Word of Encouragement – Psalm 145

Over the past few days or so, as I’ve been reading through a variety of different devotions, a recurring theme keeps on coming to mind. 

That is, irregardless of one’s circumstances, we should celebrate God!

We should celebrate Him not only for the big things in life, but the little things as well.

After all, being grateful, thankful, and appreciative of stuff in our lives is supposedly good for us, and it helps to alleviate the negativity and stress that we are constantly bombarded by.

However, sometimes, that is easier said than done! Especially if one is struggling to come to terms with, or deal with the challenges that come from living with a rare disease or disorder, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Scleroderma can certainly have that effect on people. It can cause one to question not only one’s abilities and capacity, but also one’s faith in God. Mainly because it can be so unpredictable, one day you can feel ‘right as rain’ and as if you can deal with anything that comes your way. The next, as if you’ve been hit by a bus and you can barely make it out of bed. This can certainly mess with your head.

Thankfully though, for me this past week, I haven’t had too many of the later days, which makes a welcome change 🙂 I’m starting to get better at pacing myself so that my energy levels aren’t depleted to quickly.

But this takes time and every now and again irregardless of what I have done, or even should I say not done – I can be left reeling physically, mentally, and emotionally as if all the energy within me just vanished in a moment and the aches and pains come over me in waves. 

Almost as if someone unbeknownst to me has put a small hole in my gas tank and fuel is dripping down the highway of life as I go along and there is nothing I can do about it.   

A little while ago, I wrote about being content in all circumstances, and to some degree, I live a very contented life. I have come to know that when feelings of ‘woe is me’ strike, I need to remind myself that there are many others out there that are in a much worse position than I am.

A friend of mine recently experienced what she referred to as a fear-induced day. By the grace of God, she was able to not only get through the day unscathed, but she was also celebrating the fact God was back in her life and He has been helping her get through.

As she shared I was reminded of a verse from Psalm 145 that I’d recently read;

“My heart explodes with praise to you!
Now and forever my heart bows in worship to you
my King and my God!
Every day I will lift up my praise to your name
with praises that will last throughout eternity.“

Psalm 145:1-2 (The Passion Translation) 

Later that evening I read a verse from Habakkuk 3:18 “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!” (New Living Translation)

Which then got me reading a variety of different translations of Psalm 145.

The following stood out for me as it emphasises not only the importance of internalising our appreciation of God and praising Him, but also proclaiming His greatness;

“I will proclaim your greatness, my God and king;
    I will thank you forever and ever.
Every day I will thank you;
    I will praise you forever and ever.“

Psalm 145:1-2 (Good News Translation)

When things happen in your life do you recognise God at work in it? Do you celebrate Him? Do you proclaim His greatness and / or His goodness? Do you thank Him for what He is doing in and through your life? Do you give glory and honour to our Father in heaven for everything He has done and everything that He is going to do? 

The thing is, expressing gratitude for the little things as well as the big things in our lives is good for us. But how often do we really do it?

Even if you don’t believe in God, or have a different belief system all together, it is still extremely helpful to have an attitude of gratitude. We are to be thankful – as this can help release good vibes, positive energy and good endorphins and dopamine into our bodies to help relieve pain, reduce stress and improve our mood.    

Some people look to meditation and yoga to help, others spend prolonged time listening to music, reading a book, writing poetry or doing crafts such as knitting and crochet etc. Some major on exercise as much as their bodies allow, while others reconnect with nature.   

Every now & again I like to read Leslie Brandt’s Psalms/Now to get a slightly different take on what the original author of the psalms may have been getting at. He picks up on this theme of not only emphasising the importance of internalising our appreciation of God and praising Him, but also proclaiming His greatness, he writes;

“God is here – let’s celebrate!
Let us enlist our lives in perpetual celebration
over God’s goodness and greatness.
Let us announce to the world God’s presence
and proclaim His loving concern for all men [and women].

How compassionate He is over all He has created,
how tender toward His failure-fraught creatures!
He will not fail in any of His promises to us.
His blessings are not reserved only for those
who fit obediently into His design from them.

He is just – and He is forgiving.
He gently picks up those who have fallen
and restores them to sonship [daughtership] and servanthood.
He sustains those who are wavering in weakness
and grants them His grace and strength.
He reaches into the void of empty lives
and enriches and fulfils their hungry hearts.

He is near enough to hear our every cry,
to sense our every need,
to grant us whatever is necessary
to make us happy and productive
as we seek to follow and to serve Him.
How incomparably glorious is our great God!

May our mouths articulate and our lives demonstrate
His ever-present love for all His creatures.
Let us celebrate
the eternal mercy and goodness of our God.

I hope and pray that as you’ve read these words that you have been encouraged by them and that you give yourself space and time to Celebrate God!

Maybe over the next day or two you’ll also be reminded to announce to the world His presence and proclaim His loving concern for each and every one of us regardless.

For we should “not [be] ashamed of the Good News, since it is God’s powerful means of bringing salvation to everyone who keeps on trusting…” Romans 1:16 (Complete Jewish Bible)

Or as Eugene H. Peterson paraphrases it in The Message “It’s [the] news I’m most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God’s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts him…”  

In closing I’d like to share a beautiful piece from the International Staff Band of The Salvation Army entitled “Rejoice, The Lord is King” 

Blessings ’til next time 🙂

Other posts that you may be interested in reading: 

• Living with Scleroderma
• The Importance of Thankfulness
• When Life is Topsy Turvy and You Feel Afraid, Step Forward Anyway
• Three Habits of Gratitude God Wants Us to Develop
• Where Will You Find Joy?
• How Can We Develop Joy in our Lives? 

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Children Are Important

This year Annette & I get to officially celebrate Grandparents Day* on Sunday 1st of October, as yesterday (8/3/2023) Christina & Jonny welcomed wee Jack Perry Woods into this world 🙂

Mum and bubs are doing really well all things considered, and dad is absolutely besotted and overwhelmed with joy for this little fella (as is Nana Net who is currently staying down in Invercargill).

From the beginning of God’s Word to the end of it, God speaks about the importance and worth of children, and because children are important to God, they should be extremely important to us and we should value them.

According to Psalm 127:3 “Children are a gift from the Lord. The children born to us are our special reward.” (New Life Version)

And Jesus had to remind the disciples to “Let the little children come to [Him], and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14 (New International Version)

Last weekend many churches around Aotearoa (New Zealand) celebrated Children’s Day with a variety of children’s activities, games and stories.

In part this is so that we can pass on our knowledge of God and let the next generation know about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about His mighty power, wonders and works (refer to Psalm 78:4-8).

For we are each supposed to think about His marvelous glory and mighty miracles, and talk about His fearsome deeds. Telling others how great He is.

And this should be our motivation when we gather to celebrate and sing about His matchless mercy and power to save us (refer to Psalm 145:4-7).

The thing is, in some regions the celebrations aimed at/for children continue for at least a couple of weeks as various events occur to help raise the importance of our children, and the responsibilities that we have as parents and carers to those that are entrusted to us.

Now I know for certain that both Christina and Jonny want to do all they can to care for and protect their newborn baby, and ensure that he is brought up in the knowledge of who God is, and what He has done not only in their lives, but the generations of people before them – But they’ll need support and encouragement from their church family to do this, as it takes a village to raise a child.

We need to learn, think and act generationally if we are ever to see the purposes of God fulfilled. Afterall His design is for the generations to be connected, serving together and using their various strengths to impact the world for Christ.

So, may this be a reminder for us all that as we approach another day, another weekend, another Sunday – that we too remember how important children are.

That they are indeed a gift!

Let us do all we can to enable the little children to learn about Jesus, for we have a responsibility to pass on our knowledge of God to the generations that follow. Because it won’t happen through osmosis, it is not the job of professional clergy folk, we all have a part to play and it is definitely worth the effort.

Blessings ’til next time 🙂

* Grandparents Day is a day that celebrates all the joy and value that Grandparents bring to the lives of their children’s children.

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Word of Encouragement

Today’s word of encouragement comes from Rick Warren’s Monday Encouragement, which is part of the Pastors.com ministry, whose passion is driven by the desire to see healthy pastors leading healthy churches.

Pastors.com is a place for Christian leaders to connect, so they have put together a flowing stream of content to nourish and enrich the lives and leadership of Pastors worldwide. They’ve also created a dynamic community where church leaders can draw encouragement and wisdom from one another.

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The Bible says in Mark 12:30, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength” (New Living Translation).

Another way to say this is, love God with all your words, all your feelings, all your thoughts, and all of your actions. God shaped you to primarily be a talker, feeler, thinker, or doer.

“Doers” love God with their strength. They are the energetic activists of life—the achievers, the accomplishers, the workers, and the people who push things forward. They make things happen in the practical sense of life.

What is the purpose of “doers” in the world?

The world needs contribution. We don’t just need communication, compassion, and consideration. We’ve got to get to work and do it! We need people with initiative, energy, action, and a bias for achievement.

But we all have flaws, and for doers, it’s overworking. Doers are always working. They never stop to think, and they certainly don’t stop to feel. They are always busy!

God says in Psalm 127:2, “It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late, and work your worried fingers to the bone. Don’t you know he enjoys giving rest to those he loves?” (The Message). If you are a doer, that is a good verse to put up on your bathroom mirror. God wants his loved ones to get their proper rest.

Some of you need to do less. Not less for God, but doing less in other areas so that you’ll have more time to do what matters most.

The Bible says that when you become a believer, God makes you a new person on the inside: “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
(New International Version).

When you become a believer, your past is forgiven, you have a reason for living, and you have a home in Heaven. Let me tell you something that doesn’t change when you come to Christ: Your personality doesn’t change. God doesn’t slow you down when you go to him. He just simply changes your direction. He wants to empower you. Remember that he created your personality.

God doesn’t want to make you a clone of everybody else in the way you worship, serve, and love him. He wants you to serve him with your personality and character. Not only that, but he will strengthen your personality, not dampen it. He’s going to make you more you than you’ve ever been before.

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I don’t know about you, but I relate to being a doer – I’ve been a doer most of my life, in fact some people may even say that I am an over-achiever, as I strive to attain certain things in life and have a high capacity to do so.

Yet, all to often these days I find myself in situations where I have no other option but to rest because my body tells me to. 

Maybe God is teaching me something in this moment, to stop striving and trying to achieve and instead go deeper in His word and draw closer to Him.

So, today maybe you too can relate to this quote like me as we all tend to “wear our busyness like a badge of honour, like an identity or proof of worthiness.
But we’ve got it wrong!“

I’ve come to acknowledge this – How about you?

Blessings ’til next time 🙂

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The Goal of Being Still

I’m sure that we are all familiar with the words from Psalm 46:10 – Right!
“Be still and know that I am God”
(New International Version).

In fact, I’d hazard a guess that many people the world over regardless of their religious affiliation can relate to it, or at least would recognise those words in one form or another.

You see, most people strive, or long to find some semblance of peace and solitude in the act of being still, or quieting the noise. Be that through meditations, relaxation techniques, getting in touch with nature, listening to music, or even a myriad of other approaches.   

Earlier this year I wrote about being still and how I’ve found that extremely difficult at times, even on those days that I am, in essence, forced to be still because my body (due to my health condition) tells me NO!

But maybe, just maybe we have been approaching this verse slightly wrong, as we’ve been focusing on the aspect of stillness in relation to the quietening oneself, rather than what the goal of being still is – to know God! As to know God involves so much more!

In fact the verse goes on, it says that;
“He will be exalted among the nations,
He will be exalted in the earth.“

Therefore, be still, know God, because He is!

It’s almost as if we have missed the point of the Psalm which in effect teaches us to be still, so that we can focus on Him and what He has done / is doing, and then do what He has called us to do – Because He is God!   

Maybe the issue of interpretation and translation has a lot to do with it. According to Karen Holmes from Inspired to Faith the phrase “Be still” is actually derived from the Hebrew word ‘rapha’ which means “to be weak, to let go, to release.” Essentially, it means to surrender.

The “and know” in its original Hebrew form, taken together with “Be still,” actually contains the meaning “in order to know.”

So, in essence you can tweak the wording of Psalm 46:10 to read “Surrender – in order that you may know…”

The beauty that we have in this day and age in looking at Scripture, is that we have a multitude of translations and interpretations, which try to expand our thinking around verses that have become so familiar to many of us. Previously we may not have necessarily made the connection between scripture and our everyday ‘today‘ lives. 

The Passion Translation says; “Surrender your anxiety. Be still and realise that I am God.” The Contemporary English Version says; “Calm down, and learn…” God’s Word says; “Let go of your concerns! Then you will know…” Stop striving. Stop fighting. That’s enough! Step out of the traffic. 

You see, God’s truth is that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. When we surrender ourselves, our lives, our will, our desires, to Him – When we stop and focus on Him! He is able to more fully reveal Himself to us and we are more able to fully experience Him.

So, can you trust God enough to let go of those things that you are clinging to so tightly, in order that you may know a deeper, more intimate relationship with Him?

What would it mean for you to release that thing to Him?

Afterall, peace on the outside only truly comes from knowing God on the inside. 

Surrender yourself in order that you may know that He is God… your refuge; your strength; your present help in trouble; your comforter and King in uncertain times; your security; your center; your steadfast ruler; the commander of the universe; the Lord of Hosts; the God of Jacob; the Victorious One; the One before whom every knee shall bow, on earth and in Heaven.

Being still is more than just calming down, or even taking a break from the day to day challenges that encompass us – surrendering looks more like setting aside all that stuff and more.

Occasionally the illustration is used about leaving one’s bags at the door – unfortunately when we spend times being still, we stop for just a little while and then return to the doorway pick up those bags again and return to the norm – slowly pushing God to the extremes of our lives again.

God longs for us to leave the bags at the door and not pick them up again and to continually take Him into our everyday.

Being still is not a passive act; sitting back, taking it easy, doing very little and waiting for some Divine inspiration to happen.

Being still, surrendering is laying it all aside, so that we can focus on Him and then do what He has called us to do. 

If we look at examples in scripture, we see several men and women initially resisting God, or a situation He has called them to, which is totally reasonable and understandable. But they often come to a point in their life, after spending some significant time being still, surrendering to God and then proceed with what it is that He would have them do.

Jesus himself often spent time surrendering His all to the will of his Father.

I wonder if we have become so entrenched in our thinking, our ways of operandi and the day to day stuff that fills our lives, that we have lost sight of what it is that God has called us to do and or is longing for us to do, all because we are caught up in the machine of life. 

You see, life has a habit of being filled up with a whole heap of stuff that keeps us busy, swirling around us like a constant drone, crowding out God and overwhelming us to the point of exhaustion. Where even the things of ministry can at times end up being a drain on our very souls, sucking the very lifeblood out of our souls.    

So, when life is swirling around you and you’re feeling overwhelmed, how can you “be still” and surrender in order to experience the glory of God?

Identify what it is that is overwhelming you or you are anxious about?

Discuss this with a trusted confidante, be that a close friend that is able to help you to unpack it in a bit more detail; a minister, pastor, officer, spiritual director, counsellor, mentor, coach or guide.

Take it to God in prayer – individually and together with the above person.

Afterall, the Apostle Paul reminds us in Philippians that we shouldn’t “worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.

His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 (New Living Translation)    

Some final questions to ponder: What does surrender look like for you?
What is God calling you to release or surrender to Him right now?
Do the Hebrew meanings change the way you think about this verse?

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Where will you find joy?

Ever had one of those moments when no matter how hard you try the pieces of the puzzle you are doing, or a project that you are working on, or a task that your trying to complete at work or even at home just isn’t coming together?

I’m sure we can all relate! 😃

Well, I’ve been experiencing that for a while now with a jigsaw puzzle that I’ve had on the go for over a month.

Maybe it’s my eyesight, or my condition, or just the fact that I’m a bit older than I used to be, but this puzzle has certainly tried my patience at times and I have grown frustrated with myself.

I’m finding that the light coming through the windows into the dining room has to be just right so that I can make out the subtle colour variations and irregularities with shading. I’ve also been finding that even when the colouring on the pieces do match their may be slight variations with the puzzle piece itself that leads me having to undo things a number of times just so that it matches up right.

So, for the past week I’ve had to set it aside and concentrate on doing some other stuff for a while. In many regards the weather has certainly helped as it’s been blowing a gale and raining, which means that the light hasn’t been right anyway.

Sitting down over the weekend to finally complete the puzzle has given me a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. I even messaged some of my family who’ve seen this work in progress so that I could share my joy and sense of fulfillment 🥳

But it got me thinking; Where will you find joy?

In this moment I found joy in completing a puzzle – a trivial thing for some maybe, but it goes much deeper than that.

Over the past few months I’ve been sharing some of my morning devotions looking at the Book of Psalms from the YouVersion Bible App. As I’ve been journeying through them I’ve been drawing inspiration and encouragement for my own life from the many poems, prayers, hymns and meditations contained within these writings.

I’m constantly being reminded to rejoice in the small things of life, to sing psalms of praise and thanks, to shout aloud to our Creator God for not only the big things that we see all around us, but also all the small things as well – I wonder though how often do we do this? Really!!!

We are blessed in so many ways that maybe we have become binded to the things that we should be grateful for.

When we look around at all of the issues that threaten the world in which we live in at present, we can often feel quite perplexed. The pieces of the puzzle are not coming together in the way that we would have imagined. Successive governments, systems, policies and procedures have been trying for decades to ‘fix‘ the many issues that appear to plague the many puzzle pieces of our lives. In fact it’s almost as if the closer we get to achieving some part of the puzzle, the next part becomes even more complex and we may even need to unravel some of the pieces that we had put together not that long ago.

This was the case for me and the puzzle that I finally completed, did I mention that it was the biggest puzzle I’ve done in a long time, a total of 2,000 pieces! Now that its complete to looks quite impressive but it did take numerous attempts to get the right pieces in the right place, every now and again I’d have to take a piece or two out all together to redo an area to get it right. 

I recently read a couple of quotes the first says; “Life is like a giant puzzle. Everyday we struggle to find all its pieces to make it into a complete picture.“

The second also seems to relate to life stating that; “It all depends on you to put the pieces of the puzzle together in order to see the big picture. And when you get to the end of it, and all the pieces are in the right place, then you are happy. And if they’re not in the right place, then you have to rearrange them until you are happy.“

The many psalmists that wrote the Book of Psalms can relate to these sentiments and it would appear that the prophet Habakkuk can also identify with us on them. Habakkuk takes his concerns to God and it’s almost as if Habakkuk is having an argument with God over the way things appear, which to him at least seem unfathomable. He is having doubts that he’ll be able to see whatever it is that he deems the completed picture of the puzzle of life.

Interestingly God responds to his exhortations and Habakkuk’s response is to write a prayer using a psalm-like format, complete with musical and/or literary notations.

He commences by writing that he has heard all about the Lord and that he is filled with awe by God’s amazing works. He asks that “in this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone by. And in your anger, remember your mercy.”
Habakkuk 3:2 (New Living Translation) 

The International Children’s Bible puts it this way “Lord, I have heard the news about you. Lord, I am amazed at the powerful things you have done. Do great things once again in our time. Make those things happen again in our own days. Even when you are angry, remember to be gentle with us.” Habakkuk 3:2

Maybe that is our prayer also, especially when the storms of life head our way; in our time of deep need Lord, help us again as you did in years gone by to make sense of the pieces of the puzzle – this thing called life – and help us put the pieces of our fragile lives in the right place for Your glory to shine through.  

Habakkuk concludes this prayer, this psalm by saying “as for me, I will rejoice in the Lord. I will find my joy in the God who delivers me. The Lord God is my strength…“

Throughout the Scriptures we are reminded again and again to put our faith, our trust, our hope, our lives – in God! We are to trust in Him and believe that He will do what only He can do in and through our everyday lives as Paul alludes to in Romans 12:1-2 from the Message;

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.“

And, we are to find joy in all things; the big things and the small things. As for me, I’ll choose to find joy in the journey that God has set before me.  

Habakkuk offers us hope by recognizing how dark and chaotic the world is and inviting us to trust that God will one day sort it all out. Our role in life is not necessarily to put all the pieces of the puzzle back in order, for He is the one that has a much better grasp on the bigger picture of life.
Habakkuk reminds us of our part in History and how we too can express our faith in God, even though we may see and experience many trials and tribulations;
we’ll find joy in the God who delivers! 

Blessings ’til next time 🙂

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Psalm 86 – Expressing our Emotions

Over the past couple of months I’ve occasionally been sharing one of my daily devotions from the YouVersion Bible App.

I’ve been journeying through the Book of Psalms, drawing inspiration and encouragement for my own life from the poems, prayers, hymns and meditations contained within these writings.

I’m just over half the way through them and as I’ve said before, I’ve come to appreciate that the Psalms are in essence an intricately designed collection of poetry that recounts Israel’s history and God’s covenant promises, and poetically retells the entire biblical story.

In Psalm 86 we see David sharing from his heart and his words we can all take on board personally, as in many ways he sounds just like us in this day and age.

He is expressing emotions that we all feel and often struggle through.

We live in a world full of distractions and difficult life choices. There are times when it seems so difficult to choose God’s way, and we feel just like David does in verse one: we are poor and needy, broken and humbled, helpless and afflicted.

In this David’s desire is to have an undivided heart, which is something I’m sure we can all relate to.  

You see, we are all often pulled in so many different directions, and our lives can feel like a huge jigsaw puzzle. There are so many things, people, hobbies, and choices which try to take pieces of our hearts away from loving God first.

We need Him to teach us His ways!

We need to rely on His faithfulness. To put the heart-shaped jigsaw puzzle back together, we need God! We need His wisdom, strength, and guidance!

When we find ourselves with a heart and mind that is only focused on Him, we find the greatest source of joy and peace in life.

David understood the writings of Ezekiel and the fact that the Spirit of the Lord fell upon the prophet Ezekiel, and God said through him that He “will give [the people] an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; [God] will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 11:19
(New International Version)

So, may the following words which I’ve adapted slightly from Leslie F. Brandt’s Psalms / Now (Psalm #86) be our prayer in these days as we ask God to show us any areas of our heart that aren’t fully His:

O Lord, my prayer to You is always
out of life that is full of need.
I am Your servant;
I am trying to represent You.
I need Your support for every step I take.
How gracious You are to hear my plea
and respond to my cry
and pour out Your forgiving love upon me!

We are so foolish
in the things that we love and worship.
You alone are God,
and You alone possess the healing grace
that can succor and sustain our fickle hearts.
Continue to lead me in Your course for my life.

Enable me to walk in the way of truth.
Draw together in loving obedience to You
all the members and senses
of my body and being.
Then I shall glorify You forever,
and my life shall be
a perpetual thankoffering to You.

I find the daily journey 
not only difficult but painful.
There are forces within me and about me
that are much too strong for me.
But You are a loving and patient God.

Continue to have mercy upon me,
to stir me from the doldrums of sin,
to deliver me from my selfish involvements,
to forgive me my sins and failures,
to shore up the weak places in my life.

Help me
to feel something of Your loving acceptance
and to reflect to others
the joy of being Your Son or Daughter and Your servant. 

The things is, it’s OK to express our emotions and to write them down – in fact God longs to help us work through them in a safe way and to bring about a sense of healing.

So, here are a couple more questions to ponder over the coming days:
What would it look like for you to submit that part of your heart or life to Him?
And, what would you say the Lord has delivered you from?

Blessings ’til next time 🙂

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