Meditate. How has God blessed you?
However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. Matthew 24:36
What things
will happen? Read Matthew 24, Mark 13, or Luke 17 for yourself. They give an
account of Jesus’ response to His disciples asking Him about the End Times and
His return. He doesn’t even know exactly when He will return at His Second
Coming. He warns us not to be deceived…but to be ready. In the mean time we may
want to count our blessings…and express our gratefulness to the Lord. He has
given us an abundant life—overflowing His grace and mercy. Count your
blessings—to know God personally, to be known by God, to have His blessing, and
to have the opportunity to serve Him. Blessings—spiritual blessing, since God
is of a spiritual realm.
All praise to God, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Ephesians 1:3
When I was in
High School choir….and we could still sing religious songs in public school, we
sang a song from Psalm 103—Bless the Lord, O My Soul.
Bless the LORD, my soul, And all that
is within me, [bless] His holy name. Bless the LORD, my soul, And do not forget
any of His benefits…. Psalm 103:1-2 NASB20
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| Count Your Blessings... Before it is too Late. |
Ray Vander Laan
is a great Bible teacher and historian who has frequently traveled with groups
to Israel and the Middle East to make Focus on the Family videos. Recently in
his short “That the World May Know” weekly series he told a story about counting
our blessing. Here’s my adaptation of that. In order to count or account for the
time you have left to serve the Lord…supposing that you’ll live to be 90, place
one pebble in a jar for each day until you reach that ripe old age of 90—which
really isn’t so old considering I have a couple of relatives that are already
older than that. For me, that won’t be as many pebbles as many as those of you
who are younger, but it is still well over 6,000. It’s going to have to be a
big jar.
Each
morning, take one pebble out and say, “God, how can I be used in your service
to honor You today?”
In
the evening…“How did I do, Lord?” Apologize for where I failed…give praise for
blessings.
When I remember that each day is a gift of the Lord to be used wisely and well, it becomes precious. Account for your time and efforts…ask His blessing on how you serve Him.
Give praise for
His blessings. Show gratitude.
Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. Hebrews 12:28
Prayer ~ Lord God…I will always be joyful. Never stop praying. And be thankful in all circumstances, for this is Your will for those who belong to Christ Jesus—including me. From 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. I praise You and am eternally grateful, Lord Jesus, for Your sacrifice and obedience to our Heavenly Father.
Verses of
Salvation (attention to Jews and Gentiles) ~ Did God's people stumble and fall
beyond recovery? Of course not! They were disobedient, so God made salvation
available to the Gentiles. But he wanted his own people to become jealous and
claim it for themselves. Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people
of Israel turned down God's offer of salvation, think how much greater a
blessing the world will share when they finally accept it. Romans 11:11-12
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