YOU ARE MORE THAN USELESS!
Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.
….Let the whole world know what he has done.
Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.
….Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. Psalm 105:1-2 NLT
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This past Friday marked the seven-year point from when More than Useless put out its very first post. As I reflected and went back and read that post, it still rings true, and we would do well to read through it once more. If it is possible, it is even more true today.
For those who might be interested, here are a few stats about how More than Useless has impacted people over the last seven years.
– 1,779 posts published
– over 74,000 views
– over 41,000 people from 150 countries and 21 territories around the world
….have witnessed God’s impact on me. And I pray that He impacts them, too!
Maybe for some, it changes a life. Others may have one more drop of God’s mercy to moisten the hardness of their hearts, drawing them ever closer to Himself. Only God knows and eternity will tell, how He has used what I have given. May I remain faithful to His call on my life. And you…you cannot sidestep His call! We are all called by the Creator God of the universe to follow Him, giving Him what we have to offer, no matter how small. And He will bless your offerings as well!
He loves us and he has chosen us! What more could we ask! You, my friends, are MORE THAN USELESS!
Here is my very first post from June 17, 2015. May you hear God speaking to you today, as well!
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Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us… Ephesians 1:1-14 NLT
It’s wonderful to see this amazing statement, which I have often proclaimed, firmly set in Your Word. To know that You loved us from eternity past should fill us with great peace and eradicate any doubt as to whose we are.
Help this to be foundational in how I think of myself and how I think of all others, even those that “Christians”* tend to reject. Father, help me to see people through the lens of Your perspective.
*A little expounding on my use of this term in this way might be helpful. So-called “followers of Christ” have gotten a nasty reputation in recent years. Far too often we are haters and that’s not just a label others have put on us – many who bear the name of Christ are haters. If “sinners” don’t agree with us and they take a stand for what they believe, we don’t love them, pray for them, or try to live lives before them that draw them to Christ. Instead, we blast them, berate them and out-and-out condemn them! In the Old Testament and the New, we are told over and over again, “Love your neighbor as yourself…” Read the Gospels and you will not find one example of Christ condemning a “sinner”, he loves them, forgives them, and commands them to “go and sin no more” (John 8:11 NLT) but, in no way, shape or form, does he hate them. On the other hand, He does condemn the spiritual leaders of His day. They were two-faced (hypocrites) and self-serving. They had the Law, and they knew the Law but chose not to obey it. I for one am grateful that he does not condemn sinners for I wholeheartedly agree with Paul when he wrote in 1 Timothy 1:15, “This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all.” NLT Father, help us all to see people through the lens of Your perspective.
June 19th, 2022, Sun, 10:09 pm
Dependence vs. Independence
This week has had different components, Father, but it has still been full and has worn on me physically and mentally. May our time together bear good fruit. Amen.
Acts 17:24-34 (<<click here to read the passage)
Not too awful long ago, when our son was graduating from high school, one of his friends, in a speech at an awards ceremony, spoke of her and her fellow graduates’ newly earned independence. My wife enjoyed ribbing them both for some time afterward because becoming independent may sound like one of the best liberations a young person can experience. It has its pros but in reality, it also has many cons.
Merriam-Webster defines independence as the quality or state of not requiring or relying on something else. It’s freedom but it is also chock full of important decisions about your future.
Dependence can be restraining and confining for again as Merriam-Webster defines dependence, it is the quality or state of being influenced or determined by or subject to another.
It’s one thing to make that transition as a high school graduate – apron strings are cut, but mom and dad are still in the picture as they often should be to help out (or hold back) as young adults learn what it means to be independent.
But what about the spiritual realm of our lives? One of the biggest tug-of-wars is coming to the point where we realize that there is no better place to be than living our lives dependent on our all-loving, all-knowing Father.
Another thing that complicates things is that we often think we have to help God, that in some way He is dependent upon us! We are His hands and feet, right? Yes, God works His will through us but He by no means is dependent upon us to accomplish it!
Paul proclaims in verses 24-25,
“He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. NLT (emphasis mine)
God is the only entity in all of eternity that is truly independent. In the blink of His eye, if He chose, we could cease to exist, and He would carry on just fine. Because we are precious in His sight, He would never do that but chooses to work through us to bring about His Kingdom on earth.
We on the other hand are totally dependent upon Him. The very air we breathe, the daily mechanics of our bodies, the entirety of creation working together in harmony – it all takes place because…and only because of His mighty hand. …he satisfies every need.
Lord Jesus, all praise to You for Your never-ending love for us. May we find great comfort, and not restriction, in our dependence upon You. Amen.
June 16th, 2022, Thurs, 10:01 pm
His Mercy Is More
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.
….I will praise my God to my last breath!
May all my thoughts be pleasing to him,
….for I rejoice in the Lord. Psalm 104:33-34 NLT
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Most people, churched or not, would recognize the old hymn “Amazing Grace” – throw in some bagpipes and a few more might remember it! Some might know that its author was John Newton. Living from 1725 to 1807, he was a converted slave trader, preacher, and hymn-writer. Although he had worked as a ship’s captain in the slave trade and later an investor in the same trade, he came into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ becoming a prominent supporter of abolitionism – eventually living to see the British Empire’s abolition of the African slave trade in 1807, just months before his death (according to Wikipedia).
This evening as I was searching for a song to write about and post, I came across one that was inspired by a letter Newton wrote to a “Dear friend” on March 18, 1767. The inspirational passage is as follows:
Are not you amazed sometimes that you should have so much as a hope, that, poor and needy as you are, the Lord thinketh of you? But let not all you feel discourage you. For if our Physician is almighty, our disease cannot be desperate and if He casts none out that come to Him, why should you fear?
Our sins are many, but His mercies are more: our sins are great, but His righteousness is greater: we are weak, but He is power. Most of our complaints are owing to unbelief, and the remainder of a legal spirit. And these evils are not removed in a day. — John Newton
Matt Papa’s modern hymn, “His Mercy Is More”, co-written with Matt Boswell, is the result of Newton’s inspiration.
I will say no more, but I’ve included the text with a beautiful rendition of the song as sung by the Praise and Harmony Singers. Let its words speak to you as it did to me.
What love could remember
No wrongs we have done
Omniscient, all-knowing
He counts not their sum
Thrown into a sea
Without bottom or shore
Our sins they are many
His mercy is more
REFRAIN
…Praise the Lord
…His mercy is more
…Stronger than darkness
…New every morn’
…Our sins they are many
…His mercy is more
What patience would wait
As we constantly roam
What Father so tender
Is calling us home
He welcomes the weakest
The vilest, the poor
Our sins they are many
His mercy is more
REFRAIN
What riches of kindness
He lavished on us
His blood was the payment
His life was the cost
We stood ‘neath a debt
We could never afford
And our sins they are many
His mercy is more
REFRAIN
…Praise the Lord
…His mercy is more
…Stronger than darkness
…New every morn’
…Our sins they are many
…His mercy is more
REFRAIN
Our sins they are many
His mercy is more
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead… 1 Peter 1:3 NIV
June 15th, 2022, Wed, 8:50 pm
Starry Curtain…Not Quite!
Let all that I am praise the Lord.
O Lord my God, how great you are!
….You are robed with honor and majesty.
….You are dressed in a robe of light.
You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens… Psalm 104:1-2 NLT
Sometimes when I am weary or feel like I am getting too repetitive in my opening prayer, or maybe it’s not been an overly great day for some reason, I start off with a Psalm of praise. It’s been one of those days but as I sit to write, these verses, caught my attention.
How often do we think too highly of ourselves? Some of us would never think that we do, but we might be surprised at how frequently we place ourselves above others. We might do it consciously, or we may not even know we’re doing it.
On the way home from Columbus tonight, we were on a six-lane interstate. Part of the way home, in an attempt to get around a couple of semis, I pulled into the fast lane. I admit on this stretch, it is 70 MPH, so I set my cruise at 75. As a got over I got behind someone who was going 70.
There was a knot of traffic and I figured they’d pull into the middle lane once we were past the semis…but they didn’t. I finally pulled into the middle lane myself and moved past them. I never got behind them again, but they stayed in that lane, slowing down other drivers.
Now I’m sure my pride factored into the equation, but I think that the driver of that car was on a bit of a power trip. Numerous vehicles got behind him, I’m sure expecting him to let them pass, but they never did. They were probably thinking a little too highly of themselves in their own little way.
It may be one of humanity’s tendencies but reading these first verses of Psalm 104 quickly puts things in perspective. The second and third lines remind me of hymns we might sing on a Sunday morning in church.
O Lord my God, how great you are!
….You are robed with honor and majesty
But look at the next line. The Amplified Bible says,
[You are the One] who covers Yourself with light as with a garment…
That one made me stop and think. First of all, how would He do that? The New Living Translation puts it like this,
You are dressed in a robe of light.
I really don’t think that involves any bulbs or batteries or extension cords. He who declared in Genesis 1:3, “’Let there be light,’ and there was light” literally enshrouds Himself with Light! How awesome is that!
The last line, at the end of verse 2, simply states,
You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens
After my shower today, I pulled the shower curtain back into place – easy-peasy! There’s not much effort there but stretching out the starry curtain of the heavens?
And it’s just stated like, eh, easy-peasy, it’s just a thing God does…every day…for all the days of time.
Want to hold up traffic by driving slow in the fast lane? Ooooo…how impressive. NOT! See the “little” things God does and stand back in humility and awe!
For Better or Worse…
Praise the Lord, everything he has created,
….everything in all his kingdom.
Let all that I am praise the Lord. Psalm 103:22 NLT
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Yep, that is me and my beautiful bride on June 14, 1986! Thirty-six years ago, I was privileged to say, “I do”, before a gathering of friends and family. Many are still with us, but some have gone on to their eternal reward.
Some things have changed (neither of us has dark hair like that anymore) and while white hair may not be overly welcome, some things have changed for the better. I may not say it as often as I should and I’m sure I should live it more boldly, but I love Karen more today than I did all those years ago!
We have been through many ups and downs together. Some things we probably wish we could forget but many others didn’t last nearly as long as we would have liked. For better or worse… But such is life.
This will be a short one because I’d like to go and be with her as this day is coming to a close.
Lord Jesus, may I truly strive to love Karen as You loved the church. The Apostle Paul urged us to do so. I plead for Your love, Your strength, and Your determination. Amen!
For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. Ephesians 5:25-29 NLT
June 13th, 2022, Mon, 9:01 pm