God Grants Us Mercy

 

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Come and hear all who fear God,

And I will declare what He has done for my soul.

I cried to Him with my mouth,

And he was extolled with my tongue.

If I regard iniquity in my heart,

the Lord will not hear.

But certainly God has heard me;

He has attended to the voice of my prayer.

Blessed be God,

Who has not turned away my prayer,

Nor His mercy from me.

                                                                                                Psalm 66:16-20 (NKJV)

This message was directed to the Chief Musician in the Temple.

Come and hear all who fear God,

The author of this Psalm invites all to hear God’s be proclaimed to those present at either Passover or a victory celebration. ^1.

And I will declare what He has done for my soul.

This passage could be the praise of one worshiper. ² That worshiper desires to give praise for what God has done for him.

How often do we forgo giving praise to God and sharing testimony of His workings in our lives?

I cried to Him with my mouth,

The author shares that He took his hurts to the LORD and left them there. We should always give God our hurt feelings before we tell others around us about them.

And he was extolled with my tongue.

The author/speaker praised God as He prayed. Sometimes, we forget to praise Him for the good things He has given us.

If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.

The author/speaker has learned that God does not hear the prayers of an unrepentant sinner. Even in today’s world, God does not entertain sin. We should seek to keep our hearts and minds clear of sinful thoughts and habits.

But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer.

The author/speaker most likely saw answers to his prayers to God. As Christians, we have to live our lives in such a way that we know God has heard our prayers and that He will answer them.

Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me.

The author/speaker chooses to bless God for not turning His back on his prayers and has granted him mercy. Because of our humanity, we often forget to thank God for answers to our prayers.

_____________

1.) Study Note: Jeremiah Study Bible page 748.

2.) Op. Cit.

Be Kind, Forgive

 

Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,

forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Ephesians 4:32 (KJV)

Several years ago, as I prepared a Sunday school lesson, I first found this verse in preparing a Sunday school lesson. I was caught by the last section. forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Recently, I read an obituary of a lady who had been a member of the church I attended as a teenager. It said that she had been a member of the BYKOTA Sunday school class. I remembered one of my friends back then telling some of us that the name stood for Be Ye Kind One To Another.

We need to be forgiving to one another because God has forgiven each of us for our sins. I am not aware of anything done by another person can compare to what we may have done when we sin against God. He forgave us when he was on the cross. We must learn to forgive those who have caused us hurt.

Later on, I had an occasion to confess something to a neighbor of ours. I wrote her a note and explained that I had said something that caused hurt to some of her family. She called me and said, “We’ve been friends for too long to let something like that come between us.” I truly felt forgiven for my error in judgment. 

That neighbor lady now resides in heaven, and I know she is in my cloud of witnesses. 

At the end of Jesus' discourse on the Lord's Prayer, Jesus tells us it is imperative that we forgive others in order for God to forgive us. (Matthew 6:14-15)

Experiencing God

 

                  http://www.christianbooks.com// BibleStudies

I believe it was A. W. Tozer who wrote in his book, Authentic Worship that we have to experience God in order to fully know Him.

Some people tell us they know “about” God. By this they may mean they heard of Him as a child or they heard His name taken in vain. There once was a comedy series where the main character would respond to something she didn’t care for with, “God’s going to get you for that!”

In order to know God, a person must spend time with Him. In order to fully know God we have to experience Him. I have found this thought to be true.

Two weeks before COVID-19 shut down our world, I fell in my kitchen and damaged my good foot. At the orthopedic doctor’s office, I was given a medical boot. I could not make friends with it. From time to time, it would cause me to pitch backward. One day, I got up and used my chrome walker to get to the bathroom. I did what I had to do; got up and washed my hands. I turned toward the door and felt myself falling backward. Our bath tub was behind me. I had the feeling I was going to fall across the tub and hit my head.(We had lost my Husband’s sister because she fell and had hit her head.) I let out a short yell. Hubby was there in an instant.

He stood in the doorway as I felt two strong hands grab my sides, just above my waist. The next thing I knew those hands sat me down on the edge of the tub.

I had never experienced anything like that before. Since then, I have found a peacefulness I have never had before. I am not as prone to get upset at something that happens. I am more selective on what I watch on television. I find myself praying at different times of the day. I thank God for all of these blessings He has given me.

Pray About Everything

 

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:4-7 (NKJV)

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice!

Each of us has something over which we can rejoice.

* Did you sleep well?

* Is the sun shining?

* Did you have a good breakfast?

* Is your house warm?

* Are your children/grandchildren safe from harm?

Let your gentleness be known to all men.

Gentleness is one of the fruit of the Spirit. When we can react to a circumstance gently, we show others that we belong to the Lord. Jesus was gentle when He spoke to the woman caught in adultery. He also spoke gently when he spoke to Mary and her sister Martha when their brother Lazarus had died.

The Lord is at hand.

God is near to each of His children. When we face harsh circumstances, all we have to do is ask Him to guide us through the problem. We can do this non-verbally, just by asking Him with our thoughts or through our hearts.

Be anxious for nothing,

Anxiety sometimes causes circumstances to appear more serious than they actually are.

Anxiety can also lead to serious health issues. A counselor once told me that, as humans, we sometimes have a tendency to own circumstances that are not ours. As Christians we have to decide whether the issue at hand actually belongs to us.

but in everything by prayer and supplication,

Paul tells us that we must pray about everything.

* Pray about your friends and their family circumstances.

* Pray about the issues of our nation and the nations of our world.

* Pray about your finances.

* Pray about your relationships.

* Pray about your neighborhood.

with thanksgiving,

We must thank Him for all we have, for the people in our lives. We should thank Him for the merchants in our towns and cities and those who work for them.

let your requests be made known to God;

We must remember to make those requests to God first. Sometimes, we must ask others to pray for unspoken requests. On social media, I have seen requests for prayer that said, “God knows why.”

and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding,

The peace of God is what we desire in dire situations. It is that peace that carries us through those tough times,

*When we initially deal with the loss of a loved one.

*When we go through personal illness. When we go through times of uneasiness, personal or national.

Some people go through times each day where they need the peace of God to get them through.

will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Jesus guards the hearts and minds of each of us. He stands at the door of our hearts and reminds us of His love for us and that He can stave off the attacks of the enemy that might cause us to doubt ourselves or allow us to become unduly upset over something that would cause harm to us, His children.

Mustard Seed Faith

 

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“For I truly say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed,

you will say to this mountain, ’Move from here to there’

and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Matthew 17:21 (ESV)

Words of Jesus.

The disciples had not been able to cast a demon out of a young boy. Jesus did it without a problem.

In our prayer lives, we sometimes do not get our requests granted as we would like. Jesus tells His disciples that their faith was small.

I am sure each of you have had times when God honored your prayer requests in a way that you knew the answer was from Him.

A Sunday school teacher I had in another church often used the expression, “Pray in faith, believing.”

*We must believe that God hears our prayers.

*We must be sure that there is nothing keeping us separated from God.

Our hearts must be clear before and after we pray.

*We must commune with Him daily.

At least daily

*We must remember to give thanks for what He has done for us.

He likes to hear that we are thankful.

* We must believe that God will answer our prayers, as He desires.

It is our job to pray. It is His job to answer as He sees fit.

At my church, we have a prayer group, called Mustard Seeds. Our numbers are down at the moment but God hears our prayers and answers them according to what is best for the circumstance.

Pray Constantly

 

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Love one another with brotherly affection.

Outdo one another in showing honor.

Do not be slothful in zeal,

be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation,

be constant in prayer.

Romans 12:10-12 (ESV)

Words of Paul

The Apostle Paul wrote these words to “ all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints….” (Romans 1:7)

As God’s children, we are to treat each other as if they were our brothers and sisters. He instructs us to do this because we are all God’s children.

Paul further tells us we are to “Outdo one another in showing honor.” When we choose to do something for someone, we should do it because we are led to. We are not supposed to expect something from him or her in return.

Paul tells us we are not to be ‘slothful in zeal,” by this he means that we are not to be slow in passion or enthusiasm.¹

He next tells us to “be fervent in Spirit”.

Being fervent simply means having great depth or feeling.²

He next tells us to “serve the Lord.” Simply stated, we are to work for the Lord, our God.

Now, some of us are unable to do what we used to do for God. For me, I am able to pray and send cards to those who are ill, have lost a loved one, or try to encourage those who seem to be down.

He tells us to “Rejoice in hope,” We are to take pleasure³ in hope and all the good things God allows us to experience.

He, then tells us to “be patient in tribulation,” This is one area of my life that I have struggled with for a long time.

It’s been in recent years that I have found myself to be calm during something that could cause a person much stress. (In the past, I could be a basket case when things got to tense.)

Paul then tells us to “be constant in prayer.” Sometimes, we have to mentally send up sentence prayers to God. At other times we can receive a phone call from someone who asks us to pray for them. We can pray for that need right then. We should always be ready to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as those who need to know Jesus.

_________

1,2,and 3 are taken from Merriam-Webster Dictionary. com Accessed 4/25/2023

April Reflections

 

Easter Weekend

Roger did make it home for most of the weekend. On Saturday, we went to Red Lobster and had broiled Rainbow Trout. (The last time we tried to eat there they were out of it.) Jim dropped in there on Thursday that week to ask if they had trout. And to ask if the would have it on Saturday. It was a good thing they had it when we got there.

Sunday Morning Roger and I ate Easter breakfast at church. The ladies who worked at the breakfast did an excellent job of making everyone feel special. Below are some pictures of the table decorations that a friend of mine had made for the event. The pictures here in this post were taken by me. The creator is a friend of mine from church; her name is Patsy York. She is very talented. Her sister. Billie Haston made the corsages in top of each sign.

                                                     

                                             Spoiler Alert   THE TOMB WAS EMPTY

I’m really feeling energetic

The week after Easter I decided I needed to start working on our house, cleaning and rearranging some of our things. One project was to clean on the front porch. It’s enclosed and I like to sit out there when the weather is nice. At one point, I had to rest. I sat on the settee and noticed some more things that needed gone. I don’t remember sitting out there last summer, so it has been awhile. Alas, the weather turned cold, again. So that project has been put on hold. As I sat here waiting for my computer to format a disc, my cell phone received a frost advisory warning. That’s life here in Indiana.

                                             

                                                             

                                                        Jesus died for you knowing that

                                                        you might never love Him back.

                                                            That Is True Love

Inventory Day

My church is in the process of disaffiliation from the United Methodist denomination. On April 22, the church trustees had an inventory day because we have to submit the amount of items, we possess to the Indiana Annual Conference. I was able to participate in this task.

                                                  

                                                        

                                                  I always thought love was shaped like a heart.

                                                   But love is actually shaped like a CROSS.

Reading

So far this year I have read six + books. Three of them I had read before. I am awaiting one from a publisher to read and review.

A Prayer Answered

I had a prayer request about which I could only tell God. I made a post on Facebook that told of my need for prayer and God knew why. I shared it in some detail with a Facebook prayer group to which I belong. I received encouragement from Facebook friends who go to my church and from people I graduated with from high school. My answer came just before Easter weekend.

Writing

I have been doing some writing. Mostly posts for here on my blog. This month’s theme stated out as prayer but I had some other thoughts that God must have wanted me to explore. So this month will have a mixture of topics.

That's all for now.