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.

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!!

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!!

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!!

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.

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.

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!!