It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is almost here.  Time sure flies as you age !  Folks are busy buying and thawing out the turkeys, planning the feasts and doing all those needful preparations to observe Thanksgiving.  But as this holiday approaches, though, why not take a little time for an even better type of prepping for thanksgiving?  Why not spend some time on some good reflection on your blessings?  As a Christian, even when things are extremely trying there is always something for which we can be grateful when you set your mind to thinking on it.

Paul was winding down his brief letter to the Thessalonian believers when he wrote this gem, “In everything give thanks:  for this is the will in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1Thess.5:18).  How can you give thanks when you are ailing physically, or you are struggling to pay the bills, or you have experienced a tragic loss of some kind?    One thing that helps us with this is understanding the apostle wrote this as a command and one in the Greek present tense  conveying it is to be characteristic in our lives.  But we don’t come by such thinking on our own, we need “outside” help, if you will !  We tend to focus on the negative things staring us down in life’s experiences and we need a nobler look, a perspective that looks at the silver lining for it IS there and we must think on that and in doing so we can become truly thankful in everything. God will see you through !

Paul goes on to say that to fixate otherwise and not be grateful is not good for us nor can it glorify God for it is not His will for you !  But to learn to be thankful (and it is a learned process) you are complying with His wishes and staving off depression, discouragement, and drawing folks to Christ with such a mindset for this will certainly draw the attention of others around you.  So take a moment today to mentally note some blessings in your life and you may find yourself very surprised, very uplifted and very grateful for what God has done !!

Today is election day in Pennsylvania.  I know some Christians feel what’s the use,  what difference will it really make with so many people voting not attuned to the facts?!  And then once many of the people get elected they get power drunk and abuse their offices.  So it’s easy to become cynical and jaded about the entire process !       I was telling our church just this past Sunday that I heard a parent trying to deal with that same attitude in her teenager who is now voting age.  But God reminded me of a verse that we need to hold dear not just in reference to politics but in any area of endeavor God allows for us to do and we start to conclude “what’s the use?” . It is Galatians 6:9, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due  we shall reap if we faint not.” ”   It is a simple and straightforward maxim but loaded with a wealth of hope !  Let’s “dissect” it for a moment and apply it to us today !!

Paul begins with “let us” inferring not one person is exempt at times from feeling “what’s the use?”  so he challenges and urges EACH reader to the mindset espoused here.   Things may be going well lately but in this world, invariably, they won’t. You will “sow” only to see a “weed” sprout !  But stay at it !  Which is why he continues with the admonition to not “be weary”.   At times we will get so but we must take heart for where God promises, there is hope ! So we must keep plodding along, but in what ? In “well doing” !   If you sow a row of peas, some may not  “take” but normally most will !!  Placing those seeds in decent soil, watering, fertilizing, allowing for time and sunshine and soon you have a crop of exactly what you have planted. So if you keep doing “well” or what is in accord with God’s Word you CAN expect in time a GOOD harvest !  God promises this !!!  In due season we SHALL reap, but with the caveat that you don’t get weary or as Paul says “if we faint not”.  That is the condition and if fulfilled the God of all the universe says this is what you can bank on my friend !

Have you been plugging along in some service for Him and not seeing much from it?  Have you been applying His Word in some way only to see less than stellar results ?  Are things trying at work or in a relationship yet you know you are doing as God has commanded?  Well, stay at it and in time you will look back not only seeing a great harvest but learning some valuable lessons along the way as well !  What’s the use?  God is using you in His grand plan, so stay at it !!

 

I have to say that last night’s Bible study was very encouraging to me in many ways.  God has a way of doing this just when you need it, doesn’t He?  We began a brand new class on something I haven’t delved into with much depth in my ministry yet but have been much fascinated about and that is the study of angels !

So we got into precisely what angels are like and covered things like the fact that they are spirit beings (yet with bodies), they are unmarriageable as Jesus stated to the unbelieving Sadducees in Matt.22:30, and they are powerful, highly intelligent and very definitely evidence many of the personality traits we have received from the Lord such as will, emotions, and intellect.    As we continue this intriguing study in the weeks ahead in our church I’m looking forward to further great discussion and questions from our class.   But I started last evening by asking them what questions they have always had about angels and would like answers to.  Some were very interesting, most have their answers in Scripture (if one is willing to dig for them) and some we have no revealed info from God in the Bible. For those we must be content to leave with God as He knows best what we should know and what we shouldn’t for now  (Dt.29:29) !!

One thing that was very encouraging was an evident thirst amongst the folks to know truth !  And to see them think, discussing Scripture and marveling at our Lord and these holy servants called angels.   One of the pertinent applications brought out was the very meaning of the word angel in both Testaments (malak in Hebrew, angelos in Greek both mean messenger). They indeed are seen so in the Word of God as Gabriel delivered vital messages to Daniel, Zacharias, Elizabeth and Mary.   And how, like them, we too should be serious about delivering God’s message to our world in the gospel.    How they must wonder in awe why we do not when it is precisely this message which can change the heart of the sinner and bring him peace and joy untold ! And make a difference for good in this dark world in which we live and have the privilege to minister for Christ.    So today, take a cue from these heavenly messengers and share the everlasting gospel with some soul, for when you do the angels in heaven rejoice !  “In the same way, I tell you, there is JOY in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”  Lk.15:10.  Make an angel happy today !!  YOU can !!

 

Don’t be fooled by the outside !   Last week in visiting with my folks Dad wanted me to look at a potential acquisition. He had seen a car and liked how it looked and wanted me to come back with him and check it out.   As we looked at this nearly twenty year old car, I couldn’t see any marks on the exterior, it was an expensive car when it was first built, and looked to have been kept in good condition, and the asking price seemed reasonable.  So I asked the owners if we could start it up.  That is when it was obvious something was not quite right, it rattled chronically once it started !  Needless to say it was “no deal” as it was crystal clear it needed some engine work, the inside was not quite right !

For many of us who are saved that is sometimes the case with us.  We learn how to appear spiritual, to say the right things at the right time.  We go through the motions in our church, we may tithe, serve, etc. But inside things need a “tune up”, if you will.   Jesus put His pulse on the knocking in the Pharisees’  “engines” when He stated they were as “whited sepulchres”.  They had really let things go spiritually, yet they were sure to keep up appearances and provide a semblance of respectability (or so they thought).  But He knew their inner thoughts and He does ours too. We may not be in as rough a shape as those hypocrites of Jesus’s day but at times we can let slide the working of the Spirit upon ours to renew us daily. We do well to heed Paul’s words (a great prayer actually) to the Ephesians when he wrote, “. . . that He would grant to you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might BY HIS SPIRIT IN THE INNER MAN. . . that ye might be FILLED WITH ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD. [Eph.3:16-19].

Sometimes we allow bitterness to go unchecked by refusing to forgive someone, or we get into a pattern of negativity in our attitudes due to underexposure to the Word, or we get weary of doing so much for Christ and seeing others not and we become as Martha carping on the Marys around us rather choosing that one thing which is needful for us,  fellowship with and worship of  Christ. Fellowship can be lost so easily, fortunately its only a “tuneup” away too !   So today’s a new day, make sure your “engine is purring” spiritually !!

I met a very interesting individual recently who could play the piano masterfully !  He amazed us all who heard him by playing any selection we requested from classical pieces to great hymns and he played with incredible skill.  He played “How Great Thou Are” in a way I have never heard it before !!   His hands glided over the keys with such ease and grace that all who witness him were astounded.  Well, you may think, that’s great there are many such skilled musicians in our world. And you would be right, but not many with this man’s obstacles.  You see Ed, has some physical handicaps.  His body is contorted in a way that his head is in a downward position, kind of hunched over. And there is one other ailment Ed has that most accomplished pianists don’t have to contend with as they play. Ed is blind !!

I asked Ed has he been blind since birth, and being a witty man who chooses not to whine about his trials, he tried his best to raise his head to me to speak and said, “Ask the question another way!”   I wasn’t quite sure what he meant so he helped me out. “Ask me have I been blind all of my life.”  So I indulged him and asked him this question to which he pulled me into his trap and said, “No, only up until this point, my life isn’t over yet !!” We all had a good chuckle but it told me where he’s at with his physical situation.  Like Fanny Crosby, who was blind and wrote many of our great hymns, Ed also chooses not to wallow  in his trials but make the most of what God has given him.    Ed plays all around the country,  and even teaches music. He plays hymns in his church and in the short time I was able to be around him I’m sure I can say he has been a huge inspiration to many who have known him.

What about you? You have trials I’m sure.  Will you like Ed and the great apostle Paul seek to allow God to use even them for His glory or will you whine and complain and fixate on them?   Even Paul had great trials in his life. Many believe what he prayed for God to remove from his life of the thorn in the flesh mentioned in 2 Cor.12 was to heal his eyes (which I believe were injuries incurred with his being stoned in Acts 14 at Lystra). So he prayed three times for the Lord to heal him (remember, God had used Paul many times to heal people of their physical ills) but the Lord said this to him, “My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”  (vs.9).     I believe many times that is precisely why God brings us to ‘deep waters’:  to prompt us to trust His strength and grace and not trust ourselves. To shine through us and show others He is real and at work through our life !

There are still those in our day that you look at and wonder at the grace of God through their lives.  God wants that person to be YOU !  Oh it may not be that He wants you to have some nagging physical ailment or emotional distress, He simply wants to show a sinful world that He is very real and active in your life, Will you ask Him today to be a vessel for His grace?   Start the journey today if you haven’t already and if you have stay focused on Him letting Him work through you during trial or smooth sailing ! Remember you have an audience just as much as Ed !!