The Lord's Treasure

"I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High."
~Psalm 9:1-2

As we enter this new year, let us do so with praise on our lips, and a song in our hearts. God has brought us through to a brand new year so that we can continue to spread His word to those who do not know Him. He has brought us to a new year so that we can continue to praise and worship Him in our lives. 

As this Psalm continues, the author explains how the Lord has proved Himself by turning back enemies, maintaining the righteousness of others, rebuking nations, and destroying the wicked. We have to remember that the Lord continues to do those things in our lives as well.

The world around us is wicked and out of control in our narrow scope but God sees everything (Proverbs 15:3). Nothing escapes Him and as much as people like to think they've gotten away with their evil deeds, God is keeping a record. 

"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 14:3)."

No matter how life looks, praise the Lord because He has it all under control. He holds us lovingly in His hands and will never let us go. We are His treasure!

 “They will be my people,” says the Lord Heaven’s Armies. “On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child (Malachai 3:17)."

Read
Genesis 7:1-10:5
1 Chronicles 1:5-7

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha
©2018

Our Brother's Keeper

Cain spoke to Abel his brother. While they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.  

Then Adonai said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

 Then He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground.

(Genesis 4:8-10)

As part of God's family, we have a duty to, in fact, be our brother's keeper. That is, to look out for one another and help each other. Providing blankets, coats, and meals for the homeless; visiting nursing homes; helping veterans; helping the poor, the fatherless, or just comforting someone in need is part of being our brother's keeper. 

Often, we see helping the poor as simply donating money to charity, and while there are some excellent charities that see to those in need, there is nothing like being hands-on when it comes to helping others. Even small things like shoveling snow for an elderly neighbor, driving someone to an appointment, or taking time to chat with someone who is lonely, can go a long way in helping them and showing brotherly love.

Our lives are very busy, and between jobs, family, kids, and dogs, and other obligations, we can forget that simple acts of kindness don't have to take up a lot of our time. We can show brotherly love in every day life without a lot of effort, if only we remember to practice patience.

"But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless (Psalm 14:10)."

Read
Genesis 4-6
1 Chronicles 1:1-4

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha

©2018

In The Beginning

Today is a brand new beginning, a brand new year to start over again. January first brings hope, resolutions & a lot of really good intentions, unfortunately, it doesn't take long for those feelings to fade and the resolutions to be cast aside as we continue our lives in much the same way as we did last year.

What we new to realize is that flipping the calendar to a new year doesn't change us or the lives we lead. That is something that has to occur on the inside of us before there can be an outward effect on life. The opportunity for change isn't new just on January first, it's there every single morning. Every day that we wake up, we are given a brand new chance for change.

God has always been a God of second chances for each of us, no matter how many second chances we might need. His love is never ending, and His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).

No matter what happened last year, or yesterday, today is a new day for new beginnings.

Read
Genesis 1-3

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha
©2018

In Excess

Evildoers are snared by their own sin, but the righteous shout for joy and are glad.
~Proverbs 29:6

Who inspires you? A parent? Grandparent? Your pastor? A celebrity? We are influenced every day but usually, we filter out influences that aren't good for us. But sometimes, those influences can be sneaky. Have you ever been out with friends and followed what they were doing when normally, it's not something you would do? For example, if everyone in your group is drinking, do you drink with them? We all want to fit in and be part of the action, but it's not always good for us.

"Do not follow the crowd when it does what is wrong; and don’t allow the popular view to sway you into offering testimony for any cause if the effect will be to pervert justice (Exodus 23:2)."

Today's world is all about following the crowd and perverting justice. Our world is full of excess in every area, and if we read even one news article a day, we see just how devastating this attitude is. Black Friday is a perfect example. What used to be a way to get great savings is now a free for all to have everything.

Over indulgence marks society like a plague. The quest to have more; to have the best, biggest, brightest, most expensive things we can buy is a disease that has infected every level of society. From infants who have every toy imaginable to grade school kids with IPhones, to teens with SUVs, to parents who are in debt up to their eyeballs but continue to indulge. And it doesn't stop with monetary items. We are gluttons in every area of life, which explains why we are also the fattest  country with high rates of obesity related health problems.

"They are headed for destruction! Their god is the belly; they are proud of what they ought to be ashamed of, since they are concerned about the things of the world (Philippines 3:19)."

That is not to say it is wrong to have nice things. God does not say we have to be destitute to be godly. It is excess in anything that draws us away from God and into the world. We are to seek the kingdom of Heaven first (Matthew 6:33) and then we can seek the things we want. However, if we seek God first, seeking that intimate relationship with Jesus, we find we our satisfied with what we have and don't need, or even desire the things of this world.

Go Along To Get Along

But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego —who pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up.
~Daniel 3:12

In our world today, it seems like everyone just conforms to whatever is going on. No one stands their ground; no one stands on their own two feet; no one stands up for their beliefs; and no one has any convictions. Everyone just goes along with whatever is popular whether or not it's right. The world today is swayed by emotion rather than logic.

"Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap (Galatians 6:7)."

In chapter one of the book of Daniel, he and his friends had been brought into the Babylonian king's service. Their names had been changed, their style of dress had been changed, and they were to be fed food offered to idols. They had gone along with everything the king ordered until it came to the food. As Jews, under the Torah, to eat the food of idols was a sin. Even under penalty of death, they refused to go against the Law. And, in chapter three, when the king ordered everyone to bow down and worship the golden idol, again they refused. The Law was clear, "You shall have no other God's before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God (Exodus 20:3-5)." They refused to bow before the king's idol under penalty of death, which the king carried out by tossing them into the furnace.

Standing up for what we know is right can be difficult. Especially when there's people laughing at you, calling you names, ridiculing you, or when the penalty can be imprisonment or even death. However, the end game is what matters. Everything we do here on Earth is taking us to the end game; and everything we do here on Earth will be judged by righteousness according to the word of God. We have to do the right thing in all circumstances. Even the little things that seem to go unnoticed by others is noticed by God. There is never a right time to do the wrong thing, and there is never ever a wrong time to do the right thing.

"Jesus answered, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. (John 14:23)."

Apologies

I have been away due to carpal tunnel surgery on both hands but today, I'm back to posting. Thank you for understanding.

~MM

Not Of This World

"For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people."
~2 Timothy 3:2-5

There is a saying, 'the more things change, the more they remain the same,' and I think that is absolutely true in the world today. There is so much going on in the world, it's hard to wrap our minds around it. People are totally out of control. We see young people in the streets rioting, killing each other, reaking havoc over things that seem to have no consequence in everyday life. They have absolutely no regard for other people's feelings, no respect for themselves or for others, they have no self control, they are boastful, lovers of self, lovers of this world, lovers of the things of this world; they call what is good evil and what is evil, good. I actually have to turn off my phone, shut down the internet and not read social media feeds because it's overwhelming.

The Bible tells us that our deliverer is coming (Psalm 18:2, 2 Samuel 22:2). Our deliverer is Jesus Christ, and He's going to set things right. The Bible tells us that no matter what happens in life we are not to fear anything or anyone. Jesus Christ is returning for those who love the Lord and keep His commandments. For those who do not walk in the ways of this world, our reward will be heaven.

The world seems to spin out of control from time to time, but the thing we have to remember is that God is always in control. God is not sitting on a recliner with His feet up, with the doors and windows closed ignoring everything that's going on. He's an active part of the design of the world and everything going on in it. We have to keep that in mind and not let the things of the world come between us and doing right. We have to keep in mind that we are in this world, but we are not of this world (John 17:14-16). We are children of the Most High and no matter what other people do, we have to depend on God and what we know to be true of God. And what we know to be true of God is that He is never changing. He is the same yesterday today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

So, while we have to live in this world, we don't have to concentrate on it, we don't have to be a part of it (John 15:19) and we don't have to let it bring us down. Our God is higher than any other and so are we. That is not to say we are better than other people, but we are in a better place, and our hope remains strong. Our hope remains firm (Romans 5:1-3). We do not have the same kind of hope that other people do, we have a heavenly hope. We have a strong hope. We have an unfailing hope. And that is what separates us from this world.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you (1 Peter 1:3-4)."

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)."