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Come Let Us Worship and Bow Down
Do you remember the popularity of what became known as the Jabez Prayer? This prayer is recorded in 1 Chronicles 4:10 “Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!’” The teaching that spread rapidly included the idea that we did not have a blessed life because we did not ask for it. People were instructed to pray this prayer repeatedly and God would shower them with blessings and freedom from pain. I recently was studying the…
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A Baptist, A Methodist and a Catholic sit down at the Thanksgiving table
While it feels like there should be a punch line to the title, in truth I’m not that clever. The reality is that Thanksgiving is fast approaching and the ability to offer a space for everyone in our home is no joke! While Thanksgiving itself doesn’t discriminate, we have the unique opportunity to choose just how “open” our homes will be. The guest list is likely just as colorful as the decorations and dishes themselves. Politics and religion are our favorite divisive topics, but in reality the possibilities for bias, exclusion and disagreements are endless. If we will take the time to examine our hearts the Lord will reveal the…
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Basking in the Benefits of the Fear of the Lord
The benefits of fearing the Lord are worth basking in. In my survey of the Scriptures, I identified three categories concerning the benefits of the fear of the Lord—with God, with others, and with ourselves. Some of the categories overlap, but I have assigned most to just one category for simplicity. The first beneficial category of the fear of the Lord involves our relationship with the Lord. At the top of the list, we are acceptable to God (Acts 10:35). Not only are we acceptable to God, but we have a friendship with Him (Psa 25:14). Furthermore, His eye is on those who fear Him (Psa 33:18). With His eye…
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Do You Box Up Your Thanksgiving?
This week I boxed up all our Thanksgiving decorations to sit in the closet for a year. The handwritten thanksgiving banner, the small jars with prompts to thank God, the cup with past subjects to be thankful for, and the abundantly full cornucopia. The Thanksgiving season is over for another year. Out of sight and out of mind. Or should it be? Various research has been conducted on the benefits of thankfulness (gratitude). Gratitude is associated with an increase in well-being, self-esteem, self-support; improvement in relationships, sleep, overall health; enhancement in positive emotions and optimism.[1] One study revealed gratitude led to less depression, more happiness, release from toxic emotions,…
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Practicing Gratitude—A Challenge
A recent leadership conference I attended focused on gratitude. The Chief Executive Officer of the company thought correction in how some members were running their businesses was needed, and therefore spent at least twenty to thirty minutes discussing: How to get gratitude, How to practice it, and How to extend it. When a CEO of a multi-million dollar company spends that amount of time on any subject, it’s evident that it’s important and is an issue in today’s world, or in that company at least. As it turns out, expressing gratitude (i.e. giving thanks) was an issue in the ancient world, too. The Psalmist and the Apostle Paul spent considerable…
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A Thankful Heart is a Healthy Heart
Did you know that in the Net Bible there are 77 verses that have the words “give thanks?” The first is found in 2 Samuel 22:50, “So I will give you thanks, O Lord, before the nations! I will sing praises to you.” The last is found in Revelation 11:17 “with these words: ‘We give you thanks, Lord God, the All-Powerful, the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun to reign…’” 1 Chronicles 16:8“Give thanks to the Lord! Call on his name! Make known his accomplishments among the nations!” Over and over in verse after verse we are commanded to “give thanks.”…
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Giving Thanks for Everything
Today, some of us will gather around festive tables, eating our fill of roasted turkey, whipped potatoes, and pumpkin pie. It’s Thanksgiving in the United States, and so we pause today to celebrate —to give thanks—for a year filled with beautiful and hard things. But it isn’t as easy as it sounds. Perhaps there’s a chair at our table sitting empty this year. There’s a longing within us that a smile can’t dull. Maybe there’s financial stress that the holidays only highlight. A festive tablescape and full stomach may make us feel good for a moment, but they cannot fix the hurts and heartaches that we often carry with us…
