Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)
Some of the greatest blessings You have given us, Father, are those around us. My helpmate in life is one straight from You. Bless her, Father, and may I be a blessing to her as well. Amen.
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I think I’m the only one in my home who loves classic old movies. This past Christmas season, if I remember correctly, Karen and Massey had gone down to spend some time with her parents. I stayed home to write my blog or wrap up some things for Sunday, I don’t remember exactly. I finished what I needed to get done and with some time to spare I sat down to watch a DVD of It’s a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Another old Christmas movie I have is White Christmas with Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, and Danny Kaye. I watched it a couple of years ago. But as I wrote my opening prayer this afternoon, I thought of one of the lesser tunes from that flick, entitled Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep). It’s a simple song, and the lyrics don’t really say a whole lot to me except for the refrain.
When I’m worried,
And I can’t sleep,
I count my blessings instead of sheep,
And I fall asleep,
Counting my blessings.
How often do we forget our blessings? Especially amongst the stress of life, it is easy to do. It is so easy to take those closest to you – those who mean more to you than you could ever begin to say – for granted. They do what they do, and we do what we do, and sometimes that’s the way we live for extended periods of time.
Unfortunately, far too often we only wake up to the blessing we really have when their or our lives are in jeopardy…or worse still when they are taken from us. What a great tragedy!
We should count our blessings every day! Take today’s post as a wake-up call.
None of us are perfect. We sure know that we aren’t! So why do we expect perfection from those around us…family, fellow workers, our church family, our neighbors, etc.
I should never take Karen for granted…but I do. I let her do what she does (which is a lot!) and I do what I do (which I’m sure is not nearly enough…) My prayer recently has been to appreciate her more and I’ve asked God to help me love her more in what I do, in what I say, in how I act.
When I first started driving a school bus, I prayed pretty consistently for my fellow drivers and the students on my routes. I’ve allowed myself to get out of the habit. This week I’ve started doing it again. It takes me most of my early route to get through everyone. I know that I can tell a difference in my life. And I pray that they will, too!
There are always things we can improve upon, especially in our spiritual lives. Prayer is one of those things that impact us and those for whom we are praying. And…it draws us closer to God, in that of course, that’s who we’re talking to! So, it’s a win, win, win!
So, there’s your wake-up call and your challenge for the week! May God bless your efforts!
And my God will liberally supply (fill until full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 AMP
Feb 9th, 2022, Wed, 1:12 pm
No Shadow of Doubt
A beautiful day to sit with a beautiful Savior! Thank You, Father, for all Your many blessings!
Acts 5:12-16 (<<click here to read the passage)
Faith is a very simple thing. We tend to make it complicated. Part of our problem is the fact that there are many situations where we need something so very desperately, that we pour ourselves into great times of concerted prayer. We get everybody we know to pray with us and are eager to have any church that has a Prayer Chain or List to note our need, as well.
Verse 15 of today’s passage gives an example of desperation that we can at least relate to.
As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by.
Many of us would do just about anything for our pleas to be answered. In faith believing, we pray that God, in His grace and mercy, will answer our prayers. And I will say that He most definitely does answer, each and every time we pray. Oft times, He answers with the answer we want but where we struggle is that then there are times, He answers with what is best…even though we may not understand.
I am grateful that in most circumstances knowing that God might not answer in the way we desire, doesn’t deter us from pleading our case. For our God is merciful. He is full of compassion. He hears our prayers. He feels our pain and we know without any shadow of doubt that He understands.
So, with all that being said, I would encourage all of us – myself included – to do as the Apostle Paul admonishes us,
Rejoice always and delight in your faith; be unceasing and persistent in prayer; in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 AMP
Know with the utmost of certainty, that God hears our prayers and in that alone we can find great comfort. And that gives us great reason to rejoice and take delight in our faith. Know with confidence as well that He will answer with the best answer. And regardless of how our prayers are answered may we continually be grateful for His love, knowing that it is unfathomable. For it will carry us through beyond that point where we stand before Him face to face. We are most surely blessed!
Feb 8th, 2022, Tues, 1:05 pm
Rough Spots Along the Way
Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice!
….Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!
Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy!
….Let the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord, for he is coming!
….He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice,
….and the nations with his truth. Psalm 96:11-13 NLT
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Overall, I have pretty good roads on my bus route, but I can tell you where about all of the rough spots are along the way. One of the big culprits is when counties and townships have to replace culverts. I don’t know of any that are as smooth as the road on either side of those areas. Most often there is a pronounced dip where they have taken place.
Another bad place is a turnaround in a driveway of my high school/middle school route. It is not paved or cement and has not had new gravel put down in some time. Backing into it isn’t too bad but when I pull out of it, the whole bus rocks back and forth because of the difference in height from the driveway to the paved road.
Yet there is one good side effect of the ice and snow we had coming into last weekend, many – but not all – of those dippy, rocky places are barely noticeable! The snow and ice have filled those areas and frozen solid. So as long as it is below freezing, I get a smooth ride. The bus didn’t rock at all pulling out of the driveway today!
In life, I think we can all agree that relationships can get pretty rocky. We just know that when we have to interact with certain people things are not going to go smoothly. A contributing problematic factor is that we know. So, before we even get to the interacting part, we are bracing for the worse…and most often we are rarely let down. Our anticipation raises the stress level and then our interactions raise it even further
What if there were some way to cool the stress and friction that so often occur. Do you know there’s a verse for that? Proverbs 10:12 tells us,
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers and overwhelms all transgressions [forgiving and overlooking another’s faults] AMP
We know God can do anything. We also know that God has unlimited resources of love…compassion…forgiveness…and patience – just to name a few. All we have to do is ask! He freely gives us what we need!
At least for me, the problem is remembering to ask for His help before I step into those situations.
Lord Jesus, may we be a reflection of You. In and of myself, I often fall short of doing that, but I would pray that You would prompt us to pray before we get into those dreaded interactions. Fill us with all that is good of You and may we be a vessel that freely disperses it to all around. Amen.
Feb 7th, 2022, Mon, 7:48 pm
Meet Me on the Porch!
Father, as I come to sit before You, may the many thoughts of this day fade if they impede my progress. Use what You will, myself included. Amen.
Acts 5:12-16 (<<click here to read the passage)
One thing about our house that I am not satisfied with is that by our front door all we really have is a stoop. Alright, you might say it’s a large stoop, but I think it would be a fair stretch to say that it is even a small porch.
I’ve seen a lot of homes in our area that have large wrap-around porches. They are large enough for swings and chairs. Often, they provide places to hang planters of beautiful flowers in season. Of course, the question would be, do people really use their porches for anything but decoration?
Rev. Rod Buchanan, a pastor acquaintance of mine, shared this in a sermon about growing up in the 40s and 50s:
We lived in a large city, Indianapolis, but our home, like many others, had a front porch… We had chairs and a swing. I can still remember being on grandma’s porch swing and watching people walk by on the sidewalk. Everyone said hello because everyone knew each other. Sometimes they would stop and talk, or even come up on the porch and sit a spell, and grandma would bring out lemonade. Almost all the homes had porches, and people sat outside in the evening since they did not have to air-condition. Friends would stop by unannounced to visit. There was a connectedness among neighbors and families.
In today’s text, Solomon’s portico (colonnade) is referred to. According to the ancient historian Josephus, Solomon’s Portico was a double-columned porch on the east side of the Temple near the court of the Gentiles. It was about 23 feet wide, and the columns were about 40 feet tall. Basically, it was a big fancy porch.
Why did Peter and the other disciples return to this location? On the one hand, it is a likely location for teachers to gather with their disciples to discuss the Scripture. According to John 10:23, Jesus taught his disciples there, so Peter and the disciples are continuing the practice of Jesus by gathering on the Temple Mount. Perhaps that is the reason Jesus went there – it was simply a great place to find religiously inclined people! (Reading Acts)
I cherish the folks who have been so faithful to join us for our virtual worship service since the beginning of the pandemic (almost 2 years now) – they are a vital part of our churches’ congregations. But I will say meeting one another face-to-face has great benefits.
Interpersonal communication is difficult, though by no means impossible, in a virtual setting. But we literally see our fellow worshippers; all kinds of things can happen. We laugh, we cry, we encourage, we share, we call on Christ’s name via many different means – the body of Christ comes alive!
Lord Jesus, may we take full advantage of our time together. May our virtual congregation make some extra effort to interact with one another. And may our in-person congregations not miss the great benefits of being together face-to-face! Amen.
Feb 6th, 2022, Sun, 6:06 pm
We Care Far Too Much About What Others Think
Businesswoman Being Gossiped About By Colleagues In Office
Father, I am grateful for some downtime as well as the opportunity to work on things for Sunday’s services and some other important things. May our time together here be fruitful. Amen.
Acts 5:1-11 (<<click here to read the passage)
At the end of my high school / middle school route, I have a turnaround. I have one student on that stretch of road, so I drive down to a crossroad and turn left, take another left, and then take a right. So, where I was heading south, after the turnaround I’m now heading north. A huge water tower sits in the middle of that triangle.
I don’t know why it bothers me, but if someone is behind me, or coming towards me, just about every time I think to myself. “There probably think I’ve lost it! Any normal driver would have taken a left at the first road I come to, instead of going the long way around!”
But doing it that way gets me the result that I need – to drop that one student off in the safest manner possible. There’s no other way for me to do it.
Why do we care so much about what people think? Many of us struggle with what we wear, how our yard looks, or who we hang out with (or who we avoid!) all because we care far too much about what others think of us.
As we’ve talked about in these first verses of Acts, many in this new fellowship were selling properties and giving the proceeds to the apostles to help the less fortunate. It was a great idea, and many benefited from their generosity. The thing is nobody made anybody else do it. There was no real pressure placed on anyone to take part.
More than likely Ananias and Saphira were overall pretty good people. They saw others selling and donating and decided to do the same. We can only speculate as to why they decided to hold back some of the proceeds. And truth be told, nobody would have thought twice if they had done so. But the thing is they must have thought someone would think less of them if the truth were known. So, in essence, the only pressure to make it look like they were giving all they had received from the sale of their property was the pressure they placed on themselves. Basically, they just cared far too much about what others might think. And they paid the ultimate price for their pride and hypocrisy.
Now it’s easy to think that their punishment for lying – of all things! – was pretty harsh. As my Life Application Study Bible states, “I thought God was supposed to be loving and forgiving. I thought all that wrath stuff was for Old Testament times.” With an emphasis on grace and mercy, it’s easy to overlook the equally important truth of God’s holiness. We must remember that God has not changed (Malachi 3:6). He still hates sin as much as he ever did…even today.
Lord Jesus, I pray that we all will see the seriousness of sin. Help us to forsake it all, for serving You has greater rewards than anything we might be able to achieve here. Amen.
Feb 3rd, 2022, Thurs, 4:00 pm