10,000 Reasons

Today is just one of those days.

Frustrated. Irritated. Must be the weather. I got up on the wrong side of the bed. I didn’t sleep well. I wandered around CostCo overloading a cart on the 6-week grocery trip. Traffic is crazy. I don’t like the way people drive, especially those from somewhere else. I want to go sit in the forest, alone. I. I. I. Yes, I know, life isn’t about me. Life happens. Deal with it. Yuke!

So I look through notes kept in Google Keep. I see one about 10,000 Reasons. I read the lyrics. Again. I think if I could get to the 10,000th reading or listening of this song I’d still choke up. Thank You, Jesus!

O LORD
You’re rich in love and You′re slow to anger
Your name is great and Your heart is king
For all Your goodness, I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)
from Maranatha! Music
Writers: Matthew James Redman, Jonas Myrin

chorus
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul, worship His holy name
Sing like never before, O my soul
I′ll worship Your holy name

verse
The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning
It′s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes

verse
You’re rich in love and You′re slow to anger
Your name is great and Your heart is king
For all Your goodness, I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

chorus

Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul, worship His holy name
Sing like never before, Omy soul
I′ll worship Your holy name

Bless the Lord, O my soul
Sing like never before, O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name

Abundant Life is a Fountain of Living Water — Abundant Life Christian Ministry

LORD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

EDC

Small backpack first aid kit with Star of Life symbol and buckle

A Miktam of David.
Preserve me, O GOD, for in you I take refuge. I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”

As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight.

The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.|
Psalm 16:1-4

Every Day Carry. The circumstances may vary, but I carry a few basics with me each day, things I consider essential. A small first aid kit is one. Everyone’s kit is different, personalized.

King David, in Psalm 16, gives us another form of EDC, his miktam, for carrying with him each day. It’s more important than physical first aid kit; it’s a spiritual first aid kit. It’s a preventative dose of essential spiritual vitamins.

Item #1 Trust. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17)

Item #2 Holy Fellowship. “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42)

Item #3 Idolatry’s Emptiness. “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3)

The King’s list goes on.

We can pray Psalm 16. We can add its good things to our miktam, our EDC.

In his book Diary of Personal Prayer, John Baillie begins day 17 with “Almighty GOD, Who art ever present in the world without me, and in the unseen world above me, let me carry with me through this day’s life a most real sense of The power and Thy glory.”

What a wonderful way to begin our day with our LORD, and to carry throughout all our days.

LORD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

A cherry blossom time

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
(Luke 2:29-32)

A neighbor has a cherry blossom tree. Ever since I’ve lived in here in Georgia, I’ve thought it the ugliest of trees. All summer its small nondistinctive leaves dissatisfy. Finally dropping in early Fall, it leaves a sad-looking trunk with barren branches. But early Spring it is beautiful. It is one of the first signs that Winter’s gloom is over, and for a few short weeks its lovely blossoms brighten our world.

Simeon had his cherry blossom time. Lead by Spirit, Simeon goes to The Temple. He is a witness, to the world of his day and to our world today, of something extraordinary.

The following is from GotQuestions. com.

“Simeon spoke to Mary, Jesus’s mother. Simeon said, ‘This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too’ (Luke 2:34). In this prophecy, Simeon said that 1) some of the Jewish people would believe that Jesus is the “consolation of Israel,” and some would not, 2) there would be much opposition to Jesus in the future, 3) Jesus would reveal the truth, and 4) Jesus’s suffering would cause Mary much pain, personally.

“Simeon stands as a testimony of how we, too, should anticipate the arrival of the Messiah. Simeon looked forward to Christ’s first coming, and we anticipate His second coming (see Acts 1:11 and Titus 2:13).

“Jesus, the “consolation of Israel,” is the comfort of all those who believe in Him, and Simeon is a beacon of faith in an unbelieving world and a positive assurance that “hope does not disappoint” (Romans 5:5, NASB).

LORD Bless, Keep, Shine…

Empty page

Emptiness is not lonely. There’s plenty of company. At least that’s what a pastor was saying in a sermon that I heard recently.

He spoke about the Hopeless Generation. It has the highest rate of suicide. The youngest generation. It’s a lost generation. A bunch of kids that don’t know Jesus. That don’t know Hope. Or Peace. Or Love.

There’s time. The preacher said the best time to be reached, to be found, to be evangelized, is before they turn 18.

Note to self: add that generation to the long pray list.

LORD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Distractions

A horse grazing in a countryside field near a hill with a wooden cross at sunset

Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)

Many distractions. Too many. I need to learn from the horses to just flick them away like they do bothersome flies. Automatically. I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and though I don’t have a tail, LORD help me focus on the good portion.

LORD bless, keep, shine. . .

They just haven’t a clue

Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD holds them in derision. Then He will speak to them in His wrath, and terrify them in His fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
Psalm 2:1-6

Deceptions

Soldier in combat gear holding a sword and a Bible surrounded by crosses at sunset

“See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.”
Matthew 24:4-8

The Apostle Peter, in his first letter to those Believers sojourning among the nations, tells us to look forward, despite of trials, to the revelation of Jesus Christ. He writes of the revelation of Jesus several times in the first section of his letter.

Jesus tells us that many substitute saviors will come before Jesus is bodily revealed to us. Luke shows us Jesus ascending into Heaven and the disciples “gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’ ” (Acts 1:10,11)

There used to be a game show on TV, “What’s My Line,” in which contestants question three people on a panel. One was the real person, the other two imposters. At the end of the show, the show’s host would say, “Will the real so and so please stand up!”

Are we going to know Jesus when He comes?

A favorite event of mine is he two disciples walking down an old Roman road to toward their town. A man comes up by them and they talk as they walk. Only when the man is invited to eat with the disciples, only when the man breaks bread, do the disciples realize they were talking to the resurrected Jesus. (Luke 24:13-25)

Apostle Paul helps us in our life as we face trials and potential deceptions. In his letter to the Ephesian Believers, he shows us that we need armor in this battle. Spiritual Armor. GOD’s Armor. (Eph 6) This armor he describes isn’t optional. No soldier would fail to put on his armor. Make no mistake: we are soldier in a spiritual battle. The victory is assured. But the battles have, are, and will continue to rage. Put on the armor.

As Jesus continued his discourse on the Mount of Olives, he said that the deceptions are “to lead [people] astray, if possible, even the elect.” (Matthew 24:24)

In his letter to the Thessalonian Believers, Apostle Paul is also encouraging, for the “coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)

Thank You, Jesus!

LORD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Set your hope. . .

Three wooden crosses on a rocky hill in a dry valley with bright sun and clouds

You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for:

“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever. (1)”

And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
1 Peter 1:23-25

The Apostle Peter has told us we are exiles and sojourners on Earth. Where ever we’ve come from, or where ever we are staying, this place isn’t our real home. Don’t look back. Look ahead. We are to look ahead to a time when we will see Jesus face to face. The Revelation of Jesus our Messiah. That’s where our true Home is, though we aren’t there yet, and we don’t remember having been there. Being with Jesus is Home.

The apostle said there’ll be a few bumps, maybe a whole lot of bumps, in the path to that Forever Home. He also said, “Rejoice!” We are to rejoice despite the difficulties, regardless of the length of the journey. We rejoice even if our sojourn on Earth seems too brief. No matter how long we stay on Earth, in bodies of flesh and bone, it is like the flower that blooms and dies in a single day. Eternity is like infinity, pretty hard to wrap our minds around.

Furthermore, we are instructed by the apostle: “preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (v13)

One of the biggest issues today is the lack of hope, or at least perceived hope. Technological “advances” are overwhelming. Employment isn’t secure. Conflict seems pandemic. Prices rise and rise, seemingly endlessly. People are angry all the time, ever where. There are too many problems, few if any solutions. And summer isn’t in full swing yet; riot season awaits us. Feels like chaos reigns.

Believe not the lies. Our GOD reigns! Walk by faith, not by the way or the sight of the nations, its governments, and social media “influencers” and fear mongers. We are called to set our hope on Jesus Messiah.

Note: 1. Peter references Isaiah 40: 6-8

LORD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Rejoice in trials

Three firefighters in orange and yellow gear fighting a forest fire with water hoses and axes

Greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

It’s a rush, the firefighter told me, “One foot in the black; one foot in the green.” Her crew was the Heber Hot Shots, off the “A Bar S,” the Apache – Sitgreaves National Forest, Arizona.

Apostle Peter might have appreciated this sentiment. Contrary to our modern view of various trails, he said “Greatly Rejoice.” Look at it as a rush. Look beyond the immediate trail to what lies beyond it. As Christians we are going to have things that come against us that just aren’t pleasant. We’re not tip toeing through the tulips. We are walking through a swap. There are pleasant places and green pastures to lay our heads. Yes. But there are valleys in shadows that simply feel like death.

It builds our character. It builds our faith.

The wonderful result is “praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

LORD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

We have a home

“According to his great mercy, [GOD] has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in Heaven for you. . .” 1 Peter 1:3,4

While the Tibetans sojourn in India, they long for a home that is on Earth. In the picture, I am parked in front a cafe and Sinclair gas station in Tucumcari, NM. The Paradise Cafe. In the background is the burned remnant of an old “motor” hotel. It’s located on Route 66, which is currently having its 100th Anniversary. Historic Route 66. Like the cafe and motel, it lays mostly in disrepair, useless and overgrown, bypassed by other, faster highways and interstates.

We, as Believers in Messiah, as Children of the Most High GOD, are sojourners on Earth. We aren’t at home here. We aren’t suppose to be. And though we’ve not been to this home for which we long, Apostle Peter tells us that we’ve been “born again through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven.” (v 3.4)

The Apostle also says that we “by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (v 5)

We have a Home! Thank You Jesus!

He says, too, that we are to rejoice, though we “have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

So we’re on a sort of backpacking trip. We’re taking in the sights, walking the trail. Tripping over roots, stones, our own boots. Drinking thirst-quenching water from streams (okay, we use a filter to collect the water), eating some bread we’ve brought along. Our map, our only true map, is the Bible, the Word of GOD. We rejoice for He knows where we are and how to get us where we are to go. We thank GOD and say “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a Light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105)

GOD’s Word shows us where we are and where we go. Hallelujah!

LORD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .