Friday slowdown (Praise day 10)

We are focusing on praising our God, and this familiar song is one that truly expresses our thoughts as we contemplate all that He has done for us:

Praise day 9

Praise Him, for He has a plan for us!

One of the things that kept coming back to me as I was writing these posts is the picture that we see of God being our true heavenly Father. There are so many verses in our Bible that paint a beautiful picture of God loving us so much that He will provide for us in all areas of life. He will take care of us just like He takes care of those sparrows in flight, or like He cares for the lilies of the field.

We can depend on the fact that He is the best Father ever! He knows what our needs and our wants are. Sometimes we get those mixed up, ay?
As a parent, we can recall the times that our children have pleaded, begged, wheedled and connived to get something they thought they "had to have." They WANTED it, right? But did they NEED it? That is what we were required, as parents, to decide.

We can trust God to know what we need, and what we want. And we can rest in the knowledge that He has a plan for us. In fact, He knew us and planned for us before we were even born, just like He did for the prophet Jeremiah:

                “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,  before you were born
                 I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)

And He didn't just wind us up like a toy and let us go on our own; He is still watching over us and has His plan in mind:

                 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to
                 prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
                 (Jeremiah 29:11)

Look at that! It's all in present tense; He knows, He has, He plans. That's not just in the past. That is happening today, even as you read this study blog. Pause for a moment and let that sink in. That is how much He cares.

                 The Lord will guide you always;
                 he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
                 and will strengthen your frame.
                You will be like a well-watered garden,
                like a spring whose waters never fail.  (Isaiah 58:11)

Maybe today we are in a bad situation in life, and don't know where to turn. Perhaps we are in "over our heads" either financially, emotionally, or spiritually. We are not in it all alone. I hope these verses will encourage all of us that God knows what is going on in our lives, and has a plan for us.

We don't always know why something is happening. We may beg and plead and wheedle (and maybe even connive a little) asking God to change things. Instead of that, we should trust Him to have a plan that is far better for us than we can know -- He is the greatest Father ever! He is still in the business of making beautiful things out of our messes.
Talk to God today and praise Him for the plan He has for you!

Praise day 8

In this month that we (at least those of us in the US) celebrate Thanksgiving, it's appropriate for us to praise Him for our homes and our food, our finances to pay our bills, and all of the other ways that He provides for us.

All of these are blessings. We cannot take credit for them. "But I worked hard to make the money for these things!" you may protest.

But think . . . who is it that strengthens us for the task? Who makes it possible for us to get up out of bed each day? Who puts us in the place where we are tapped for a job? If He knows the sparrows that fall from the nest, and the hairs of our heads, we can be certain that it's He who makes all of those things possible, too!

Our Bible is full of assurances of how God will provide for us. He is fully aware of our needs, and He wants us to come to Him with every need, care, and worry that we may have. We often ask God to help with our physical needs, but we should seek His provision for our spiritual and emotional needs as well. When our view of our world shows that we believe He cares about every area of our lives, then we are starting to be in the place He desires for us -- the place where we talk to Him constantly and then listen for Him to speak to us.

                   Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as
                   I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. (Genesis 9:3)

                   The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD
                   lack no good thing.  (Psalm 34:10)

                   I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide
                   your mouth and I will fill it. (Psalm 81:10)

                   For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and
                   honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is
                   blameless. (Psalm 84:11)

                   Do not worry, then, saying, "What will we eat?" or "What will we drink?"
                   or "What will we wear for clothing?" .............for your heavenly Father
                  knows that you need all these things.    (Matthew 6:31-32)
                  
                   And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory
                  in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 4:19)
                  “In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say
                  to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.
                 “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive,
                  so that your joy may be made full.    (John 16:23-24) 

Praise Him -- He loves and provides for us!

Praise day 7

Today, on our seventh day of praise, let's thank Him for His work in strengthening us.

Ever feel like you can't go on? Like even one more step is impossible?

Have you ever felt that you couldn't possibly face tomorrow? Or you couldn't get up out of your bed or your chair?

Have you ever felt so stressed, so fatigued, so depressed, that you couldn't imagine what was keeping your heart beating?

I feel like many of us have been there. Maybe some of us are there now. Did you know that claiming God's promises and praising Him can help?

Let's dive in!

Our thoughts about strength to meet the day, to conquer a task, must start and end with God. It is the power and strength that comes from Him that allows us to move forward. As Christians, we need to surrender to the thought that God provides our strength -- and that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. He willingly supplies it, and we can rest in His strength and in the comfort that He provides to us.

Did you know that He is constantly looking to see if we need His help? Check this out:

                 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth,
                to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.
               (II Chronicles 16:9)

Look here in Psalm 18:32-33:
 
               ....the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.
               He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights.

And here, too, in Deuteronomy 31:6:
         
                Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is
                the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake
                you.

Wow! Those are awesome promises, no? Yes! What does it take to claim these promises?
Just one thing.
Trust.
Listen to what Paul says, as he talks about what happened when he trusted God:

                 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me
                 the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might
                 hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.  (I Timothy 4:17)

Are there lions in our lives today? Are there people and situations that may devour us? Are there sins and guilt that could destroy us? If we trust Him to strengthen us, we can claim this familiar passage as our own:

                  Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the ever-
                  lasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint
                  or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power
                 to the faint, and to him who has no might, he increases strength.
                 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall ex-
                 hausted, but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
                  they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be
                 weary; they shall walk and not faint.  (Isaiah 40: 28-31)

Praise the Lord for the strength He supplies!
 

Praise day 6

Have you ever thought about the fact that God is always trying (for our benefit) to make Himself smaller? Yeah, I know. But calm down and think it through -- I'm not being sacrilegious. (Grin)

When God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, He made Himself smaller. When He came and ate with Abraham, He did it again. When He spoke to Moses from the burning bush, and when He walked past Moses, He made Himself smaller.

And of course, when He came as the babe in the manger, He made Himself smaller still.

                 But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little
                 while, now crowned with glory and honor .....  (Hebrews 2:9a)

                 ...rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a
                servant, being made in human likeness.  (Philippians 2:7)

Each of us has a body.  For us, with our finite minds, to understand things, they must be embodied. He chose to make Himself smaller so that He could be a personal God. He wanted to break through all of our sin, our pride, our arrogance and fear, and hold out His hand to us, "I want you to know something. I want you to know that I love you.  I want you to know Me personally."

                           How precious to me are your thoughts concerning me, God!
                           How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would
                           outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you.
                           (Psalm 139:17-18)

God not only thinks about us, but He thinks of us in terms of a mighty love for us:

                          But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were
                         still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

And He thinks of us in personal terms, using "you" and "I" --

                       So do not fear, for I am with you;
                       do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
                       I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you
                      with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

And In Jeremiah, there is another compelling reason to believe He is a personal God:

                    “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of
                     their strength or the rich boast of their riches,  but let the one who
                     boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know
                     me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and
                     righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord. 
                     (Jer 9:23-24)

Praise Him, for He has made Himself known to us as a personal God!

Friday slowdown (Praise day #5)

I believe this is the perfect song for us today:




Praise Him!

Day of Praise 4

Aren't you glad that God designed and planned for us to have families? What a blessing our family can be!

A father has many roles: a teacher, an example, a provider. We can see many good examples in the Bible to guide dads in leading their children in God's pathway:

              Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your
              God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
              These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.
               Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home
              and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you
              get up.  (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)

              Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without
              anger or disputing. (I Timothy 2:8)
 
Dads also should be training their children:

              Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old
              they will not turn from it. (Proverbs 22:6)

              Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the
              training and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)

We moms have many roles, as well. (I know, I see you rolling your eyes....I am not just talking about chauffeur, laundry queen, cook and bottle washer!)

Respect and love for our husbands:
             
             However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and
             the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:33)

             Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to
             be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴ Then they
             can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-
             controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their
             husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. (Titus 2:3-5)

And our study of Proverbs 31 gave us some insights into Godly living and also gave us goals to aspire to.
Our children can be a source of joy and also of pride, as we see them reverence God and fulfill their potential.

              Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like
             arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is
             the man whose quiver is full of them. (Psalm 127:3-5)

Children have responsibilities:

              Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father
              and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— “so that it
              may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” (Eph 6:1-3)

Jesus was trained as a carpenter (Mark 6:3), and Paul as a tentmaker (Acts 18:3), and their examples should be followed. Being busy and working at things are important to children. It's a wise family that encourages hard work and industry for both boys and girls:

              And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and
             brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of
             scarlet, and of fine linen. And all the women whose heart stirred them up
             in wisdom spun goats' hair. (Exodus 35:25-26)
. . . but these responsibilities need to be balanced with fun:

             And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing . . .
             (Zechariah 8:5)

Lastly, our grandparents and other elders are important parts of our families.

            You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of the old
             man . . . (Leviticus 19:32)

             The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men
             is their gray hair. (Proverbs 20:29)

We are exhorted to respect the elderly in our Christian families, and to value the mentoring that they can offer. Their wisdom and advice can make a real difference.
 
Praise Him!