Psalm 107:1 says, “O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures for ever!” Lets break it down very literally: What is the Lord? Good Why is the Lord good? Because His love is steadfast and is never ending. What should our response be because He is good? Give thanks One of the main attributes of God that constantly amazes me is His giving. Giving is at the heart of every relationship. Why? Because Christ ultimately gave His son for our lost souls. Relationships - romantic, familial, friendships - are intended to model our intimate binding with the Heavenly Father, because we are to always seek to become more like Christ (1 corinthians 11:1). Giving involves uplifting another person: you are giving your time, your care, your love, physical affection, your trust, and so much more! A giving relationship must always seek the absolute best of the other person!! That is what Christ does for us! He gave His life, He gave the best way to life, and He gave never-ending life! God has given us an abundance of Life!! (John 10:10). The main reason we are given things in abundance is to give to others like He gives His never-ending love to us! Why would Jesus fill us with more than we need except to pour it out to others?? He gives more love, more grace, more sufficiency than any one human could possibly grasp! This is why He is good! And this is why we are to turn and pour that out to others!! We should be overwhelmed by His abundance and sufficiency. Psalm 107:1 doesn’t just say, “O give thanks to the Lord… He is good; …His steadfast love endures for ever!” It says FOR He is good, FOR His steadfast love endures forever. It all must go together! He would not be good if His steadfast love didn’t endure forever! We would not give thanks if He wasn’t a good God! He has given us creation to benefit our eyes and all of our senses. He has given us His love to fill us wholly. He has given us dominion over the earth to support and promote life (Gen 1:26). We praise Him because He is good, because He has made us fearfully and wonderfully made, because His love never ends and always abounds. It flows into our hearts like honey. It is sweet to the taste and nourishing to our souls. So what is the only proper response to His goodness? THANKS! Oh how His goodness surrounds us in the trees, in the animals, in the love we experience with others, in the perfect story He is constantly forming out of our lives, it is all a gift because He is a GOOD GOOD LORD. Lord keep revealing to me Your Glory in everything, help me appreciate each intricacy of your perfect design and world so I can praise you even more. Let praise evermore flow from my lips!
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Shamar is a Hebrew word found hundreds of times in the Old Testament. When I started biology at college recently, the word Shamar immediately stood out to me for some unknown reason! When talking to my biology professor recently, all of the things I had been learning and individually applying finally came together and showed me such profound meaning! So, without further ado, I hope you enjoy my shared thoughts on how amazing is the simple word Shamar!
In Deuteronomy 4:9, we are told to “Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves…” The Hebrew word for “watch” is Shamar - which means to Keep, watch, preserve. This is the same command we are given in Genesis 2:15 to “dress and keep creation”(Shamar!). AND in Number 3:7-8. Here the priests were instructed to keep and serve, which, not surprisingly, is the word Shamar! God’s original intention was for us to be a people of priests. However, the Israelites rebelled and more stipulations to the covenant were made, so the Israelites became a people with priests. But, in the New Testament, the covenant is made new in the death of Jesus. Thus, we have once again become priests (the priesthood of the believer) and we do not require priests to be an intermediary between us and christ. Thus - we are priests! The priests were told to Shamar- which is the same word that Adam was told in the garden - to keep and serve creation. SO, we are priests of creation!! But so what? As priests of creation, we are to KEEP AND SERVE creation itself!! To promote life always!! To enhance its beauty!! To strive to always reveal Gods hidden glory in that creation!! To further and further reveal His glory that He is only waiting for us to discover! Follow with me here a bit more. In Matthew 22:39, Jesus tells us the second greatest commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” How do we love ourselves? Well with the first thought it may just be, humans tend to glorify and esteem themselves, so we should do that for others? But NO!! It's so much more!! We are supposed to Shamar OURSELVES! In Jeremiah 17:21 we are told, “watch yourselves;” watch also being the word for Shamar!! So, if we are to watch and keep and serve (Shamar) ourselves, THAT is what we must also do for others! Thats why self care is important also! Not so that we esteem ourselves above others, but so we can better care for others! How can we do as we’re commanded and love others unless we also love ourselves?! We must love ourselves to love others. Thats also why we have to set boundaries for ourselves. If we are to watch ourselves, we know that our tendencies might be to put ourselves higher than others. (Some of my tendencies include taking on others hurt and emotions as my own, which can be a blessing and a curse! But Jesus told us His yoke is easy and the burden He gives us is light... If the creator’s burden that He gives us is light, why are we getting more burdened by things that are not of Him? While of course still having compassion!) We have to set up boundaries for ourselves in order to “watch ourselves.” Boundaries are out of protection. And this even further impacts our thoughts about love! What does love do? It gives and protects. THAT is the epitome of the tree in the garden!!! (Wow God you’re good!). The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was put there OUT OF LOVE!!! Why you may say, why did God put the temptation in there when He knew they would eat it?? Because He loves us beyond comprehension. Can I say I love my friends if I've been literally forced to?? Can I say I love anyone if I had no other option but to love them? No! Likewise, we wouldn’t actually have the opportunity to Love God if the tree wasn’t in the garden! He gave us a choice to love Him, one we could either follow or go against. But God didn’t just put a tree in the garden that Adam and Eve automatically knew they shouldn’t eat from. God told them to not eat of it. Why? Again, HE LOVES US!! Love does what?? It PROTECTS? Why?? Because Love always has the best interest in mind of the other person!! Love gives. God GAVE the commandment to not eat the fruit of the tree because He wanted to PROTECT us from the consequences! But we still had a choice, and sadly, humanity doesn’t normally pick the best option. Isnt that profound?! SHAMAR!! Watch, keep, preserve. Shamar creation! Shamar ourselves! And Shamar others! Love God, love ourselves, love others. Give to others. Protect others. Protect creation. Keep creation. Promote life. They all tie together. If they didn't, a different word would have been used. As humans we are instructed to have dominion over the earth. Just like the priests were commanded to serve Christ and others in the temple, so we are to do on this earth because we are each priests. We are also commanded to love others as ourselves, and we can only fully obey that if we know how to love ourselves and others. Which is by keeping and serving. Since love protects, we must set up boundaries for ourselves and out of protection of others, always having their best interest in mind. Keep and serve. Keep and serve all of God's creation - the earth, the animals, the people. Always strive to Shamar! Wow. What Goodness. What a good good God we serve. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God,
a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Timothy 2:15 I was listening to a podcast about new year’s resolutions that actually matter. Some say they want to read the whole Bible, get better abs, lose 15 pounds, be more invested etc. All are such wonderful things, but while listening to this podcast I realized they can all be grouped together – Pleasing God with what He has given us. Overall, my “new year’s resolution” is to please God more. This is difficult yet enriching since it impacts every aspect of my life. Reading the whole Bible shouldn’t be something that I do just so I can say I’ve done it-I should want to read the whole Bible to be closer to God and more knowledgeable of His words. I shouldn’t want to be more fit just so that I will look better, but instead because I desire to strengthen and enrich the body God has given me to glorify Him – take care of this “holy temple.” Likewise, every resolution (even just desires to be better at something) should be centered in the truth of the Word. So, what is your plan to be pleasing to God this year? Next year, what are you going to look back and say: I wish I didn’t do that so much. Or, I wish I improved that aspect in my life. What reflection of God are you intentionally going to show throughout this next year? Let’s focus our goals to revolve around God, His attributes, and His truth. Romans 7:15 states,
“ For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” This verse has really been speaking to me and working in my heart for the past couple of days and weeks. What immediately jumps out at me is that Paul seems to be confronting a habitual pattern of himself that he desires to change, but instead keeps resorting back to the ways he hates. He starts out by saying how he doesn’t even understand his own actions. Why do I keep doing this? Why haven’t I changed what I see and do not like? What am I doing that I see the wrong in but cannot seem to be able to change, whether it be a simple attitude towards those placed in leadership over me, the way I treat my siblings or even how I carry a smile on my face/the lack thereof? Moving on he says, “I do not do what I want…”. To fully understand this, I had to write out this question: what do I want? This question is still difficult for me to answer, but a few verses help me in my quest to answer it. James 1:14, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” My human wants and desired are not the same as God’s desires for me. We can be drug away by our own desires. But to be drug away, we must be being pulled from something. And what is that? With our own desires, we can be dragged away from the good we “want to do.” Galatians 5:26 then reminds of us how our desires can indeed align with Christs, thus empowering us in our effort to do the good Christ has set for us, “ If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” So the question then still remains: what is it that we really want? Andy Stanly did a series on answering this question. One of his quotes was, “when you discover what you really value, you will be less prone to settle for what you merely want.” Again, I had to take this statement and act on it to really grasp it. So I wrote out a list of what I value, which linked to who I wanted to be. I can look and try and envision myself in 5 years, who do I see? What do I want to see? What love am I showing to others? In my job? How am I honoring those around me? How am I caring for others? Helping build them up? Those questions and several others helped me make a list of some of my core values. By doing that I now have a clearer picture of being and doing what I want to accomplish and who I want to be in my life of faith. In conclusion I want to leave you, Reader, with these questions that I too am still working through with you.
FEAR NOT-Stand Firm!
Grasshoppers are such tiny little creatures; easily breakable, not very noticeable, and can be overtaken with ease. ‘Fear’ is a hindrance that is crippling and constraining. When we live out of fear, we are actually creating an environment that fear can flourish and dwell in. In Numbers 13:33, the Israelites consider themselves mere grasshoppers compared to the giants they ‘believe’ are blocking their passageway. This fear hindered them from completing the purpose God had for them. But God’s purpose was still accomplished by the young man David, who used the power of God within him to overcome. Who are we listening to that makes us consider ourselves grasshoppers?! What lies are we believing that cripples us with fear?! The answer is simple – NOT GOD! Through Him, we are more than conquerors! For if our God is for us, who can be against us!? As Christians living under Grace, we are called to be many things, most importantly worshippers of Christ. This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to hear one of our church's campus worship pastor, Aaron Keyes, teach on what it means to be a worshipper. He confronted what musical aspect of worship, what worship itself is, and the very act of worshipping as a congregation. John 4:23 states, "...true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit AND truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him." Pastor Keyes put it this way, Spirit is the soft, flowing things, whereas Truth is the fixed, ancient, and unmoving things. There are many references to Spirit in the Bible. For example, in Acts 2 the Holy Spirit comes down as a mighty rushing wind and tongues of fire, and those who were gathered at the time for Pentecost were filled with the Holy Spirit. Another example is John 7:38-39, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive..." You can delve even deeper into the old testament and discover more examples of the Spirit, such as the anointing of oil. Oil along with the action of anointing someone with oil stands as a picture of the Holy Spirit being poured on someone so they may operate under the authority and power of the Holy Spirit. Thus, worshipping in the Spirit is compared to oil, wind, a river/water, and fire (Keyes). On the other hand, Truth is the foundation for us to stand upon, a double-edged sword, an anchor for us to be grounded to; obviously very different than a rushing river (Keyes)! "As those living under Grace, we need to be able to worship in the dynamic flow of Spirit, while being rooted in the solid foundation of scripture and of truth," (Keyes). Pastor Keyes states, “The way to be deep in Spirit is through truth, and the way deeper in truth worship is through spirit.” The attributes of Spirit and Truth are as follows. Spirit: •Spontaneous •Emotional •Passionate •Spiritual Truth: •Scriptural •Substantial •Thoughtful •Considerate (Keyes) Spirit is the spontaneous and passionate worship in which we involve our emotions, while truth is the theological aspect of worship; having the combination of both Spirit and Truth within our worship is what pleases the Lord (Keyes). Engaging our emotions in worship while also being thoughtful; Passionate yet considerate; spontaneous and substantial (Keyes)! To be thoughtful in our worship, what we are singing, for example, must become personal and meaningful, not just "generic and abstract," (Keyes). Take the song that has the lyrics, “God is so good, God is so good to me.” How is He good in our lives? How is that personally true for us? “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.” Psalm 3:5 <-- Just one of countless ways the Lord is good to us! Taking our worship and applying it to our lives, making it personal and meaningful is how we can worship in rooted truth. We are to be "Rooted but not rote, and Charismatic but not careless. Not hasty or thoughtless, but believing that God is still fully present, moving, and performing miracles. We want to be rooted and not just drifting, but not rote and just going through the motions,"(Keyes). As Christians living under Grace, our aspiration and goal of worship should be worshipping in spontaneity, freedom and flow, while rooted to the foundation, Truth, and anchor (Keyes). The link to the sermon by Aaron Keyes that inspired this post below! http://gfc.tv/monroe/2018/06/we-are-grace-worshipers/ And the link to Aaron Keyes' bio is provided below! http://www.aaronkeyes.com/bio/ Rest
“Come to me, all who are weary and burdened...” Says Jesus “Come to me and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) Rest is reposing, depending, or leaning on something. Being Children of God, we know that He will supply “all needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19) What good does worry do? It causes anxiety, restlessness, uncertainty, etc...Rest in the assurance of God supplying our every need and ultimately rescuing us from the evil of this world when He comes for us. “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” ~Psalm 62:1-2” The definition of Joy: 1. The passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good; that excitement of pleasurable feelings which is caused by success, good fortune,the gratification of desire or some good possessed, or by a rational prospect of possessing what we love or desire; gladness; exultation; exhilaration of spirits. The definition of Happiness: [from happy.] The agreeable sensations which spring from the enjoyment of good; ~ Webster’s 1828 Dictionary From many sources, I have been taught that joy and happiness are two totally different things; that joy is permanent, and happiness can fade and is worldly. By studying Joy, I do believe there is a strong connection between Joy and Happiness. Randy Alcorn’s, “On Faith Discussion of Is There a Biblical Difference Between Happiness and Joy?” provides a contrary explanation to the argument that joy is different from happiness. Randy Alcorn states that ‘the distinction between joy and happiness is, matter of factly, not biblical.’ Alcorn chose these verses below, as examples of how joy and happiness are used equally: *Esther 8:16 (NIV) — For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor. *Jeremiah 31:13 (HCSB) -- I will turn their mourning into joy ... and bring happiness out of grief. *Proverbs 23:25 (NLT) -- Give your father and mother joy! May she who gave you birth be happy. Randy Alcorn’s comments on these verses and on the equality of joy and happiness: “The relationship between joy and happiness in these passages refutes two common claims: (1) that the Bible doesn’t talk about happiness, and (2) that joy and happiness have contrasting meanings. In fact, the Bible overflows with accounts of God’s people being happy in [H]im.” In other words; God’s people can have joy in Him, and can be happy in Him. So if we can be happy in God, is happiness worldly? In fact, one of the most reliable dictionaries, Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, states that happiness is actually a synonym for joy. But let’s take a look at Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, and the original meaning of the words in The Bible, from their Greek & Hebrew Roots. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on Joy & Happiness Hebrew (Old Testament) Joy is found in 21 forms in the Old Testament with the following meanings: • To greatly rejoice • under the influence of any violent emotional like rejoicing, gladness or joyfulness • to go well with • mirth • delight • acclamation of a battle cry, alarm, shouting, joyful sounds, blow of the jubils • To brighten up • to cheer up • be merry • cause to rejoice • proclamation • singing • triumph Happy is found in 5 forms in the Old Testament with the following meanings: • Blessed • as interjection: HOW HAPPY! • to go forward • to be honest • prosper • to guide, to lead, to relieve • to be tranquil, • to be in safety Greek (New Testament) Joy is found in 8 forms in the New Testament with the following meanings: • Blithesome: light hearted • Gleeful • exceeding gladness • pleasure • Rejoicing Happy is found in 2 forms in the New Testament with the following meanings: • Supremely Blessed • Fortunate • Well Blessed • To beautify • To Esteem • To Count Happy Another common statement is that joy is not an emotion. (This statement is found on the internet more and 17,000 times.) Randy Alcorn states ‘this is and unbiblical myth.’ So: Is it true also that joy isn’t an emotion? Randy Alcorn’s response: “Some claim that joy is a fruit of the Spirit, not an emotion. But in Galatians 5:22, love and peace surround the word joy. If you love someone, don’t you feel something? What is peace if not something you feel?... [saying joy isn’t an emotion] is like saying that rain isn’t wet or ice isn’t cold.” Joy is a fruit of the spirit, but it is also an emotion. When we find joy in Christ, don't we feel something? Joy in Christ is an overwhelming feeling, it overflows in you, which makes you want to share the joy with others. This is like the way we feel love and peace, as Randy Alcorn stated before. Blithesome, fortunate, gleeful, blessed… what beautiful adjectives for Joy and Happy! Randy Alcorn says it so well, when he says, “You’ll find in Jesus the happiness and joy you’ve always longed for.” Originally posted on ourgoodnewsblog.weebly.com In Romans 12:21 it says, “Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.”
I have looked back over this verse in recent months and began to understand what the words meant: Instead of conforming to this world and all of itʼs attractions, be the light in the midst of the darkness and let Godʼs glory shine through you by your choices. Iʼm sure that many of you have been told in some way or another to be the light in the darkness. (Or have heard the song This Little Light of Mine;) But what does that necessarily mean? How are we exposed to evil that we need to overcome? A “modern” example would be when someone is offering you something you know your parents/guardian would not approve of. YOU actually might not see anything wrong with what is being offered, it may seem innocent. Isnʼt that just a simpler form of deceit? If your parents say its wrong, it would be disobeying your parents if you do whatever it is, therefore the choice becomes an opportunity to overcome evil with good. Right then and there you have a choice to make. You could either confront that person and tell them you KNOW it is not the right thing to do and will not accept the offer... ( And by doing that you might change someoneʼs life by being the light in the darkness and being a good example.) Or you could accept the offer. Which one is the right choice? I hope by now you automatically know that the first choice of confronting the person and telling them you know it is not the right thing to do, is the right choice. We see that being the light in the dark, or overcoming evil with good, is an opportunity we face every day. So, be not overcome with evil, instead strive to overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21 : “Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.” Originally posted on the Our Good News Blog Remove the inconsiderate feeling within me:
The ones where I am before others, Where I choose the best for myself, Where I am uncaring, and do not consider the feelings of others before I speak. The feeling that places myself higher than others, That thoughtless character trait where I expect others to be be perfect, When indeed, none are. Remove the self absorbed feeling within me Lord: that I may live for You, and not myself. Remove the Selfishness from me, Oh Lord. Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” This was also published on http://ourgoodnewsblog.weebly.com/blog |