A quick thought from my time in the word.
We have sinned like our fathers, We have gone astray, we have behaved wickedly. Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; They did not remember Your abundant kindnesses, But rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
Psalm 106:6-7 NASB20
I see from this short piece of scripture how our willingness to compromise and chase after the garbage the world offers is directly linked to our remembrance of what the Lord has done.
Have you ever done something, perhaps said something hurtful or thoughtless, and then wonder how that came up in you?
Keeping the Lord’s mercy toward us, His steadfast love, His abundant grace in our heart and in our mouth, we will be better equipped to fight the intention to step out of that grace and into rebellion. We’ll find it much easier to create with our words and actions. Create things like peace and joy.
Remembering what the Lord has done and Who He is, will keep us from falling into worry and anxiety and fear in general. These players, the cast of fear in our lives, are the ones that encourage those ugly reactions like jealousy, self-pity, self-righteousness, and the like.
Take time today to remember, and ask the Lord to help you understand just how good He has been to you. Be thankful and you will find it easier to walk holy before Him.
Blessings,
Ben
Amen and AMEN, Ben. Thank you for these words of truth from the scriptures.
Dear Brother Ben, I know you’ll be surprised to hear from me–but I think of you often and still have your book Encounters With Jesus. Tonight I opened it again–in an effort to find your blog (I’ll be 70 next month–and my brain is like a colander). When I read what you wrote to me, above your autograph, I was so blessed that you’d say I encouraged you…as I’ve viewed myself as an imperfect Barnabas since I began blogging in 2011. I’ve had a million blogs and alias since then–and grown A LOT in the LORD. I may be old, but I can testify that God does save the Best for Last in some people’s lives. I’m more content and happy than I’ve ever been in my life…still feel like I’m 16 inside my spirit, so there must be a miscalculation or computer glitch regarding the “big 70″…that number just doesn’t compute.
As I’ve thought of you, and your full-of-Jesus blog, I’ve hoped and prayed that you and your family are well, and prospering. My current blog is a mix of faith-based and secular poetry…and I suspect God has a larger writing project in mind for me. A couple years ago I participated in NaNoWriMo–National Novel Writing Month. It was totally a God-thing–I’d made Zero preparation because I’d not planned to do it; but a blogger, “just by chance”, urged me to try it. I had no plot/story line or even a title in mind–nothing.
So I sat down literally moments before the start date, Nov 1st–and said, “Lord, what am I going to write? What if it’s not ‘Christian’? How am I going to write 50,000 more-or-less cohesive words in 30 days??” Ben, His answer was so simple. He said He didn’t care if it was Christian or not, which surprised me, and then: “Just start typing, I’ll give you the words and the story”. It turned out to be a Christian Mystery! And I loved every minute of it–went over the 50,000 word minimum several days early. I loved my characters and the story; and though it had a legitimate ending, it wasn’t finished yet in my mind…so I debated whether to continue–or plan for a sequel. The draft is untouched, still waiting–but I take “humble pride” in the project God and I wrote together–it was way FUN!
Well, you see I’m still wordy–can’t write 50 words when 500 will be so much better, hah! Anyway, I pray God’s overflowing blessings on you and the fam! Love, your old Sis in WA State, Leslie B.
So great to hear from you!! What a blessing. Life is great here in NJ, and i’m so glad to hear you’re doing well and still writing. I’d love to read your mystery! I’m going to check out your blog soon.
We’ll talk again soon.