Praising God

Tad warmer today, but still in the low to mid 80’s which is comfortable when outside.  Overcast with a small potential of rain.  We are just getting enough to spot the cars so they have to be rewashed, but not enough to really give the garden much of a thirst quencher.

Since we will be home over Labor day we can dodge the raindrops without any difficulty.  I know several families that are camping or at least trying to enjoy outside activities where rain can be a damper, especially for the last official days of summer, but so be it.

Teresa and Ian came by for lunch, fixed another deep dish pizza, half Hawaiian and half hamburger and onion, plus peppers and left over steak.  I goofed on the pineapple, it was a bit moister than I figured, but it was good.  The crust this time was better – I put cheese down first THEN the pizza sauce, if it hadn’t been for the pineapple it would have been nice and crisp underneath – live and learn.  

Throughout God’s Word it is written that He wants our praise.  He doesn’t need it for His ego, He wants us to praise Him because we have realized Who He is and all the things He has done for us.  Whether we worship together as a body of believers, in the church or in private dwellings or meeting rooms in restaurant, or in the private closet of our private prayer and meditations with Him – it is important to praise God.

Psalm 95:6-7   O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
⁷ For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,

I can remember talking to a fellow believer one time about how I came into the Foursquare Church services and couldn’t believe how loud it was – he said not all churches are like that.  I thought two things as we talked about it, one, he was correct, the manner of praise is not as important as the fact we give praise to God for all He has done.  The second was, how sad it is that these people don’t feel the joy and the release of their emotions as they openly praise God with a loud and clear voice. 

2 Chronicles 5:11-14 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by course:
¹² Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:)
¹³ It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord;
¹⁴ So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.

God inhabited the praises of His people that day.  They were of one accord in their focus on Him, they were so enthusiastic that He came down to dwell among them and show them how pleased He was with their recognition of who He is.  It is an amazing thing to be praising God and have Him come down in His Spirit and walk among us.  Touching us and raising our spirits to His.  WE can experience this same blessing given by God by praising Him without reservation – it can be quietly if that is how you praise Him, but the heart needs to be opened up and the mind fully on Him.  It is not so much the manner of praise, but the fact that it is genuine praise to God for who He is, His touch during those times is beyond anything a person can describe, only experience.

How wonderful it would be if come next Sunday everyone in the world had to move the worship of God outside their churches because His house was filled with His Glory.  The testimony to our communities would be undeniable and the results could very much be like the results when Peter prayed at the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon him and the others in the upper room – 3000 people were saved as a result of their curiosity – wondering what was going on in that upper room – the leading of the Holy Spirit within and through Peter and the movement of the Holy Spirit in the hearts and minds of those 3000.

Let us pray that we will be so focused on our God and our praises to Him, that He will move on us and our communities.  We need a revival in our land, but it must start first within the hearts of believers and the churches they attend.  We must invite God to take a prominent place in our hearts and not worry about what others will think, what programs we should offer, or how we appear to the outside world and try to fit in with their views of what a Christian should be like.

If we open our hearts to God, read His Word, praise Him and allow His Holy Spirit to move within us we will see God’s mighty hand moving across the globe and many come to know God and Salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Psalm 107:8, 15, 21, 31 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 

Psalm 34:1 I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

May our focus, at all times, be on God.  May our mouth use His name in praise to glorify Him as we go about our daily lives.  Let our testimony of God’s greatness and love shine through to others.  May our testimony of His love be done in a humble spirit with the truth of His righteousness in the forefront for all to see.

When we look at our world through the praises to our God, we see it differently.  We see it as the creation of God and the need of all to understand that creation and accept the Creator.  He speaks through every leaf, blade of grass, cloud in the sky and the mountain in that background.  He can be seen in the pet at our side, the river as it travels to the sea and the sea itself.  This wonderful world was created by Him, He truly is, as the Psalmist says, Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.

Later, Art :-)

Whose fault is it?

Rain, we got rain today – and for a while it came down pretty hard, over a 10^th of an inch thus far, which for us is quite a bit.  Forecast is for more showers, off and on through tonight.

Having some stressors last couple days, but we are dealing with them.  Not much else happening.    

Genesis 2:12-13   And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
¹³ And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

It is not my fault – it is someone else’s is not just the theme of today’s people, but started with Adam and Eve.  Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed he serpent. 

However, we seem to be taking that excuse to new levels here in America.  Few people take responsibility for their actions.  President Truman had a sign on his desk that said the ‘buck stops here.’  But few wish to accept that statement for themselves and when they do make it they don’t expect any consequences for their actions – I take responsibility, but I keep my job, my benefits, prestige, etc.  I have accepted responsibility, now leave me alone.

How do we reach these kinds of people for Christ?  When everything is either okay or someone else’s fault, how can we convince them that their actions are not okay - they are sins against God?  How can we tell them that they are responsible for their actions when society tells them they were born that way, or their parents didn’t do a good job, or they lived in a poor part of town and they were deprived of a good education and forced to live among hoodlums and that is why they are committing crimes? 

How do we reach people for Christ when the only thing they are interested in is self-gratification?  Living for Christ is hard work and they don’t want to be bothered.  Their entertainment consist of other doing something for them; rather than engaging in interaction with real live people they use video games, the internet or other electronic gizmos to occupy their time.

How do we reach people for Christ when our nation is officially denying the existence of God and Christ?  Our government and courts are persecuting and prosecuting Christians for living the Word of God; Christians are being denied their livelihood because they will not bow down to regulations that are against the Word of God.  And what is even worse, many so-called Christian organizations support that maltreatment.  How can we overcome this behavior?  Our country is being destroyed from the moral depravity from within, how can we overcome it?  The world has never seen such moral decay as we now have existing in America.  Or, has it?

Jeremiah 12:10-11 Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
¹¹ They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.
Isaiah 57:1  The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.

The Old Testament is full of such depravity as Jeremiah proclaims.  People have disobeyed God from the time of Adam through today, and will continue until Christ comes back. 

We are living through some tenuous times in this world.  The evidence of evil exists in almost every headline and every news account.  Christians and Jews are being discriminated against, attacked and killed and the world brushes it off, wringing its hands but refusing to acknowledge that God needs to be involved in the decisions of this world.

Jeremiah 12:16-17 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The Lord liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people.
¹⁷ But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.

And, lest we think that the Old Testament is different, that God doesn’t concern Himself with nations or communities:

Luke 1012-14  But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.
¹³ Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
¹⁴ But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you.

Despite the miracles Jesus performed in confirmation of Who He is these cities rejected Him; and He called them on it.

So how do we get our nation – indeed the world - to repent of its sinful condition?  Are we so far gone that there is not hope for us? 

I think there is, not that it will be easy, but it can be done.

Luke 11:32-33 The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
³³ No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.

Jonah preached in Nineveh and the people repented, but Jesus is far greater than Jonah.  Unfortunately, even in His time many people did not listen or believe in Him – but many did and they repented and changed their ways.

Luke 11:34-36 The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.
³⁵ Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.
³⁶ If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

While God will deal with our nation, He primarily works through individuals.  As Christians we have a personal relationship with Christ.  It is that personal relationship that changes the Christian.  If, as Christians, we take seriously the admonition of shining our light for Christ, then people will be drawn to that light.  It will allow us to teach them about Christ.  The Holy Spirit will use our light and out testimony – along with other sources we may not be aware of – to touch the heart of that person.  They will be given an opportunity to accept Christ.  The more people that accept Christ the more influence the Christians can have on the selection of politicians and their decisions.

God longs to change the hearts of man.  He uses man to preach His Word.  We are the ones He is using.  We must not let Him down.  The nation has gone astray, because the people are denying God and His precepts; it is up to each of us to help others find their way back to Him.  We can put this country back on a moral footing one convert at a time – and maybe one of them will become the Jonah to our Nineveh.

Later, Art :-)

Deed and Teresa came up canned 18 pints of salsa.  We are starting to get a pretty good routine going up here when it comes to processing the garden produce.  Still, takes time and effort – well worth it when you consider we know what is in the product and we know there are no preservatives other than natural ones.  In addition you get the flavor and the strength you want for your salsa, not too hot, not too cold, it is just right.

Smokey and Loki came with Deed and layed about the kitchen supervising the girls at work.  Blaze, at first, headed to his kennel, but after a while he came out and jumped up on the couch; for him that is a bit difference in activity.  He still doesn’t like them here, but at least he didn’t hide the entire time – course he didn’t go into the kitchen, either, but we will take the victories where and when they come.

Josh is bear hunting with a friend.  When I first moved to The Dalles I tried to find someone who went bear hunting, couldn’t find anyone even after a couple of years of trying.  Carla pointed out that there may be a reason why no one hunts bears – ya know?  I thought, she may be right!

Much cooler today, in the low 80’s and these temperatures are to continue through the weekend.  Interesting that the last ‘official’ day of summer season is ending with winds and cooler temps.  No complaints here. 

Mathew 20:29-34  And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him.

³⁰ And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.

³¹ And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.

³² And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you?

³³ They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.

³⁴ So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.

Why wouldn’t Jesus stop, after all isn’t that what He is all about, serving others?  Why was the crowd so instant that these men be quiet?  Were they trying to hear what He was saying as they walked along and these men were interfering with that?  Or, did they look at them as men being unworthy of Jesus’s attention and shouldn’t be allowed to address Jesus?  It doesn’t say, but we do find some interesting things here.

This incident follows the conversation of who should be seated at the feet of Jesus as He sits on His throne.  He made it clear that God would make that decision, but they shouldn’t be concerned about how great they were – using man’s standards – and as His followers be humble and servants to others.  This incident helped re-enforce that conversation – He was a servant of God and He expects His followers to do the same.  Sometimes you have to interrupt your plans and help someone along the way.

The two blind men were sitting by the road – presumably, but not for certain – knowing Jesus would be passing by.  They knew when He had come close enough for them to call out His name, and they made it clear they believed He was the Christ by calling Him the Son of David, not the son of Joseph.  They knew He could heal them.  They also refused to keep quiet as they called out to Him.  The crowd would quiet them, but these men were persistent, they would not let anything come between them and Christ.

When Jesus asked them what they wanted, they did not hesitate or beat around the bush, their request was immediate – and it showed they had faith in Jesus’ ability to heal them.  Just as quickly, Jesus had compassion on them and healed them.  It was just one more example of who He was and what God had enabled Him to do.

Jesus was always being slowed down by the masses in one way or another.  It was draining on Him as a man, it took away from His agenda of being somewhere for a specific reason.  While we may think He had all the time in the world, after all He didn’t have a ‘real job’ to go to, He did have a mission and He had God’s timing to be concerned about.  Yet, He took the time to meet the needs of these two men.  He always has time to meet our needs, we just need to wait on Him and be bold in our request.

These men could have allowed themselves to be pushed back by others, yet they were determined to not let anything stand between them and Jesus.  We need that same resolve when it comes to talking with God, we should not let anyone interfere with our time and diligently seek Him.  He wants to meet our needs, and He wants us to ask Him to meet those needs.

They asked and they received and they followed Christ.  They didn’t head home, they followed Him.  Jesus was the focus of their life, now, just as He should be with us.  While we may not have been dramatically healed, we do have the promise of eternal life with Him.  He has healed our souls from their retched condition, cleansed and purified us making us whole and able to come into the presence of God.

We once were sitting, blind to the purity and sanctity of God.  Jesus came by and we cried out asking for Him to show us the way and He healed the eyes of our soul so we could see Him as He is and so we could recognize the need for forgiveness.  Once our eyes were opened and we accepted that gift of salvation, we followed Him.

Mark 8:34  And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Even before He died on the cross at Calvary, He foretold the manner of His death and the need to follow Him.  Our eyes are now open to Who He is, why He came into this world, and the fulfilling of the mission to us that was given to Him by God.  With that realization comes our responsibility to get up and follow Him.

Later, Art :-)

Suppose to be much cooler this weekend, since we will be processing several containers of tomatoes; that will be very much welcomed.  Something is in the air, can’t figure out what since all pollen count appears to be down, but whatever it is and my sinus don’t agree with each other.

Got back from the therapist, lots of new methods of exercising in an attempt to get me back to ‘normal.’  We shall see, however, it won’t hurt, either.  This physical journey is taking turns I never saw coming.  :-)  The one good point was he was surprised by my strength and had to modify some of his procedures to challenge the muscles more.

Down for the count right now, though, so will take it easy the rest of the day. 

 

Genesis 3:1-Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

² And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
³ But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
⁵ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
⁶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Interesting verses.  You have to wonder if Eve had been looking at the tree they were forbidden to eat from and wondered about it.  Satan seemed to have noticed she was vulnerable there so he started the discussion.
Now she knew what she was not supposed to do, however, she added to God’s Word, He told Adam the following:
Genesis 2:16-17  And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
¹⁷ But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

There was nothing about touching the fruit.  She did right in quoting God, but she added to His Word.  We want to be careful about that, God is pretty specific about His commandments, when we start editorializing we place ourselves from firm to unstable foundations. 

The manner in which Eve was tempted is a tactic that satan uses even today.  He knows where we are vulnerable, where he can get us to questioning what should be done in our living for God.  He gets a us to thinking – wrongly.  He then tells us that God is not correct, that what He has said is wrong and that we can make our own decision on what is right and wrong.  Satan appeals to our desire to enjoy ourselves or please ourselves and he tells us that activity is going to either make us better, or it will give us a great deal of satisfaction; he appeals to our pride.  Then we yield to the temptation and find there is pleasure in it, it does gratify some part of us – and all too frequently we involve others in our sinful behavior as Eve did with Adam. 

1 John 2:15-16  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

John also warns us that satan is very clever and uses our desires to entrap us.  There is consequences to our behavior when we sin against God.  In Adam’s case it was the condemnation of all mankind to hard labor – and even worse, separation from God.  While I have often wondered what God would have done had Adam told Eve ‘NO!’ it doesn’t matter, because he didn’t.

Satan is very good about using others to tempt us.  They will talk of their experiences and entice us to join them in their sinful behavior as Eve did with Adam.  Mankind has many similarities in the way we look and think about something.  That is why companies spend millions of dollars in advertising, getting the right label on their product, having it placed in the right location at the store.  There are people that have studied and know what makes the mind click and use that information to induce us to purchase their product or to participate in their activities; and it works.  We are vulnerable to that kind of manipulation of our minds in making purchasing or entertainment decisions.

They target their merchandising strategies to a particular market.  They know what works for teenagers isn’t going to work for older people.  They know what works for one part of the nation may not work for another and they change their advertising to appeal to that area of the nation.  People make a very good living finding ways to encourage us to buy their product.

Satan uses this same knowledge of human behavior to tempt us – but he also knows us as individuals and while something might have no effect on one person, it does on another; he modifies his temptations to suit the individual.  Most of the time, particularly to begin with, he is very subtle, coming at us hard will trigger the understanding that the activity is a sin, so he starts out small and works his way up to the point we don’t even give a second thought to the sin – until it is too late.

Fighting off satan’s wiles is just one more reason it is so important to focus on God and His Word.  If we make regular contact with Him, our senses are in tune with Him, we recognize satan’s temptations and we are more apt to be able to overcome them using the wisdom that comes from God.

James 3:17-18  But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
¹⁸ And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

Later, Art :-)