete as we begin to share our history of God with others. 

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I have not found all of you this morning.  Forgive me for ever thinking that I have enough of you in my life…and help me to begin a serious search for you once more. Don’t let me stop searching for you till I have found the joy that comes from serving you completely.  Give me opportunities to share what you have done in my life…so I can add to the great stories of what you did for the Israelites so long ago. Amen.

Created...Preserved....Governed

Psalm 104:1-5 -   Praise the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.  He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.  He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.  He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.

 

It’s hard for my heart to believe that this beautiful summary of the creation of the world was left anonymous.  Each thing that God created in the first chapter of genesis is mentioned as the Psalm unfolds to the end. God is given the qualities of a loving father…who has supreme….unlimited power over the universe.  He created….preserves…. and governs his creation.

 

God spoke the words that formed every crevice of our earth…his directions so complete and intricate that scientists have a hard time explaining how it all works.  He completed his creation with the life of the tiniest protozoa…and then breathed life into the highest of his creations...man.  All things working together to support and sustain each of the other elements. 

 

Man sure has messed up his natural plan over the millions of years that humans measure we have been allowed to live here. But even the greed….selfishness…and pompus attitudes of man have not destroyed what God created.  He alone knows the date that he has set to return and set back in motion the perfect world he intended to care for us all along…till sin entered the picture.

 

I for one am so thankful that he chose to let me live in this day…this season of his earth…after God decided the only way to save man was to send his precious son to die for my sins. I have the great opportunity to know him in a personal way…to enjoy his mountains and his rivers…to speak to him every morning as I wake…to be reminded that he is in control…and earth will not be moved until he gives the order.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I am always being cared for.  You created me as unique  as the first man and woman…and want to have a personal relationship with me. You want to meet with me every day and walk among your gardens and talk. Thank you for providing for me…even though I mess up so many times like Adam and Eve.  Thank you for giving your son as a sacrifice for my sins. Amen.

Bless God With Your Inmost Being

Psalm 103:1-5 -  Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.  Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits--  who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,  who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,  who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

 

David’ heart bubbled over with praise many times in his writings…his words of love and praise to God spilling out onto the paper.  They came from a heart that knew his human words could never give an adequate description of all that God had done…but that just made them that much more special.

 

This Psalm has always been one of my favorites…the words put to music by Andrae Crouch in the 70’s. The tune comes to my soul at different times of the day….in the morning …when I am particularly happy….or when God has blessed me with something I didn’t even know I needed. Sometimes…late at night…when I am praying….I let my own soul bubble over like David’s …and the words slip out in a quiet song of thanks to God.

 

I hope someday I can really mean all that I am singing…and truly praise him with my inmost being. For I know deep down my love for God can always get deeper. I believe with all of my heart that he loves me…and know that I would never have completed one hour on this earth if it were not for the great things he has done to save me...especially from myself.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I have so much to thank you for.  Help me to always deepen my love for you…and learn to bless you with my inmost being. Let the words I sing to you be real….and not just a melody that sounds good to my own ears.  Amen.

Don't be Troubled....Trust In God

Psalm 102:1-3 -  A prayer of one overwhelmed with trouble, pouring out problems before the LORD. LORD, hear my prayer! Listen to my plea!  Don't turn away from me in my time of distress. Bend down your ear and answer me quickly when I call to you,  for my days disappear like smoke, and my bones burn like red-hot coals.  My heart is sick, withered like grass, and I have lost my appetite.

 

An anonymous man…in the middle of his life…most likely penned these words while in captivity in Babylon. He had reached the end of his rope…and was desperate for God to intervene and save his people.  His distress was mental….physical….social and spiritual….he had nowhere else to turn except to God.

 

Perhaps the Palmist’s strength to hold on till God rescued him came from hearing Isaiah 26:3 which says…..“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”  Or maybe he had heard the words David wrote in Psalm 18:2 that say…..“The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.”

 

He models for me what I should do when I am overcome with any burden…I need to lift up my eyes to God…and share with him my fears…my worries…my distress….so he can carry the heaviest of the load for me like Jesus told us in john 14:1.  It says….  "Don't be troubled. You trust God, now trust in me.”  As he was trying to help the disciples understand why he couldn’t stay on Earth with them any longer….and describe the rooms in Heaven he was preparing for each of us…he added these words in John 14:13-14 …. “You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, because the work of the Son brings glory to the Father.  Yes, ask anything in my name, and I will do it!”

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to trust you with absolutely everything….from the smallest concern…to the largest burden.  Help me to trust you fully with things that bother me…and always turn to you in prayer to ask your help.  Show me how to live a life that is completely dependent on you for the strength I need to do what you put me here to do.  Amen.

Set Higher Goals...To LiveOnly For God

Psalm 101:1-3 -  A psalm of David. I will sing of your love and justice. I will praise you, LORD, with songs.  I will be careful to live a blameless life -- when will you come to my aid? I will lead a life of integrity in my own home.  I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar. I hate all crooked dealings; I will have nothing to do with them.

 

This is one of the many Psalms that David wrote. Perhaps written early in his reign as king….he spoke of the high ideals he had for his kingdom.  He knew he needed God’s help if he were to come anywhere close to modeling for his kingdom the kind of loving kindness and justice that God had given to him. 

 

He asked God to help him refrain from vile and vulgar things…and crooked dealings. I am pretty sure that includes the bad jokes and office humor I hear so often around me. I have two feet to walk away from them.  It also means we have to always guard against cheating the ones around us.  We can’t really do anything if we are the one getting cheated…except ask God to give us the ability to pray for them.

 

If we read a bit further…we can read the rest of the prayer  …requesting God’s help ….so he could refrain from selfishness….pride…..stay away from evil in general….and never to tolerate slander of any kind to the ones around him. It’s a great reminder to me…to be the same everywhere I go….and set higher goals for myself.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need your help to guard my heart against the things that keep me unfocused on you.  Help me to walk away from vulgar talk more often….speak up against slander…and set higher ideals for myself each day.  Show me how to quietly mediate more on the great scripture that helped you through your 40 days of temptations…that showed satan just who you wanted in control of your life. Amen.