Thank you

 God loves to hear us say thanks.

 According to Psalm 107:2-3, the people who could testify of God’s goodness are those He had “redeemed from the hand of the adversary, and gathered from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.” They were to come together and tell of His redemption. That, my friends, is worship.

 

You’ve probably taught your children to say, “thank you.” But do you teach them to only say it once a week or once a year? Or do you want them to learn to say “thank you” as a way of life, so that it’s the exception when they don’t express thanks? Parents often say to their kids when they are young and receive something, “I didn’t hear you say thank you. What do you say?”

 

Far too often, God has to say to us, “What do you say? I can’t hear you. I don’t hear thanksgiving.” One day, a Puritan was sitting down to a meal of bread and water. Most of us would say, “God, I only have bread and water.” But this Puritan looked down at his plate and said, “Bread and water and Jesus Christ too! What more can a man ask?”

 

Praise is not complete until it has been expressed. The goodness of God gives us ample opportunities to be thankful.

Our refuge

 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Psalm 62:8 (NRSV)

God is a safe place of security to find refuge for our weary soul. He can be trusted with our deepest fears and most painful wounds, every success, up, down, and moment of confusion and chaos. He does not abuse or manipulate but speaks softly and tenderly, like a loving parent towards their beloved child.

In life, we often find ourselves searching for such places of safety. Due to the brokenness of our human condition, trustworthy places of refuge can be elusive and easily lost. A moment of passion or outburst of anger can sow seeds of discord and distrust. We long for refuge, yet find ourselves regularly hurt and betrayed by those we love the most.

We must not misplace our hope. Are earthly relationships a potential means of grace and taste of the perfect refuge of God? Absolutely. Many of us have known, and know today, the joy that comes from living life in a relationship defined by mutual vulnerability, honor, respect, and trust. Few things in life bring greater joy or comfort. Yet we must remember, even the most trustworthy friend is a fallen and broken creature, capable of great good, yet also someone who will fail to love as they ought.

The failure of others is not a cause for distress In many ways, a correct view of the human condition should prepare us for these moments. Every person is sick and in need of the healing touch of God. As James reminds us, from the same mouth we are able to both speak blessing and worship God, yet at the same time speak curses over our brother or sister (James 3:10).

Every time we encounter the brokenness of someone we love, it is an invitation to remember our own need of healing. Furthermore, it should create in us a longing for perfect love, the safety and refuge that comes from God alone. As the psalmist exhorts us, “Trust in God at all times” (Psalm 62:8). There is never a moment or situation in which God cannot be trusted. Turn to him today and find refuge for your weary soul.

Fire and desire

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. Psalm 84:1-2 (NRSV)

As humans, we are made to desire. The longings we feel are not to be discounted or easily ignored. In fact, they are windows into the state of our soul and health of our heart. So often, the problem is not with desire but is found with the nature of our desire. In short, we love the wrong things.

When our hearts are captured by disordered desires, the solution is not to stop desiring. A failure to desire is a failure to be human and who and how God has uniquely created you to be. God gave you desires as a gift, as a means by which we are made aware of his goodness, grace, mercy, and love.

The Psalms the hymn book of the bible are filled with language of desire and intimate prayers of longing. We see this in Psalm 84: “My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord.” This psalm is an unapologetic embrace of rightly ordered desire and passion. Our problem in life is not that we burn with passion but that we burn with passion for something or someone other than God.

What is it that you desire the most in this life? Fame? Success? Marriage? Children? Power? Whatever it may be for you, the problem often is not with the thing itself, but the fact that it replaces and takes away from your ultimate call to desire the Lord above all things. You and I therefore must choose today to actively and intentionally cultivate holy desires.

The things you desire do not simply happen to you in a passive way. No, we make choices and decisions that lead to the deepening and expansion of our loves. So today, by the power of the Spirit at work in you, choose to pursue God through virtuous habits of faith that deepen your longing for him.

Believe and be baptized

 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Mark 1:9-11, KJV

Do you remember the excitement the day that you made your decision to receive Christ and being baptized  I remember when it was for me at the young age of 8 when I was able to grasp and believe in God intellectually and be baptized, but even with that I must admit that even with my confession of belief it was some time and years before I learned  to place my faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Until I encountered Christ in a more personal relationship in my latter teens, I had only loved the Lord with my mind in my youth, but my heart was far from Him and led to a number of mistakes in my youth. However, once I took personal responsibility for my sins, repented and trusted Jesus, He forgave and purposed me. 

You know Jesus was baptized, not because He was in need of a public display that His sins had been washed away (He was sinless). Jesus humbled Himself to be baptized as an example to all who wished to follow Him to do the same in repentance and faith. Even John, who was the baptizer during this sacred moment, first resisted his role and insisted on Jesus baptizing Him. Jesus’ baptism was not only a lesson in obedience, but also a commission from His heavenly Father that He was well pleased with His beloved Son whom He empowered with the Holy Spirit’s favor.

“When you came to Christ, he set you free from your evil desires, not by a bodily operation of circumcision but by a spiritual operation, the baptism of your souls. For in baptism you see how your old, evil nature died with him and was buried with him; and then you came up out of death with him into a new life because you trusted the Word of the mighty God who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead in sins, and your sinful desires were not yet cut away. Then he gave you a share in the very life of Christ, for he forgave all your sins” (Colossians 2:11-13, TLB).

Have you experienced believer’s baptism? Maybe you were dedicated to the Lord as a child, but now as a teenager, young adult or adult have you personally placed your 100% trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior? And, has the sequence of your baptism followed your faith? If not, now is the time to drive a stake of faith in the ground, be born again from above and celebrate your formal conversion with the public declaration of baptism. Going public with your faith solidifies your private commitment with inherent accountability from your faith community and empowers you with your heavenly Father’s favor. You are His beloved child in whom He is well pleased.

Here is a prayer of faith you can pray, and/or help another express their heartfelt trust in Jesus:

Loving Lord Jesus Christ, I place my total trust in you as my Savior who forgives me fully and forever and who loves me with unfailing love. I turn from my sin of pride, fear and unbelief and turn toward you in humility, love and faith. I receive you into my life: the son who died for me, the Spirit who gives me life and the Father who loves me. Give me courage to love and obey you all my life—especially in the first step of public baptism. I thank you and praise you—in your name, I pray, amen. Let someone you love and respect know of your fresh encounter with God.

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Ephesians 3:16-18).

Getting Aligned

 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. Lamentations 3:40 (NIV)

I do not consider myself a handyman in any sense of the word. While homeownership has forced me to confront this shortcoming and learn my way around a home improvement store, I don’t think it will ever come naturally to me. In fact, it’s often the smallest and simplest repairs that prove to be the most frustrating. Case in point, my son has a bicycle with a misaligned back wheel and a chain that has no intention of staying on, and I have very little hope of providing a lasting solution. At some point in the near future, I am going to have to humble myself and take the bike to someone who is able to restore it to its former glory.

At some point in the past year, your life with Christ may have felt a bit like a bike that can’t keep its chain on. At times your faith may have gone off the rails and you aren’t quite sure how to get it back on track! In moments like these, you and I are faced with a decision. Do we throw up our hands in defeat, or do we press in and search for a lasting and permanent solution? Or, to speak with greater precision, do we recognize our inadequacies and look to the only one who can truly heal us and set us back on track?

The first step to healing is identifying the places in your life that need repair. Though the Lord alone is our source of freedom and life, he invites us to regularly and intentionally examine our way of living and identify places of misalignment or disrepair. As Christians, we turn to the Lord and invite him to begin his work of renovation in our hearts and lives. As the Psalmist says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts” (Psalm 139:23).

As we invite the Lord to lead us in his paths, we must also faithfully and diligently tend to our response to his invitation. We must have a regular habit of self-examination, testing our way of life, and when misaligned and bent out of shape, return to the Lord for our healing and our hope. This is the only way to stay on track.