The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

I am going to share three wonderful verses from three wonderful Psalms. These have blessed my life for decades and decades. I don’t know if I can fully explain it, but here goes. It just seems like the older I grow, the more wonderful these verses have come to be to me.

“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3).

“I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust” (Psalm 91:2).

“And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee: for Thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee” (Psalm 9:10).

Are we promised that life would be easy? No!
Are we promised that somehow we will never have sorrow? No!
Are we promised a life of no disappointments? No!
Are we promised a life where everything goes just the way we planned it? I’m smiling as I write NO!
But…
We are promised that our awesome God possesses a greatness that is unsearchable; He is the refuge and fortress to His children and not only worthy of our trust, but One Who never ever will forsake us.

I just have to stop everything for a moment! Consider with me our great God. I think that wonderful hymn “How Great Thou Art” is going to echo through my mind today.

As the Lord’s people, we must be careful never to allow the circumstances in life to overwhelm us and distract us from the wonderful blessing of seeing ourselves as Christ-followers. We belong to the absolutely awesome and astoundingly majestic One Who loves us with everlasting love. He is perfect in every detail of His being. Even when He took upon Himself a complete human nature and became man, He was perfect.

“And it came to pass, that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers” (Luke 2:46-47).

What a sight before us! The Lord Jesus as a twelve-year-old boy discussing God’s truth with the very learned doctors of the Law! Seated with the religious leaders was no typical young boy. This was none other than 100% God and 100% man existing in what is called “the Hypostatic Union.” He was the God-Man! No wonder that those who were listening to Him were quite amazed.

I hope you will have the same amazement and wonder at this precious Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know Him as your Lord and Savior? He is truly amazing.

I really do want this in my personal life: I never want to lose my sense of awe and admiration for the Lord Jesus. How about you?

Do I have a wonderful verse for us today in my Daily Prescription!

“Cause me to hear Thy lovingkiness in the morning; for in Thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto Thee” (Psalm 143:8).

Recently I was driving behind a car, traveling along at a safe distance, thankfully. Without any warning, without any directional lights indicating the driver’s intention, he suddenly slammed on his brakes and turned into a driveway on the right-hand side of the road. I mean, slammed on his brakes! If I had been tailgating, as some dear folks in Ohio seem to like to do, I would have been in his trunk suddenly veering into that driveway as well!

I sound like a grumpy old man, don’t I? Complaining because some drivers tailgate and others have not discovered what that little lever on the left side of the steering wheel actually does! I really am smiling as I write this. How thankful I am that our God does give us direction for living in His Word. He causes us to know the way we should take. Though it might not be on the journey we planned, God’s way is always the best because it is always in His lovingkindness.

This doesn’t necessarily make the way easy.
This doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the Lord will operate according to my plans and schedule.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that I will understand everything He is doing at the time.

But this does mean that at the start of everyday I can be assured of His “lovingkindness” which is the word hesed (KHEH-sed) which speaks of His loyal love, mercy, and goodness.

That’s just what I needed today! How about you?

“But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him” (Psalm 103:17).

He signed the card, “Happiness is my wish for you. You deserve it.” The recipient opened the card a few days later and read the thoughtful note. When she got to the closing, she smiled and whispered to the Lord, “Father, my friend meant well. But you and I know that I deserve nothing. It is Your wonderful mercy that has brought me to this moment, and it will be Your wonderful mercy that takes me to the next.”

God’s mercy (the Hebrew word is hesed) speaks of “His goodness, kindness, and loyal love.” Every day we believers rejoice and give thanks for His mercy. We deserve none of His blessings. It’s all about mercy!

Here’s a little thought to send you on your way for today: I don’t want what I really deserve. I want God’s mercy, and I thank Him for it. How about you?

Yesterday I shared with you about the unbelieving man who was very happy with all his possessions until he was confronted with eternity. Now let me share with you about the believer and his priorities.

The believing man sat at his desk and looked at his checkbook. To be honest with you, he was very grateful for the very significant amount of cash he had accumulated. That day he decided to add up his entire net worth. Taking all the funds in his portfolio, checking account, CDs, and combining them with the value of his home and possessions, he thought within himself, “You have been very blessed by the Lord. The more you have given to the Lord, His work and ministries and to others, the more the Lord has given to you!” and he praised the Lord for His grace and provision. He prayed that the Lord would give him wisdom to be a good steward of the funds entrusted to him. He asked the Lord to help him to have a gracious and generous heart.

Soon thereafter he read several verses from 1 Timothy which reinforced his attitude toward his financial situation in view of eternity and his gratefulness to the Lord. Here are the verses he read:

“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:6-10).

Money is not the root of all evil. The unquenched love of money is. Later in the chapter, Paul told Timothy to remind folks that were blessed financially to be generous and not to be proud of their status.

Friends, you and I must have the right focus and the right attitude of gratitude as believers blessed the Lord.