In Psalms 103, David tells himself to never forget all the good things the Lord has done for him and then to remind himself, he begins to recount some of his blessings.
He forgives me.
He heals all my diseases.
He strengthens me physically in my old age.
He ransoms me from death.
He fills my life with good things.
Those are truly some amazing blessings. Reading someone else's list is inspiring but nothing grounds you and brings it home like taking a detailed look at your own life, seriously considering all the good things God has done for you, and compiling your own list. I would certainly want to start with David's list, but for my list, I would also add:
He is patient with me, so very patient.
He teaches me; he is always showing me new things.
He answers my questions. I love the way He does that!
He gives me encouragers: my husband, other family members, friends & coworkers.
He reminds me daily, in little and big ways, that He loves me. How amazing and special is that!?!
So, in Psalms 103-2015, what does your list look like? What do you want to tell yourself to never forget?
Until God Opens the Next Door for You, Praise Him in the Hallway
We seem to have a fascination for doors, always curious
about what lies beyond. Sometimes a door in our life just won’t open and it
frustrates us. We want to be busy doing, not standing and waiting.
There are several well known scriptures that tell us to wait in the hallway:
- Wait on the Lord and He will renew our strength.~ We want to be strong, not weak, right? What we choose to do while we’re in the hallway may be the difference of whether we will be strong or weak when we finally walk through the door.
- He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters, He restoreth my soul. ~ God knows the frailty of our human bodies and knows that we can’t always be about the race, the fight, without some restoration. Even Jesus took time out to wait, to receive strength.
- Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.~ Sometimes we’re so busy doing we don’t
have time to see what awesome thing
God is doing in our lives, right now,
right here.
So when a door isn’t open don’t fret, don’t pound on the
door or kick it, and don’t wait for the door to open to praise Him – go ahead
and praise Him in the hallway. Know that He’s still at work in your life,
giving you a time of quiet and calm to refocus on what He’s doing – before He
sends you back into action through another open door.
STAYING WITH JESUS
In Matthew 14, after he heard the news that John had been beheaded, Jesus tried to go off by himself for awhile but the crowds heard where he was going and many were already waiting on him when he got there. And he ministered to them. As it got later, the disciples tried to get Jesus to send everyone away because it was way out in the boondocks and the crowd was hungry.
Here's the part I love: Jesus said, "THEY DON'T NEED TO DEPART..." and proceeded to perform one of the great miracles of his ministry; feeding over 5000 people.
EVERYTHING...ANYTHING...we need can be found in Jesus, at his feet, by his side, in his service, close to him.
In the remote place of desolation...in the midst of the crowds...He will provide everything we need.
"They don't need to depart."
Do you sense the desire he has to keep us near him? He doesn't want us going elsewhere to fill our needs, our dreams, our longings.
"They don't need to depart."
He wants us to know, "I Am that I Am. Don't depart from me. Stay close. I am everything that you need."
Here's the part I love: Jesus said, "THEY DON'T NEED TO DEPART..." and proceeded to perform one of the great miracles of his ministry; feeding over 5000 people.
EVERYTHING...ANYTHING...we need can be found in Jesus, at his feet, by his side, in his service, close to him.
In the remote place of desolation...in the midst of the crowds...He will provide everything we need.
"They don't need to depart."
Do you sense the desire he has to keep us near him? He doesn't want us going elsewhere to fill our needs, our dreams, our longings.
"They don't need to depart."
He wants us to know, "I Am that I Am. Don't depart from me. Stay close. I am everything that you need."
A COMPELLING OFFER
We recently visited another church and the pastor preached all over the basic theme that my husband has been preaching for over a year. But that makes sense. If God has a word for His people, then men of God all over the world will be hearing that word and passing it along to those listening.
The message we have been hearing is it's time to get involved with those we are trying to reach. The same love, grace and salvation that Christ extended to us, in the midst of our sin, He wants to give to others. Sin is messy and we may get dirty, as we reach to pull someone out of the muck and mire, it may be uncomfortable but God never called us to comfort in this world; He called us to a life of mission, a life of action, a life of snatching people from the very gates of hell.
There is a parable in the Bible of a man who invited a lot of people to a special event, a feast in his home. His servant went out to let everyone know it was time to come over because the meal was ready, but everyone he had invited began to make excuses. Excuses that included needing family time, buying new property and dealing with new equipment. These were people with whom the man regularly rubbed shoulders; they lived in his neighborhood, shopped the same places, did business together. The man was angry with his friends, co-workers and society colleagues who refused his invitation, so he told his servant to go find people who were poor, maimed, lame and blind to bring to the feast. The servant did that but there were still empty chairs at the table so the man took it a step further and said, "Ok, now go into the highways and byways and compel them to come." He had already invited the upper and middle class neighbors who chose to not come, then he invited those considered by society as less fortunate. Who do you suppose the servant would find in the highways and byways? Who is in our highways and bushes, our underpasses and vacant buildings?
There comes a time when the engraved invitations to the feast (the commercials on TV, the newspaper ads, the bulk mailings to announce programs with catchy slogans, and special events with laser lights and fog) just will not do the job. People so saturated with the busy-ness of this life have no time to attend just another function that blocks out their availability on their personal calendar, and so they quit responding to the invitation; they quit coming to the table. This beautiful table of abundance Jesus prepared just for us is sitting here with very few people around it. So much to enjoy, so many empty chairs. There comes a time when we have to go out into our cities, hospitals, rehab centers, AA halls, prisons and yes, even the streets and underpasses and not just ask them, but compel them to come to the table Jesus has prepared. How do we compel someone dying with a chronic disease or addicted to meth, serving a 20 year prison sentence for crimes committed or disassociated from society because of depression, to come to the table? Not by a well placed ad on TV or in the newspaper.
To compel - to urge forcefully or irresistibly, to persuade, to entreat.
Scripture tells us that no one comes to the Father except the Spirit draws them. If we are filled with the power that Jesus sent to us, the Holy Spirit, and we reach out and touch people where they are, the Spirit will compel them. If we love them in their unlovable condition, the Spirit will compel them. If we share our own testimony of being pulled from satan's grasp, into Jesus' protective arms, the Spirit will compel them. If we refuse to give up on them because there is still room for them at the table, the Spirit will compel them. If we become the hands of Jesus, in their lives, holding their hands, wrapping them in a warm hug or placing our hands on them in prayer, the Spirit will compel them. If we share with them the very good news of Jesus Christ: love, forgiveness, divine substitution, key-taking, resurrection and the transfer of power and authority through restoration and the Holy Spirit, to a personal relationship with God, the Spirit will compel them. But none of this is done from a distance. None of this is done through a beautifully worded tract that can be passed out or discreetly laid down. All of this is done through close, face to face contact, reaching beyond the facade presented to the world, into the brokenness of their soul, with the love with which Jesus loved us.
Christians, church - it's time. It's time to go out into the streets and thickets, to find those who need Jesus so much and to irresistibly entreat and persuade them, through the drawing of the Holy Spirit, to the table of life. But no more pretty invitations to pretty events; it's time to get as real as their sin and mess and brokenness is. Show them Jesus; broken for them, dying for them, rising for them, offering them everything He has access to, so they can live. Forever. With Him.
It is a compelling offer.
The message we have been hearing is it's time to get involved with those we are trying to reach. The same love, grace and salvation that Christ extended to us, in the midst of our sin, He wants to give to others. Sin is messy and we may get dirty, as we reach to pull someone out of the muck and mire, it may be uncomfortable but God never called us to comfort in this world; He called us to a life of mission, a life of action, a life of snatching people from the very gates of hell.
There is a parable in the Bible of a man who invited a lot of people to a special event, a feast in his home. His servant went out to let everyone know it was time to come over because the meal was ready, but everyone he had invited began to make excuses. Excuses that included needing family time, buying new property and dealing with new equipment. These were people with whom the man regularly rubbed shoulders; they lived in his neighborhood, shopped the same places, did business together. The man was angry with his friends, co-workers and society colleagues who refused his invitation, so he told his servant to go find people who were poor, maimed, lame and blind to bring to the feast. The servant did that but there were still empty chairs at the table so the man took it a step further and said, "Ok, now go into the highways and byways and compel them to come." He had already invited the upper and middle class neighbors who chose to not come, then he invited those considered by society as less fortunate. Who do you suppose the servant would find in the highways and byways? Who is in our highways and bushes, our underpasses and vacant buildings?
There comes a time when the engraved invitations to the feast (the commercials on TV, the newspaper ads, the bulk mailings to announce programs with catchy slogans, and special events with laser lights and fog) just will not do the job. People so saturated with the busy-ness of this life have no time to attend just another function that blocks out their availability on their personal calendar, and so they quit responding to the invitation; they quit coming to the table. This beautiful table of abundance Jesus prepared just for us is sitting here with very few people around it. So much to enjoy, so many empty chairs. There comes a time when we have to go out into our cities, hospitals, rehab centers, AA halls, prisons and yes, even the streets and underpasses and not just ask them, but compel them to come to the table Jesus has prepared. How do we compel someone dying with a chronic disease or addicted to meth, serving a 20 year prison sentence for crimes committed or disassociated from society because of depression, to come to the table? Not by a well placed ad on TV or in the newspaper.
To compel - to urge forcefully or irresistibly, to persuade, to entreat.
Scripture tells us that no one comes to the Father except the Spirit draws them. If we are filled with the power that Jesus sent to us, the Holy Spirit, and we reach out and touch people where they are, the Spirit will compel them. If we love them in their unlovable condition, the Spirit will compel them. If we share our own testimony of being pulled from satan's grasp, into Jesus' protective arms, the Spirit will compel them. If we refuse to give up on them because there is still room for them at the table, the Spirit will compel them. If we become the hands of Jesus, in their lives, holding their hands, wrapping them in a warm hug or placing our hands on them in prayer, the Spirit will compel them. If we share with them the very good news of Jesus Christ: love, forgiveness, divine substitution, key-taking, resurrection and the transfer of power and authority through restoration and the Holy Spirit, to a personal relationship with God, the Spirit will compel them. But none of this is done from a distance. None of this is done through a beautifully worded tract that can be passed out or discreetly laid down. All of this is done through close, face to face contact, reaching beyond the facade presented to the world, into the brokenness of their soul, with the love with which Jesus loved us.
Christians, church - it's time. It's time to go out into the streets and thickets, to find those who need Jesus so much and to irresistibly entreat and persuade them, through the drawing of the Holy Spirit, to the table of life. But no more pretty invitations to pretty events; it's time to get as real as their sin and mess and brokenness is. Show them Jesus; broken for them, dying for them, rising for them, offering them everything He has access to, so they can live. Forever. With Him.
It is a compelling offer.
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