Blessings

Psalm 128:1 (NKJV)

Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways.

Today I just want to share a favorite song about the blessings of life.

"Blessings" by Laura Story from the album Blessings

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace

Comfort for family, protection while we sleep

We pray for healing, for prosperity

We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

And all the while, You hear each spoken need

Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear

We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near

We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love

As if every promise from Your word is not enough

And all the while, You hear each desperate plea

And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us

When darkness seems to win

We know that pain reminds this heart

That this is not,

This is not our home

It's not our home

'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near

What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life

Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy

What if trials of this life

The rain, the storms, the hardest nights

Are your mercies in disguise

God watching over us

1 John 5:7 (NKJV)

7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.

This is the apostle’s reminder that we are watched over by three witnesses. All are God: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.

In 2012, on a cold November night in Times Square, Officer Lawrence DePrimo was working a counterterrorism post when he encountered an older, barefooted homeless man. The police officer, who is normally assigned to different section of New York City, said, "I looked over and someone was laughing at this elderly [homeless] gentleman who had no socks (and) no shoes. You could see the blisters from a distance. I had two pairs of socks and I was still cold."

So, he asked the man if he had anything to cover his feet. "It's okay, Sir, I've never had a pair of shoes," the homeless man replied. "But God bless you." As the homeless man strolled away, DePrimo caught up to him and asked him his shoe size before walking into a Skechers on W. 42nd St. DiPrimo told a worker, "I'd like to buy a pair of boots, something that will last a while. I don't care what the price is." A few minutes later, the kindhearted cop bought a $100 pair of all-weather boots, size 12. A store manager later said, "We were just kind of shocked. Most of us are New Yorkers and we just kind of pass by that kind of thing. Especially in this neighborhood."

The act of kindness would have gone unnoticed and mostly forgotten, had it not been for Jennifer Foster, a tourist from Arizona. Foster said, "The officer expected NOTHING in return and did not know I was watching." Her snapshot—taken with her cellphone and posted to the New York Police Department's official Facebook page—made Officer DePrimo an overnight Internet hero. As of June, 2014, the post had attracted over 600,000 "likes" and more than 48,000 comments—a runaway hit for the NYPD. Many comments have pointed to how this simple act of kindness has "restored my faith in humanity."

[David Goodman, "Photo of Officer Giving Boots to Barefoot Man Warms Hearts Online," The New York Times (11-28-12); Amanda Mickelberg, "NYPD Officer Larry DePrimo immortalized in tourist's photo ..." New York Post (12-18-12)]

Out of an act of kindness this police officer was watching after this homeless man by tending to his needs. We have a God in heaven who watches over us, looking out for us and taking care of our needs. Give your cares and worries to God in prayer that he would hear them and help you through any difficult times you are having.

God knows us

Isaiah 29:15 (NJKV)

15 Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, And their works are in the dark; They say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”

In these verses Isaiah speaks to the people about their blindness to their own disobedience. He warns them of the heart ache that will follow when they conceal troubles and sins from the Lord. For they try to hide in darkness and are even bold enough to question, who sees us, and who knows us, when they know God does.

I had an elementary principal named, Mr. Rhame. Mr. Rhame was an incredible, kind, compassionate,  and caring principal; and best of all he remembered the names of his student. And he didn’t just remember them while they were in his school; he remembered their names as they grew up. When I was an adult and Mr. Rhame would see me out somewhere he would yell out, “Hi Artie, how are you doing?” It was always a greeting that warmed my heart. It wasn’t that I was special; Mr. Rhame enjoyed his students and remembered their names. Countless other people can tell you the same story. If Mr. Rhame saw them he would call out their name with a greeting to them. Mr. Rhame knew us because he had a bond as our principal; a special bond that lasted a lifetime.

As much as Mr. Rhame knew us, God knows us in much deeper way. God knows our names. God knows our actions. God knows our feelings. And what do we try to do? We try to hide those things from God. Yet, God already knows all about us and then we think like the people Isaiah addressed, who sees us and who knows us? I’ll tell you the truth, besides God there are more people who see us and know what we are doing than we think.

We are supposed to turn all our cares, all our worries, all our problems and all our sins to God. Remember God already knows all this stuff, so why should we tell Him? Because it helps us to become free from the problems we are experiencing. We release those problems to God so He can help us deal with them.

When you are bitter and angry towards a person, who are you hurting? You are hurting yourself because the other person may have little to no clue you feel the way you do. You are basically letting them live in your head tormenting you as they walk around happy. When you keep sins a secret to yourself, who gets hurt? Several people get hurt. First you hurt yourself because the sin you carry weights you down as a heavy burden. Second the person who you have sinned against is usually hurt as a consequence of the sin and often they don’t know where the hurt is coming from.

Remember God knows all this stuff, so take a moment and talk to Him about it. Just carry on a conversation, a prayer, to share the feelings of your heart. Then let God speak to you and guide you on the right paths of life. And remember Jesus is there with you and comforting them as you let go of your troubles.

Trust the promises of The Lord

Isaiah 26:4 (NIV)

4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.

Let us never lose the promises The Lord has given us. For The Bible says Trust in the Lord and from those words spring everlasting promises. Psalm 118:8 says, “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans.”

Eleanor Turnbull, a veteran missionary to Haiti, collected and translated the prayers of the Christians who lived in the mountains of Haiti. These profound and child-like prayers are recorded in the book God Is No Stranger. Here are four prayers about God's grace and protection.

Lord,

 All my life, I have been just a weed;

 I became a flower.

 I am young and I want to grow and be cultivated

 so I can become more beautiful.

Lord,

 In Christ, we are a grain of corn in a clear bottle.

 Satan comes like a chicken and pecks for the corn, but never reaches it.

Lord,

 How glad we are that we don't hold you,

 you hold us.

Lord,

 Don't let us put our load of trouble in a basket on our head.

 Help us put them on Jesus' head.

 Then we won't have headaches.

These are the simple prayers of people looking for the promises of God to be fulfilled in the lives. They are the expressions of heartfelt emotions. From the words of the song Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus, by Helen H Lemmel come these thoughts.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;

Believe Him, and all will be well:

Then go to a world that is dying,

His perfect salvation to tell!

The difficult times of Ebola

Matthew 24:17-21 (NIV)

17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

Jesus is explaining the end times to the disciples after they asked when the end of the world would be coming. In the verses above Jesus gave some warnings and things that would take place before the end of the world approached.

The Ebola patient being held in a Texas isolation unit was a good neighbor who helped carry a pregnant woman who was convulsing and vomiting blood to an Ebola ward and then home again less than week before he left Liberia for Texas, neighbors told ABC News.

The pregnant woman who was 19 and about seven months along became sick on Friday, Sept. 12, according to neighbor Irene Seyou. On Monday, Sept. 15, she went to a clinic, but was told they couldn't help her and advised her to go to a hospital. After returning from the clinic, the woman started convulsing that night and neighbors, including Duncan, helped carry her to a taxi, which took her to the maternity ward at JFK Hospital, which wouldn't take her. The hospital's Ebola treatment unit also turned her away. They then drove to another hospital named ELWA2, which also couldn't take her, according to Seyou.

Duncan rode with her during this last trip and when the cab returned, it stopped at the edge of housing compound and Duncan helped carry her to home. During this time, she was vomiting blood, Seyou told ABC News.

She died the next day, Seyou said.

[ABC news, Texas Ebola Patient Was Good Neighbor Who Helped Dying Woman]

The Bible tells us that even before the end times come “How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!” Only God the Father knows the exact time when the world as we know it will come to an end. However, The Bible still holds true about things we will see as we draw closer to an end.

As I read about the Ebola virus in an online article; I was reminded of the verse above when it was mentioned in the article that women who are pregnant and catch Ebola have little hope of survival. I worry we have thought this problem was not ours and we will deal with it when the times comes. Well the time has come and we can say how dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! L

Let us take action to do what we can. Pray for those who are sick. Support charities that are providing aid and relief to the efforts against the Ebola virus. Remember above all that God is in control and will protect you as you stay close to Him.

The snare of extremes

Proverbs 29:25 (NIV)

25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

Those may be said to flatter their neighbours who commend and applaud that good in them (the good they do or the good they have) which really either is not or is not such as they represent it, and who profess that esteem and that affection for them which really they have not; these spread a net for their feet. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

In his Focus on the Family magazine article entitled "The Problem with Nice Guys," Paul Coughlin insists Christians must avoid passive and aggressive extremes, opting instead for assertiveness. He offers the following example from pop culture to illustrate what Christian assertiveness looks like:

Three major personality types are found among the judges of the popular reality TV show American Idol. Passive Paula Abdul is gracious but not always truthful. Aggressive Simon Cowell is truthful but rarely gracious. Assertive Randy Jackson is often truthful and gracious. Be like Randy.

We can’t afford to sugar coat the truth or we will fall into the trap of believing the things we do wrong in life are OK. We also can’t afford to be too harsh with ourselves; for when we do that we feel shame and guilt. Instead we need to be honest with ourselves and The Lord so He can guide us to the right path and we are willing to follow.

Enticement

Proverbs 1:10 (NKJV)

10 My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.

This is a warning passed along from father to son, “My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.” It is a good message for any parent to give their children as they enter into the world. They need to know there are those who will lure them with greed and other methods to commit acts of sin. King Solomon continues in this chapter of Proverbs to explain the consequences for taking such actions to his son.

There are some things a person never forgets, in my case it was an act of greed enticed by a friend. I was young and my mother had taken me and a friend to a convenience store. Inside the store was a young girl probably around our age that had a handful of pennies. She accidentally dropped them and they rolled all over the floor.

My friend whispered to me, “Stand on one of those and we can pick it up when she leaves.” Back then a penny could buy you three pieces of bubble gum. So I walked over and stood on one of the pennies until the girl had picked up the others off the floor. She obviously didn’t know how many pennies she had; she was just there to buy some candy with the amount she had.

My mother was still talking to someone in the store, so I used that time as an opportunity. I picked up the penny, grabbed three pieces of bubble gum and paid with that penny. After all, it wasn’t stealing if I was paying, right? I even gave my friend one of the pieces of bubble gum for the advice. Wasn’t that sharing?

My mother had finished her conversation and she got us in the car to take us home. During the ride home my friend mentioned how I had gotten the penny and bought the bubble gum. It was at that point I felt the shame and guilt of taking that girl’s penny. If it already wasn’t bad enough, my mother gave me a lecture about STEALING the girl’s penny. The sin I committed many, many years ago is still imprinted on my mind today.

Warnings to others are important. They are important for us to give our children so they understand the consequences before they are faced with them. Warnings are important to us so we also know what not to do and keep safe. So, my friends, if sinners entice you, do not consent!