Tag: Christianliving

May Jesus Christ Be Praised

Photo copyright: www.godponderings.com

My husband is a champion sleeper. He can doze off almost any time in any place. In the words of famous television detective, Monk, “it’s a blessing, and a curse.”

            I, on the other hand, have an ongoing battle with sleep. Some nights it comes easily to me. Some nights, despite my exhaustion, sleep evades me. My mind rolls over the cares of the day, unfinished tasks and creative ideas that could wait until morning — but won’t. I often crawl back out of bed to write things down or wrap up loose ends.

            There are other sleepless nights that I believe are God-ordained. What’s on my mind are people; people with physical, financial and spiritual needs. I begin to pray.

A prayer warrior, I am not. I seldom pause during the day to stop and have a nice, long chat with my Heavenly Father. So our nighttime conversations, when the house is quiet and all the distractions are silenced, are a haven. I pray for family and friends. I pray for our church and pastor. I pray for our nation and its leaders. I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ living with the realities of harsh persecution and the dire lack of essential needs.

And I praise God. I praise Him for offering His Son, Jesus, as a sin sacrifice. I praise Him for His ongoing care and provision; a roof over my head, clothes on my back and daily bread (plus so much more). I praise Him for adopting me as His own child and preparing a place for me to live with Him for all eternity. With that praise comes a peace that allows me to drift off to sleep.

I’m not a morning person, so I seldom wake up giving praises to Jesus “as morning gilds the skies,” as this beautiful hymn suggests in its opening lines. Instead, I find myself clinging to these words from a later stanza:

When sleep her balm denies, My silent spirit sighs; May Jesus Christ be praised;

When evil thoughts molest, with this I shield my breast: May Jesus Christ be praised.

Morning, evening, throughout the day — all are the best time to praise our Savior. As the King James Version puts it in Psalm 22:3, God “inhabits the praise” of His people. It invites Him to dwell among us. It brings Him the glory He is due.  In this act of gratitude, we find ourselves blessed, encouraged and filled with the joy of the Lord.

Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering and come before Him;
Worship the Lord in holy array.  (1 Chronicles 16:28-29)

Bring Them In

As a child, I always looked forward to missionaries visiting our little country church. They brought glimpses of the world to our doorstep and stories of the marvelous things God was doing around the globe, often in remote places.

When our pastor introduced a missionary on Sunday morning, I could hardly wait for the Sunday evening service. The missionary would be back with slides from their field; a tropical jungle, an intriguing Alaskan village, or an urban locale and the faces of the people who lived there. There would be stories; about people receiving medical care, children getting an education, or churches being planted and lives being transformed by God as the missionary became the hands that served and the feet that brought Good News. And there would be a table in the foyer; with unusual musical instruments, traditional clothing or works of art to help us understand the unique ways of each culture.

Then we’d sing the songs we always sang when the missionaries came: Send the Light, Bringing in the Sheeves, and We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations. It instilled in me an early understanding that we are blessed to be a blessing to others (Genesis 12:1-3) and we have a God-given assignment to “go into all the world and preach the preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15).

There was a time I thought God would open the door for me to be a full-time missionary, but He took my life a different direction. Still, my desire to see God’s Word reach the remotest parts of the world lives on. My respect and admiration for those who give up life’s conveniences and comforts to serve in strange, new places is unending. I pray God will protect and strengthen His people wherever they may be working as His ambassadors to a lost world. And I pray their work, whatever it is, will be fruitful.

Out in the desert hear their cry, Out on the mountains wild and high;

Hark! ‘tis the Master speaks to thee, “Go find my sheep where-e’er they be.”

Bring them in, bring them in, Bring them in from the fields of sin;

Bring them in, bring them in, Bring the wand’ring ones to Jesus.

  • Bring Them In, Alexcenah Thomas

Come, Ye Thankful People Come

Before we put up the tree and start singing Christmas carols, I’d like to pause and give an extra day to Thanksgiving. In the flurry of putting on a meal yesterday, I never gave myself time to pause and focus on all the things I’m grateful for – and they are many.

God has been so good to us. We have everything we need – and far more. I am grateful for the simple things; the ability to work, a warm roof over our heads, comfortable clothes to wear, good food to eat and fresh water to drink.

My mind goes to those devastated by the floods in Tennessee and North Carolina caused by Hurricane Helene – people who lost everything: people they loved, pets they treasured, homes, cars, livelihoods, land, family heirlooms, photos, personal possessions, and the basic essentials of life – food, water, clothing and shelter. And yet, even in their dire circumstances, many of them are grateful. They are grateful for God’s provision through the generosity and kindness of others. (The needs are still great so please help if you can!)

When Henry Alford wrote “Come, Ye Thankful People Come” in 1844, prior to the industrial revolution with the introduction of farm machinery and steam engines, people in local communities worked together to bring in the harvest. They would gather as a work team and move from farm to farm, bringing in each family’s crops before moving on. It was the only way to guarantee everything was brought in from the fields before it was damaged by the weather.

Because most of us buy our food at the grocery store, rather than raising it on our own acreage, we’ve lost some of the meaning captured in this hymn; the invitation to come and help each other bring in the harvest, the understanding of the work involved in planting, caring for and preserving crops, and the urgency of the task. Neglecting summer’s work meant hunger, or even starvation, in the long winter months.

This hymn reflects Jesus’ conversation with His disciples in Mark 4:35-36:

Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.

This parallel to what was once every-day life is a beautiful reminder of the task God has set before us. We have urgent work to do! God has called us to sow spiritual seeds, nurture them and help harvest souls. It’s a community effort. Sometimes we sow, sometimes we nurture and sometimes we gather in the souls. Together we are laying up eternal treasures, people saved by faith in God’s measureless grace.

If you haven’t already, I hope you will take time to count your many blessings. I hope you will prayerfully consider how you can be a blessing to others. And I pray you will take the opportunities God gives you to be part of eternal harvest so you may rejoice with others in heaven.

Even so, Lord quickly come,

Bring Thy final harvest home;

Gather thou Thy people in,

Free from sorrow, free from sin.

There, forever purify,

In Thy presence to abide;

Come, with all Thine angels, come,

Raise the glorious harvest home.

                              Come, Ye Thankful People Come

                              By Henry Alford