Tag: blessed

‘Tis the Season For Praise (Psalm 148)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
By Stushie Art

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
    praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels;
    praise him, all his host!

Praise him, sun and moon;
    praise him, all you shining stars!
Praise him, you highest heavens
    and you waters above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for he commanded and they were created.
He established them forever and ever;
    he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

Praise the Lord from the earth,
    you sea monsters and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and frost,
    stormy wind fulfilling his command!

Mountains and all hills,
    fruit trees and all cedars!
Wild animals and all cattle,
    creeping things and flying birds!

Kings of the earth and all peoples,
    princes and all rulers of the earth!
Young men and women alike,
    old and young together!

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for his name alone is exalted;
    his glory is above earth and heaven.
He has raised up a horn for his people,
    praise for all his faithful,
    for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord! (New Revised Standard Version)

By Bible Art

God is sovereign – which means that the Lord has complete power, dominion, and authority over everything that exists. God has supremacy because the Lord is the Creator God, the One who brought all things into existence.

Ideally, God and all creation exist harmoniously together. People coexist with God and recognize the Lord’s sovereignty through offering praise, adoration, and thanksgiving to the Lord.

That is what today’s psalm calls us to do, especially in this season of Christmastide. Christians are to offer their praise to God, despite whatever circumstances may be happening in their lives, and around them.

The psalmist was not telling people to simply forget their sorrows. He was exhorting everyone, including all creation, to praise the Lord in the middle of their distress.

When Christ was born, circumstances were not good for the Jews in Judea. Roman occupation had a firm authoritative hold upon them. Throughout their history, Jews have been often marginalized and oppressed. They know what suffering is.

Even though Christianity is a sizable world religion, Christians in many parts of the world today experience ostracization and discrimination. Christians everywhere are not immune to world events with situations like dictators, disasters, and diseases.

Yet, there is always an opportunity for praise to God. And the psalmist summons the faithful to do so. Praise and adoration of God shape us and form us spiritually, so that, even if we do not feel like doing it, the very act of offering the praise trains our spirits to bend in a good direction.

We could simply give-in to the status quo of things through constant complaining; or keep offering our woes. But that doesn’t negate the importance of praise.

Today we have the opportunity (and responsibility) to praise God for the incarnation of Christ. To remember that God loved us enough to become one of us. To adore the Christ child, and choose to give thanks, even though there might be oppression all around us.

We can celebrate, along with all creation, the nature of God and the Lord’s good purposes for humanity and all the earth. Adverse situations may stop us from many things we want to do, yet no circumstance can ever prevent us from praising God for divine attributes and divine sovereignty.

All of creation praises God by being exactly what God created it to be. A tree doesn’t try and be a star in the sky. It simply takes root and grows, branching out and becoming a haven for many creatures. Squirrels do what squirrels do, just like flowers, rocks, wind and weather do what they do.

It’s us people who tend to go rogue and try to be something or someone we’re not.

We can best praise God by living as God created us to live. We were designed to live in a divine/human cooperation of caring for all creation. We best exist alongside God by being good stewards of all that God has given to us – including the earth, our families and neighborhoods, and especially ourselves.

Praise is the job description of everything which exists. We will do that well as we honor our mandate to care, and not to harm; to serve others, and not be self-serving.

All things are connected on this planet. The ecosystems of the earth, and the economies of people, are all meant to live in harmony with each other, so that all of creation is blessed.

You and I have a sacred trust of relating well with each other, and everything around us.

The human condition is one of ongoing ups and downs. We experience a full range of tragedy, division, and hardship; along with joy, wonder, and happiness. In all things, no matter what, we are called to praise the Lord.

Each of us needs to find that place and that way of orienting and reorienting ourselves to what is important and why we are here.

For me, that happens whenever I hug my dear wife. Sometimes, I even go out in my backyard and hug my oak tree. The very act of hugging helps ground me to what is here and real, what is important and necessary.

If we can but touch one another, not just literally, but with well-placed words and helpful actions, then we can recall why harmony with all things is so important.

I’m in no way saying this is easy. It isn’t. There are many days when either the world seems as if it is a big collective ball of grumpy; or you yourself can hardly do the barest of responsibilities.

Yet, we can still find a way to praise, to be grateful, to offer what little care there may be to give.

Because it’s not so much about the amount of what we do, but rather how we are able to do it. A smidge of something done with love is infinitely better than lots of accomplishment without any care behind it.

The holidays are some of the hardest days for some folks. Christmas and the New Year are associated with grief for various reasons. It can bring isolation, not connection. The last thing such a person may want to do is praise the Lord, especially with a community of folks. And yet, that may just be the best activity.

There is no one-dimensional way of praising God; our offerings to the Lord can be multi-faceted. It can be achieved according to what we have to offer, and why we are offering it. It will not look the same for everyone.

Whatever you really need to do for an offering of praise this year, then do it. It’s okay if it’s a bit avant-garde, or off the beaten path. You are, after all, talking to a guy who hugs trees, for God’s sake.

Maybe this is the time to re-establish an old tradition that has fallen by the wayside. It could be the right opportunity to pick up that old musical instrument or to stretch your voice in singing again.

The exhortation we have from the psalmist is to praise. How you go about it, is up to you, my friend.

May almighty God, who sent his Son to take our nature upon him, encourage you in this holy season, scatter the darkness of sin, and brighten your heart with the light of his holiness. And may the blessing of God – Father, Son, and Spirit – be upon you and remain with you forever. Amen.

What Should We Do? (Acts 2:37-42)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
Apostle Peter Preaching, by Lorenzo Veneziano, c.1370

When the crowd heard this, they were deeply troubled. They said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

Peter replied, “Change your hearts and lives. Each of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you, your children, and for all who are far away—as many as the Lord our God invites.” With many other words he testified to them and encouraged them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Those who accepted Peter’s message were baptized. God brought about three thousand people into the community on that day.

The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers. (Common English Bible)

The Apostle Peter, follower of Jesus, had a fire in his belly and fresh wind in his lungs.

Pentecost will do that to a person.

The promised Holy Spirit came – the Spirit of fire and wind – and the result was an impassioned, reasoned, and convicting message from Peter.

The crowd of people listening to Peter understood clearly that he was saying the person and work of Jesus was the activity of God.

And Christ was killed because of his presence and ministry. But three days later, he was raised from death. And then, ascended to heaven, promising the Spirit’s continual involvement.

The people listening to Peter were cut to the heart, convicted in the depths of their soul, and beside themselves as to their culpability in Christ’s situation. They cried out to Peter and asked him what they should do, how they could possibly be a part of what God is doing in the world.

Peter’s response to the crowd was to change – to repent and be baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle was telling them to turn away from the old way, and turn toward the new coming kingdom of God.

Baptism assures people that God has received their repentance, and has forgiven them. It initiates the believer into the new community of the redeemed, the church.

This was not only for Jewish people, but also for Gentiles; and for everyone, both far and near.

Celebration, by John August Swanson (1938-2021)

The four qualities which characterized the earliest church were these:

  1. The new community followed apostolic teaching (the story of Jesus)
  2. The church continually engaged in fellowship (mutual encouragement and working together in unity)
  3. The believers broke bread together (kept meeting together in shared meals to remember the person and work of Jesus)
  4. They prayed (as the Lord had taught them to pray – for God’s gracious and benevolent kingdom to come, and God’s ethical and moral will to be done, right now on this earth, as it is always done in God’s heaven)

For those who are established in the faith of Christianity, all of this material raises several questions to reflect upon in how our life together as Christians is going:

How do Christians understand the word “repentance?”

Because this determines a great deal of how we live as believers. If we discern repentance as following the rules – both written and unwritten – then we are likely behaving more in the old ways that the earliest believers were to repent of.

But if we see repentance as a way of life, of continually offering prayers of confession to God, and seeking to align our life with the words and ways of Jesus, then we are living more into the spirit of Peter’s original exhortation to the people.

Is the Church living as the baptized community of the redeemed?

Again, how do we understand the word “baptism?” If baptism is nothing more than a personal decision to outwardly show one’s faith, then we have severely truncated Peter’s meaning of the word.

Baptism is the outward sign that we belong to God. And belonging to God is something God does, not us.

One good way of understanding the whole of the Christian life is that we are to ‘live into our baptism,’ that is, we are to daily live our lives cognizant that our life is not our own.

We belong to God. Long before we happened to choose God, God chose us. And we must always remember that.

Are believers in Jesus living in the Spirit?

The Spirit has been given as the continuing presence of Jesus on this earth. The Spirit reminds us of Christ’s words and ways, his person and work. To live in the Spirit is to be continually reminded that what is important to Jesus, needs to be important to us.

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

“You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

“You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

“You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.

“You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.

“You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

“You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of competing or fighting. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.

“You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom. (Matthew 5:3-10, MSG)

Are individual Christians and the Church communicating the promise to those who are far away? In other words, are we seeking to include others in the community?

Too many churches are closed groups who have a lot of extraneous rules and ancillary beliefs in order to truly be a part of their local church.

This does not mean we are to have no rules or guidelines or any teaching about our particular Christian tradition. However, it does mean that make sure we are proclaiming good news (which is what the word “gospel” means) because the gospel is radically inclusive, not exclusive.

Therefore, to have a community of people who genuinely love one another by spiritually changing and growing, serving and helping, sharing and encouraging, praying and opening up, is to have a group of redeemed persons who give a compelling proclamation of good news through both their gracious words and their loving actions.

If we have little Christ’s walking about this world and living according to his words and ways, and being full of the Spirit, then we give other people a big reason for faith, hope, and love in a world that is too often characterized by being overwhelmed, jaded, and hopeless.

One can never go wrong with living a blessed life as Jesus has defined it; and as the early apostles and believers lived it.

May it be so, to the glory of God, and for the blessing of the church and the world. Amen.

“I Choose You!” (Ephesians 1:3-6)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ. For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. He did this by predestining us to adoption as his legal heirs through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will—to the praise of the glory of his grace that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly loved Son. (New English Translation)

There is perhaps no greater sense of worth, security, and love, than stating with sincerity and conviction to another, “I choose you!”

That is exactly what God has done for us. In fact, the Lord chose us and included us before we were even born into this world. Our identity is secure in belonging to God because it isn’t based in any of the screw-ups I did yesterday or the bad decisions I made years ago. Christian identity is based solely and completely by the choice and action of God, in Christ, through the Spirit.

People tend to live up to how they view themselves, to how they self-identify. So, it is critical to our well-being how we truly understand self, others, and God.

If we see ourselves as never getting ahead and needing to lie, cheat, and steal to obtain anything in this life, then we will view ourselves as common thieves.

If we think the only way to have love and security in this life is to hustle for it – to make ourselves as presentable as we possibly can, then we will view ourselves as basically unlovely and search for love in all the wrong places by trying to keep up appearances.

If we look at ourselves as stupid, then we will tend to make poor decisions even when it’s in our ability to make good choices because we see ourselves as unable to compete with those smarter than us. 

The common theme in all these scenarios are people living apart from God. Without the Lord Jesus, we are like lost street children trying to survive from day to day. What we need, what we search for and long for, is to have a good, blessed life in a loving home, a place to belong in a world of disconnection.

To be “blessed,” to have “blessing” in the Holy Scriptures, is to have God’s stamp of approval on your life. It is to know, experience, and feel Divine favor resting upon you.

The picture being painted at the very beginning of Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus is of wayward children roaming the streets as orphans. The Ephesians were ensconced in their idol worship of Artemis, the fertility cult goddess. They were going about life without a whim about the true and living God.

Out of sheer grace, God plucked them from their worthless condition and adopted them. God placed blessing upon them because of love and gave them a reason to rejoice and praise.

What’s more, the Ephesians were chosen and predestined for holiness and purity. God set them apart for divine blessing. It’s as if God brought them into the kingly palace, provided lavishly for them, and let them have the run of the place. They get to enjoy every privilege that comes with being children of the king.

The focus and orientation of today’s New Testament lesson is about how tremendously special the believer in Jesus really is. And it has nothing to do with how presentable we are to a holy God. Instead, out of the vast storehouse of blessed grace, God chose and adopted. The Lord looked upon you and me with googly divine eyes and said, “I choose you!”

God chooses from a place of divine pleasure. Yes, that’s right. God chooses, predestines, and adopts with a willing heart because it brings great pleasure and divine joy to do so!

There was no arm-twisting from the Father to the Son in securing redemption for lost humanity. And there was no persuasion necessary for the Father and Son to send the Spirit for our ongoing benefit and help in this life. Each redemptive event of Jesus was done out of the grace and love of God in Christ through the Spirit.

Do you see how God views you? Do you know how special you truly are?  Have you an understanding of the incredible position and majesty you have as a human being in God’s image and likeness?

As a child of the king, you live up to the position you know you possess. Freedom from worry and anxiety don’t come from willpower, but from an understanding that God owns all things, and we will never be in need. 

Deliverance from the power of darkness doesn’t come by trying to do better; it comes through the knowledge that God has redeemed us and chosen us to live in the gracious realm of divine love forever. There is no need to hustle for love with God because you and I already have it.

The believer has every spiritual blessing in Christ. God has your back. We belong to God. And to belong to Jesus Christ is to be blessed. It makes all the difference in the world. It is our reason for gratitude and praise, and for settled peace and glorious rest.

Gracious God, your loving activity has snatched me from the barren streets of sin and brought me into a realm of incredible blessing. Thank you for blessing me and giving me a place to belong forever; through Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, who with you and the Holy Spirit reign forever and ever in a celebration of redeeming love.  Amen.

Respect Wise Sayings (Proverbs 22:1-9)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

Being respected is more important than having great riches.
    To be well thought of is better than silver or gold.

The rich and the poor are alike
    in that the Lord made them all.

The wise see danger ahead and avoid it,
    but fools keep going and get into trouble.

Respecting the Lord and not being proud
    will bring you wealth, honor, and life.

Evil people’s lives are like paths covered with thorns and traps.
    People who guard themselves don’t have such problems.

Train children to live the right way,
    and when they are old, they will not stray from it.

The rich rule over the poor,
    and borrowers are servants to lenders.

Those who plan evil will receive trouble.
    Their cruel anger will come to an end.

Generous people will be blessed,
    because they share their food with the poor. (New Century Version)

The Bible is a big book. In fact, it is more like a compilation of many books – 66 of them, to be precise, contained in the Old and New Testaments. Although the Bible has the grand theme of presenting a redemptive drama, it is not a flat one-dimensional piece of literature. 

Throughout the Bible’s contents, from Genesis to Revelation, it is chocked full of various literary genres. From poetry and narrative stories to apocalyptic accounts and exhortative epistles, Holy Scripture provides a many-sided look at the unfolding drama of God’s redemption toward humanity. 

Included in this big Bible is the book of Proverbs, a collection of wise sayings to help people navigate God’s big world. The chief reason it’s important to know that the Bible contains different types of literature is so that we can read it and interpret it well. 

A proverb is a short pithy statement of experiential truth. 

It’s not the same as commands or law. The individual Hebrew proverbs are designed to point out that, all things being equal, this is how the world works. For example, let’s consider one of the most misunderstood and misused verses in the Bible: Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. 

Many a parent has been made to feel unrelenting guilt over a wayward son or daughter, believing that somehow they have failed. The reason they have such feelings is that they treat the book of Proverbs as clear promises to claim. But biblical proverbs simply were not meant to be stretched in this manner.

Rather, the proverb is meant to communicate to us that if parents are diligent and faithful in raising kids, that in all likelihood, this training will never leave them; it will always stick with them in some way, shape, or form. 

Furthermore, it’s also true that many a parent has rejoiced over an adult child coming back to their faith after a sojourn in the muck of the world. Important to that return is the foundation laid years ago with faithful parenting that desired to pass on wise and good instruction.

Proverbs, therefore, are meant to encourage us, not with an ironclad promises, but with the hope that all the blood, sweat, and tears that parents, teachers, mentors, and others put into children, and into their diligent work, will someday likely bear much fruit of responsible lives that contribute and benefit the church and the world. 

So, be diligent, patient, and do not give up; keep persevering knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

And also consider the proverb that honoring, respecting, and fearing God will bring a person wealth, riches, and an abundant life. It might. Perhaps likely. But it’s neither a promise nor a command. And it’s definitely not a math equation; you cannot build an algorithm from it to get rich quick. No, the verse is a proverb.

In other words, if we are careful to pay attention to God, and seek to obey and trust the Lord for all things, then, it is quite likely that you will find yourself with plenty, and not be in want. Thus, we ought never to look at the world with black-and-white glasses that unthinkingly believes that all rich people are hard workers and godly, whereas all poor folk are lazy good-for-nothing’s.

What’s more, many a poor person is rich in faith and good works, whereas many of the rich, care little for God and spend their wealth on self-centered concerns. Understanding a proverb as a proverb helps us to avoid stereotyping people and giving them labels they don’t deserve.

Let’s keep going. I do believe, as the proverb says, that generous people will be blessed. But know this: genuine generosity always costs us something. It will take money, time, energy, and/or resources which become depleted when we give liberally. Some folk never acquire wealth because they are committed to sharing what they have with others. And, in my opinion, these are the persons who are truly blessed.

If we keep an eye toward acquiring wisdom, pursuing experiential knowledge, and trusting God, then we look to places in the Bible like the Proverbs, and seek to live life as it was intended to be lived.

Internalize the biblical proverbs and, all things being equal, you are quite likely to have a good and blessed life.

Blessed and almighty God, the Giver of life, it is from your hand that we have received all we have, and are, and will be. We understand that your divine call upon us is to be the stewards of your abundance, the caretakers of all you have entrusted to us. Help us always to use your gifts wisely; and teach us to share them generously. May our faithful stewardship bear witness to the love of Christ in our lives; we pray with grateful hearts, in the gracious name of Jesus. Amen.