A Thanksgiving Prayer

Our most gracious heavenly Father, we humbly come before you praising you for all things. This special day, this day of thanksgiving we do just that; Father, we thank you. We thank you for our family, our friends, our very positions in life. Father, we thank you that we have been blessed to live in this great country, we thank you for the many blessings you have provided. You teach us in Psalm 100 to enter your gates with thanksgiving and your courts with praise; giving thanks to you and praising your name. Father, this special day we do that.

Father, this special day, we are so thankful for the many things You have provided, but we are most thankful for the cross. Father, we are thankful that despite our continual failures, you sent your Son to atone for our shortcomings, to provide a path back to you, a path to a restored relationship.

Father, while we are so thankful for our many blessings, we know that the Son of God had no place to even lay his head. So Father, this day we remember the sacrifice needed so that everyday we might be thankful. Father, we are so blessed and at the root, at the core of that blessing is the grace and love of our Creator; our God and for that we are truly and eternally grateful.

For it is Jesus name we pray!

Amen

Happy Thanksgiving my friends!

Grace and Peace

Who Do You Think You Are?

I am very fortunate to have a group of guys that I work with that are dedicated to staying after work once a week to study the Bible together. It is a great time of prayer, fellowship and learning. It is something we all look forward to each week. We are growing and I must admit it is a safe place of learning for me.

This week we were studying the last part of John 8 and this is where Jesus tells the Jews that the truth will set them free. That by grace through faith, believing and obeying will keep us from being slaves to sin. It is beautiful and comforting, yet the Jews rejected it. I have read this passage many times but near the end is part of a verse that during this study just lit up for me. As the Jews continue to debate with Christ, you can see the stubbornness build, the anger, and the self righteousness when in the last part of verse 53 they shout;

53b Who do you think you are?"

You have to think about it for a minute…these people turn to the Son of God and ask him; “who do you think you are?” Can you imagine ever doing that? How harsh and brash and so very self centered. But, don’t we still do that today; maybe not in words, but maybe in thoughts, actions and deeds?

Whenever we stray from the Word, whenever we sin, whenever we doubt, whenever Christ is not at the center of our lives; aren’t we saying to Christ; our Lord and Savior; who do you think you are? This was so revealing for me; so condemning for me; how about each of you? Through this revelation as tough as it is the real question is how do I (we) respond? Do not fear!

God is so great that there is hope, there is forgiveness, but we must turn to God through Christ. We need to remember who we are dealing with, who we will be honoring (or not) and so great is the love of Christ that even great sinners, even those who reject and even those that say who do you think you are can be saved.

I am encouraged by Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians;

16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

May we never again ask who do you think you are, may Christ dwell in all our hearts through faith and may we grasp the love of Christ!

Grace and Peace

I Voted

Election Day 2008; what a day this will be. I can’t recall a more anxious election than the one before us. I can’t recall more negative feelings, more division, more concern than during this presidential election. Yet, I take comfort. Take comfort with me. We can read in Isaiah 33:22;

22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.

This day I am thankful. I am thankful that we live in a nation where we are allowed to vote; I am thankful that we live in America where we are free to worship; and mostly I am thankful that we have a good, gracious and sovereign God. In Ephesians 1:11 we see;

11In him we were also chosen,[a] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will

Take comfort everyone and go out and vote. Trust in Him who works out everything in conformity to His perfect will

Let’s end this blog with Matthew 6:9-13;

9"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.[a]'

Father, Your will be done.

God Bless America!

Grace and Peace!

Shine Like Stars

Our home fellowship group is studying the book of Philippians and what a wonderful study it is. Philippians is one of the shortest, but most joyful and instructive books. James Montgomery Boice describes Philippians and reminds us that even though Paul was facing possible execution for his faith; “no book in the Bible is so filled with joy as Philippians. Yet Philippians is not just for people who are feeling discouraged – or even joyful. It is a rich book with a great wealth of themes. There are only 104 verses in Philippians. But in that short scope most of the major doctrines of the Christian faith are covered, and there are many profound statements of Christian love, hope, aspiration, joy and confidence.”

Our group is currently studying Chapter 2 and gaining great insight. There are many great truths here, but three verses have just stuck with me. You have to stop and really reflect on this passage. Look at every word, think, pray, read it again. The verses are 14 through 16;

14Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.

What an amazing passage. Great instruction for those set apart; great instruction indeed, but so difficult to achieve. Look at verse 14; Do everything without complaining or arguing. How many of us can achieve that? I heard a pastor giving a sermon on this passage and he shared an illustration that Rabbis use in their teaching.

It is the story of two young men on the exodus with Moses and as the Red Sea is parted the two young men are trudging their way across and notice that their sandals are becoming caked with mud and begin to complain; all they can see is the mud and the mire. Their heads are down when all they have to do is look up and see the wonder of God’s grace, mercy, and love. All they have to do is look up and see the miraculous walls of water allowing their exodus.

So as we run and labor through this crooked and depraved generation, may we all look up! As we deal with life, families, work, neighbors instead of seeing the mud and mire; let’s look up and notice the great Christian hope! The hope provided by the sacrifice of Christ. Every breath we breathe, every blessing we receive, every step we take is a gift from God.

I am reminded of Psalm 40;

1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.


With such a firm place to stand may we all “Shine like Stars”!

Grace and Peace!