"Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms" Psalm 95:2
Most everyone knows today is Thanksgiving day. This is a day we set aside to be grateful for all of our blessings, and yet it is very strange that so many need to be reminded to give thanks on Thanksgiving day! I watched the news last night for just a few minutes, and the commentators never once called Thanksgiving day....Thanksgiving day. When referring to my favorite holiday, they called it turkey day, the beginning of the shopping season, get away weekend, big football weekend, and even the beginning of the most stress filled time of the year. They never said it was a day set aside to reflect on how good God is. I know it is not within our human nature to be grateful, that is why most of the time thanksgiving or praise is spoken of in scripture, it is preceded by a command or exhortation to give thanks or praise. Today of all days should be a day that we reflect upon our God, and not wait for the command to be thankful, but with natural and spontaneous joy give thanks to our Loving Father. Oh how good the Lord is to us, He is so worthy of our love and praise.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Magnify The Lord
Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; and let those who love Your salvation say continually, let God be magnified!" Psalm 70:4
We all know that magnified means to enlarge or to increase. When you put something under a magnifying glass it looks bigger, my tired eyes are grateful for my reading glasses as they enlarge or magnify the small print for me. The psalmist is calling us to "let God be magnified". Now, God is God and He remains constant, He will never get bigger or more powerful. To magnify the Lord does not mean we can change God or make Him greater. What the psalmist is calling us to do is to magnify the truth of who God is, and to increase our perception of the reality of His omnipotence. God truly is big enough to handle our problems, but our tendency is to magnify our problems and not Him. Our difficult circumstances become our focus, and we mull things over and over in our minds, we work out different scenarios and plots, and in our imaginations the problem grows, and the molehill becomes a mountain. So many of us are masters at allowing the problem to become so magnified that not even God can handle it. The matter for us is to magnify the Lord, and to let God be God. As we change our focus, the problem will shrink back down to size. Remember, God is not stressing, He's not afraid or confused and wondering what to do. As you turn from magnifying the problem and begin to magnify the Lord, His peace will begin to rule and guard your heart.
We all know that magnified means to enlarge or to increase. When you put something under a magnifying glass it looks bigger, my tired eyes are grateful for my reading glasses as they enlarge or magnify the small print for me. The psalmist is calling us to "let God be magnified". Now, God is God and He remains constant, He will never get bigger or more powerful. To magnify the Lord does not mean we can change God or make Him greater. What the psalmist is calling us to do is to magnify the truth of who God is, and to increase our perception of the reality of His omnipotence. God truly is big enough to handle our problems, but our tendency is to magnify our problems and not Him. Our difficult circumstances become our focus, and we mull things over and over in our minds, we work out different scenarios and plots, and in our imaginations the problem grows, and the molehill becomes a mountain. So many of us are masters at allowing the problem to become so magnified that not even God can handle it. The matter for us is to magnify the Lord, and to let God be God. As we change our focus, the problem will shrink back down to size. Remember, God is not stressing, He's not afraid or confused and wondering what to do. As you turn from magnifying the problem and begin to magnify the Lord, His peace will begin to rule and guard your heart.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Remain Faithful
2 Timothy 2:6 "The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops."
A farmer does not dictate when to do his hard work, that work is determined by the seasons. The plowing, planting, watering, waiting, and the harvesting, are all done in the proper season, and those seasons are out of the control of the farmer. The farmer can't skip seasons, nor the work that must be done in each season. Wouldn't it be nice to just skip right through to the harvest? The hardworking farmer discerns the season and is faithful to do the work that each season requires, with an eye toward the goal of a generous harvest. A farmer who is not faithful in the plowing or planting seasons, can not expect the blessings of a good harvest. With this we are reminded of our walks with the Lord. We are to be faithful in whatever season we are in, and recognize that the season is not determined by us, but by our loving Father. There have been many times I would have liked to fast forward through, or flat out skip a season. But I didn't understand that it was for my benefit, and that it was the Lord's hand plowing or planting, and preparing for a harvest of good fruit. Trust the Lord and be faithful in whatever season the Lord has you in right now, He has begun a good work and is faithful to complete it. I pray that His Spirit might fill you with His joy, as you place your confidence in the Lord of the seasons and the harvest.
A farmer does not dictate when to do his hard work, that work is determined by the seasons. The plowing, planting, watering, waiting, and the harvesting, are all done in the proper season, and those seasons are out of the control of the farmer. The farmer can't skip seasons, nor the work that must be done in each season. Wouldn't it be nice to just skip right through to the harvest? The hardworking farmer discerns the season and is faithful to do the work that each season requires, with an eye toward the goal of a generous harvest. A farmer who is not faithful in the plowing or planting seasons, can not expect the blessings of a good harvest. With this we are reminded of our walks with the Lord. We are to be faithful in whatever season we are in, and recognize that the season is not determined by us, but by our loving Father. There have been many times I would have liked to fast forward through, or flat out skip a season. But I didn't understand that it was for my benefit, and that it was the Lord's hand plowing or planting, and preparing for a harvest of good fruit. Trust the Lord and be faithful in whatever season the Lord has you in right now, He has begun a good work and is faithful to complete it. I pray that His Spirit might fill you with His joy, as you place your confidence in the Lord of the seasons and the harvest.
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