Always Giving Thanks

It is good to give thanks to the Lord

And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

To declare Your loving-kindness in the morning

And Your faithfulness by night,

With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp,

With resounding music upon the lyre.

For You, O Lord, have made me glad by what You have done,

I will sing for joy for the works of Your hands.

Psalms 92:1-4

Strong In Body and Spirit

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 2:1

We work hard to build our bodily strength.  We want to be physically fit and look good. 

The grace of God builds our spiritual and emotional strength without which our physical strength would amount to nothing more than a soulless mess of muscle. 

We are strong in body and spirit in the grace of God.   

Tempted But Not Taken

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

Temptation comes all dressed us.  It looks good.  It may suggest great reward for succumbing and it may suggest punishment for noncompliance. 

As tempting as things may be, God offers us an escape – we have the power with God’s help to run away. 

We are tempted, but we are not taken.  Be strong in the Lord. 

Do It In The Name Of Christ

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Colossians 3:15-17

Happiness Is

I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—it is the gift of God.

Ecclesiastes 3:12-13

A few years ago, my daughter wanted to go to lunch.  I was not having the best day, but I said alright.  We met up at a restaurant and my daughter had brought along a friend’s twelve year old daughter.  We ate and chattered.  We talked about junior high school and our favorite television shows.  To me it was just a regular lunch.

Later, my daughter called me and said when they got in the car that the girl started crying.  When she asked her what was wrong, she said, “Your mother.  She is so happy.”

I think about that and I think about how important it is for us to put our best Christian behavior forward.  All around us people are suffering and discouraged and we never know who we will bless by us being kind and smiling. 

Happiness is serving the Lord.  He delivers it to us and we can deliver it to the world.

Not Glitz, The Gospel

Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. 

And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.  Go, behold I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.  Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes, and greet no one on the way.” 

Luke 10:2-3

We spend time thinking about why we can’t do things we are called to do.  We worry that we aren’t good speakers or that our clothes aren’t good enough or people might not like what we say or that people will make fun of us or argue with us and we won’t know how to respond.  It becomes all about what we do not have. 

Jesus understands this and that is why He said we should go and not worry about what we don’t have but concentrate on delivering the message of salvation to those who are waiting to hear it.  We can use glitz to spark interest in the message, but sometimes glitz is out of order when people are hurting and the simple truth of the Gospel is what they need.

So, let us just go do it – take the Gospel to the world.  We can start right where we are and see what God will do.  The message never changes; Jesus is the Savior of the world.  Ask Him to come into your life today.