WATCHWORD:
Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Psalm 105:4
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish
but have eternal life. John 3:16.
Meditation:
Believe and Receive
Remember the tent meetings, with an over-active pastor, very loud, preaching about “fire and brimstone”, how we are all destined for eternal damnation if we don’t do the work of the Lord. We cannot coast through this life without working for the Lord, and giving all you have to his ministry, to this very gospel ministry. You will never escape this world without giving it all. “You must earn or you will burn.” A gospel of fear.
Such a downer of a message, and many believed it. But that is not the message from God. It’s hard for us to read that kind of condemnation in the face of our belief that God is love. We know that he prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies, a calm period which tells us that God loves us and he showers us with his graces through the simple act of believing, and our grateful act of receiving.
Sometimes we hesitate to receive His good gifts. Have you ever received a gift from someone and you blurted out, “You shouldn’t have”. Someone cared enough about you to give you a gift and you tell them that they shouldn’t have done that. Sometimes we are so surprised or overwhelmed that we don’t know what to say. When we are gifted with something, we generally did not deserve it and yet it’s with grateful heart that we should receive it. The proper response is, “Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness.”
In Jesus Calling our Lord says when a child of mine balks at accepting my gifts, I am deeply grieved. When you receive my abundant blessings with a grateful heart, I rejoice in my pleasure in giving and your pleasure in receiving; two forces flowing together in harmony.
Think about this, the tradition of giving gifts on the birthday of our Lord and Savior, started with giving a symbol of all that we have received from the Lord and returning the blessing with a grateful heart. If you have children, you probably have vivid memories of the warm and wondrous feeling of their bright eyes and squeals of happiness coming from our children. What a good model for us as we receive blessings from the Lord.
Heavenly Father, strengthen my belief, my faith, and deepen my gratitude in receiving Your many gifts and graces of love. Which we truly do not deserve. Amen.
Tooting My Horn:
You may be interested to know that The Inn on Jericho Road, my latest book, just released by Palmetto Publishing, was awarded a “Recommended” rating by Writer’s Edge, a professional editing and rating group. On a list of 250 titles in four different categories, my book was listed #4. Thank you Lord. Let me know if you agree. Available in hardcover, paperback and Kindle through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online bookstores. — Stan Escott
Prayer of Gratitude:
We give you thanks most gracious God for the beauty of the earth and sky and sea, for the richness of mountains, plains, and rivers; for the songs of birds and the loveliness of flowers. We praise you for these good gifts, and pray that we may safeguard them for our posterity. Grant that we may continue to grow in our gratitude, our grateful enjoyment of your abundant creation, now and forever In Jesus’ name. Amen
