tablets of human hearts

The Lord, the Mighty One, is God, and he has spoken;
he has summoned all humanity from where the sun rises to where it sets.
(Psalm 50:1, NLT)

From the beginning, God has spoken to us. In fact, He has called us. Often by name.

God walked with Adam in the garden, and when Adam failed to show up one day, “the Lord God called to the man and asked him, ‘Where are you?'” (Genesis 3:9, GW)
God set a bush on fire to get Moses’ attention. “When the Lord saw that Moses had come over to see it, God called to him from the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!'” (Exodus 3:4, GW)
God called Samuel when he was a young boy, sleeping in the temple. “The Lord came and stood there. He called as he had called the other times: ‘Samuel! Samuel!'” (1 Samuel 3: 10, GW)
God had Jesse and Samuel call David in from the sheep fields. “Samuel told Jesse, ‘Send someone to get him. We won’t continue until he gets here.’ So Jesse sent for him.” (1 Samuel 16:11-12)
And God called out to Isaiah, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom will I send? Who will go for us?” (Isaiah 6:8, GW)

If God calling us is not personal enough, He gets even more personal. Scripture tells us, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors at many different times and in many different ways through the prophets. In these last days he has spoken to us through his Son.” (Hebrews 1:1-2, GW)

God’s Son. Immanuel. Hebrew meaning “God with Us.”

This past Sunday marked the beginning of the Advent Season. Advent is latin for the word “to come” and is a time of expectation, anticipation, and preparation. We are waiting. Waiting for the coming of the One God has promised, His Son, Jesus, Savior, Messiah, Anointed One, Immanuel.

When Jesus walked this earth among us, He continued to speak, to call us.

Jesus called his disciples. “As he was walking along the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Andrew. They were throwing a net into the sea because they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, ‘Come, follow me!'” (Matthew 4:18-19, GW)

Jesus also called Saul. “As Saul was coming near the city of Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?'” (Acts 9:3-4, GW)

In each instance, the one God called answered, responded, acted.

And the Lord continues to call. “For the Lord’s eyes scan the whole world to find those whose hearts are committed to him…” (2 Chronicles 16:9, GW)

At Christmas, we read how the Angel proclaimed “Don’t be afraid! I have good news for you, a message that will fill everyone with joy.” (Luke 2:10, GW)  This message, the good news, is Jesus, the One by Whom God calls us.  “With this in mind, he called you by the Good News which we told you so that you would obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:14, GW)

What joy, to be called by God. This Advent Season, as God calls, are you listening? Are you quieting your hearts to hear God speak? Are you slowing down enough to pay attention? As Jesus so often urged, “Let the person who has ears, listen!” (Matthew 13:9, GW).

God calls, from where the sun rises to where it sets

Prayer

Heavenly Father, as you call us this Advent Season, let us listen, let us hear, let us answer. 

Grace & Peace

How great is the Lord, how deserving of praise,
in the city of our God, which sits on his holy mountain!
(Psalm 48:1, NLT)

If ever we wonder about the importance of praise, we need look no further than the Psalms. While these beautiful poems run the gamut of human emotion, they always come back to praise. So, this week, we look at yet another call to give praise to the Lord. Always appropriate on any day, I find praise even more so as we celebrate the holiday season.

For some, this constant praise to God may seem a bit over the top. I mean, is God so egocentric that He needs or requires our praise? Definitely not. As I get to know my Heavenly Father more and more, I realize that, as a perfect father, everything He does, He does for our good and benefit.

We praise a lot of things in life, some deserving, some not so deserving. We praise sports teams, and singers/musicians, movie stars, leaders and our children. We praise the look of new cars, the awesomeness of the latest phone, or the newest gadget. We praise careers and positions that come with power, prestige and money. We praise beautiful homes and memorable vacations.

All of these things, however, have one thing in common.  They are temporary. They pass away, withering like flowers, fading like grass. They do not last.  They may be good in their own right (or maybe not), but they will soon turn into yesterday’s news, become a memory, tossed in the junk drawer, or the junk yard.  Or they may disappear because the economy took a downward turn, or the pink slip came, because time crept in, or someone let us down. When the disappointment comes (and it will), where can we turn?

To the One Who is deserving of praise.

Since our Heavenly Father knows we need something reliable in our lives, a sure foundation, something trustworthy, dependable, unfailing. He gives us Himself. He is all of these and so much more.

One of the things I love about my time praying with Moms in Prayer is that we start out each prayer time with praise. We select an attribute or a characteristic of God, we read Scriptures that focus on the attribute or characteristic, and we spend time praising God for Who He is. When we start in the position of looking up and seeing how awesome He is, then as we bring our needs to Him, we are confident there is nothing He cannot do. No problem too big, no person too lost, no situation to difficult.  Because we’ve already established in our minds and hearts the truth that He is bigger.

Sometimes, when I’m walking by myself, I practice the Alphabet Prayer. I start with the letter A and work through the alphabet, all the way to Z, acknowledging an attribute or characteristic of God for each letter.  I never run out of words.

Our God, He is
Amazing, Beautiful, Compassionate, Defender, Everlasting, Faithful
Generous, Helper, Immutable, Just, Kind, Love, Mighty
Noble, Omniscient, Patient, Quick, Redeemer, Sovereign,
Trustworthy, Undeniable, Victorious, Wise ,eXciting, Yes, Zealous

Give it a try.
You will find your focus on the One Who is certain in a very uncertain world.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, You are deserving of praise, far above anything this world has to offer. Help me set my priorities properly and praise You for Who You are.

Grace & Peace

Come, everyone! Clap your hands!
    Shout to God with joyful praise!
(Psalm 47:1, NLT)

Have you found things to give thanks about this month? Have you looked around and observed the precious things in life? Have you made the effort to tell someone thank you for something?

If you are, have you noticed a change in your overall attitude, a transformation in your countenance, a shift in your outlook on life.

Interestingly, these things happen when we choose joy rather than gloom.

But why would we want to do that? Aren’t some things bad enough to grumble about? I mean, if you knew the day I had, you’d understand why I have a reason to complain. If you understood my circumstances, you’d understand my sour disposition. If you really took a look at the world around us, wouldn’t you be worried, too?

True, I haven’t walked a mile in your shoes. But I have walked many miles in mine. And believe me, I’ve had my share of troubles, grumbles, sufferings, complainings, moanings and groanings. And I can testify, things didn’t get better because of it. Rather, they really seemed worse.

I needed to rethink my thinking. Maybe you do, too?

It’s been said we shouldn’t conform ourselves to the standards of this world (grumbling and complaining), but we should let God transform us inwardly by a complete change of our mind (our heart, our attitude).

Wisdom tells us “Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.” (Proverbs 12:25 )

So, if I’m worrying, I’ve loaded myself down with extra weight. Who wants to walk around with extra weight? Do I want to miss the opportunities to encourage someone else? Or I miss the person who tried to encourage me?

Wisdom also tells us “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.” (Proverbs 17:22)

Feeling tired lately? Could be negativity. Feeling weak? Could be a critical spirit. Let’s take a dose of the cure. A spoonful of gratitude, turning our heart from trouble to cheer.

Finally, Wisdom says, “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.” (Proverbs 15:30 )

Good health sounds good to me, how about you? Do you have some good news? Share it and share it with a smile. It will not only bring you joy, but someone else as well. We can all use a little more joy.

Paul instructs us in his letter to the Philippians to “Always be full of joy in the Lord.” He goes on to say “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” He also told the Thessalonians to “Be thankful in all circumstances.”

I know, I know. It sounds quite challenging. If it was easy, well, we wouldn’t need the reminder, would we?

It really comes down to a choice. Will we choose the benefits of a thankful heart? Or the complications of a critical one?

James even tells us to “count it all joy.” Count what all joy? When the good times roll?  No, not really.  Rather he tells us to count it all joy when trouble comes. If that sounds a bit crazy, well, check it out. James makes a pretty good argument. James 1:2-8

Prayer
Heavenly Father, You abide in the praises of Your people. And where you are, that’s where I want to be. So, I’m clapping my hands. I’m shouting with joyful praise. And I’m giving thanks for the big things, the small things, and all things in between.

Grace & Peace