"Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow."
(Song of Solomon 4:16)
When the wind blows over the spices growing in the garden, it lifts the wonderful fragrance of those spices to fill the air. The same wind blows across the scrub bushes and the stink weeds, but with much difference results. It is what is the essence of the plant that counts, what is on the inside.
When questioned about food one time, the Lord said it isn't what goes into a person's stomach that defiles him/her, but rather what comes out of the heart. What is on the inside in your life?
The fragrance of the spices blesses those all around. God desires that His children are blessings everywhere they go. God gives us good gifts in order to glorify Himself among all the people groups of the world. (Ps. 67). Whether we are a blessing to others will depend on what is in our hearts. I hope as the winds of life blow across you, it releases the beautiful fragrance of the character of Christ.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Try Giving Thanks
"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (I Thes. 5:18)
Have you experienced a sorrow, or a grief, or a trial, or a spirit of blahs that you cannot seem to get away from? Have you tried giving thanks? In Phil. 4:6 where Paul tells us not to worry about everything, he says instead we should pray about everything with thanksgiving.
When we give thanks we acknowledge the sovereignty of God in our lives. We recognize that He is in control, and that He is able to make all things work together for good. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense to us, but when Paul wrote the Thessalonian believers he said it was always God's will for us to give thanks.
When you pray and you know it is God's will, you can go ahead and thank him in advance for the blessing. For all of the blessings you have already received, give thanks. One of the great failures in our lives is ingratitude. Stop today and give thanks.
Thank God for all of His good gifts in your life. Thank Him for the trials, recognizing that He never allows us to face tests or temptation greater than we can withstand, so the greater the trial, the more God trusts us. Thanks Him for the sorrows that come. In everything, for all things, give thanks.
Job modeled that for us. When tragedy struck, and he lost his livelihood, and he lost all of his children, he said, 'The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord."
Try giving thanks.
Have you experienced a sorrow, or a grief, or a trial, or a spirit of blahs that you cannot seem to get away from? Have you tried giving thanks? In Phil. 4:6 where Paul tells us not to worry about everything, he says instead we should pray about everything with thanksgiving.
When we give thanks we acknowledge the sovereignty of God in our lives. We recognize that He is in control, and that He is able to make all things work together for good. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense to us, but when Paul wrote the Thessalonian believers he said it was always God's will for us to give thanks.
When you pray and you know it is God's will, you can go ahead and thank him in advance for the blessing. For all of the blessings you have already received, give thanks. One of the great failures in our lives is ingratitude. Stop today and give thanks.
Thank God for all of His good gifts in your life. Thank Him for the trials, recognizing that He never allows us to face tests or temptation greater than we can withstand, so the greater the trial, the more God trusts us. Thanks Him for the sorrows that come. In everything, for all things, give thanks.
Job modeled that for us. When tragedy struck, and he lost his livelihood, and he lost all of his children, he said, 'The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord."
Try giving thanks.
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