“Lord our God, may your blessings be with us. Give us success in all we do!”
Psalm 90:17
How do you begin your day? When the alarm goes off do you jump out of bed ready to tackle whatever comes your way or do you hit the snooze button hoping for a reprieve? Do you get up late and scurry around or do you get up early so you can enjoy the morning? Are you a prepare breakfast kind of gall or a grab a breakfast bar for the road kind of guy? Each of us have our morning routine but maybe we need to add one piece to our habit. We all need to ask for a blessing on the day.
The writer of Psalms gives us a wonderful piece of advice. He prays, “Lord our God, may your blessings be with us. Give us success in all we do!” Praying for success in your day; is that part of your morning routine? Do you include anywhere in your prayers a request that God blesses the day you are about to live. You know, it doesn’t matter if you are retired, a business owner, an employee of a small or large company, a college student, or even attending primary school we need success in what we do. And God wants to grant us success each and every day. But I wonder how often we actually pray and ask for God’s blessing on our day. When we get up in the morning do we truly give that day to God and seek his direction for what is about to come our way.
In the Message, a modern day translation of the bible, it gives a unique rendition of Romans 12:1. Paul says, “Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going to work, and walking around life – and place it before God as an offering.” Each day we get an opportunity to make our day an act of worship. Everything we do has a change to be a blessing to the Lord. But we need to allow it to be a blessing. And we need to allow blessings to flow in to our lives. But how do we make that happen? Let me give you some steps in the process.
1. Start your day out by giving it to God. Before your feet hit the floor in the morning tell God that this is His day and you will live it for him. Give all of your working, resting, and playing to God before your day even begins.
2. Ask for success throughout your day. God wants you to have a successful day. Too often our agenda gets in the way of his blessings. Pray that God shows you opportunities to be blessed and to be a blessing.
3. Live that day being Christ to others: Now you have to do what you prayed. Don’t give the day to God and then do what you want. Listen for his direction, look for his leading, and live as if you were Him.
God has great plans for each day of our life. That doesn’t mean that we won’t have bad days or that things won’t go wrong. Satan wants to mess things up for you. But God wants blessings to come our way. Live each day with God on your mind and his plan in your sights and you will find blessings both during and at the end of your day.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Gettin Down with the Good Book
Sixty Six books. Forty authors. A fifteen hundred year time span. Twenty five thousand ancient scrolls. Survived numerous persecutions. Withstood constant criticism. Proved accurate through archeology again and again. Translated into twenty two hundred different languages. Continuing to influence the course of human history. No, I am not talking about the Harry Potter series or Dante's Inferno. I am talking about the living word of God.
Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that, "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." God breathed: how did God breathe the scriptures. I see two ways that God breathed scripture. First, God whispered into the ear of the writer. Well, maybe not literally. But there are passages of scripture where God told the author what to write. A couple of examples would be the book of Leviticus, the Ten Commandments, some of the Prophets, and the book of The Revelation. We see God interrupting the course of natural events to speak through one of his prophets. Second, God influences the pen of the author. I
t is not like God took control of the hand of the person writing, it is more like he influenced their life in such a way that their words were his words. God used history, poetry, and narrative to tell His story in an inspired fashion.
Some would ask, "How do we know that the words we have today are even close to the words written so many years ago?" That is a good question. I don't know about you but I get e-mails that are not right and we have spell check. I have seen the same joke using doctors, lawyers, and preachers. if you read a texts, one word can be spelled in a variety of ways. Maybe the answer comes in understanding that God did not use these faulty levels of communication to instruct people in his word. Instead, he took studious individuals that were driven to perfection to copy his word. During my trip to Israel, I went to where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. I spent a little time learning about the Khirbet Qumram community. This group of avid followers of God were so precise at what they were doing. Hours with a pen and parchment in a small room preserving the word of God. It still amazes me that the text that had been copied for over a thousand years survived with such accuracy.
The point of this post is not to prove the accuracy of scripture or to expound on the historical reliability of God's word. If you don't believe the bible is God's word then just ignore these words and go back to surfing a world wide web full of inaccuracy, lies, and half truths. But, if you believe that the bible could be something more, then spend some time testing it for yourself. See if you find the words in the Good Book to be helpful in living a better life. And if you claim to be a follower of Christ, then study to show yourself approved. If the bible is the Good Book inspired for the human race then we as his followers should read it. So how about closing this blog down and pulling out a Good Book. Pick up that old bible you got for a wedding present or given to you by a Sunday school teacher and reading a portion of it. See what the Book of Psalms, the Gospel of John, or the Letter to the Corinthians has to say. And if you don't have a bible just click here and spend a little time with the Good Book.
Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that, "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." God breathed: how did God breathe the scriptures. I see two ways that God breathed scripture. First, God whispered into the ear of the writer. Well, maybe not literally. But there are passages of scripture where God told the author what to write. A couple of examples would be the book of Leviticus, the Ten Commandments, some of the Prophets, and the book of The Revelation. We see God interrupting the course of natural events to speak through one of his prophets. Second, God influences the pen of the author. I
t is not like God took control of the hand of the person writing, it is more like he influenced their life in such a way that their words were his words. God used history, poetry, and narrative to tell His story in an inspired fashion.Some would ask, "How do we know that the words we have today are even close to the words written so many years ago?" That is a good question. I don't know about you but I get e-mails that are not right and we have spell check. I have seen the same joke using doctors, lawyers, and preachers. if you read a texts, one word can be spelled in a variety of ways. Maybe the answer comes in understanding that God did not use these faulty levels of communication to instruct people in his word. Instead, he took studious individuals that were driven to perfection to copy his word. During my trip to Israel, I went to where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. I spent a little time learning about the Khirbet Qumram community. This group of avid followers of God were so precise at what they were doing. Hours with a pen and parchment in a small room preserving the word of God. It still amazes me that the text that had been copied for over a thousand years survived with such accuracy.
The point of this post is not to prove the accuracy of scripture or to expound on the historical reliability of God's word. If you don't believe the bible is God's word then just ignore these words and go back to surfing a world wide web full of inaccuracy, lies, and half truths. But, if you believe that the bible could be something more, then spend some time testing it for yourself. See if you find the words in the Good Book to be helpful in living a better life. And if you claim to be a follower of Christ, then study to show yourself approved. If the bible is the Good Book inspired for the human race then we as his followers should read it. So how about closing this blog down and pulling out a Good Book. Pick up that old bible you got for a wedding present or given to you by a Sunday school teacher and reading a portion of it. See what the Book of Psalms, the Gospel of John, or the Letter to the Corinthians has to say. And if you don't have a bible just click here and spend a little time with the Good Book.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)