Christmas 2009
This week, Christmas is the celebration we are all focused on and as there are different readings for Christmas, depending on which Mass you attend, I have chosen something from the solemn blessings to do a short reflection on.
When the word became flesh, earth was joined to heaven.
I read once that in all the world’s non-Christian religions, people are expected to strive to reach up to the God they worship but Christianity is the only one where God reaches down to us.
We forget that. In all of our desires to serve our Lord and attain his blessing, we forget that it is only possible to have a close relationship with God because God built the bridge. It isn’t just our will and striving that connects us to the Lord of the universe; it is his will and desire that allows us to succeed. The bridge he built was a baby named Jesus.
A child was born and earth was joined to heaven. During this Christmas season, spend some time contemplating the nativity and say a prayer of gratitude that this wee babe was and is a Christmas gift from the Father to us, a bridge, the gift of the ability to touch heaven. Within your gratitude, remember that the Father sent this gift out of his desire to be attainable and accessible to you.
The Father wanted you. He wanted you to be able to come into the courts of the Holy of Holies to rest in his presence and to commune with him, even before you die. He wanted you to have life before death. Is that not the most gracious and precious Christmas gift you have ever received? And not only did he want you to be in relationship with him but, as the words of the rest of the Christmas blessing say - "May he give you his peace and goodwill, and fellowship with all the heavenly host." - his desire is that you have a bond with the whole community of heaven, all the angels and saints, including those you love who have already gone home. The Father does not want even one of his beloved to be alone. He sent Jesus. He built the bridge.
Every night I pray for all of you. This week I will be praying that you will experience a gift from the Father, a gift that will bless you and encourage you in your time of waiting. But, you’ll have to pay close attention and watch for it. Often God’s gifts start out as small, weak and obscure as a newborn infant in a manger – but end up to be as big as heaven itself.
A blessed and Holy Christmas to you all. May it be a place of wonder-full rest on your adventure in waiting.
The next Manna Gathering post will be after New Year’s so I’d also like to send you all a New Year’s Blessing. I pray that this next year for you will be one of deep spiritual growth and many revelations of how beloved you are.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communication of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. (1Cor. 13:14)
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Fourth Sunday of Adventure
Sunday, Dec. 20th, 2009
Luke 1: 39-45
39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. 45And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’
Mary…Our Lady in Waiting.
In this week’s gospel, we get an understanding that the adventure of waiting is not necessarily a time of doing nothing. It is often a time of being sent and of offering ourselves for the blessing of others. We see what a generous heart Mary had as we read about her going to be with Elizabeth in the last three months of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Elizabeth was not a young woman anymore and having Mary there to help her was truly a blessing and it was a very loving act on Mary’s part.
But there were a couple of other reasons for Mary to visit Elizabeth at that time. The first pertains to what the angel spoke to Zechariah about John. Among other things, the angel said, “… even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Now, look at what it says in this week’s gospel: “And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit…” and “…as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy.” During her waiting, God used Mary to bring Jesus to John and Elizabeth for their blessing and infilling.
The other very important reason for the visit was so that Mary, too, could receive a gracious and badly needed blessing from God.
We all know this was not an easy time for Mary. She was waiting but not just for the birth of a son. She was waiting for God to work everything out even though he had put her in a position of shame, a position where her sanity and morality were in question and a position that could have held dire consequences for her. Her waiting called her to engage in huge trust. From our perspective, having heard the story so often, it’s difficult for us to imagine the kind of trust she had to have to believe God would indeed work it all out according to his purposes. She had to wait on God because there was nothing she could do to justify herself or to prove to others that she was not “shoddy goods”. Mary’s whole identity, inner worth and validity were completely dependent on God’s love and approval. She could no longer depend on anything else to indicate that she was a good woman and a trustworthy woman. The law condemned her and the man she was betrothed to pitied her but was not convinced of her innocence. In a time when women were not valued by society, entrusting one’s total worth to God was a risky business. The loneliness of her heart must have been intense. Have you ever cried out to the Lord for someone who would understand who you are and who would affirm your inner dignity and value? Have you ever faced a situation where others are questioning your integrity and worth? Have you ever been terribly lonely even though you’re in a relationship or part of a community? Have you ever felt that you have been denied normal dreams and expectations that others have been allowed to realize?
Mary’s visit to Elizabeth was a gift from God to Mary as well as to Elizabeth and John. Through her obedience in going to Elizabeth, she was given unexpected outside confirmation that all the angel had said to her was true. Elizabeth greeted her with, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’
That greeting was a badly needed blessing for Mary to hear. It was such a balm to Mary’s spirit and such a confirmation of all she had been struggling to hold on to that her heart was filled with high praise, praise we now call the Magnificat. We don’t often stop to think about what that praise might have been expressing for Mary. As well as being an expression of the greatness of God, it was a prayer of deep relief and a prayer of exultant gratitude that God would know how much she needed this confirmation. Through Elizabeth’s prophetic greeting, God said to Mary, “You are blessed because you have continued to believe even though belief has been hard, rocky and lonely and you have had to struggle to hold onto your one and only true foundation. I am the one who fills you and validates you. I am your vindication and your justification. I am your Beloved and you are mine. I am your past, your present and your future, I am your all in all. I AM.”
Waiting can be painful. When we are waiting, it is easy to lose sight of what it is we are actually waiting for and even easier to begin to seek people, things and activities we think will fill up the empty aching places in our hearts. Like Mary, we are waiting for Jesus to come. And like Mary, we need to open our hearts to hear God’s Word telling us that he delights in our belief, especially when belief is hard. We need to be open to hearing him say, “Thank you for bearing my son within you even though others sometimes condemn you for it. Thank you for holding my son close to your heart even when it’s lonely and frightening. Thank you for believing in me even when others don’t believe in you.”
Like Mary, your moment of encouragement from the Lord may come when you bring Christ to someone else. You might be sent to someone in your family who also is in need of encouragement or needs the balm of love and forgiveness. You could be sent to someone outside of your family who is lonely or one who struggling with grief and discouragement.
Wait…but be ready to be sent. Just like Mary…Our Lady in Waiting.
*****
As Advent is a time of reflection and preparation for the coming of Jesus, you might like to ponder the following prayer written by Ted Loder, from his book of prayers titled, “Guerrillas of Grace.”
Gather Me To Be With You
O God, gather me now
To be with you
As you are with me.
Soothe my tiredness;
Quiet my fretfulness;
Curb my aimlessness
Relieve my compulsiveness;
Let me be easy for a moment.
O God, gather me
To be with you
As you are with me.
Forgive me
For claiming so much for myself
That I leave no room for gratitude;
For confusing exercises in self-importance
With acceptance of self worth;
For complaining so much of my burdens
That I become a burden;
For competing against others so insidiously
That I stifle celebrating them
And receiving their blessing through their gifts.
O God, gather me
To be with you
As you are with me.
Keep me in touch with myself,
With my needs,
My anxieties,
My angers,
My pains,
My corruptions,
That I may claim them as my own
Rather than blame them on someone else.
O Lord, deepen my wounds
Into wisdom;
Shape my weaknesses
Into compassion;
Gentle my envy
Into enjoyment;
My fear into trust,
My guilt into honesty,
My accusing fingers into tickling ones.
O God, gather me
To be with you
As you are with me.
Luke 1: 39-45
39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. 45And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’
Mary…Our Lady in Waiting.
In this week’s gospel, we get an understanding that the adventure of waiting is not necessarily a time of doing nothing. It is often a time of being sent and of offering ourselves for the blessing of others. We see what a generous heart Mary had as we read about her going to be with Elizabeth in the last three months of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Elizabeth was not a young woman anymore and having Mary there to help her was truly a blessing and it was a very loving act on Mary’s part.
But there were a couple of other reasons for Mary to visit Elizabeth at that time. The first pertains to what the angel spoke to Zechariah about John. Among other things, the angel said, “… even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Now, look at what it says in this week’s gospel: “And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit…” and “…as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy.” During her waiting, God used Mary to bring Jesus to John and Elizabeth for their blessing and infilling.
The other very important reason for the visit was so that Mary, too, could receive a gracious and badly needed blessing from God.
We all know this was not an easy time for Mary. She was waiting but not just for the birth of a son. She was waiting for God to work everything out even though he had put her in a position of shame, a position where her sanity and morality were in question and a position that could have held dire consequences for her. Her waiting called her to engage in huge trust. From our perspective, having heard the story so often, it’s difficult for us to imagine the kind of trust she had to have to believe God would indeed work it all out according to his purposes. She had to wait on God because there was nothing she could do to justify herself or to prove to others that she was not “shoddy goods”. Mary’s whole identity, inner worth and validity were completely dependent on God’s love and approval. She could no longer depend on anything else to indicate that she was a good woman and a trustworthy woman. The law condemned her and the man she was betrothed to pitied her but was not convinced of her innocence. In a time when women were not valued by society, entrusting one’s total worth to God was a risky business. The loneliness of her heart must have been intense. Have you ever cried out to the Lord for someone who would understand who you are and who would affirm your inner dignity and value? Have you ever faced a situation where others are questioning your integrity and worth? Have you ever been terribly lonely even though you’re in a relationship or part of a community? Have you ever felt that you have been denied normal dreams and expectations that others have been allowed to realize?
Mary’s visit to Elizabeth was a gift from God to Mary as well as to Elizabeth and John. Through her obedience in going to Elizabeth, she was given unexpected outside confirmation that all the angel had said to her was true. Elizabeth greeted her with, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’
That greeting was a badly needed blessing for Mary to hear. It was such a balm to Mary’s spirit and such a confirmation of all she had been struggling to hold on to that her heart was filled with high praise, praise we now call the Magnificat. We don’t often stop to think about what that praise might have been expressing for Mary. As well as being an expression of the greatness of God, it was a prayer of deep relief and a prayer of exultant gratitude that God would know how much she needed this confirmation. Through Elizabeth’s prophetic greeting, God said to Mary, “You are blessed because you have continued to believe even though belief has been hard, rocky and lonely and you have had to struggle to hold onto your one and only true foundation. I am the one who fills you and validates you. I am your vindication and your justification. I am your Beloved and you are mine. I am your past, your present and your future, I am your all in all. I AM.”
Waiting can be painful. When we are waiting, it is easy to lose sight of what it is we are actually waiting for and even easier to begin to seek people, things and activities we think will fill up the empty aching places in our hearts. Like Mary, we are waiting for Jesus to come. And like Mary, we need to open our hearts to hear God’s Word telling us that he delights in our belief, especially when belief is hard. We need to be open to hearing him say, “Thank you for bearing my son within you even though others sometimes condemn you for it. Thank you for holding my son close to your heart even when it’s lonely and frightening. Thank you for believing in me even when others don’t believe in you.”
Like Mary, your moment of encouragement from the Lord may come when you bring Christ to someone else. You might be sent to someone in your family who also is in need of encouragement or needs the balm of love and forgiveness. You could be sent to someone outside of your family who is lonely or one who struggling with grief and discouragement.
Wait…but be ready to be sent. Just like Mary…Our Lady in Waiting.
*****
As Advent is a time of reflection and preparation for the coming of Jesus, you might like to ponder the following prayer written by Ted Loder, from his book of prayers titled, “Guerrillas of Grace.”
Gather Me To Be With You
O God, gather me now
To be with you
As you are with me.
Soothe my tiredness;
Quiet my fretfulness;
Curb my aimlessness
Relieve my compulsiveness;
Let me be easy for a moment.
O God, gather me
To be with you
As you are with me.
Forgive me
For claiming so much for myself
That I leave no room for gratitude;
For confusing exercises in self-importance
With acceptance of self worth;
For complaining so much of my burdens
That I become a burden;
For competing against others so insidiously
That I stifle celebrating them
And receiving their blessing through their gifts.
O God, gather me
To be with you
As you are with me.
Keep me in touch with myself,
With my needs,
My anxieties,
My angers,
My pains,
My corruptions,
That I may claim them as my own
Rather than blame them on someone else.
O Lord, deepen my wounds
Into wisdom;
Shape my weaknesses
Into compassion;
Gentle my envy
Into enjoyment;
My fear into trust,
My guilt into honesty,
My accusing fingers into tickling ones.
O Lord, release me
From the fears and guilts
Which grip me so tightly;
From the expectations and opinions
Which I so tightly grip,
That I may be open
To receiving what you give,
To risking something genuinely new,
To learning something refeshingly different. O God, gather me
To be with you
As you are with me.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Third Sunday in Adventure. Rejoice!
Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009
Luke 3: 10-18
10 And the crowds asked him, ‘What then should we do?’ 11In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’ 12Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ 13He said to them, ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’ 14Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation and be satisfied with your wages.’
15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’
18 So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.
So, you’re in the desert waiting. You know that waiting is prayer. You know that waiting simplifies and shapes you, that the Lord is the creator of all the inner transformations you are going through and that he is bringing you to a place where all you want is for his will to be yours. But, somehow, it feels like there’s more. There’s something within each one of us that urges us to respond to the overtures of God. Like rivers flowing toward the sea, our spirits yearn to flow toward our creator. How can we do that?
Give praise. Rejoice.
This Sunday is Gaudete Sunday, (gaudete = rejoice), which is such a fitting theme for those who are on the Adventure of Waiting because rejoicing in and giving thanks to God is a critical part of our desert journey. When we make praise and thanksgiving an integral part of our communication with God, we are not only giving him what is rightly his but we are also continually reminding our hearts, minds and spirits that he is God, the one who does all things well, the one who creates and renews, the one who gathers, blesses, protects, redeems, lifts up, fills up, forms and directs. Scripture is filled with passages exhorting us to give praise to God and it’s not just because God is so good and wonderful. It’s also because the action of praise and thanksgiving changes us. It redirects our focus away from the negative and makes us focus on Goodness himself.
It isn’t always easy to give thanks. There are many times in our lives where we’re struggling with wounds and hard situations and giving praise to God seems to us to be extremely difficult. And we’re right. It is very difficult, more difficult, say, than giving up coffee or chocolate for Lent. It can be more difficult than sharing our extra coat or food with someone or acting with justice or being satisfied with what we have. All these things can be real challenges, but giving thanks in the middle of being swamped with resentment or right when we’re feeling overwhelmed by life’s demands or when we’ve lost someone or something and we are filled with grieving is almost like giving up an inner part of ourselves that is too hard to let go of. Praising when everything is going well is easy. Giving thanks when it feels like there is absolutely nothing to be thankful for is…sacrifice.
St. Paul says in Hebrews 13.15: "Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name."
He also says in 1 Thessalonians 5. 16-18 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
“The will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” I’m certain that you have often said to yourself and to others, “I just want to know God’s will for me.” In spite of all the uncertainties that surround you, you can rest assured that you will always know that his immediate will for you, no matter what is happening, is that you offer a sacrifice of praise and that you do so continually. Why would he want that? Because he is egotistical and just wants to hear his praise even though you’re going through such a rough time? No. The reason is because God dwells within the praises of his people and he desires to dwell within you. He also wants you to be aware of his indwelling. When you give thanks you are drawing close to him and close to everything he is and you are opening yourself to his presence. When you are giving thanks, you are placing yourself in his presence and consciously turning away from things like impatience, resentment, cynicism and complaining. You are repenting, which means to turn away. The negative thoughts and emotions we have are like pits and potholes in our desert highway, holes that we dig, fall into and then can’t get out of. When we’re in one of these pits it’s almost impossible to see Jesus or to believe that he is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Did you get that? Jesus is the author of our Faith – and the finisher of it. But if we want to open ourselves to having him create and form our faith, we need to be looking at him and professing his goodness in our lives. We need to be in praise mode.
Psalm 68.4 says: "Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds."
An alternative translation for that second line is: cast up a highway for him who rides through the deserts. When we give thanks, we are opening a highway between our hearts and God’s heart, smoothing the rough parts, leveling the mountains, filling the valleys and straightening out the crooked. “A highway shall be there and it shall be called a Holy Way.” (Isaiah 35)
We are not talking ‘magic key’ here. Praise is not an action that forces God to act in your life; it is an action that makes you more aware of God acting in your life. A friend of mine, who has grown to be a deep woman of praise, went to Switzerland and when it was time for her to return, she found she had lost her passport. The next week was a very scary time for her as she went through a convoluted process of trying to get home, dealing with officials who often couldn’t speak English and doing everything in a foreign city with no one to guide her. Her praising spirit didn’t make it all easy – she still had to do what she had to do and struggle with confusion, fear, uncertainty and setbacks etc. But what struck me as I was reading her written account of it all was how she kept recognizing the hand of God subtly being there helping her on her way. She recognized angels who helped her and minor miracles that graced her. Now that she is back home, she is still awed by the presence of God during that time. Because she is a woman of praise, her eyes were opened to God’s love working on her behalf. Other people could have gone through what she went through and vow never to travel again because of the trauma. Other people might have written off what she saw as miracles and angels as random coincidence. Through her spirit of thanksgiving, she was able to recognize the Lord caring for her and her faith was fed and shaped.
There is a Latin tag that says: Gratitudo est lingua angelorum. Gratitude is the language of angels. When we practice gratitude, praise and thanksgiving we are in great company.
Here is a short “Scripture Soak” for your prayer time. I gathered a few of the passages of scripture that speak of praise. A very few as there are over 400! For this meditation, I have not included the scripture references, which would break the flow. (If you want any references, just google the passage.) Read through slowly and meditatively and allow God’s word to soak into your heart about the importance of praise and thanksgiving:
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High…..Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me…..Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving…..For this I will extol you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name…..Sing to him, sing praises to him…..tell of all his wonderful works…..I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High…..Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength!.....We will sing and praise your power…..Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel…..I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you…..Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous. Praise befits the upright…..I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth…..He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God..…O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise…..Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you…..My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips…..rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving…..Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving…..Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen…
And, of course…
From the rising of the sun to its setting
the name of the Lord is to be praised!
Alleluiah.
Luke 3: 10-18
10 And the crowds asked him, ‘What then should we do?’ 11In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’ 12Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ 13He said to them, ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’ 14Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation and be satisfied with your wages.’
15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’
18 So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.
So, you’re in the desert waiting. You know that waiting is prayer. You know that waiting simplifies and shapes you, that the Lord is the creator of all the inner transformations you are going through and that he is bringing you to a place where all you want is for his will to be yours. But, somehow, it feels like there’s more. There’s something within each one of us that urges us to respond to the overtures of God. Like rivers flowing toward the sea, our spirits yearn to flow toward our creator. How can we do that?
Give praise. Rejoice.
This Sunday is Gaudete Sunday, (gaudete = rejoice), which is such a fitting theme for those who are on the Adventure of Waiting because rejoicing in and giving thanks to God is a critical part of our desert journey. When we make praise and thanksgiving an integral part of our communication with God, we are not only giving him what is rightly his but we are also continually reminding our hearts, minds and spirits that he is God, the one who does all things well, the one who creates and renews, the one who gathers, blesses, protects, redeems, lifts up, fills up, forms and directs. Scripture is filled with passages exhorting us to give praise to God and it’s not just because God is so good and wonderful. It’s also because the action of praise and thanksgiving changes us. It redirects our focus away from the negative and makes us focus on Goodness himself.
It isn’t always easy to give thanks. There are many times in our lives where we’re struggling with wounds and hard situations and giving praise to God seems to us to be extremely difficult. And we’re right. It is very difficult, more difficult, say, than giving up coffee or chocolate for Lent. It can be more difficult than sharing our extra coat or food with someone or acting with justice or being satisfied with what we have. All these things can be real challenges, but giving thanks in the middle of being swamped with resentment or right when we’re feeling overwhelmed by life’s demands or when we’ve lost someone or something and we are filled with grieving is almost like giving up an inner part of ourselves that is too hard to let go of. Praising when everything is going well is easy. Giving thanks when it feels like there is absolutely nothing to be thankful for is…sacrifice.
St. Paul says in Hebrews 13.15: "Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name."
He also says in 1 Thessalonians 5. 16-18 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
“The will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” I’m certain that you have often said to yourself and to others, “I just want to know God’s will for me.” In spite of all the uncertainties that surround you, you can rest assured that you will always know that his immediate will for you, no matter what is happening, is that you offer a sacrifice of praise and that you do so continually. Why would he want that? Because he is egotistical and just wants to hear his praise even though you’re going through such a rough time? No. The reason is because God dwells within the praises of his people and he desires to dwell within you. He also wants you to be aware of his indwelling. When you give thanks you are drawing close to him and close to everything he is and you are opening yourself to his presence. When you are giving thanks, you are placing yourself in his presence and consciously turning away from things like impatience, resentment, cynicism and complaining. You are repenting, which means to turn away. The negative thoughts and emotions we have are like pits and potholes in our desert highway, holes that we dig, fall into and then can’t get out of. When we’re in one of these pits it’s almost impossible to see Jesus or to believe that he is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Did you get that? Jesus is the author of our Faith – and the finisher of it. But if we want to open ourselves to having him create and form our faith, we need to be looking at him and professing his goodness in our lives. We need to be in praise mode.
Psalm 68.4 says: "Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds."
An alternative translation for that second line is: cast up a highway for him who rides through the deserts. When we give thanks, we are opening a highway between our hearts and God’s heart, smoothing the rough parts, leveling the mountains, filling the valleys and straightening out the crooked. “A highway shall be there and it shall be called a Holy Way.” (Isaiah 35)
We are not talking ‘magic key’ here. Praise is not an action that forces God to act in your life; it is an action that makes you more aware of God acting in your life. A friend of mine, who has grown to be a deep woman of praise, went to Switzerland and when it was time for her to return, she found she had lost her passport. The next week was a very scary time for her as she went through a convoluted process of trying to get home, dealing with officials who often couldn’t speak English and doing everything in a foreign city with no one to guide her. Her praising spirit didn’t make it all easy – she still had to do what she had to do and struggle with confusion, fear, uncertainty and setbacks etc. But what struck me as I was reading her written account of it all was how she kept recognizing the hand of God subtly being there helping her on her way. She recognized angels who helped her and minor miracles that graced her. Now that she is back home, she is still awed by the presence of God during that time. Because she is a woman of praise, her eyes were opened to God’s love working on her behalf. Other people could have gone through what she went through and vow never to travel again because of the trauma. Other people might have written off what she saw as miracles and angels as random coincidence. Through her spirit of thanksgiving, she was able to recognize the Lord caring for her and her faith was fed and shaped.
There is a Latin tag that says: Gratitudo est lingua angelorum. Gratitude is the language of angels. When we practice gratitude, praise and thanksgiving we are in great company.
Here is a short “Scripture Soak” for your prayer time. I gathered a few of the passages of scripture that speak of praise. A very few as there are over 400! For this meditation, I have not included the scripture references, which would break the flow. (If you want any references, just google the passage.) Read through slowly and meditatively and allow God’s word to soak into your heart about the importance of praise and thanksgiving:
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High…..Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me…..Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving…..For this I will extol you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name…..Sing to him, sing praises to him…..tell of all his wonderful works…..I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High…..Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength!.....We will sing and praise your power…..Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel…..I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you…..Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous. Praise befits the upright…..I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth…..He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God..…O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise…..Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you…..My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips…..rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving…..Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving…..Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen…
And, of course…
From the rising of the sun to its setting
the name of the Lord is to be praised!
Alleluiah.
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