"This is the day which the LORD has made," says the Bible (Ps. 118:24, NASB). "Let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Reading the whole of Psalm 118 reveals that the context of this famous quote is the celebration of victory after a hard-fought battle. Probably the reason so many of us are reluctant to celebrate each day as God's gift is that all we look at are the battles. If we take the psalm as a guide to daily living, its recommended approach is: start the morning with praise and thanksgiving; then ask God confidently for help and support in the day's coming struggles; and you will be able to fight those struggles "in the name of the LORD" and end the day thanking Him for the great things He has done for and through you.
True joy does not mean merely savoring the easy blessings. It means trusting that God is in control and that the best possible blessings are on their way.
Today is the day that our Lord has made:
Let us fill up our hearts with His joy;
He has made us all new by the power of His love,
Bringing peace that no foe can destroy.
Today is the day that our Lord has made:
Let us all of His blessings review;
He has filled up our lives with the gifts of His love,
And each morning His mercies are new.
Today is the day that our Lord has made:
Let us ever rejoice in His love;
Not the woes of this world, nor the demons of hell,
Can keep back His great gifts from above.
Today is the day that our Lord has made:
Let us stand in His strength and rejoice:
He's preparing a place, in a Day yet to come,
For all souls that give ear to His voice.
Showing posts with label present. Show all posts
Showing posts with label present. Show all posts
Friday, September 27, 2013
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
The God of Promise
The first week of Advent is a good time to contemplate the promises of God, not only because Advent represents a period of "looking forward to," but because the whole story of Jesus--past, present, and future--is permeated with the concept of promise. We remember the fulfilled promises of His birth and Resurrection; we look forward to the end of time with His promised coming in glory; we rely daily on His promises to be with us always and strengthen us through every trial. No wonder that Paul wrote, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ" (2 Cor. 1:20a, NIV, emphasis added).
Sadly, many of us twist the Scriptures to convince ourselves God has promised to give us everything we want--and on our own schedules. Many former Bible-believers have stopped speaking to God because He failed to deliver what they were counting on. "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it" (John 14:14) does not mean we can pray, "Lord, please let me win a million dollars in the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes; In Jesus's name, Amen" and then go out and charge $500,000 on our credit cards since we'll soon have the money to pay it off. The Biblical--and sometimes contemporary--records of miraculous healings do not mean that every Christian is guaranteed to live, strong and vigorous, for a century or more. And the idea that "if God doesn't give you what you ask for, the only explanation is that you're doing something to hold Him back" has absolutely no Scriptural basis. A surprising number of Christians, far too wise to grant every craving their small children express, seem to consider their own judgment of "what's best for me" to be infallible.
Not that the devout of the first century did any better. The Jews of Jesus's time fully believed God's promise to send a Savior Who would free His people from oppression and set up a new Kingdom of peace and security. What they did wrong was to assume that freedom and security could mean nothing other than immediate relief from all earthly hardships. Nor was it only the enemies of Christ who made that mistake. Even at the very end of Jesus's earthly ministry, with the Resurrection an accomplished fact, some of His closest followers were still thinking in terms of "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6b). Like them, we become mentally fixated on our desires of the moment. We also forget how many times we have gotten what we wanted most--only to realize that we would have been better off without it.
Thank God that in the end, none of His promises will disappoint us.
We promise things lightly and forget them quickly,
The sacred word of honor grown rare.
We need a few lessons in keeping a promise;
Our word should be more than a breath of air.
The Lord is our great Example;
He has never broken His word.
He has made many promises to us--
Have you heard?
He promised to come as our Savior;
He promised of guilt we'd be rid;
He promised to die and to rise again--
And He did!
He promised to be with us always;
He promised to give strength to us;
He promised to lead us in paths of life--
And He does!
He promised to take us to Heaven;
He promised God's plan to fulfill;
He promised to come back to earth someday--
And He will!
Sadly, many of us twist the Scriptures to convince ourselves God has promised to give us everything we want--and on our own schedules. Many former Bible-believers have stopped speaking to God because He failed to deliver what they were counting on. "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it" (John 14:14) does not mean we can pray, "Lord, please let me win a million dollars in the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes; In Jesus's name, Amen" and then go out and charge $500,000 on our credit cards since we'll soon have the money to pay it off. The Biblical--and sometimes contemporary--records of miraculous healings do not mean that every Christian is guaranteed to live, strong and vigorous, for a century or more. And the idea that "if God doesn't give you what you ask for, the only explanation is that you're doing something to hold Him back" has absolutely no Scriptural basis. A surprising number of Christians, far too wise to grant every craving their small children express, seem to consider their own judgment of "what's best for me" to be infallible.
Not that the devout of the first century did any better. The Jews of Jesus's time fully believed God's promise to send a Savior Who would free His people from oppression and set up a new Kingdom of peace and security. What they did wrong was to assume that freedom and security could mean nothing other than immediate relief from all earthly hardships. Nor was it only the enemies of Christ who made that mistake. Even at the very end of Jesus's earthly ministry, with the Resurrection an accomplished fact, some of His closest followers were still thinking in terms of "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6b). Like them, we become mentally fixated on our desires of the moment. We also forget how many times we have gotten what we wanted most--only to realize that we would have been better off without it.
Thank God that in the end, none of His promises will disappoint us.
We promise things lightly and forget them quickly,
The sacred word of honor grown rare.
We need a few lessons in keeping a promise;
Our word should be more than a breath of air.
The Lord is our great Example;
He has never broken His word.
He has made many promises to us--
Have you heard?
He promised to come as our Savior;
He promised of guilt we'd be rid;
He promised to die and to rise again--
And He did!
He promised to be with us always;
He promised to give strength to us;
He promised to lead us in paths of life--
And He does!
He promised to take us to Heaven;
He promised God's plan to fulfill;
He promised to come back to earth someday--
And He will!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Lord of Time
All of us have memories we wish we could wipe out, or better yet, go back and do differently. All of us have moments when we would like to be anywhere but in the present situation. And all of us have at least occasional fears regarding an uncertain future.
It's hard to say what's hardest: dealing with the wounds of the past; coping with the struggles of the present; or conquering worry about the future. All three really feed on each other. "Lord of the Past," a popular Christian song in the early 1990s, talks about how the past can make the present miserable--and probably implies that the feelings and actions of the present affect the future. Past sin begets present agony. Present "just this once" begets future habit. Worrying in the present about the future can have especially unpleasant results; once fretting becomes a habit it soon grows into a compulsion, and the failure of past worries to materialize is more likely to add guilt for being so "ridiculous" than to actually lessen anxiety about the future.
"Live in the moment" is the standard pop psychology remedy--and can even be said to have Scriptural warrant (cf. Mt. 6:34). But if we try to conquer past, present, and future by our own willpower, we invariably fall short. God is the only One Who can be trusted with things to come and Who can turn even the worst past into a beautiful present and future (cf. Gen. 50:20; Rom. 8:28).
Things work out best if we make Him Lord of our time.
Our God is Lord of all past times--
So take courage, all you with regret:
However black your past deeds,
However many
Your lost opportunities,
There is hope for you yet.
Our God is Lord of the present--
So take courage if all life seems bleak:
However small your best deeds,
However scanty
Your best opportunities,
God gives strength to the weak.
Our God is Lord of the future--
So take courage; though you cannot see
How the life you are living
Can bear a harvest
From what you have been given,
God knows all that will be.
Our God is Lord over all time--
The Beginning and the End is He:
All past guilt He shall banish,
And He guards the future
Until time shall vanish,
Swallowed in eternity.
It's hard to say what's hardest: dealing with the wounds of the past; coping with the struggles of the present; or conquering worry about the future. All three really feed on each other. "Lord of the Past," a popular Christian song in the early 1990s, talks about how the past can make the present miserable--and probably implies that the feelings and actions of the present affect the future. Past sin begets present agony. Present "just this once" begets future habit. Worrying in the present about the future can have especially unpleasant results; once fretting becomes a habit it soon grows into a compulsion, and the failure of past worries to materialize is more likely to add guilt for being so "ridiculous" than to actually lessen anxiety about the future.
"Live in the moment" is the standard pop psychology remedy--and can even be said to have Scriptural warrant (cf. Mt. 6:34). But if we try to conquer past, present, and future by our own willpower, we invariably fall short. God is the only One Who can be trusted with things to come and Who can turn even the worst past into a beautiful present and future (cf. Gen. 50:20; Rom. 8:28).
Things work out best if we make Him Lord of our time.
Our God is Lord of all past times--
So take courage, all you with regret:
However black your past deeds,
However many
Your lost opportunities,
There is hope for you yet.
Our God is Lord of the present--
So take courage if all life seems bleak:
However small your best deeds,
However scanty
Your best opportunities,
God gives strength to the weak.
Our God is Lord of the future--
So take courage; though you cannot see
How the life you are living
Can bear a harvest
From what you have been given,
God knows all that will be.
Our God is Lord over all time--
The Beginning and the End is He:
All past guilt He shall banish,
And He guards the future
Until time shall vanish,
Swallowed in eternity.
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