A Promise: For I am confident of this very thing that He
who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus”
((Phil. 1:6). And that my friends you
can take to the bank!
Hey Gang: “In the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth” (Gen. 1:1). And then He
turned man loose and man turned it into a superficial world. We now live in a world where we often miss
the wonderful hidden pearls that God so bountifully placed all around us. This morning I watched the sun come up, as it
has every day since He created it. Is
that not awesome? Did you ever stop to
say “Thank you Father God for gravity”?
Do we not take things for granted in this affluent world? With the rising of the sun came the sounds of
birds, and the blowing of the wind through the trees. Our resident rabbit is pigging out in the
back yard, as he does many days. I think
it is one of God’s very special blessings for us as we start our day. A bird
just flew by the window. I wonder if he
knows where he is going.
I think perhaps he
does for he does not seem to be weaving from place to place. It is one of God’s other creations – man, who
contains the ability to reason and think about what seem to be going in circles
for much of his life.
This time in the morning has become very special to me.
Getting alone with the Master Designer of all that we survey is a good way to
start the day. I have come to the place
where, when I cannot spend this hour or so with the Lord to begin my day, my
day does not go so well. Perhaps that is
because I have joined the “older than dirt” crowd and my mind is no longer
interested in what I can get out of life to what I can give.
So I pray this morning that I will be able to share Paul’s antidote
to the grubby times and darts of the enemy that tend to defeat us. The antidote, ‘JOY’. How we get it – ‘an
act of our will’. In 1 Thessalonians 16
Paul gives us the formula to being an overcomer, ‘Rejoice always’. Hard, yes,
at times nearly impossible. If that does
not work, Paul tells us in Philippians 4:4 to turn up the heat and “Rejoice in
the Lord always; again I say rejoice” for the Lord is ever near to us.
The key to rejoicing? “Pray
without ceasing”. Know what your
weapons are and use them freely. James tells us “Submit
therefore to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you draw near to God
and He will draw near to you” (James 4:7-8).
Paul’s third key to victory “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ
Jesus” (verse 18). I find the next
instruction by Paul to be lacking in much of the generations that occupy planet
earth at this time, “Do not quench the
spirit or despise prophetic utterances” (vs. 19-20). If you were to examine the recent studies pertaining
the spiritual life of a growing number of persons in America, you find there is
a steady diet of quenching the spirit in every facet of life.
Rejoice, pray, give thanks in all things, don’t despise
prophetic utterances, and abstain from doing evil equals “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your
spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ.” (verse 22-23).
Bottom line: “For our
citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ.” Is that not what we await for in this day when
all things that can be shaken are being shaken?
Blessings,
Gramps
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