Bible Ballistics: BBs #221 A Fortnight Of Thanks-Living #11

I thank God for life and strength. As we live from day to day, sometimes we forget how blessed we are to be able to “go”. I count it a privilege and a blessing to still have the ability to be mobile, to see, to hear, to taste, to feel, to smell and to know. There are so many around us who would love to have gotten out of bed this morning, to stand alone, or to be able to care for themselves without assistance.

Solomon describes the difficulties of aging (or disabilities), along with the challenge to be faithful to God with the strength you have. So, I am thankful for the ability to “go” on in this life, to still be able to care for myself, my family and others as well. May I be a faithful servant to The Lord and to those He places in my path with the strength I have.

“Remember now thy Creator

in the days of thy youth,

while the evil days come not,

nor the years draw nigh,

when thou shalt say,

I have no pleasure in them;

2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened,

nor the clouds return after the rain:

3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble,

and the strong men shall bow themselves,  

and the grinders cease because they are few, 

and those that look out of the windows be darkened,

4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets,

when the sound of the grinding is low,

and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird,

and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;

5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high,

and fears shall be in the way,

and the almond tree shall flourish,

and the grasshopper shall be a burden,

and desire shall fail:

because man goeth to his long home,

and the mourners go about the streets:

6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed,

or the golden bowl be broken,

or the pitcher be broken at the fountain,

or the wheel broken at the cistern.

7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was:

and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”   Ecclesiastes 12:1-7

Did you get that? “…the spirit shall return unto God who gave it”—the spirit of every man, woman, boy and girl will stand and give account to God—either to hear “well done, thou good and faithful servant” or “depart from me, I never knew you”. Are you thankful for your life today? Are you ready to meet God? Life is precious and we should be thankful and appreciative of what we have, no matter how limited we may be. God has something for each of us to do, regardless of our unique abilities and/or the lack thereof. Be grateful for what you have, and use it for God.

Bible Ballistics: Thankful For What??? Vol. 7#1

I hope you enjoyed and were helped by our look at Daniel. We’ll take some time to reflect on some current issues over the next few weeks, and then we may try another continuing study of a particular part of God’s Word. Please let me know how these are working for you, as my desire to is please God through this ministry and to meet your needs through His Word as much as I can.

As we here in America are celebrating Thanksgiving, it seems an interesting “Holiday”. For while there are many who are “thankful”, there are even more who have no concept of gratitude, thankfulness or any recognition of the blessings they have received—neither from God nor anyone else! We live in a society of expectations and entitlements– a culture of “gimme”, “gimme”, “gimme”! It is at least refreshing that we can still use the word “thanks-giving”.

For those of you who follow my blog either by email, Facebook or the Bibleballistics.com website, you know I’ve been focusing on a series called “Thanks-Living”. And for those of us who believe in and follow Jesus Christ, we are called to live lives of gratitude to God and others; it should be a way of life, not just a time of year! But like everyone, we get distracted, mis-directed and forgetful of the need for an “attitude of gratitude”. One of my favorite signs of all time is the Thanksgiving one that said: “Are you humbly grateful, or grumbly hateful?” That kind of says it all—it’s a matter of attitude, and scripture reveals what our attitude ought to be:

“In every thing give thanks:

for this is the will of God

in Christ Jesus

concerning you.”   1 Thessalonians 5:18

And since we are to give thanks in “every thing”, I’d like us to take a journey through scripture to observe some of the people, places, things, and events for which some of the characters in scripture gave thanks. Let’s go:

“Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.” 2 Samuel 22:50

David is thanking God for delivering the kingdom into his hands after years of running and hiding for his life.

“Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people….. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever..” 1 Chronicles 16:8 & 34

David continues to thank God for successfully bringing the ‘Ark of the Covenant’ into Jerusalem. And if you go back and read about the earlier attempt, you’ll find that David had a very bad experience and became angry with God. But David came to learn that “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.. And when David got right with God, and followed God’s prescribed ways, he was able to rejoice in The Lord again.

“And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses, every man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the tents of the Lord.” 2 Chronicles 31:2

King Hezekiah upon calling the people of Judah to return to God and cleanse the land of idolatry. He set the Levites to lead the praise and worship of the people before God.

“And the chief of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brethren over against them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, ward over against ward.” Nehemiah 12:24

The re-establishment of temple worship after the return from Babylonian exile brought gratitude of heart and the desire to praise God in worship (as David had prescribed).

“Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.” Psalm 18:49

If you’ll notice, this is a duplicate of what is above from 2 Samuel 22:50, where David wrote this song of praise to his God. I find it note-worthy that this was such a powerful song that it was also recorded in the “song book” of Psalms for posterity sake, and for corporate worship! And while we could list numerous verses from the Psalms, suffice it to say that the songbook of Israel is replete with praise and thanks to the God of all creation, but we must sing them from a heart of gratitude not just with lips that aren’t truly grateful! God wants people of true devotion to worship Him, and HE knows the difference even when others may not.

“Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:” Isaiah 29:13

Where is your heart—near to God, or are you just offering “lip” service”? Only you can answer that question, but it is a question that needs to be answered.

“And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever.” 2 Chronicles 20:21

Here King Jehoshaphat is leading his army out in obedience to the direction of The Lord in a totally absurd (to the world) walk of faith. A walk that had the army led by people singing praises to God. Whoa!!! What an act of obedient faith and worship! That’s a game changer—and they won if you were wondering; go back and read the whole account. It will encourage your soul!

“And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19

Jesus himself was giving thanks for the opportunity to die for me—for you! Gratitude that is so devoted to God that He could give thanks for His sacrifice! Now that puts me to shame! How about you? When was the last time we were willing to “give thanks” for the privilege of suffering for Jesus? Maybe never? Oh precious Lord, give me a heart willing to praise you in all things—I desire to be more like YOU!

“He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.” Romans 14:6

Paul tells us that we are to respect the different convictions of others, in fact just a few verses earlier he reminds us that we are God’s servants, and we answer to HIM individually:

“Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.” Romans 14:4

It is God who holds me accountable, and it is also God who holds me up and leads me in His Word to be what He wants me to be. He is working all things to make me more like Jesus. (See Romans 8:28-29)

“The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”      1 Corinthians 15:56-58

Paul reminds us that whether in life or in death we have the victory—“ thanks be to God”—we win. So whether you’re facing difficulties in life, or are dealing with death right in your face, God has given us the victory and we can thank HIM and praise HIM in “all things”!!! As an old song by Marvin V. Frey (1918-1992) says:

“Praise Him in the morning, Praise Him in the noontime….Praise Him when the sun goes down…..”  Just praise HIM!!!

We are not only to be thankful to and for God, but also thankful for one another:

“We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;” 1 Thess. 1:2

“But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:” 2 Thessalonians 2:13

We are to give thanks to God for one another and the joy that we are privileged to share in knowing Jesus and the salvation that HE has provided for us.

“Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.” Revelation 11:17

We can thank God that HE will accomplish HIS purpose in and on this old world—He will rule and reign on this earth, and I don’t believe the time is very far away. Are you ready for that day? For my dear friends we must remember that:

“behold, now is the day of salvation….” 2 Corinthians 6:2b

Today is the day of salvation! You may not have tomorrow, and the question isn’t “will you bow” before Jesus–the question is when. Will you bow before Him now and call on Him to save your soul, or will it be “then” when you bow before Him as your judge, with no opportunity for salvation? Only you can answer the question!

“Let this mind be in you,

which was also in Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in the form of God,

thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

7 But made himself of no reputation,

and took upon him the form of a servant,

and was made in the likeness of men:

8 And being found in fashion as a man,

he humbled himself,

and became obedient

unto death,

even the death of the cross.

9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him,

and given him a name

which is above every name:

10 That at the name of Jesus

every knee should bow,

of things in heaven,

and things in earth,

and things under the earth;

11 And that every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.”   Philippians 2: 5-11

Please know I am praying for you to be saved if you are not, or to obey Him in gratitude if you are already saved!

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” Isaiah 52:7

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12-13

And what is this “good news”, the gospel that we are grateful for?

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:” 1 Corinthians 15:1-5

Jesus died for you, my friend, and there is no greater joy than to know Him and the new life that He imparts. Won’t you make this the greatest “Thanksgiving” of all—and thank and trust the one who died for you. He’s waiting for YOU!

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20

And my dear ones that is one door I’ve never regretted opening. And for Jesus I am eternally GRATEFUL!! God bless you with eyes to see and ears to hear!

 

Bible Ballistics: BBs #220 A Fortnight Of Thanks-Living #10

I thank God for seasons. The beauty and delight in the changing of the amazing seasons. From the joy and delight of the new life that comes in the spring, to the warm (or hot if you’re in Southwest Oklahoma!!) and fruitful months of summer, then into my favorite season of change—the lovely vibrant colors of fall, and of course the necessary cold weather of winter, the beauty of snow, and yes, even the ice when it leaves a wonderland of glimmering crystal across the landscape.

“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22

God set the seasons and He maintains all that is on this planet according to HIS timetable. I praise God for HIS sovereign rule in this world, and I hope that you have learned to trust Him in all. As I often am heard to say, “My confidence is in God, not the government nor the weatherman!” How about you can you thank God and praise Him for all the beauty of His creation and the seasons of nature, as well as the seasons of our lives and times? Remember He made it all—including you and me!!

“The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun. 17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.” Psalm 74:16-17

And we can thank God for His faithful sovereign control in holding this world together.

“God,

who at sundry times

and in divers manners

spake

in time past unto the fathers

by the prophets,

2 Hath in these last days

spoken unto us by his Son,

whom he hath appointed heir of all things,

by whom also he made the worlds;

3 Who being the brightness of his glory,

and the express image of his person,

and upholding all things

by the word of his power,

when he had by himself purged our sins,

sat down

on the right hand

of the Majesty on high:”   Hebrews 1:1-3

Jesus IS the glue who is holding all things together. And praise HIS name for giving us beauty to enjoy, air to breath, and strength from the produce of the earth that HE created. So take some time today and thank God for the seasons, the beauty and the sustenance of the fruit of HIS earth!!!

Don’t let the spiritual harvest come and you NOT be ready!!

“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. 21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.” Jeremiah 8:20-21

“And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Acts 16:31

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Romans 10:9

Bible Ballistics: BBs #219 A Fortnight Of Thanks-Living #9

I thank God for TODAY. Yesterday is forever gone and tomorrow may not come, so we only have TODAY, and God I thank you for “this” day—the day YOU have given me. Help me to live it in “yieldedness” to YOUR Holy Spirit, and be the reflection of YOUR glory that you have called and equipped me to be!

“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matthew 6:34

We are to live in the moment we have. We allow ourselves to robbed of so much when we wrongly focus on what can’t be changed about yesterday, and what may never happen tomorrow. Jesus calls us to live in today, and He even tells us how:

“Therefore take no thought,

saying, What shall we eat?

or, What shall we drink?

or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:)

for your heavenly Father knoweth

that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God,

and his righteousness;

and all these things

shall be added unto you.”   Matthew 6:31-33

Jesus isn’t talking about mindless laziness, but confident trust in the God we serve—the God of all creation—the God who knows all about us—the God who cares for us completely! And He is trustworthy! I trust HIM! How about you? This is the same principle that David talks about—he knew this same God and His same faithfulness:

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Psalm 23:1

“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”   Psalm 24:1

“Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.”   Psalm 25:1

“Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.” Psalm 26:1

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1

Are you getting the picture? The Psalmists not only “loved” God but they trusted HIM for today, because they knew He had been faithful in EVERY YESTERDAY and EVERY TOMORROW!!! Are you allowing God to teach you His faithfulness, or are you still trying to work it out on your own? We can rest assured on the dependability of God because HE never changes–Father, Son or Holy Spirit.

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.” Hebrews 13:8

YOU can trust HIM, so rejoice and be grateful with me for TODAY!!!

“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24

Bible Ballistics: BBs #218 A Fortnight Of Thanks-Living #8

I thank God for “pray-ers”. I know we talked about being thankful for “prayer” the other day, but I’m talking today not about “prayer”, per se, but about those we personally know, that God has placed in our lives who are our “Pray-ers”, also known as “prayer warriors”.

“ ……The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16b

You know who I’m talking about—that one or two people (and if you have more you are abundantly blessed) who you know you can count on to “PRAY”!!! Now I mean no disrespect, but I’m not talking about all those people who say “I’ll pray for you”, but the ones that you KNOW WILL pray for you or whatever request you might call on them for; the ones who labor and seek the face of God in prayer on your behalf, that you know walk in HIS presence!

“Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” Matthew 17:21

Those who know the truth of Jesus words about our frailty and His call to prayer because we live in a weak and sinful body of flesh, and in a wicked world. We must pray!!! We must have those around us who know how to pray!!!

“Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.” Mark 14:38

Thank you Jesus that YOU pray for us, and that you have blessed my life with great and faithful prayer warriors– those who know the power of prayer—not only for themselves but for one another also, as you taught us!

“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25 (Be sure and read the context of this verse)

Praise God Almighty for His Son who loved me enough to die for my salvation, but also that He is still praying for me as He did in the garden. And just to give you a lift on this Friday morning here’s what the Master prayed for us:

“I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. 10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. 11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:9-17

Thank you Jesus for being my greatest prayer warrior! And thank you to each of you (and you know who you are) who stand by me in prayer so faithfully. I praise my God for you always and I love you for your great gift of prayer. I couldn’t manage without you, and praise God I don’t have to!!! May HE bless you richly for your great ministry of prayer.