Author: Lynden McGriff

Imagine if you can…… A young boy, who is searching for his purpose in life. This young boy can make friends easily. But something is always a little bit different. This young man grows up in somewhat isolation. But he has a family that loves him and a lot of relatives that interact with him all the time. As  this young man grows up, he knows that his purpose in life is a little bit different than everybody else’s. He knows that he has a specific purpose to fulfill and this waiting will lead to something greater. This young man grows up and goes.  Several years later, after living in somewhat isolation. He finally understands the purpose of his life. He finally understands the purpose of all of his preparation.  He sees Christ. John the Baptist knew the wait was worth it.

Luke 7: 24-28

24 

When John's messengers had gone, Jesus[f] began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts. 26 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is he of whom it is written,

“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
    who will prepare your way before you.’

28 I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Growing up in a conservative and difficult life was hard for this little girl. So many hard choices that have been handed to this girl, so early in life. She did not have a chance to truly be a child.  She didn’t have safety and compassion and security. She had to make hard decisions at an early age. These decisions and choices put her into different situations which followed in her shadow throughout her life. It wasn’t until she was able to meet Jesus later in her life, that she understood what she had to do. She waited. Her waiting has been shared throughout the ages. She has created a position in our history for her show of gratitude and atonement. For her it was worth the wait. 

Luke 7: 37-38

And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.

In Deuteronomy 6 & 7, we are given instructions on how to enter the promised land. But the one thing that we forget is how God had prepared the promised land in advance for the people. There were already houses, vineyards, cisterns, wells, and everything that they needed to survive. Because they waited they were able to take full advantage of all the things that God had prepared for them. They did not have to do too much preparation or hard labor to the land because life for them is prepared for them. In Deuteronomy God is telling us that he has a life prepared for us, and that we just have to have a relationship with him. We have to be in connection with him so that we can take full advantage of what God has for us.

Deuteronomy 6: 10-12

“And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12 then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Deuteronomy 7:11-14 

And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. 13 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples.

How many times in our life are we waiting on the next thing? How many times are we waiting on the next thing?  We have to be patient during the wait.  After the wait, we also have to remember the journey that we have gone through to get to our destination.  So many times, we go through obstacles and tests, we forget the lesson.  Let us take the opportunity to slow down and wait for the next thing that God has prepared for us.  Let us also not forget the lessons that we have learned by grace and mercy. 

Be Blessed 

Today’s Reading Numbers 8-11, Colossians 1 

With spring in the air, we were starting to see the formations of baseball teams and softball teams. This is a memory from childhood when we would play softball or basketball where there would be team captains.  Each captain would handpick each of the individuals for the team. This process can be hard on both sides: hard for the captains to try to keep everyone’s spirits up and then hard for the individuals getting picked because of being the last one picked.  In the end someone will not be happy.  The difference with Christ choosing us is we all win.  He chooses all of us, we have the option to be accepted. He has hand picked us already.  

Numbers 8:14-16

“Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine. And after that the Levites shall go in to serve at the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a wave offering. For they are wholly given to me from among the people of Israel. Instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the people of Israel, I have taken them for myself.”

In Numbers 8, we see God is preparing the Levites as the chosen individuals to be set apart for the whole nation of Israel. We see how He has hand-picked them to be the priesthood to intercede, and to petition God for the entire nation. In this particular instance, God is hand-picking representatives that will be connecting with him.  He shows how he will provide for these people through these intermediaries. He can use many avenues to bless us.  We have to be in tune with his overall purpose for each of us,  this only happens when we have a relationship with him. 

 Colossians 1: 21-23

“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

In Colossians 1,  it shows us again that we are hand picked for God’s grace and glory. It tells that we were already alienated and lonely and in despair, but Jesus understood this and still hand picked us to be with him.  We all have hand picked by him, but we have to accept that we are worthy of his grace.  He is ready to give us comfort and peace if we would accept it as a gift. 

A couple of days ago I had the honor of participating in a game with my kids.  The object of the game was to tie or come up with the same result as the other team.  Once you tied with the other team, the first person who recognized it was the same would scream.  Then the team that lost would then become part of the other team.  Then you would search for other teams to compete, until you are all on the same team.  It was fun and exciting on many levels:  the kids had a blast and each person wanted to tie with each other.  On another level, it was showing us how it is possible to not be the victorious one and still have fun.  It shows how God’s love no matter what the outcome of the situation,  we always win and he has chosen us not to fail, but to succeed with Him and each other.  

Be blessed 

Today’s Reading: Leviticus 8-11, Psalm 110, Hebrews 4

 

Oh, Leviticus. The book a Leviticus is the blueprint and the guide for the Levitical priest of the Hebrew to follow as a guide. Each piece and each word in Leviticus had to be done to precise letter. The most important things were in the details of each of the words. As a child, I remember reading through the first several books of the Bible, I was always confused. I did not understand why such detail was made for each chapter. As I grew up, I was able to understand how these precise details were the things that were needed for the children of Israel at the time. This is part of the Old Testament, to give us precise direction because we need this attention and direction for our life.

 

The specific information that we receive from Leviticus is similar to that of the understanding of time. We have to be given precise information about time for our minds to grasp the abstractness of God. God has allowed us to understand time, so that we can understand him better. In our most recent developments we can get time down to the trillionth of a second. At the beginning of the 1900s we could give time down to a second. At the beginning of the 12th century, we could get time down to portions of a day.

 

It’s in these details that we are able to have some foundation and clarity of our purpose. It is in these details that we understand God‘s work in us better. When I was a young adult, I had an understanding of how to digest the word of God. The understanding goes like this: the word of God is like a Thanksgiving feast, the first day you were eating so much and trying to digest it all. The following day you can have the leftovers. Then the following week you can boil the bones and the meat to make a soup.  Each time that we are digesting the word of God, sometimes we get so much from just the overall text. Then we can get down to the sentences and paragraphs and phrases. Then we get down to a single word that speaks to us on a profound level.

 

Sometimes we can run through life at such a breakneck pace that we do not understand and see the details of our life. This past week my youngest daughter brought home a project that she had worked on for several weeks in class. As part of our routine, she leaves her class work on the dining room table for me and my wife to review and to look over. This particular project was about her. It was a non-fiction, biological sketch of herself.  Now, I typically review these things and glance over them and put them away. This time, I reviewed it a little bit more closely. And when I reviewed it, the text touched my heart so much that I became very emotional. The above picture that you see for today’s post was the one that she had drawn.  Each of the figures that she has drawn shows each person in our family, their age, and the things that they love most. If you look at the one under each one, it shows something different. But under the picture for me, her father, it shows that the thing that I love most is her.

 

Lord, allow us to be able to be in tune with how you show the specific details in our life. Lord, allow us to be open to the whisper, the vapor, the flowers that are in our life. Allow us to be where you want us to be influencers to others as you have been influential to us through the small details. 

Today’s Reading: Exodus 14-16; Ephesians 4 

Countless times as a child, many of us wish that we could just grow up. Many times we did not want to hear the guidance that many people would give us. We could not wait for the day to come when we will be adults and we don’t  have to listen to anybody or ask for help. But as we grow up and become adults, we understand that we do need assistance and help. Sometimes it is hard to ask for help and assistance. Sometimes it can be difficult to hear the advice, but when we become true adults and mature to understand we are able to get to a new level of maturity.  

Some of our most recent ideas of Moses come from “ The 10 Commandments” movie. In the movie we observe Moses’ transformation overnight. This seems like a week or months journey but it actually was 40 years from when Moses left pharaoh until he returned.  The next installment that we see is the “Prince of Egypt”, which was the Disney adaptation. In this, it still seems as if it was a matter of months or years from Moses’ escape from Egypt to his return. The reason for this timeline realization is due to the passage from today’s reading.

As we read the story of Moses and the exodus of the Israelites we have had different perspectives on the timeline. When Moses fled Egypt the first time he was 40 years old. When Moses came to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, he was 80 years old. When the Israelites left the wilderness and entered the Promised Land Moses was 120 years old. This new understanding of the true timeline can bring to light new thoughts of Moses from our past experiences.

In today’s reading, Moses is met with his father-in-law, Jethro. This meeting takes place after Moses has been blessed at the burning bush. This meeting happens after the Israelites have been in the wilderness for sometime. So Moses is about 80+ years in this scenario.

In this scenario, we see three things happening.

• Jethro comes to Moses and blesses him and gives him encouragement on the things that he has done. Jethro also observes Moses in his leadership of the Israelites. 
• Jethro gives Moses some amazing advice. He has observed Moses, and is concerned for his welfare and his livelihood and his relationships between his family and his duty to his people. Jethro gives advice on how to separate and delegate his stewardship and authority that this has been given to him by God. Jethro is a man who has had a lot of experience and leadership himself. Moses is a product of Jethro’s leadership and mentorship.
• Jethro also understands that God has given Moses this position. Moses also understands Jethro’s love for him. Moses is considered one of the most influential individuals in Judeo-Christian law.  But he still seeks council for his leadership.

Many times in the Bible we are giving glimpses into how very wise and influential men have been given counsel to help them to elevate to the next level. In this passage, Jethro gives great counsel to Moses. Earlier in Genesis, Abraham receives great counsel from Melchizedek.  And countless times in and through the Old Testament and New Testament God has given counsel through prophets and apostles.

In all areas of our life, we have to understand that there are other individuals who are able to give us insight and wisdom that we may not be aware. But we need to be understanding and aware of how God works in those individuals he puts in our lives. Is there someone in your life who is giving you wisdom today? Is there someone who is breathing words of counsel into you? Lord, allow us to understand and hear your words to many videos that you were giving us. May you bless us this week so that we may be blessings upon others, and to show your glory.

Be blessed.

 

Today’s Reading: Genesis 41-42; Mark 16 

Have you ever asked yourself….Why am I in this situation? Why can’t the situation get better? How does good come from the situation?

These are some questions that our protagonists in these stories could ask themselves. Throughout our everyday life,  we have many different experiences and these are the items that build us into who we are currently.  In today’s reading our protagonists are Joseph and Jesus.  

A few days ago,  while listening to a podcast the speaker stated something that really resonates with today’s reading, “In every problem there is an answer and in every problem there is a lesson.”   In today’s reading we have several instances that we are learning from our past experiences. 

In the first reading, we have access to Joseph in prison.  In this passage, Joseph has been in prison in Egypt for some time.  He was sold into slavery by his older brothers, the sons of Israel also known as Jacob.  The reason that he was trapped and sold into slavery was because he shared his visions and dreams with his siblings.  He trusted his brothers and wanted to share his excitement and dreams.  When this happened, his brothers betrayed him and tried to extinguish his fire.  

           After he was sold into slavery, Joseph had several different experiences that led him to become a prisoner in Pharaoh’s personal dungeon.  Here he was distraught and found destitute.  At what he thought would be his final place, God created an opportunity for him to grow. Joseph used his gift of dream reading and helped the baker and chief butler.  This then led to him interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh and saving the entire empire of Egypt.  The total time that Joseph was in slavery and prison was 13 years.  The time between the interpretation of the dreams and the introduction to Pharaoh is assumed to be two years.  This can seem like an eternity when you do not know what’s on the other side.

This new found success, allows him to have grace and find room for forgiveness for his brothers.  Many times in my life, there have been questionable places and areas that God has allowed me to experience in order for Him to show me grace and in turn allow me to show grace to others.  Many times while we are in the situation, we cannot see or recognize that God is preparing us for success in his time. 

In the second reading we are at the resurrection.  This is the ultimate example of preparing for success.  Jesus has been with his apostles and close friends for most of his life.  We have the stories of his ministry, which began on earth for a period of three years. But Jesus knew these individuals for a majority of his life.  He had planted seeds of the Spirit of God in them throughout their journey together.  He was preparing them for the opportunity to be successful after his departure.  He is continually preparing us for his ministry daily. We have to be open to the opportunities and the challenges that we are presented with as chances to see success through him. 

I know that many times in my life, I’ve been in many situations where I know that God has provided for me and is going to change things for me, but at the moment in time, I cannot understand. But he was preparing me for something else, something greater.  What is God preparing you for? What current situation are you in that he might be preparing you for success? 

 

Be Blessed 

 

Today’s Reading: Genesis 16-18; Mark 6 

With the New Year just passing,  many people are trying to find themselves and trying to reinvent themselves with resolutions. The new year always brings about a transformation for our past-self to self that should be somewhat better, somewhat different, and somewhat improved. The one thing that we have to recognize is that we already are amazing individuals, but we sometimes do not have the ability to see for ourselves the goodness that God has put in us. Many times we are searching for a new app, a new diet, a new way of organizing; but these are already inside of us. We just have to understand and be able to tap into our own potential that God has placed it.

 

In our reading today from Genesis and Mark, we have several individuals who do not understand the full confidence in their abilities and try to make up for it in various ways. They are questioning their confidence in themselves and the promise of God.  

 

We first started with Sarai.  God has promised her that she would be fruitful in her womb and the mother of many nations. But she did not understand how to depend on God‘s timing for her and his promise. So Sarai doesn’t have the confidence in herself to produce the promise God has set for her. She decides to take matters into her own hands and bring her servant to assist her. She lacked confidence in herself to wait for fulfillment of God’s promise. How many times do we have a promise from God and we attempt to assist God in his fulfillment of our promises from him? 

 

Next, we have Abram. Abram had actually seen God.  He had seen him in the form of angels and humans. Abram had been in communication with God and was able to connect with God on a personal level. Abram had a relationship with God and had confidence in God, but not confidence in himself. Abram decided to “assist” God in his promised fulfillment as well. But this brought about unrest and division between his family. He didn’t feel confident in himself that God would be able to create a nation in a person who is more than seventy years old.  

 

Then we have Hagar.   She was a servant to Sarai.  She didn’t have any form of self awareness.  She was at the behest and order of Sarai.  But when Sarai chose her to be the bearer of the promised nation, Hagar became more confident in herself and started to move from her station to a bigger one.  She became embolden and this created a rift in the family.  

 

The lesson that we can gain from this passage is to be confident in the person that God has placed in us.  We have so much potential and internal worth that we sometimes forget and try to push it faster than God wants.  We have to be confident in God’s fulfillment of his promises and confident in the skills that are inside us.  

 

The second passage of today’s reading, Mark 6, dovetails so well with the confidence in one’s self and ability.  

• Christ gives us confidence in confronting our peers and past life and the ability to reach for higher heights.  This allows us to not be conformed to our past self and failures but open to the possibility of the future.  This confidence is seen when Jesus returns home to begin his ministry.   This doesn’t dissuade him in his ministry.  It actually propels Jesus into a more open ministry.
• Christ gives us confidence in being able to go out on our “own” and be able to perform miracles in his name as seen when he sent the disciples out on their mission.  
• Christ gives us confidence in his ability to provide for us out of ordinary and sometimes minimal resources form us as shown to us when he performs the miracle of feeding the five thousand. 
• Christ gives us confidence in the darkness and despair in the sea of life as seen with the disciples when we walked on water. 

Allow this week to be a week where you can recapture your confidence in yourself.  Allow God to show you a piece of your promise and know that he will be there with you. 

 

Today’s Reading : Luke 2:21-52

Joy. Excitement. Hope.

He is finally here. Christ has been born. Unlike with toys and games, when we have a new baby, joy and the excitement has only begun. On the third or fifth or seventh day after you receive your games and toys: Sometimes the batteries are broken, or we lost a piece of toy, or we just have play with us so much that we cannot enjoy it anymore. But with Christ and the news of his appearance, we get energized at each moment that we have with him. This energy does not stop, but it multiplies as we continue to have a relationship with him.

As we complete the Advent season and going into Christmastide, we have several more weeks of the season of joy and hope and wonderment.  In this passage, we see the perspectives of four different individuals. Individuals that we have here are: Mary, Joseph, Simmons, and Anna. Each of these individuals have a different perspective on this new child that has come into the world.

Luke 2:25-38 (MSG)

25-32 In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. As the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to carry out the rituals of the Law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God:

God, you can now release your servant;

    release me in peace as you promised.

With my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation;

    it’s now out in the open for everyone to see:

A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations,

    and of glory for your people Israel.

33-35 Jesus’ father and mother were speechless with surprise at these words. Simeon went on to bless them, and said to Mary his mother,

This child marks both the failure and

    the recovery of many in Israel,

A figure misunderstood and contradicted—

    the pain of a sword-thrust through you—

But the rejection will force honesty,

    as God reveals who they really are.

36-38 Anna the prophetess was also there, a daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She was by now a very old woman. She had been married seven years and a widow for eighty-four. She never left the Temple area, worshiping night and day with her fastings and prayers. At the very time Simeon was praying, she showed up, broke into an anthem of praise to God, and talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem.

Mary has the perspective of a new life, and a new beginning for her and the salvation of the world. She has known since the conception that Jesus was part of the new covenant to change the world. But you also know that he will be a part of her. He would be an extension of God into the world.

Joseph is an amazing person. One of the gifts that I received this advent season was a deeper understanding of the person Joseph. Joseph was a role model for all men.  He embodies compassion, love, support, caring, understanding, and rising above the occasion. After reviewing this passage, I had the realization that Joseph actually delivered Jesus. Joseph was the one who coached Mary through the pregnancy and the labor and actually delivered Jesus into the world. In my 40 Christmases this was profound for me. Joseph didn’t ask for any acknowledgment or gratitude, but he performed his role in his responsibilities with the greatest care.

Simeon is vital in this story as well. Simeon shows how to be patient and find comfort in the promise that God has given us. Simeon shows us how to acknowledge our frailty and wait with expectation of something new or something exciting that God has promised us. Simeon show us how to be faithful to God through all of his promises.

Anna, shows us that despite the changes in our life, God will supply everything that we need. No matter what the circumstances are: we can have wealth, or poverty, sickness, health, despair, joy, but in all of these things, God will be there with us from young age until our old age.

As we celebrate this Christmas season for the next several weeks, can we all observe ourselves and the  different people in our lives?  How has God placed them in our lives and can we see a little bit extra in them. Can we see the promises and the blessings that God has installed upon them? Can we acknowledge it ourselves that God has something in store for us that we may not be aware of but we are there for his purpose?

Continue to be blessed this week and weeks to come.

Today’s Reading: Malachi 1

With the advent season upon us, we are actively looking forward to the most precious and amazing gift we have ever been given, Jesus.  This season of anticipation is filled with so much joy and happiness and excitement.  One of our traditions for my family is the elf on the shelf.  Our elf is named Simon.  He has been visiting our house for over 11 years.  He comes on the 1st day of December and leaves on the 24th of December.  The kids all wake up daily with the joy and excitement of finding Simon and to see what activities he has been doing throughout the evening and his trip to the North Pole.  This is a great example of how we should start our day: waking up with excitement and seeing what Jesus has done for us overnight and the excitement of what the day will bring.  

As the season of Advent turns into Christmas, with the celebration of the birth of Christ. A lot of us are searching for the best gifts to exchange with each other and the anticipated joy that it may bring. For the kids, it is a time of excitement. For the young  it is a time of celebration.  For moms and dads it is a time of reflection and memories.  

In the Bible, Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament, before the birth of Christ.  It is approximately 400 years between the last words of Malachi and the proclamation from the angels of Christ birth.   In the first chapter of Malachi, God is directly telling Israel how He has shown love to us and how we have not acknowledged the love or recognize this love and he is disappointed.  

Malachi 1: 1-3;5

 God said, “I love you.”

You replied, “Really? How have you loved us?”

“Look at history” (this is God’s answer). “Look at how differently I’ve treated you, Jacob, from Esau: I loved Jacob and hated Esau. I reduced pretentious Esau to a molehill, turned his whole country into a ghost town.”

5 “Yes, take a good look. Then you’ll see how faithfully I’ve loved you and you’ll want even more, saying, ‘May God be even greater, beyond the borders of Israel!’

 

He has continuously been gracious to Israel and in return for his goodness he was met with deceit and complete disregard for his love.   Like Israel, have we given him our worst, when he constantly gives us his best?  

 

Malachi 1:11- 13 MSG 

“I am honored all over the world. And there are people who know how to worship me all over the world, who honor me by bringing their best to me. They’re saying it everywhere: ‘God is greater, this God-of-the-Angel-Armies.’

12-13 “All except you. Instead of honoring me, you profane me. You profane me when you say, ‘Worship is not important, and what we bring to worship is of no account,’ and when you say, ‘I’m bored—this doesn’t do anything for me.’ You act so superior, sticking your noses in the air—act superior to me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! And when you do offer something to me, it’s a hand-me-down, or broken, or useless. Do you think I’m going to accept it? This is God speaking to you!

I’m guilty of this as well.  How many times have I not given my full potential or talent to what God has in store for me? Many times. How many times have I not given fully to those in need? Many times.  How many times have I not  shown mercy to others? Many times.  I acknowledge that throughout my life I have been here.  But with my acknowledgement of his presence in my life and my current relationship, I attempt to give him my all: all of my life, all of my family, all of my finances, all of my health; in return for his peace and blessings on me.  I may falter, but I constantly get back up and continue to push forward.    

How can I (we) do better at giving our Father the best gifts: 

• Be intentional about the gifts that we give.  
• Acknowledge that we will fail often, but we will have to continue to work at giving the right gifts 
• He only wants us to be thoughtful and respectful of him and his presence 

 

What gifts are we preparing to give God during this Advent, Christmas, and Incarnation Season? Are we willing to give him the best and first fruits of our everything? Will we be able to transition to a place of reverence and reflection?

May we be able to grow and shine with this renewed commitment. 

Be blessed 

 

Today’s Reading: Psalm 66

Psalms 66: 1- 4

Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
²     sing the glory of his name;
    give to him glorious praise!
³ Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
    So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
⁴ All the earth worships you
    and sings praises to you;
    they sing praises to your name.” 

During the season of Thanksgiving, we take time to reflect on the things that we’ve been given throughout the year. This is the time that we can express our gratitude and appreciation to each other, and those around us for the many gifts that they have bestowed upon us.

In this Psalm, we were looking at the great deeds that God has done for us. The many mountains that he has moved for us, the many obstacles that we have overcome with His guidance. But what about the daily, hourly, and minutes that He has done such great deeds for us . If we look at our day from midnight to midnight how many great deeds has God done for us.

Come and see what God has done:
    he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.(v5)

• Restful sleep without seizures
• Waking up with ease
• Ability to move all limbs independently and voluntarily
• Ability to use the bathroom without assistance and ease of moving in the dark and not falling

Bless our God, O peoples;
    let the sound of his praise be heard,
⁹ who has kept our soul among the living
    and has not let our feet slip. ( v8-9)

• The ability to take a shower by yourself.  The warm and hot water that is available. The warm house and bathroom to use.
• The ability to eat a morsel or more and the ability to have a cup of warm coffee.
• The ability to have a vehicle that will work properly
• The fuel to get to work

Come and hear, all you who fear God,
    and I will tell what he has done for my soul.(v16) 

• The traveling mercies that allow you to get to and from work without incident.
• The ability to work and be present at your place of employment
• The ability to thank God continuously for the Spirit of God to be the protection for you and the love ones as they go about their daily and activities.

These are just a handful of things that go on a daily basis, and sometimes we can forget that each of those items can have hundreds of great deeds associated with them to perform those and to continue to grow.

During this next week find a day to see how many great deeds that God has done for you in the mist of you living your life.

 

Today’s Reading: Psalm 81

Psalm 81: 1-3;6-7

Sing aloud to God our strength…..  

Shout for joy to the God of Jacob!……

Raise a song…. sound the tambourine……

 the sweet lyre with the harp……

Blow the trumpet at the new moon……

at the full moon…. on our feast day……

I relieved your shoulder of the burden

your hands were freed from the basket…

In distress you called, and I delivered you;

 

Too often we do not take the time to celebrate and have JOY in our lives. So often, throughout the days, weeks, months, and years we experience so many trials and tribulations that we forget to celebrate our release and liberation from these obstacles.  We forget to acknowledge the harshness and strife that we have come through. We tend to go from one situation to the next and not allow ourselves to breathe and to celebrate the joy that we have.

How many times have we taken an exam, and as soon as the test is over we are preparing for the next event? How many times have we made it through a long journey, and then we are going to the next event or task without reflecting on the trip? How many times in the past week have we made it to our destination without injury, malice, or harm and not celebrated the journey?

Let’s take this time to celebrate. Let’s take this time to reflect on the goodness of God. Let’s take this time to reflect over all of the things and the hardship that we have come through this week, this month, this year. We are rejoicing because God has given us peace, refreshment, and renewed our life.  Have an amazing week.

Be blessed