Two things came across my Facebook recently that have me thinking much about this season and, really, all year long, what we are thankful for, Who we are thankful to and why we are thankful.
First: I thought this was a ponder-worthy saying - "What if we only had what we thank God for?"
Wow.
I am thankful to God for everything, but I don't think that I have "thanked" Him in my heart as I should. I mean, I say all the time, "Thank God," but I say it and move on. Once I heard that question though, I had to really stop and think hard about all my blessings. I woke up this morning, I didn't have anything major go wrong with my health, my family is safe and warm in their various homes, and whatever struggles we are dealing with, we are struggling and not defeated. So, yeah, there is much to be thankful for & I don't pay as much attention to my blessings as I have been to my struggles. Forgive me, Lord. And thank You!
Second: a woman I know from Twitter and Facebook mentioned that, to her, Thanksgiving is not a "religious" holiday but a "sacred" one. Well, my faith is not religious either. My God is holy. Thanksgiving is not just about being thankful. Thanksgiving is, to me, more about Who I am thanking. I am thanking a holy God. I am not just "celebrating" a joy that is born of nothing or no one. I am being reminded of my blessings AND from where (or, rather, from Who) those blessings have come. God.
(Let me stop and say here that I hope that my lovely friend will come to know the God I serve and trust in!)
I am certainly thankful for friends and family and health and joy, but I am thankful to God.
For my 'Net friend, maybe she is just thankful to a god or fate or ... I don't know. That's fine for her. But for me, I have to know Who I am relying on, not just for this Thanksgiving day, but for every breath and every joy and every trial and hope and moment in my life.
So, thank You, God. Thank you for every blessing - the ones I recognize as blessings and the ones I haven't yet understood. You have put people in my life for a reason. You let me suffer through trials for reasons I don't understand here in this life. You have let me cry tears for a reason. You have given me laughter and pieces of joy that sustain me. Everything for a reason or reasons that You understand even though I may not. And when I get to Heaven, You will multiply those joys and wipe away the tears. Thank You, Father. Thank You. I am giving my thanks to You.
Peace
--Free
Psalm 27:1
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Struggling vs Mocking
I was listening to a bunch of James Cleveland music this morning while I worked on the other blog. I ran across some YouTube footage of his funeral and it got me to thinking. There were always rumors about Rev. Cleveland being homosexual. When I'd first heard about this, I was really shocked, but then I realized that Cleveland was from the old school of gospel music. That's probably why I was shocked. It does not surprise me even a little bit to hear the things I do about Bobby Jones or Kirk Franklin and other "new school" gospel folk - but James Cleveland? Wow.
Anyway, I got to thinking about the whole gay/lesbian issue that is going on in the churches. I will say right out and right here that I do NOT think that you can be an unrepentant gay/lesbian person and claim to be Christian. Just like you cannot be unrepentant in ANY kind of sin and claim to be a child of Jesus. Period.
Because I don't know whether people are "born that way" or not, and because I don't know a lot about what gay/lesbian people suffer through, what I have settled on is that sin is sin & God will not be mocked. If you are a sinner (and we all are) and you are mocking the Lord with your sin while pretending to be His child, then you are in serious trouble. But if you are struggling with that sin and really depending on God's love and forgiveness to see you through, then you are just like every other Christian - no matter what your most troubling sin is.
My sin happens to be a difficulty to forgive. I also smoke (which is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, but I feel convicted of the sin of damaging the body God gave me) and I will let my temper get the best of me at times. Those are my struggles - especially the forgiveness thing. God warns me about not being forgiving. I know about that warning even as I struggle with it, even when I am sitting in church, praying for more strength in that area.
Just like I struggle with my sin of a sometimes hard heart, someone out there is struggling with their sexual sin. I no longer will take sides on the issue. I'll just say that "God will not be mocked." And I will keep right on working on my temper and anger issues.
Peace
--Free
Anyway, I got to thinking about the whole gay/lesbian issue that is going on in the churches. I will say right out and right here that I do NOT think that you can be an unrepentant gay/lesbian person and claim to be Christian. Just like you cannot be unrepentant in ANY kind of sin and claim to be a child of Jesus. Period.
Because I don't know whether people are "born that way" or not, and because I don't know a lot about what gay/lesbian people suffer through, what I have settled on is that sin is sin & God will not be mocked. If you are a sinner (and we all are) and you are mocking the Lord with your sin while pretending to be His child, then you are in serious trouble. But if you are struggling with that sin and really depending on God's love and forgiveness to see you through, then you are just like every other Christian - no matter what your most troubling sin is.
My sin happens to be a difficulty to forgive. I also smoke (which is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, but I feel convicted of the sin of damaging the body God gave me) and I will let my temper get the best of me at times. Those are my struggles - especially the forgiveness thing. God warns me about not being forgiving. I know about that warning even as I struggle with it, even when I am sitting in church, praying for more strength in that area.
Just like I struggle with my sin of a sometimes hard heart, someone out there is struggling with their sexual sin. I no longer will take sides on the issue. I'll just say that "God will not be mocked." And I will keep right on working on my temper and anger issues.
Peace
--Free
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Hope In the Word of God
(I might not be able to post for a while after I leave here this weekend. I figured this email that I sent out to the fam & friends is a good post before being offline. Enjoy)
This is something I heard a pastor named (I believe) Joe Chambers say about the Bible being divinely inspired. In Genesis Chpt 5, the names of the "generations" from Adam to Noah are given. If you look up what each of the names mean and then read them IN ORDER, you get a wonderful sentence of love and hope. It's as if God gave us a message within the message of His Word.
Below are the verses from the Bible. I added in parentheses and boldface the meaning of each name. At the end, read the sentence that comes out. I thought it was pretty neat. In case any of us need to be reminded of what the Father can do!
Gen 5:1 This is the book of the generations of Adam(Man). In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
Gen 5:2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
Gen 5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth(Appointed):
Gen 5:4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
Gen 5:6 And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos (Mortal):
Gen 5:7 And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.
Gen 5:9 And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan (Sorrow):
Gen 5:10 And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:11 And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.
Gen 5:12 And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel (The Blessed God):
Gen 5:13 And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:14 And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.
Gen 5:15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared (Shall come down):
Gen 5:16 And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:17 And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.
Gen 5:18 And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch (Teaching):
Gen 5:19 And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.
Gen 5:21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah (His death shall bring):
Gen 5:22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
Gen 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
Gen 5:25 And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech (Despairing):
Gen 5:26 And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:27 And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.
Gen 5:28 And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:
Gen 5:29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.
Gen 5:30 And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.
Gen 5:32 And Noah (Comfort & rest) was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
And, putting it all together, the pastor pointed out the sentence:
Man appointed to mortal sorrow. The blessed God shall come down teaching. His death shall bring the despairing comfort and rest.
By the way, when I checked the Smith dictionary in my eBible download, I didn't get the same meaning for Seth; I got the meaning of "compensation . I then went online to a SECULAR source of baby names and the meaning of "appointed" did come up. I checked a couple of the other names and some came up in Smith and the online as what is shown above. (I wanted to check because I got an email a long time ago about the center of the Bible. While it's not untrue, it was unclear without some checking. Snopes has the article on that if you want to look it up. Pretty neat.)
Peace
--Free
(P.S.: I want to give a shout out to the very excellent e-Sword Bible study software that is available for free download. These brothers and sisters provide this amazing resource free of charge, but can use donations. If you are blessed and able, please donate AND spread the word about the site!)
This is something I heard a pastor named (I believe) Joe Chambers say about the Bible being divinely inspired. In Genesis Chpt 5, the names of the "generations" from Adam to Noah are given. If you look up what each of the names mean and then read them IN ORDER, you get a wonderful sentence of love and hope. It's as if God gave us a message within the message of His Word.
Below are the verses from the Bible. I added in parentheses and boldface the meaning of each name. At the end, read the sentence that comes out. I thought it was pretty neat. In case any of us need to be reminded of what the Father can do!
Gen 5:1 This is the book of the generations of Adam(Man). In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
Gen 5:2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
Gen 5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth(Appointed):
Gen 5:4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
Gen 5:6 And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos (Mortal):
Gen 5:7 And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.
Gen 5:9 And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan (Sorrow):
Gen 5:10 And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:11 And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.
Gen 5:12 And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel (The Blessed God):
Gen 5:13 And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:14 And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.
Gen 5:15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared (Shall come down):
Gen 5:16 And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:17 And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.
Gen 5:18 And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch (Teaching):
Gen 5:19 And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.
Gen 5:21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah (His death shall bring):
Gen 5:22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
Gen 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
Gen 5:25 And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech (Despairing):
Gen 5:26 And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:27 And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.
Gen 5:28 And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:
Gen 5:29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.
Gen 5:30 And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.
Gen 5:32 And Noah (Comfort & rest) was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
And, putting it all together, the pastor pointed out the sentence:
Man appointed to mortal sorrow. The blessed God shall come down teaching. His death shall bring the despairing comfort and rest.
By the way, when I checked the Smith dictionary in my eBible download, I didn't get the same meaning for Seth; I got the meaning of "compensation . I then went online to a SECULAR source of baby names and the meaning of "appointed" did come up. I checked a couple of the other names and some came up in Smith and the online as what is shown above. (I wanted to check because I got an email a long time ago about the center of the Bible. While it's not untrue, it was unclear without some checking. Snopes has the article on that if you want to look it up. Pretty neat.)
Peace
--Free
(P.S.: I want to give a shout out to the very excellent e-Sword Bible study software that is available for free download. These brothers and sisters provide this amazing resource free of charge, but can use donations. If you are blessed and able, please donate AND spread the word about the site!)
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