Today, one of the Lenten studies I am pursuing focused on prayer, reasoning that we should give thanks for the small things as well as the large things. The psalmist gives a multitude of reasons in the reading associated with the text, Psalm 103:1-5. After reading the assigned scripture, I went on to embrace the entire psalm, and have recorded it below for your consideration.
As I read it, this psalm of David explains why we should thank the Good Lord above for everything in our lives. After all, as verse 19 explains, “The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.”
Since this is the case, who else would you pray to? To whom, other than God, would you give thanks? And, since His Son declared it so, pray in Jesus name, always. John 16:23-24 (NIV) [Jesus said] 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
Give thanks daily for your food, your warmth, your humble abode, your children, your health, your faith…I could list a million things I am thankful for, but I am sure, when you read it, you will understand the psalm’s guidance.
Psalm 103 (NIV)
1 Praise the LORD, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The LORD has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Praise the LORD, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the LORD, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the LORD, my soul.
Ending today's post with the prayer from the devotional - Lord, open my eyes that I may see the giftedness of my life and let my life be a hymn of praise and thanksgiving. AMEN
Showing posts with label thankful. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thankful. Show all posts
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Monday, February 16, 2015
Blessings sometimes come in strange packages
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| Nasty weather prompted togetherness in the Withrow household. |
Came across this quote on Facebook yesterday and thought, “Yes, there is always something to be thankful/grateful for in my life.”
Someone told me a long time ago that if you just stop and count your blessings every single day, there won’t be much time left over to gripe.
Then I thought about blessings and how to turn even challenging situations into grateful ones.
Take the Arctic cold we experienced this weekend – while it was not conducive to outdoor activities, the extreme weather prompted us to clear off the coffee table and get started on a jigsaw puzzle we’d had sitting around for a couple years.
Charlie and I spent literally hours this weekend pouring over a challenge of birds and fences and lots and lots and lots of blue and green puzzle pieces.
For the record, I left those to Charlie’s capable eye while I concentrated on the songbirds!
Now that situation, at least to me, is turning a challenge into a blessing.
We stayed inside; we stayed warm; we enjoyed each other’s company; we made a lot of headway on our birds-on-a-fence puzzle; and, bottom line, we experienced gratefulness in His plan to reconnect with one another through a blizzard.
Thank you, Lord. We are blessed.
Can you remember a time where a challenge turned into a blessing? I am sure if you thought about it for a few minutes some test that you thought would be daunting ending up making you grateful that it had the audacity to intrude on your life. Right?
After all, we all know God sends the storm so we appreciate the sunshine He sends afterwards.
Paul explained God’s process in his letter to the Romans, Chapter 5, Verses 1-5 (NIV), where the apostle counseled, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us,” [emphasis mine].
Bottom line – But your faith in Him. That way, the challenges that seem to destroy your life will only require you to turn to Jesus Christ, where you will learn to persevere, build character and revel in His hope for your life.
May God bless and keep you in all your challenges. May you always find the sunshine in the trials life sends to seemingly trip you up. Trust in Him. He is always there for you, no matter what! AMEN
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