THANKFUL

 

Write From My Heart

November 15, 2021

THANKFUL  expression of appreciation

1 Thessalonians 5:18  …give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

            When we consider what it means to be thankful, perhaps the above noted verse is the first one that comes to mind. Being thankful in every circumstance we find ourselves is not always easy, yet it is the only proper reaction in view of God’s love and mercy toward us. My heart is reminded of two related events from the Old and New Testaments.

            From the Old Testament we remember the jubilant exodus of the children of Israel from their Egyptian bondage. They were truly thankful in expressions of appreciation for all God had done. They sang and danced full of praises to the Lord God Almighty. Of course just a few days later they were back to their persistent grumbling and complaining, so their thankful attitude did not last long (Exodus 12-16).

            From the New Testament we remember the ten lepers who were healed of their chronic, and at the that time incurable, disease of leprosy. We know from the account that only one man came back praising God and thanking Jesus. Being a Samaritan, this man was the most unlikely of the group to be appreciative, and yet he showed the greatest humility and appreciation of all (Luke 17:11-19). How tragic that Jesus was placed in a position of having to ask where all the other thankful people were?

            How does this relate to us today? It is mid-November and fast approaching the day we celebrate as Thanksgiving Day. To be honest, most of us live the kind of lives that reflect anticipation of Concerngiving Day or worse, Complaintgiving Day. Our list of worries, concerns, grumbles, and complaints seem to far outweigh our thankfulness. Perhaps it is time to reflect on the true meaning of being thankful. Are we thankful for only short timespans? Or do we place our Heavenly Father in the position of having to wonder why we never returned to thank him? Neither response is acceptable for a child of such a loving, merciful, faithful Heavenly Father. Yes, perhaps it is time to consider the true meaning of being thankful.

COMPLETELY

 

Write From My Heart

October 20, 2021

COMPLETELY  entirely, thoroughly, not lacking

Psalm 139:1-6  O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Psalm 139:13-16  For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

            It is surprising to me, and perhaps even a little unsettling, how many people in the world today who profess to be Christians still carry the thought that God made the world and created human life, then he just sort of sat back and watched without any involvement in the lives of his creation. That philosophy doesn’t match with what I read in the Bible—God’s Holy Word, God’s True Word. According to scripture, God is intimately involved with each and every life who is willing to call upon him. He knows everything about us—more than we even know about ourselves. He does not lack any information about us. It doesn’t matter how many people have come and gone before us, nor how many will come and go after us; God knows each and every one of us thoroughly including life span, activities, thoughts, deeds, and spoken words. He knows me. He knows you. His love and care for us in beyond our comprehension. Every moment of every day, in every way, God is with me—God is with you. And most amazingly, He is never more than a whispered prayer away.

Ezra 8:22  The good hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his anger is against all who forsake him.

Joshua 1:5  As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you or forsake you. 

Psalm 139:23-24  Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

REBEL - LOVE

 

Write From My Heart

October 19, 2021

REBEL to resist or oppose

LOVE  have a strong liking for, or interest in

1 Samuel 12:9, 12, 15, 25   But they forgot the LORD their God … you said to me, “No, we want a king to rule over us” –even though the LORD your God was your king. … But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers. … Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.

            There are those who would shun becoming a Christian on the basis of not wanting to “follow a bunch of rules.” Those same folk claim the Bible to be “nothing but a list of do’s and don’ts.” Truly the Bible does give suggestions for living a Christ-centered life, but as for rules there are only two. And just for reference, all of the 10 Commandments can be placed within these two rules:

Matthew 22:37-40  Jesus replied, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

            That’s it. Those are the two rules. Love God with all that you are and have. Love others as if they were you.  It is only when we oppose God or resist loving others that we fail in our responsibility as a Christian. If we are honest, I think we find it easier to love (i.e., have strong liking for…) God than we do to love (i.e., have strong interest in…) others. Perhaps it comes down to this: having such a strong interest in others that we desire for them to share in the same love of God we have through Christ.

John 13:34  A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. All men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.

John 14:15  If you love me, you will obey what I command.

John 15:12  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

2 John vs. 5-6 I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

1 John 5:3  This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.