Category: I Chronicles

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Start the Day with Purpose

I have to admit that this morning is one of those when I wish I could go back to bed and sleep just a while longer and it’s definitely time for another cup of coffee. The day ahead is God’s slate to write on. I will praise God for His love and goodness and for His provision in my life.

Use me Lord to pen your words!

“Greatness, power, glory, victory, and honor belong to you,  because everything in heaven and on earth belongs to you. The kingdom belongs to you, Lord! You are the head, the Ruler over everything. 12 Riches and honor come from you. You rule everything. You have the power and strength in your hand!  And in your hand is the power to make anyone great and powerful! 13 Now, our God, we thank you, and we praise your glorious name!” I Chronicles 29:11-13 ERV

These words were penned by David at the end of his life. He was addressing the nation of Israel and taking up an offering to build the temple. His comments conveyed the deepest feelings of his heart; the Bible describes David as a man after God’s own heart.

David wasn’t a perfect man but he would quickly repent when he knew that his actions went contrary to God’s will. He wasn’t motivated by greed or power or pride. He knew that all he had was given to him by God and so he kept his heart open to give whenever God asked something of him. He gave freely and generously – he gave more than was required.

His motivation wasn’t to protect his reputation or hold on to “his” kingdom. He wanted to see that God was honored and God’s people were protected.

What an amazing life.

“God, I am ready, heart and soul,  to sing songs of praise. Wake up, my soul! 2 Harps and lyres, wake up, and let’s wake the dawn! 3 Lord, I will praise you before all people. I will sing praises about you to every nation.” Psalm 108: 1-3 ERV

David was far from perfect. He had an affair with the wife of one of his soldiers and she became pregnant. To hide what he had done David had her husband killed. God corrected him and David repented. David loved God and wanted to serve Him. God loved David and forgave Him of his sins.

I know everyone of us are guilty of doing things that don’t honor the Lord. God isn’t pleased with what we do but He loves us still. He loves us because God is love and His mercy keeps us from receiving the punishment we desire.

“But Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and by this God showed how much he loves us.” Romans 5:8 ERV

Singing is a great way to express gratitude. We had so much to be thankful for even when we are going through rough times. We’re going to sing when we get to heaven so let’s get started now.

Heaven is a place of continuous praise to God and when we get there we will join that choir. We’ll praise Him for His amazing love but let’s not wait until then. Let’s be like David and wake up the world with our praises. Let’s start the celebration here and now. While on earth, let’s begin to magnify the Lord our God for no other reason than that He is the Lord God Almighty. We can join in with heaven’s chorus as they sing.

“Our Lord and God! You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power. You made all things. Everything existed and was made because you wanted it.”” Revelation 4:11 ERV

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Gratitude Month

Welcome to November!

I don’t know about you but I am ready to start a month of gratitude. Thirty days before us in this month of Thanksgiving. I challenge you to find something/some things to be grateful for each day and to write them down.

Maybe your coming to the end of a long week and not sure you have all that much to be thankful for? Then make King David’s words yours.

“Then David praised the Lord in front of all the people who were gathered together. David said, “Lord, the God of Israel, our Father, may you be praised forever and ever!
11 Greatness, power, glory, victory, and honor belong to you, because everything in heaven and on earth belongs to you! The kingdom belongs to you, Lord! You are the head, the Ruler over everything. 12 Riches and honor come from you. You rule everything. You have the power and strength in your hand! And in your hand is the power to make anyone great and powerful! 13 Now, our God, we thank you, and we praise your glorious name! 14 All these things didn’t come from me and my people. All these things come from you. We are only giving back to you things that came from you.” I Chronicles 29:10-15 ERV

Look for things to be grateful for today. Let’s be honest, you may be grateful that you held your tongue and didn’t say the first thing that came to your mind. Possibly, you were up in time to see a beautiful sunrise or it could be the practical stuff (payday, lighter traffic on the freeway, a good doctor’s report), safe travel and clear roads. But, write it down because there will be days that you don’t think there’s much to be thankful for and on those days you can be thankful that you have a list of blessings to go back and re-read.

Make a gratitude list!

Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father and we give Him thanks for all that He has done in loving us!

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And All Was Silent

I got up earlier than normal this morning. I checked on the grandkids; gave hugs and kisses, said another round of prayers and restarted the “white noise” station on Pandora. 

Everyone was cuddled in and I came to the living room to read and have my prayer time. The house was, and still is, silent. I love this time when the world, my home, is blanketed with stillness…

I had thoughts of laying down on the couch and going back to sleep. It was so peaceful but all I could think of was God – how great is His love, how vast is His goodness, how personal are His thoughts toward me. (deep sigh) So, I leaned back and snuggled into His presence. I felt dwarfed by the quiet but was completely comfortable in my awareness of the Father’s companionship. 

Quiet.

That’s what I experience in His presence – quiet. I began to search the Scriptures for verses on “quiet”. What I found was  quiet is equated with lack of conflict, turmoil or war. 

“But you have a son who is a man of peace. I will give your son a time of peace. His enemies around him will not bother him. His name is Solomon. And I will give Israel peace and quiet during the time that he is king. 10 Solomon will build a temple for my name. He will be my son, and I will be his Father. I will make his kingdom strong, and someone from his family will rule Israel forever!’” I Chronicles 22:9-10 ERV

“But he who listens to me will live free from danger, and he will rest easy from the fear of what is sinful.” Proverbs 1:33 NLV    or

“But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.” Proverbs 1:33 NKJV

“The work of being right and good will give peace. From the right and good work will come quiet trust forever. 18 Then my people will live in a place of peace, in safe homes, and in quiet resting places. ” Isaiah 32:17-18 NLV

And one more…

“Do your best to live a quiet life. Learn to do your own work well. We told you about this before. 12 By doing this, you will be respected by those who are not Christians. Then you will not be in need and others will not have to help you.” I Thessalonians 4:11-12 NLV

Praise God for the quiet. In the quietness there is rest for the soul…

And then there was the abrupt intrusion into this time of silence, the coffee pot beeped to let me know that it was going to automatically shut off. I had to chuckle. 

There could only be one carol that I would share with you while I’m enjoying this silence. It’s one everyone knows but I hope you will take the time to read all the words.

Silent night, holy night!
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

[Verse 2]
Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ the Savior is born
Christ the Savior is born

[Verse 3]
Silent night, holy night!
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth

The Father speaks to us in the quiet. If we listen, we can hear His words of love and grace and His word will free us from turmoil and unrest.

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Thankful for Little Things

Let me first thank you all for your prayers yesterday. They are valued and appreciated. The book made it to the publisher by end of day and I’ll have a working copy to proof by middle of next week. Thank you. I could feel your prayers as things were wrapping up.

 

Did you realize that Thanksgiving is only three weeks away? With that in mind I’d like us to focus our time on being thankful. Many times we over look the small things that make such a big difference in our lives.

Thankful for a warm jacket on a cool and windy day. Thankful for a warm fire on a chilly night. Thankful for a hot cup of coffee or tea and the visit with a good friend.  Wouldn’t want you to think I’m only grateful for warm things. I’m also grateful for a cool breeze, a cold glass of water and ice cream.

Yes, the little things. Many people around the world have no good water source or the ability to keep things cold. And when we go to the closet to grab a jacket we have at least two or three to choose from.

Gratitude!

One of the little things I am grateful for are the little verses in the Bible that are right to the point.

“Praise the Lord because he is good to us, and his love never fails.” I Chronicles 16:34 CEV

The King James Version says that “his love endures forever”. Last I checked we have not exceeded “forever”. That means  God’s love has not failed, a big reason  to be thankful. He still loves us and His love is still reaching out to us continually.

So let’s  take time today to give thanks and praise the Lord for His wonderful love, His goodness and His mercy.

“O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endures for ever.” I Chronicles 16:34 KJV

The verse above is quoted seven times in the book of Psalms. When something is important it is repeated. If we  had nothing else to be thankful for we can be thankful that God is good and not evil. His mercy will last forever! His mercy keeps us from receiving judgement for the wrongs we have done.

It’s because of the Lord’s unfailing love and his mercy that we have all the little things that we enjoy.

As we start our day let’s begin to give thanks for the little things. Speak them out loud, let our ears hear that we are being thankful. It will improve our day.

Give thanks!

 

 

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The Centerpiece of Life

This past month as I have been sharing on Thanksgiving I have found many images of beautiful centerpieces. There are even some sites that list 29 DIY centerpieces or 24 DIY Thanksgiving projects. Got me to thinking – the best centerpieces should probably be labeled GIY.

God I Yield!

We all have those DIY projects but what would be your #1 GIY project? The one thing that you know you should yield or the one thing you know you need help with more than anything else. Maybe you’re afraid to yield control of that area or do you think that God wouldn’t be interested in helping. Oh but He’s certainly interested and more than willing to show you how He would like to craft your life into a beautiful setting.

I am so thankful for the Father’s amazing love.  I didn’t do anything to desire it and I can’t do anything to lose it – that’s because it’s unconditional. But I can thank Him daily for His love, His mercy, and His grace! I can allow Him to control the center of my being.

Give thanks to the Lord because he is good.
His faithful love will last forever.
35 Say to him,
“Save us, God our Savior.
Bring us back together,
and save us from the other nations.
Then we will give thanks to your holy name
and joyfully praise you.” I Chronicles 16:34-35 ERV

Father God my heart is filled with thanksgiving for your great love and abundant grace. I thank you for friends who are family and family who are friends, they have enriched my life. Thank you for sharing your love with me through their kindnesses and I pray that I have shared your love with them by my love.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I pray that God’s grace is the center piece on each table.

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