Month: November 2019

“My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.” Psalm 145:21

              I have some problems with the Thanksgiving holiday. Don’t get me wrong. I love the day. Time with family is wonderful, the food is amazing, the time off work is great. But there are three things I don’t like (not including the calories). One is that so many people celebrate this holiday without knowing who they’re thanking. I’ve heard of people thanking Mother Nature for making them or some other “god.” They may even say thanks without having any idea whom they’re thanking. The other two problems really relate more to those of us who do know that we’re thanking God. First is that we need a day to tell Him thanks. Maybe we need to be reminded to thank God. And I guess that’s the problem. I don’t like it that I often do need that reminder. The last problem I have is that we only have one Thanksgiving. Shouldn’t we have it every day, or at least every week? It’s as if thanking Him once a year is going to be good enough.

              All of that made me think of this verse out of the Psalms. First, let’s notice that this is talking about speaking praise to God. Thanks and praise needs to begin in the heart, but it shouldn’t stop there. It should well up in our hearts so much that it just automatically overflows out of our mouths. As is often the case, the original language shows us a richness in the verse that we lose in translation. In English, the word “praise” appears twice but the original Hebrew uses two different words. To show this, some English translations use the word “bless” for the second one. The main difference is the audience. In the first half of the verse, it’s talking about praising God for His glory, His excellence. It’s telling Him what an incredible God He is. The second one is giving Him thanks in such a way that others hear about it. It’s like the psalmist is saying that He’s going to tell God and everyone else in hearing distance about how awesome God is. He just can’t keep it in any longer! And this praise and thanks is eternal. God has always been praised and always will be praised. Always. Without end.            

            If we would all just live by this verse, the problems I have with Thanksgiving would be gone. There would no longer be any doubt about Whom we’re thanking. Others would know that our God is the only One worthy of such praise and honor. They may choose to disagree with that, but they wouldn’t be able to make the mistake of thinking that just throwing a “thanks” out into the air is the same as thanking the almighty Creator of the universe. Plus, I wouldn’t need to be reminded to thank God. Nor would we only be thanking Him one day a year. Thanksgiving would be a lifestyle rather than a holiday. We can still gather for the turkey and pumpkin pie, but we will live every day with the joy that comes only from knowing that God is the giver of all good and perfect gifts, and we will be praising Him for all eternity.

              I’ve been thinking lately about the whole subject of preparation. If we’re not preparing for the holidays, we’re at least thinking that we should be. We prepare for the coming winter, we prepare for fun things like trips, we even prepare for the unexpected tragedies that may strike. I’ve been wondering what all this preparation for earthly events can teach us about preparing for the Big Event. These verses in Mark are talking about the return of Jesus Christ in the end times. You and I may or may not still be alive at that time. But regardless, we will all see Him someday. Are you prepared? Am I? The Greek word translated “on guard” is the exact same Greek word that is also translated “alert.” Jesus is actually repeating the same admonition. It must be important! How can we prepare so that we are alert and ready?

              When I prepare for a trip, the first thing I do is make reservations. Do you have your reservation for heaven? Do you have your ticket for the greatest flight ever? If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your savior and put your trust in Him, all that’s left is for the heavenly Pilot to decide when takeoff is. Whether our own personal takeoff is when we die or when Christ returns, the destination is the same. When we get there, we will celebrate in a way that will put any and all earthly celebrations to shame. Do you have anything to wear to that party? Are you clothed in the righteousness of Christ? He has promised that He will exchange our filthy rags for His clothes in blazing white. Are you willing to discard those rags to wear what He has for you?

              Once we have our reservation and are preparing our clothes for the party, then what? Think of how many things we prepare for by studying. In school, we studied for tests. In our jobs, we study any new program or development that comes along. When we get a new phone or a new computer or a new, well, anything we study it. We figure out how it works and what it can do. So how do we study for Christ’s return? By studying His word. We ask questions such as who is God? How does He work? What does He do? What can I do when I have His Spirit in me? And we allow God’s word to change us, to transform our minds and our hearts. There are so many other ways to prepare for Christ’s return but these are the starting points. When the Spirit is within us, and as we study His word, He will show us the next step He would like us to take so we can be prepared. Then we can have great excitement as we anticipate meeting Him!

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34

              I’ve heard people quote this verse in an attempt to comfort those who are facing some future difficulty. I have to say that I’ve never found this verse all that comforting. Now if it said, “for tomorrow will be great!”, or “only today has trouble” then I would find great comfort! All I have to do is make it through today and then everything is going to be better. Or maybe I have to make it through this difficult situation, but once it’s resolved life will be perfect. God’s not going to let anything “bad” happen to me again. There will be no more difficulties, nothing more to worry about. After this (whatever “this” is), life will be a bed of roses – without the thorns! But this verse is basically saying, “You think it’s bad now? Just wait! Tomorrow’s going to be full of trouble, too.” It doesn’t say the trouble will be more or harder, but there will be trouble.

              I don’t think this verse is intended to be a comfort. Rather, it’s an admonition to stop borrowing trouble. Because of our propensity to worry, we end up experiencing the difficulty at least three times. For example, I know I need to have a difficult conversation with someone but I can’t have it for a day or two. I’ve been worrying about it and playing it over and over in my mind, as if I know how the other person is going to respond. So that’s facing the difficulty once. Then there’s the actual conversation. That’s twice. After the conversation, I know I’ll replay it in my mind over and over. That’s facing the difficulty for the third time. Actually, it’s much more than three times because of the number of times I’ve already thought about how the conversation is going to go, and how many times I’ll replay it, especially if it doesn’t go well. But judging by past experiences, it will go much better than all my imaginings because God has already gone ahead and prepared the way. But even if it doesn’t, it certainly won’t help matters if I get myself wound up and tense about it.

              Worrying about tomorrow takes me out of today. If I’m concerned about what may or may not happen in the future, I’m not fully present in the here and now. I’m missing what God has for me today. In the same way, if I’m obsessed with replaying something that has happened, I’m stuck in the past and missing out on the present. And the present is where God meets us. He has incredible gifts for us when we meet with Him in the present. Does that mean we shouldn’t prepare for the future? I don’t think that’s what this verse is saying. Preparing and worrying are two different things and this is talking about the worry. Worry about the future will cause me to think that I can’t possibly face what’s coming. When I think that way, I’m right. That’s because God hasn’t yet given me what I need to face it. But He will. He gives it when we need it, not before. So don’t worry about tomorrow. If you have to think about tomorrow, rejoice! We’re going to see God move in mighty ways when we do our part and leave the results in His hands.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

              This can be such an encouraging verse! When we become weary, we can know that God is there to help us. If we look at this verse in context, we see that Paul had just been talking about sin begetting more sin. But if we are following the Spirit we will reap eternal life. The question I have for all of us is, why are we weary? In other words, are we weary in doing good, or are we just weary? Are we weary because we’ve been living in sin in some area of our life? If so, the solution is clear. Ask God to help us overcome that sin. Confess it to Him and truly repent of our ways. Or perhaps we are weary because we’re not taking care of ourselves. Again, the answer is obvious. Eat properly, exercise when possible, and get the sleep we need. Neither of those situations is what this verse is talking about. It’s not even talking about a physical fatigue. It’s talking about the weariness that comes from following the Spirit. And it does come. Someone in full time ministry once told me that he doesn’t become tired of what he does, but he does become weary in what he does.

              What often causes weariness in doing good is not seeing any fruits of our labors. We feed the hungry, and yet hunger still exists. We clothe the poor, but the poor are still among us. We care for those in our immediate circle, and still there are needs to be met. I’m not a numbers person but I sometimes envy those who are because they see results. They add a column of figures and get a total. They work on their bank statement and it actually balances. They see the fruit of their labor. Working with people is so different from that. Sometimes we see progress, but there’s never really an end. No one has ever truly arrived. We keep doing good, and more good, and yet more. And still there are so many unmet needs, both physical and emotional.

              The weariness sets in when we focus on the seeming lack of results. When all we can see is the needs that still exist, we can get to the point where we can barely put one foot in front of the other. That’s where this verse comes in. Take heart! There is a harvest coming. We might not see it until we get to heaven, but God will make sure we get to take part in the harvest for which we have labored. Have you ever been part of a harvest on a farm? It’s not an easy task. It’s hard work! And yet, it’s something to look forward to because it’s the culmination of all the hard work that has taken place up to that point. Well, that’s what’s going to happen for us. We’ll be able to see the culmination, the fruit of all we’ve done. Here’s the really great part. When we’re a part of the harvest, we’ll see that the vast majority of the work has been done by God. He allowed us to help Him in the work but in reality, the work was His. And the fruit will be much greater than what we can imagine. So, when you become weary in doing good, focus your eyes on the upcoming harvest and rejoice!