This Thanksgiving “get to Him” and give thanks.

One Thanksgiving season a family was seated around their table, looking at the annual holiday bird. From the oldest to the youngest, they were to express their praise. When they came to the 5-year-old in the family, he began by looking at the turkey and expressing his thanks to the turkey, saying although he had not tasted it he knew it would be good. After that rather novel expression of thanksgiving, he began with a more predictable line of credits, thanking his mother for cooking the turkey and his father for buying the turkey. But then he went beyond that. He joined together a whole hidden multitude of benefactors, linking them with cause and effect. He said, "I thank you for the checker at the grocery store who checked out the turkey. I thank you for the grocery store people who put it on the shelf. I thank you for the farmer who made it fat. I thank you for the man who made the feed. I thank you for those who brought the turkey to the store."

Using his Columbo-like little mind, he traced the turkey all the way from its origin to his plate. And then at the end he solemnly said "Did I leave anybody out?" His 2-year-older brother, embarrassed by all those proceedings, said, "God." Solemnly and without being flustered at all, the 5-year-old said, "I was about to get to him."

Well, isn’t that the question about which we ought to think at Thanksgiving time? Are we really going to get to him this Thanksgiving? The Psalmist said, “Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders. Glory in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad. Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually. Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth, O seed of Abraham, His servant, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!  (Psalms 105:1-6 NAS95)

This Thanksgiving “get to Him” and give thanks.

Recall Notice

RECALL NOTICE

The Maker of all human beings (GOD) is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart.   This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype unit’s code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units.   This defect has been identified as "Subsequential Internal Non-morality," more commonly known as S.I.N., as it is primarily expressed.  Some of the symptoms include: 1. Loss of direction 2. Foul vocal emissions 3. Amnesia of origin 4. Lack of peace and joy 5. Selfish or violent behavior 6. Depression or confusion 7. Fearfulness 8. Idolatry 9. Rebellion   The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory-authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this defect.   The Repair Technician, JESUS, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. There is no additional fee required.   The number to call for repair in all areas is: P-R-A-Y-E-R. Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through theREPENTANCE procedure.   Next, download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician, Jesus, into the heart component.  No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will replace it with: 1. Love 2. Joy 3. Peace 4. Patience 5. Kindness 6. Goodness 7. Faithfulness 8. Gentleness 9. Self control Please see the operating manual, theB.I.B.L.E. (BEST Instructions Before Leaving Earth) for further details on the use of these fixes.   WARNING: Continuing to operate the human being unit without correction voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list, and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded. For free emergency service, call on Jesus.  DANGER: The human being units not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped in the furnace. The SIN defect will not be permitted to enter Heaven so as to prevent contamination of that facility. Thank you for your attention! - GOD  P.S. Please assist where possible by notifying others of this important recall notice, and you may contact the Father any time by 'Knee mail'!

The Touch of God at Christmas

The Touch of God at Christmas
This is from a 60 Minutes broadcast from a few years ago. It’s an excerpt of what Harry Reasoner said around Christmas time that I want you to hear. Listen carefully – he said:

Eleven years ago I did a little Christmas piece and it seemed like a good idea to repeat it. The basis for this tremendous burst of buying things and gift buying and parties and near hysteria is a quiet event that Christians believe actually happened a long time ago. You can say that in all societies there has always been a midwinter festival and that many of the trappings of our Christmas are almost violently pagan. But you come back to the central fact of the day and the quietness of Christmas morning, the birth of God on earth.

It leaves you only three ways of accepting Christmas. One is cynically, as a time to make money and endorse the making of it. One is graciously, that’s the appropriate attitude for non-Christians who wish their fellow citizens all the joys to which their beliefs entitle them. And the third, of course, is reverently.

If this is the anniversary of the appearance of the Lord of the universe in the form of a helpless babe, it is a very important day. It is a startling idea, of course. The whole story that a virgin was selected by God to bear his son as a way of showing his love and concern for man. It’s my guess that in spite of all the lip service given to it, it’s not an idea that has been popular with theologians. It is somewhat an illogical idea and theologians like logic almost as much as they like God. It’s so revolutionary, a thought that it probably could only come from God that is beyond logic and beyond theology. It is a magnificent appeal. Almost nobody has seen God and almost nobody has any real idea what he is like, and the truth is that among men the idea of seeing God suddenly and standing in a very bright light is not necessarily a completely comforting or appealing idea.

But everyone has seen babies and almost everyone likes them. If God wanted to be loved as well as feared, He moved correctly, for a baby growing up learns all about people. And if God wanted to be intimately a part of man, He moved correctly, for the experience of birth and family-hood is the most intimate and precious experience that any of us will ever have.

So it comes beyond logic. It is either a falsehood or it is the truest thing in the world. It is the story of the great innocence of God the baby. God in the power of man has such a dramatic shock toward the heart that if it is not true to Christians, then nothing is true.

So if a person is touched only once a year, the touching is still worth it. And maybe on some given Christmas some final quiet morning, that touch will take. The touch of God coming into this world as a vulnerable baby.

God Brings You to Himself

Today's (May 4) devotion from Henry Blackaby it as great read.

God Brings You to Himself

You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. (Exodus 19:4)

God did not deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt so that they could enjoy the Promised Land. He freed them from their so they could come to know and worship Him. Three months after they left Egypt, God reminded His people why He had delivered them “on eagles’ wings.” It was to bring the people to Himself. That is, God saved them so that they could enjoy intimate fellowship with Him. The Israelites had been slaves with no freedom to worship God. Now, with their own land, they could come to know and serve God freely. God’s call was not to destroy the idolatrous nations in Canaan, not to settle the lands they conquered, and not to establish a new nation, although all of these would be accomplished. Rather, God called them primarily to be a people who loved and worshiped Him. Through God’s act of deliverance they came to know Him as an almighty and compassionate God, and they were now free to respond_to Him.

We are so activity oriented that we assume we were saved for a task we are to perform rather than for a relationship to enjoy. God uses our activities and circumstances to bring us to Himself. When He gives us a God-sized assignment, its sheer impossibility brings us back to Him for His enabling.

When God allows us to go through crises, it brings us closer to Him.
If we are not careful, we can inadvertently bypass the relationship in order to get on with the activity. When you are busy in your activity for God, remember that God leads you to the experiences in order to bring you to Himself.

What We Worship Defines Us

What We Worship Defines Us

A pastor friend of mine made this blog article the other day and I thought I would repost and share it with you.

N.T. Wright said, “You become what you worship.” 

If I worship health… then my money, decisions, and time  

toward health dominate my life.  People describe me as a “health nut.”  I see myself as      

"health conscious.”

If I worship my reputation… then I will protect my reputation at all costs.  People describe me as a “prima donna.”  I see myself as “highly moral,” and quite proud of it.

If I worship success… then the bottom line for me in my all I do will be driven to being successful (Which also speaks to reputation).  People describe me as a “typa-A personality“.  I see myself as "driven,” and am proud of it!

If I worship power… then I will only care about people and social constructs in terms of how I can control them.  People describe me as ruthless.  I see myself in being a leader… and am proud of it.

If I worship family… then they are the only thing that matters to me… to a fault.  People describe me as “overly protective.”  I see myself as “caring deeply about my family’s lives,” and tell everyone how good they all are.

If I worship intellect… then the only people I give respect and honor to are those more intelligent than me.  People describe me as pompus.  I see myself (secretly) as an intellectual…. and am proud of it.

If I worship status… then I disdain those who don’t measure up to “the kind of person I am.”  People describe me as arrogant.  I see myself as “a good person,” and am proud of it.

If I worship God… then what matters above all things is: Obedience to Him… Honoring Him… Glorifying Him… Faithfulness to Him.  People describe those kind of individuals as godly or holy.  They see themselves as sinners under the grace of God.

If/when anything becomes more important to me than God, it is an idol.  If/when I worship anything other than God, I am in the flesh and cannot please God.  If/when I worship anything other than God… then I become that thing.  When I worship God… I become more like Him and His Son Jesus Christ.

Thanks to Pastor Ron....

Wondering why God created allergies.

John Acuff 's blog article the other day posted the question,"Why did God create allergies?" Have you ever stopped to think about that? Why do they exist? He gave five possible Reasons God Created Allergies

1. Keep me humble.
One Sunday at church, I was snorting so much that the lady next to me just handed me a tissue. She didn’t ask if I needed one, I didn’t ask her for one, she just thrust it in my hand, which is church aisle language for “Shut up, please shut up already with that nose of yours.” Maybe God created allergies to keep me humble. It’s my thorn in the flesh or thorn in the sinus if you will. Seems a little extreme that he would create a planet impacting form of pollen just to keep me humble, but me even thinking that probably proves why he needed to do it.
2. Support pharmacies and pharmacists
My sister in law Marci is studying to be a pharmacist. I have friends who are drug reps. I’m sure someone I know worked on one of the bajillion allergy commercials you see this time of year. There are tens of thousands of people with families and kids and lives supported by people who have allergies. Maybe that’s why God invented them.
3. Teach me patience.
Have you tried to buy allergy medicine lately? In order to prevent illegal purchases, you now have to fill out a form, show your driver’s license, buy one small box at a time, submit to a retinal scan and write a 300 word essay on why you feel you deserve the Claritin D. Maybe this is all just a lesson in patience.
4. Bees need pollen.
In the current issue of National Geographic there’s a story about pollen and bees. I didn’t read it because just looking at the photos made me sneeze and there was an article on kung fu that I found very distracting/awesome. I like honey. Maybe that’s the tradeoff. God created allergies because honey is so fantastic. I think I can get down with that.
5. In all things God works for the good
Is this a Romans 8:28 situation? “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Should I recite that verse every time I feel my itchy red eyes tearing up?
It has to be one of those reasons. Or maybe allergies are part of the fall? Was the Garden of Eden hypoallergenic and then when Adam and Eve got kicked out they were expelled to a pollen filled land of woe? Am I overthinking this? Probably.
Why do you think God created allergies?

Sometimes you just have to ask the tough questions?

Worth Ship

In Argentina, soccer star Diego Maradona has fans so passionate that they began a church in his name and mark their calendars by his birth:  this year is 44 D.D., which stands for a Spanish phrase meaning "the 44th year after Diego's birth."  Annually, the "Church of Maradona" gathers to celebrate his birth:  Ornaments celebrating soccer exploits hang from a Christmas tree, and soccer cleats hang from a cross.  According to news accounts one 49-year-old fan said, "In Diego, I think, I feel, and I exist."

No doubt, the whole thing is just some rabid soccer fans having fun.  My question is, when was the last time you were ever so over-the-top in your passion for God?

Do you live a God-oriented life?  This kind of life is more than just thinking about God from time to time.  Most people wonder what he's like, what he expects, whether he's happy with their lives, and how to get him to meet their needs.  Almost everyone thinks about these things.

But the God-oriented life is very different.  Someone who lives a God-oriented life is someone who is...

. . . stirred by the greatness of God
. . . moved by the grace of God
. . . expectant for the activity of God
. . . hungry for the word of God
. . . passionate for the glory of God
. . . hopeful for an experience with God

Do I, do you live a God-oriented life?  The question is, when was the last time you were ever so over-the-top in your passion for God?

(copied/revised from a recently read blog by Tom Goodman)

O God Our Help in Ages Past

Fierce winds blow, lightning flashes, and thunder cracks so loudly it shakes your home. That kind of storm makes us quake with fear and wonder how we’ll ever survive. And that’s the kind of storm we feel each time another terrorist strikes, or a job is lost, or a loved one dies.

In the midst of such storms, our hearts can find hope in the words of Isaac Watts hymn "O God Our Help in Ages Past."
            1.Our God, our help in ages past,

               Our hope for years to come,
               Our shelter from the stormy blast,
               And our eternal home.
            2.Under the shadow of Thy throne

                Thy saints have dwelt secure;
                Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
                And our defense is sure.
As the hymn writer states, God is "our shelter from the stormy blast....Sufficient is Thine arm alone." No matter what tragedy strikes, God can protect us.
But how can we be so sure that God is there in the storm? The hymn answers that question in these words, "from everlasting you are God, to endless years the same." God doesn’t change. He guided the Israelites safely to the Promised Land. He raised Jesus from the dead. And when we look at our own past, we’ll always notice the same thing: God was there to see us through the storms. Knowing that, we can live with hope that he’ll protect us in the present too.
What storms shake you today? Maybe you feel like an emotional wreck. Maybe you’re fighting tough spiritual battles. Maybe your family circumstances have spiraled out of control. But no matter what "stormy blast" may be swirling around you, hold on to the promise of this hymn. Let the truth of Psalm 90 be your strength for you just as it was for Isaac Watts so long ago. You can be confident that God will see you through.
O God You are, You are our help you are our helper, To all generations you will be, forever and ever, Our shield and our eternal hope, O Lord; You are the Ancient of Days and worthy of our praise.