Tuesday, March 17,
2015
"Those
who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting. He who goes to and fro
weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with shout of
joy, bringing his sheaves with him" (Psa. 126:5-6).
Hey
Gang: I believe Satan hates hymns of praise. As a matter of
fact, I have tested this many times. When the alligators are up to my armpits and
my back is against the wall, I get out my lawn mower (or snow
blower) and go out and …. Now I may have cut the grass two
days ago so there must be another reason why I am doing a repeat performance,
when it certainly does not need a repeat performance at this time.
And
there is. You see my lawn mower (or tractor) makes a lot of noise and
when it is running at top throttle and the cutter bar is whirling a full speed
it makes a lot of noise, so much so that I can sing at the top of my lungs and
no one but me and Abba Father can hear me. I believe, when I am
singing praise songs, and power songs and Scripture Songs, it is as a soothing
aroma to Abba Father and an eviction notice to "Slue Foo
The
Psalmist gave us these very special words of encouragement in times of trouble: "He
who dwells in the shelter of the most High Will abide in the shadow of the
Almighty. ..For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
and from the deadly pestilence". Now notice the next
phrase, "He will cover you with His pinions and under His wings
you may seek refuge" (Psalm 91:1, 3).
Paul
said, "I became your father in Christ…Therefore I exhort you, be
an imitator of me" (1 Corinthians 4:14-16). He also said, "Be
imitators of God". (Ephesians. 5:1). Do you think
Paul was a man of joy? He certainly had many reasons to believe life was
a bummer. I believe the one thing that Paul developed early in his
ministry was to survive and remain firm in his walk with the Lord. You, too,
will need a very strong "act of the will". And where does the
cannon fodder for the "act of the will" come from? James says
we grow strong through trials and tribulations so that we can handle even
bigger trials and tribulations in the future. (James 1).
In 2
Corinthians 4:17, Paul refers to his light afflictions as producing for us an
eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. Later, in 2
Corinthians 11:23-28, he lists what he considered "slight
afflictions", any one which could send us into depression-ville.
How does one keep their Love Bank from becoming totally bankrupt when we
encounter even one such experience listed in this passage?
I
believe we can find the key to Paul's success, “…in keeping his eyes on the
mark that is Jesus Christ,” Philippians 3:13-15. It is truly a book
of joy. Paul begins by telling us there is great joy in knowing that
there are those in the family of God who are praying for us.
(I fear the phrase "I will pray for you" has become a phrase
with no meaning or commitment to many.) Tuesday, March 17, 2015
When we
started the Village, there is no question in my mind, we were successful
because we had a solid core of grandmothers who prayed very faithfully for
us. I believe our Nation has taken the wrong path in recent years
because our prayer life has become "pithy". I am truly blessed
and so very thankful to know there are faithful prayer warriors who take me to
the throne room of heaven on a regular basis., and many who pray for the
Village.
Sooooo,
my young friends and neighbors, I will close this epistle for today with Paul's
words from First Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Rejoice always; pray
without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in
Christ Jesus." Paul has much more to say about joy and I will
scatter them throughout these epistles.
(In case you need a reminder)
Blessings
Gramps
No comments:
Post a Comment