Monday, August 31, 2009

Praise Him For My Family

It's early in the morning and the sun should be coming up pretty soon. I was thinking about how good God is and I really appreciate the idea He came up with about "family." I love my wife and boys so much. Earlier this morning I fixed some coffee, eggs and toast for Susan as she had to be in early because it's 'truck day.' Last night Ben called me back from Chicago and talked a few minutes. Josh is still resting and he will be helping me out today with some things. I'm so glad he is home from college as he does so many things around here. The cats are settled down, the bird is quiet, and the dogs have had their breakfast and 'done their morning business' outside. I know all this may sound simple and maybe rather mundane, but as my older dog lays next to me on the floor as I type this note of praise to the Lord considering such a great family He has provided for me, I really, really, really bless His name He loves me so much as to come up with the idea of FAMILY. After all, I'm also part of His family because of what Jesus has done.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Praising & Worshipping Together

Wow, what a day. I know some people call Sunday the Lord's Day and may have a temptation to treat every other day as a 'regular' day. I believe that every day belongs to the Lord. It is appropriate to praise and worship Him every single day! However, what is really special to me about Sundays is that this is one time when we can get together with our brothers and sisters to actually praise and worship the LORD together at one time (the same time) and in one place (the same place). It's no wonder the Word of God instructs us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together and even more so as we see the day approaching. Blessed by the Name of the Lord!!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

The God Who Is There

As I was thinking about the greatness of God today, I was reminded of one of the redemptive names that He has revealed to us, Jehovah-Shammah (Yahweh-Shammah). This name means "the God Who is There." This is of great comfort to me since my "there" has included several different states in the US, as well as Japan, Korea, Okinawa, Mexico & Canada. During my first 12 years of school, I was in about 14 different schools & I have lived at many more addresses with different families while growing up. What a comfort to know that God was always there, no matter where I was. On top of this, I have the promise from Jesus that He will NEVER leave me or forsake me. Blessed be the Name of the LORD!!

Friday, August 28, 2009

Praise Him for Who He Is

I praise the Lord everyday that He is Who He is. Sometimes I can get wrapped up in the things He has done for me and through me. I think about the times He had provided for me and protected me. I think about the times He has healed me and how He keeps me. I think about the fact that He sent His Son to die for me so I was able to be a new creation & transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Everything that I know about Him causes me to trust Him for what I don't understand, see, or know. But the bottom line is I really praise Him for Who He is. Even if He never provided anything for me, He would still be Almighty God, the covenant keeping God of Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob!! So praise be to the LORD God of Israel forever & ever!!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Someone Is Praying For You

I praise the Lord every day for His caring, provision and His prompting others to pray for me. You never know who is praying for you. This is clear to me in two examples from my own life. One time when I was in college I received a letter from a family I stayed with while I was growing up. I was told that their youngest son prayed for me by name every night before he goes to bed and he was only a baby when I lived with the family. I also found out recently that someone that I had worked with in the late 70s who wasn't even a Christian at the time we worked together had later become a Christian, was now a minister and had been praying for me for several years. That's amazing to me - one person was a baby and the other wasn't a believer at time I was with them and things changed to the point they were sensitive to Good's leading to pray for me.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Angels

I remember driving home one winter with my wife on a snowy night when the weather took a turn for the worse. Right after we had passed a van on the side of the road, our car started to skid and we ended up off the right side of the road with the car's nose down in a ditch and the car's tail end facing in the direction we were going. A couple of minutes later the lights on the van came on and it came up to where we were. I walked over a talked to the driver who asked if I had a chain & I said I didn't. He produced a chain and asked me if I knew where to connect it to my car so he could pull me back on the road. Since I had no idea where to connect the chain, he did it for me. He proceeded to pull our car back up unto the road. I spoke with him a couple of minutes and asked him why he was sitting by the side of the road since he had already told me that he had no problems, and wasn't checking a map, etc. He unhooked the chain from my car and said he was just waiting. I tried to offer him some money to say thank you, but he refused. By the time we had turned our car around, he was gone. My wife and I took the next exit and stayed at a hotel and continued home the next day. To this day I thank the Lord and wonder if an angel was dispatched just for my wife and me.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Praise Him for His Protection

I remember a time in Japan when I was taking a 2-mile-run during one of our PT times. I was running on base on a route that was laid out on the roads instead of in a gym. I was in the last quarter mile of my run and had just started to pick up my pace and lengthen my stride when all of a sudden I just started running in place. It was one of the most awkward things I have ever done in my life. It was as if I had run into some type of barrier & I could not go forward any more. A brief second later a car that I never saw raced in front of me near an intersection. A couple of seconds later I was able to go forward again & I realized that the Lord had once again spared me at least from serious injury or even possibly had saved my life. Needless to say, the last quarter mile of my run I was singing the praises of God. I still praise Him for His goodness and protection!!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Praise Him for His Protection

While I was in the Army Band in Japan in the late 70s, there was one summer when I used to bike back & forth between bases. I had a 15 speed 27" bike & was easily able to travel as fast as the flow of traffic. I remember one time when I was riding back to Camp Zama when it was raining lightly. I wasn't thinking so much about my ability to stop quickly & was traveling with the flow of traffic at about 35 - 40 mph when all of a sudden a car in he lane in front of me turned on it's left turn signal & turned into a driveway. I remember slamming on my brakes to no avail, trying to turn left away from the car when all of a sudden I found myself standing on a sidewalk on the other side of a low guardrail & I watched my bike go flying under the car that had turned in front of me. Without thinking I took a few steps forward, went to my hands & knees & reached under the car to pull my bike out. I reassured the driver that I was OK and examined myself & my bike finding only a scratched up left pedal as evidence of the accident. Needless to say, I rode that last few miles back to the base very slowly and singing the praises of God for his protection.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Praise Him for His Protection

I remember the only motorcycle accident I have been in very clearly. It was the late 70s when I was in the Army serving in Japan & I was a passenger without a helmet. A friend had picked me up between two military bases and on our way home we found ourselves coming head-on with a car on a one lane road. The driver of the bike hit his brakes and the bike went down. He flew over the handlebars & I ended up flying over his shoulders and rolling some distance ending up on my back under the front bumper of the oncoming car. We shook ourselves off and insured the driver of the car (as best we could) that all OK. That night I noted my right shoe was beat up pretty bad as my leg had temporarily been caught under the bike. The next morning's visit to the hospital revealed no problems as all X-rays were clear and I was uninjured. Praise the Lord for His protection!!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Praise Him for Healing

I remember once when I was in the Army Band in Japan and playing on the unit's basketball team that I was blinded after having had someone stick their finger in my eye. I couldn't see any light or anything. I prayed about it that night and went to bed. The next morning I could see clearly as though nothing had happened. Since there was obvious evidence that something had happened (a bruised eye that was very red and a scab on my eyelid) I went for medical exam & treatment. The doctor who treated me said he didn't believe in healing after I told them I had prayed and he referred me out to a retinal specialist. When I was cleared by the specialist & sent back to the first doctor & was tested again, my vision in the previously blinded eye had continued to improve! Though he said that the eye is an amazing thing that could get better after injury, he wasn't willing to say that it was normal to have such improved vision after having been blinded. The retinal specialist however did believe I had been healed and said he had seen similar things when others had reported they had prayed in the past.

Friday, August 21, 2009

When words will not do

There is a difficulty in trying to express that which is inexpressible. Sometimes when I try to actually put into words how great the Lord is or try to express my love for Him, I find that words fail to fully express my heart or fail to describe how great He really is. At times like these I may pour out my heart through music, specifically by playing my trumpet or flugelhorn or composing some musical arrangement. May you also find new ways of expressing your adoration to the King of Kings & Lord of Lords!

He watches over us

I have recently reconnected in Facebook with some of the people I worked with while I was in the 296th Army Band at Camp Zama, Japan and it brought back some memories. To me the most amazing was how the Lord watched over me while I was in Japan. I remember two times in particular when He saved my life and another time when I was healed overnight after I had been blinded in a basketball game. This caused to realize that He has blessed me and watched over me more than I will ever know. How great is God that He has blessed us so much that we can't even remember it all!!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

New Mercy & Faithfulness

What another great day to praise the Lord! His mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness is mind-blowing. When I consider that the One who knows everything about me including all of my shortcomings; things I have done; and other things that I hope no one will ever find out about - it is awesome to know that He is still faithful and that His mercy covers all of my sins. I am no longer what I once was and I am now a new creation in Christ Jesus!!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

He's Always There

Praise the Lord! It's another day that I have to praise the Lord. I was reflecting this morning on the times I was in the Army, been in other countries, been in several states, and the many families that I lived with while growing up. I thought about the various jobs and experiences that I have had. The one thing everything had in common was that the Lord was always with me. He is truly faithful and has never left me. You can surely put your trust in Him. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Praise Him for the daily things

Sometimes when I am contemplating the greatness of our awesome God I tend to focus on supernatural or powerful aspects of His nature, but this morning I was interacting with my wife as she was preparing for a trip, I realized that the greatness of God's love for me in that He has provided me with a wife and two sons. So this morning I praise the Lord not only for who He is and what He does in mighty ways, but also for the everyday things that I sometimes so easily take for granted. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Zamar for life

One of the many Hebrew words for praise in the Bible is the word ZAMAR. Zamar connotes the idea of playing a musical instrument, or literally 'to touch' or 'pluck', 'to touch the strings'. Of all of the ways to praise the Lord, one of the most significant and beautiful is by playing a musical instrument. Sometimes this may be to accompany singers and at other times just by playing unto the Lord without anyone singing at all. Since I am an instrumental musician, I do plan on playing unto the Lord for the rest of my life.

God of Abraham, Issac & Jacob

I have started this blog to glorify the Lord God of heaven, referred to in the Bible as the God of Abraham, Isaac an Jacob. There are many names attributed to Him that reveal His nature and His interaction with all that He has created. Everything that I have seen and everything that I have known teaches me to trust Him more and more and to trust without any reservation.