Consider, "The Lord is righteous in all His ways, glorious in all His works. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them." Ps. 145:17-19
This tells me that no matter what may be going on around my life, God is in control. His ways are righteous and glorious. I often can't see how what's happening to me is righteous and glorious - but I know it is! Everything you and I go thru prepares us for something else down the road - and that something else isn't necessarily something bad or traumatic. It could be preparatory for trouble or hardship but it could also be for blessing and developing of character and ministry.
The "I wills" of this Psalm are instructive. Vs. 1,2 "I will bless Your name," vs. 2, "I will praise Your name forever and ever," vs. 5, " I will meditate on Your glorious splendor," vs. 6, "I will declare Your greatness," vss. 10-12, "praise, bless, speak, talk, make known..." All these exhort us to openly glorify God all the time!
He is always at work in our lives. He is always instructing. He is always preparing. Despise not the day of small things or the chastening of the Lord - it's all in His hands and He is fashioning us every day to be more like Jesus than we were the day before! Truly His greatness is beyond our understanding. Let Him work in you today!
In His Arm's,
Pat
Psalm 145: “I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. And men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts; and I will tell of Your greatness. They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness, and shall shout joyfully of Your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in loving-kindness. The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works. All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord, and Your godly ones shall bless you. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, and talk of Your power; to make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts, and the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord sustains all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in due time. You open Your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and kind in all His deeds. The lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them. The Lord keeps all who love Him; but all the wicked, He will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord; and all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.”
ReplyDeleteAnd I am full of praise because I am not deserving but God gives anyways: He sustains those who fall and raises those bowed down. He takes care of our needs at the moment of our need and His hand is open. He is near, He hears, He gives, He fulfills, He saves. He is.
“Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.” Isaiah 26:8 “I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears” Psalm 34:4 “He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.” Isaiah 33:6 The Lord has given us everything we need, He sustains us when we fall, raises those who are oppressed, feeds us spiritually and physically, opens His hand to all –a right hand to fight the battles, a hand that we can’t be snatched out of, a hand that took the nails on the cross, a hand out stretched to gather all who seek Him close to His heart. “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” 2 Peter 1:3 “He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; v. 19 Lord I love you and I give up my desires and make Your desires my desires. “what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own son, but delivered Him up for us all , how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” Romans 8:31,32
AMEN AMEN
I was down troddened and ready to express my anger and discontent. I sway back and forth into the love of my Lord then to my evil thoughts and selfish feelings. I am being taken advantage of, I am being used, I, I, I and then I read your blog Pat and I am convicted once again. It is such a blessing to turn to all these precious thoughts and expressions of love for our God. I know I am wretched and then I thank our God for allowing me a place to go and clease my wickedness once again. Why do I suddenly decide to read this blog at 3AM when I am set on writing to my loved ones all my hostilities? I know that God has directed me instead to your blog to encourage and lift me back towards Him and I know that I am to be living in truth and in spirit. I draw near to Him and then He draws near to me. Praise God!
ReplyDeleteI am now on a death watch with my mother and I can relate to your struggles and pain with Joyce. I want that to be my only struggle but it is not. There are so many struggles going on at the same time. One minute I am settled and at peace and the next I feel as if I will explode.
Thank you Pat for sharing your struggles over these many months. I have kept up with reading how you are doing and I have been blessed by your blog many times.
I have a new attitude and will go into prayer instead of into a pity party. I pray Lord for the strength that I need to get through these difficult times and I pray for Pat to be able to continue to bless those around him with his words about You Lord. Thank You My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.