Psalm 136

¹ Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
² Give thanks to the God of gods.
His faithful love endures forever.
³ Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
His faithful love endures forever.

⁴ Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles.
His faithful love endures forever.
⁵ Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully.
His faithful love endures forever.
⁶ Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters.
His faithful love endures forever.
⁷ Give thanks to him who made the heavenly lights—
His faithful love endures forever.
⁸ the sun to rule the day,
His faithful love endures forever.
⁹ and the moon and stars to rule the night.
His faithful love endures forever.

. . .

²³ He remembered us in our weakness.
His faithful love endures forever.
²⁴ He saved us from our enemies.
His faithful love endures forever.
²⁵ He gives food to every living thing.
His faithful love endures forever.
²⁶ Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His faithful love endures forever.

Saturday night, after a great afternoon at the river with the youth (BTW – thanks to ALL the adults who contributed to our party), I returned home and quickly became ill and developed a fever that put me in bed for about 14 hours. I was freezing cold and sweating at the same time. Kimberly took care of me while I stayed exhausted and cold/hot. The neat thing, however, is that God does heal us. While I had to remain home from church so that I wouldn’t infect anyone else, God used that day to help provide me with much needed rest for my body, mind, and spirit.

Today I feel much better. Although I’m still not 100%, I’m ready to get moving again.

The Bible tells us that even 2000 years ago people had diseases and sicknesses. Back then they didn’t have a quarter of probably 1/10th of the medicines we have today. However, they DID have JESUS!

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. – Matthew 4:23

We may think in this modern world that the medicines are what is making us better. Sure they do help, but just think for a second: Where did the medicine come from? Who invented it? How did it come to be?

God will meet all your needs. – Philippians 4:19

It is God who provides for our needs, and supplies HIS grace and mercy upon us, every day of our life. Thanks be to God who brings us through in our times of weakness and dismay.

I saw that quote on a sign last week. It also stated the truth: “It’s not the same without Christ!” Christmas is about the birth of Christ and what His life on earth was for us.

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register. ⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. – Luke 2:1-7

Sometimes, however, we get wrapped up in the details of Jesus’ birth, and forget about Jesus Himself and what He represents:

Luke 2 continues:

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 

 ¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

 ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

 ¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

 ¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

The Shepherds came to know Jesus, THE SAVIOR born into our world, and then the Bible clearly tells us that they returned to their flock, glorified and praised God! That’s what we need to remember today, on Christmas day. Glorify and Praise God for the perfect gift – a Savior – Jesus Christ.

I was on the middle lane of the interstate, north of Atlanta Georgia, travelling about 70 mph when “all traffic” in front of me came to an abrupt stop. Well, all traffic except the car about 50 yards in front of me. A young man named Shawn* was driving that car and took his eyes off the road for a split second. When he saw that all traffic stopped, he slammed his brakes on and jerked his wheel hard to the right.

Shawn’s car immediately turned right; then while he quickly turned back left, he began losing control. His car quickly spun out of control and crossed from the right lane all the way across traffic to the left shoulder and hit the guard rail. It then spun around, facing backwards and continued another 25 yards until it came to a rest against the guardrail again.

I quickly found myself pulling over to check on him. Although he as badly shaking up, he DID have a seatbelt on. And even more important, GOD had His hand on Shawn and the remaining parts of traffic. Thankfully, NO ONE was injured during the accident. God had protected me and everyone else during what could have been a really traumatic ending.

I spoke with the young man after I pulled over. Shawn was about 21, on his way to work at Captain D’s. A nurse also pulled over to assist, but left after finding us ok.

Shawn’s first thought was to check on everybody involved. I told him that no one else was injured and that God had delivered him safely to the side of the road without anybody else being in the accident.

We then prayed about how God had delivered all of us during what could have turned out to be a deadly accident. At 70 mph, I saw first hand how quickly a car can lose control and spin out wildly on the road. Thankfully, his car didn’t flip at all, and was only damaged slightly where it hit the guardrail.

We prayed for some time, longer than I normally pray – for God truly had his hand on both of us. I was in a company-owned vehicle, but God protected me and allowed me the sense to stay calm and talk with Shawn after the accident. I never thought to ask his last name and now regret that I can’t follow up with him. However, I did find out that Shawn is a believer and meant to go to church yesterday at North Metro Baptist. Instead, he chose to go to work. (*name changed to protect identity).

Today, I am reminded from the experience that we need to pray and seek direction for everything we do in life.

  ¹⁵ So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. ¹⁶ Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. ¹⁷ Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. ¹⁸ Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, ¹⁹ singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. ²⁰ And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. – Ephesians 5:15-20

I love that the Psalmist throughout Scripture recognizes God and gives praises to Him, even in the hardest of times. This Psalmist ends the book with Psalms 146-150. The final verse of each of these Psalms contains this phrase:

Psalm 146:10b, 147:20b, 148:14b, 149:9b, and 150:6b

“PRAISE THE LORD!”

More interestingly though is how Psalm 150 (the last Psalm) completes the book:

Psalm 150

 ¹ Praise the LORD.  
       Praise God in his sanctuary;
       praise him in his mighty heavens.

 ² Praise him for his acts of power;
       praise him for his surpassing greatness.

 ³ Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
       praise him with the harp and lyre,

 ⁴ praise him with tambourine and dancing,
       praise him with the strings and flute,

 ⁵ praise him with the clash of cymbals,
       praise him with resounding cymbals.

 ⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
       Praise the LORD.

In this Psalm, the writer tells us that EVERYTHING that is alive should be praising God. Let’s be clear however: It doesn’t say “when you are happy, praise the Lord.” It doesn’t say “when everything is going your way, praise the Lord.”

It is an unconditional praise that the Psalmist is emphazing – a statement that reminds us that God is worthy and deserving of praise ALL THE TIME!  Take just a moment today to praise the Lord. Either in song, prayer, or by smiling and knowing that God created you and everything around you.

Praise the Lord – for He is worthy of our praise!

“For you…have redeemed us to God by Your blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God and we shall reign on earth.” – Rev 5:9-10

The good news is that ALL christians will be kings . . ., but even better -not just for a day, but for eternity!

Today we reign in what we see as a world that is troubled and broken. But it’s only because we look at it that way. If we were to look at the world and see God’s beautiful creation, then the darkness fades away. Today is a day to start fresh, with a positive outlook on life, a look that says I see God’s wonder and grace all around me, and I’m going to bathe in God’s presence! “We shall reign on earth!”

Love the LORD your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.  –  Deuteronomy 11:1

Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today…   -  Deut 11:8

Faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul  –  Deut 11:13

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  -  Deut 11:18

Carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways and to hold fast to him  -  Deut 11:22

In the final verses of the chapter, I believe the Scripture comes to a necessary and wonderful conclusion:

I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse-  the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods  -  Deut 11:26-28

God has already, numerous times, warned us to Follow Him, to Obey His commands, to Love Him. If we simply follow these commands, then blessings belong to us.  On the flip side, however, if we fail to trust in God, then dire circumstances are headed our way. 

The Lord wants to bless us in everything we do.  I do not believe that He desires to curse us, but in the instance here, it is obvious that the Lord did forwarn us not to stray from His teachings (God’s commands).  

For those who do not believe in the Bible or in God, they may not care or believe in the curses they will and are undergoing.  However, to anyone who trusts in the Lord to fulfill His promises, then they should, in deed, be greatly concerned.  

At the same time however, there should really be no reason to be concerned if we are trusting in the Lord.  We should be receiving the blessings which the Lord continually and freely gives to those who are His children. So today, if you feel that life may not be going just right, and you think you’ve missed a blessing, then think: what have I done that hasn’t pleased God? Chances are that something small you have done was not according to God’s Word.

Challenge yourself – Follow Him in EVERYTHING and see how many blessings come your way!

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” – 1 Cor 1:18

“He who glories, let him glory in the LORD” – 1 Cor 1:31

As I read this daily devotion from 1 Corinthians, I realized yet again, that we do have things to rejoice in. For example: God gave us Salvation – and if we have salvation, then we can glorify God because of it.
See, those who are perishing have no hope, they have no joy, they only have brief times of happiness. But we, who are saved by the power of Jesus Christ, may too have brief times of happiness, but we have a lifetime of joy and comfort in our Lord and Savior.

We can glorify God because of what He has done for us.

Every few years the politicians bring up lottery and slots and so forth in our state legislature and every time, us “religious” folk go about and protest and protest – it’s unbiblical, and on a practical sense it will make our poor poorer and how the politicians will be the only ones who benefit.

Well, this morning I want to talk about the winning the lottery.  Huh? Well, let’s read this Scripture that was the foundation of my mornings devotion:

“I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.”- Psalm 119:14

I think it’s interesting that the Psalmist here can only best describe how to rejoice in God’s glory by relating it to what the majority of mankind desires most: riches. “Money can’t buy happiness” – but a lot of people truly think that if they have money that they will be happy. At least, the overwhelming majority would initially feel like rejoicing had they won the lottery.

Well, scripture here tells us that feeling is exactly how we should approach God. We should rejoice that God has asked to be part of our lives and that He has given us some guidance in life. Don’t be down-trodden, saddened, or defeated – but feel power in God’s Word and in His direction for your life. “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!”

We shall rejoice in God’s majesty and splendor. Only He can give us what we truly need and the desires of our heart. I ask that you say a prayer for someone that you know today that they may come to know joy through a relationship with God.

“[Let's] rejoice in following [God's] statutes as one rejoices in great riches.”- Psalm 119:14

Luke 11:9-10 ”So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 

The Poem: “I asked God”

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve.
I was made weak, that I might learn to obey.

I asked for health, that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy.
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for — but everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am, among all people, most richly blessed.
                                                                                                   – Anonymous

We always seem to know what we want. However, God doesn’t deal in wants; he deals in “needs.” 

You may ask God today for something you want, but thank Him when you receive ALL that you need.