Being Thankful

Father, we are asking You for so many things – protection for our families and loved ones from this awful virus and every other bad germ or virus out there – riddance of this terrible virus worldwide – healing for those with other illnesses – reunification of the citizens of the US – an end to abuse of power in all walks of life – for injustices to be righted – for people to be able to be employed again at levels that can provide and sustain a living wage – for persecution of believers to stop – for peace on earth!  None of those things are too big for you!

But if it is Your will that we simply endure these things for a time, give us what we need to persevere with hope. To live in a way that brings honor to You and Your name.  To walk in Your Light and share that Light with others.

Help us today to focus on being thankful to You.  Amen

Lincoln said it wonderfully at the end of his Thanksgiving Day proclamation:

I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.

And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

1 Thessalonians 5:18  “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Mar 4 Worship! And Stand!

 

Clap your hands! Raise your voice! Sing hymns and worship songs at the top of your lungs! Put on a worship music tape and crank up the volume! Don’t be bashful – show your joy! Your God is the One and Only True God who has more power than any person, any force, anything on this earth!

 

He is more powerful than Mother Nature! He rose from the dead while other proclaimed ‘deities’ are in their graves! The story of His creating the earth and choosing a people for Himself has been a best seller ever since there has been a printing press! It has been translated into 3,223 languages!

I live in a country that is not subject to a king, but Jesus Christ is my King – the King of Kings! I owe Him my praise and will sing out to Him.   I will hum quietly, sway and clap, sing in the shower, and with others at gatherings. I will play any instrument I can, write new songs, sing along with youtube videos that make me cry, and continue to sing through tears!

God reigns and rules, but not from an earthly throne in a temple or synagogue or sanctuary. And not on a mountaintop or in a river or floating on a cloud. There is a reality that cannot be seen by the human eye and cannot be described completely by human words. And in that place, is a great throne room, with Him seated on His Holy throne.

Because I cannot see it, Jesus draws me pictures with parables: a vineyard owner who went on a journey renting out the land. This is something I can visualize and understand. Though the owner is not present, he exists, and is still the owner, and is due the income from the land and the respect of the people.   It is the same with God. Just because I cannot see Him, I should not doubt He is real. Or think that He will not come for what is His.

When the storm comes, and I believe it is coming to our country in my time, and has swept by; O Lord, may I still be standing firm. Amen

Mark 12:1-12; Psalm 47:1-9; Proverbs 10:25