Thank God For What He's Done!

(1 Chron. 16:8-13) Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him; sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his hloy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of Israel his servant, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones! (ESV)

This passage is referred to as David's Psalm (or Song) of Thanks. It is also recorded for us again in Psalm 105:1-6. In fact, if you compare 1 Chron. 16:8-22 and Psalm 105:1-15 you will see that they read almost exactly the same. Passages like this one are good to read this time of the year as we begin to reflect on Thanksgiving and what we're thankful for. David reminds us through this song to give thanks to the Lord and to make known His deeds, to remember His wondrous works and to tell others about them.

There's a great praise song that the choir sang during one of our fall Revival services this past September with Dr. Warren and Shane Mitchell. The song is by Paul Baloche and Don Moen and is called "Thank You, Lord". Let's read some of the lyrics as we think about being thankful:

I come before You today, and there's just one thing that I want to say:

Thank You, Lord, thank You, Lord

For all You've given to me, for all the blessings that I cannot see,

Thank You, Lord, thank You, Lord

With a grateful heart, with a song of praise

With an out-stretched arm I will bless Your name

Thank You, Lord, I just want to thank You, Lord

Thank You, Lord, I just want to thank You, Lord, thank You, Lord

For all You've done in my life, You took my darkness and gave me Your light

Thank You, Lord, thank You, Lord

You took my sin and my shame, You took my sickness and healed all my pain

Thank You, Lord, thank You, Lord

With a grateful heart, with a song of praise

With an out-stretched arm I will bless Your name

Thank You, Lord, I just want to thank You, Lord...

So what has God done in your life? What has He given you? Has He washed away your sin and shame? Has He taken your sickness and healed all your pain? Has He taken away your darkness through the brilliance of His light in your life? What about all the blessings that we just can't see with our natural eyes? Just as King David was encouraging the Israelites to remember all of God's goodness to them through His mighty acts of deliverance and the miracles He had performed while leading the nation into the covenant inheritance of their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we need to be encouraged to reflect on what God's done for us-- in our nation, in our church family and in our personal lives. How has God delivered you through the terrible storms and Red Seas of your life? How has He defeated the giants that you have come face to face with? Has He stuck with you as your closest friend when others let you down? How has He provided for you and protected you through the tough times? How has He sent His gentle blessings of love, peace and mercy to you lately? We need to think on these things and be willing to tell others about them. We need to "make known His deeds among the people" with a thankful heart. As we really look at what God has done for us and how He blesses us continually, it's easy to see that God is good, all the time!

With a Grateful Heart,
Joey C.

A Godly Person Described

Lord, who can dwell in Your tent? Who can live on Your holy mountain? (Ps. 15:1)(HCSB)
This short psalm goes on to answer these two questions by briefly describing a godly person through how they live their life. By what they do and by what they don't do. I strive each and every day to be a godly man and to live my life accordingly. Sometimes I fall short of the mark, but through the power of the Holy Spirit I'm endeavoring to become more like Jesus.

Psalm 4:3 states that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself. He has set us apart so that we will live differently than the ungodly world around us, seeking to honor God by pursuing godliness in all we do.

What kind of life should we live?
2 Peter 3:11--You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. (NIV)
Is godliness worth it?1 Timothy 4:8--For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (NIV)
Do I have anything to gain?I Timothy 6:6--But godliness with contentment is great gain. (NIV)

What should I pursue in my life?1 Timothy 6:11--But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. (NIV)

Let's take a look back at Psalm 15 to see some practical examples of how we can pursue godliness. According to verses 2-5, the godly person is one who:

• v.2>lives honestly, practices righteousness and acknowledges the truth in his heart
• v.3>does not slander with his tongue, who does not harm his friend or discredit his neighbor
• v.4>who despises the one rejected by the Lord, but honors those who fear the Lord, who keeps his word whatever the cost
• v.5>who does not lend his money at interest or take a bribe against the innocent

Verse 5 then closes the Psalm with a promise to us: If we do all these things, we will never be moved!
So let's take this picture of a godly person that King David has painted for us here in Psalm 15 and put it to good use as a guideline for godly living in our pursuit of godliness!
Singing His Praises!
Joey C.

Longing For God

As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God? (Ps. 42:1-2)(HCSB)

Have you ever been thirsty? I mean really thirsty, like you feel as if you might keel over at any moment if you don't get a nice, long, cool drink of water? I've never been marooned in a remote desert without water or come even remotely close to dying of thirst, but there have been some times when I felt like that was the case. When I was just a wee lad (that's when I was a young boy), I loved playing baseball. I remember many times playing ball in the heat of summer with the sun beating down, how I would finish up an extremely long afternoon of practice (say maybe all of a couple of hours), and then hurry to the water cooler for a big drink. Man, water never tasted so good! It's funny how I would normally shun water for some Kool-Aid or a Dr. Pepper, but when I was really thirsty nothing could hit the spot like water. Well, okay, maybe Gatorade did. But the point is, when we're really thirsty, we've got to have a drink. And we will go searching for that refreshing liquid in order to satisfy our thirst.

You know, God wants us to thirst for Him like that. He wants us to have a continuing longing in our soul that only He will satisfy as a cool drink quenches our dry, parched throats. Usually when I read Psalm 42:1-2 I think of the popular worship song, "As the Deer", by Martin Nystrom. Let's look at the opening lyrics to the song which is inspired by the scripture verses above:

As the deer panteth for the water
so my soul longeth after Thee
You alone are my heart's desire
and I long to worship Thee

You alone are my heart's desire....Is your heart desiring God alone? Is your soul longing for the Lord, yearning to spend more time in His Word? Are you thirsting for a deeper walk with God and a more meaningful worship experience with Him? If you are, Jesus wants to quench that thirst for you. Look at these scriptures that point us at God's desire to satisfy our thirst:

Isa. 55:11--Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters...(NIV)
Jn. 4:14--(Jesus speaking) But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (NIV)
Jn. 7:37-38--(Jesus speaking) If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. (NIV)

So we know that God doesn't want us to remain thirsty, but He wants to satisfy our thirst. In fact, He says He will give us "living water" (Jn. 4:10). We need to continually thirst for the living God as the psalmist proclaims in Ps. 42:1-2 in the sense that we have an ongoing, ever-growing yearning and desire for fellowship with Him. And as the deer longs for a cool drink of water, we're always to be in search of those refreshing times of prayer, the study of His Word, and those moments in worship of the One who sits on the throne and gives us living water whereby we'll never thirst again. (Jn. 4:14 & Rev. 7:15-17)

Singing His Praises,
Joey C.