MAKING IT THROUGH WINTER

Imagine as it once was. The air was crisp and clean. The trees were huge and filled with the colorful leaves of autumn. You lived in a dangerous land at the edge of the sea and at edge of a wilderness.  Half your number had already died from hunger, cold, and disease. Yet you praised and thanked your Creator. And this autumn He had rewarded your struggles with friendly Indians and a bountiful harvest.

You had hope you would make it through the hard winter to come.

What is this post about?  Prayer Works Cafe kindly nominated me for the award below.

Since I have already posted on THE FOOD FOR THOUGHT AWARD, I decided the lovely lady at Prayer Works Cafe just wanted to see seven more Bible verses (She did.). Given that it is Thanksgiving Day and that I would like to see what others have posted, let’s investigate what others have posted that gives thanks and praise to our Lord.

1. From here at  Prayer Works Cafe

Lamentations 3:23 (NLT) — “Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. “They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

I pick this verse because every moment I am reminded of his mercies and his faithfulness.  The reason behind writing and sharing is the gift of salvation.

Lamentations is aptly named. Nevertheless, even as he cried over the destruction of Jerusalem, Jeremiah acknowledged the grace and mercy of God.

2. From here at  New Life — Chris Jordan

Psalm 63:1 – “A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.”

Same as the first Scripture, this is my heart’s cry. This Scripture catapulted me into a season of seeking and soaking in God’s presence many years ago that I will never forget.

Ordinarily, when we think of God teaching us to pray, we think of the Lord’s Prayer. But God knew of our thirst. So even before Jesus came among us, he provided us the Book of Psalms.

3. From here at  theraineyview

Micah 6:8 –You have been told, O Man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.

Good for the days when all this religious morality seems too complicated and exhausting. Did I eat too much? Is this the most devout outfit I have, or should I wear something less showy?  Why didn’t I finish my Bible reading? Should I do more church activities during the week? Am I getting lazy? etc. It’s a reminder that it doesn’t have to be that complicated.

We are His creations. Whatever He wishes of us, He can require of us. He requires nothing. Read the words that surround Micah 6:8 (Micah 6:6-!6). He would have us accept an invaluable gift, the gift of His love.

4. From here at Shalom Mystic Wind by Sharon Bennit, Jefferson

Job 1: 21 — Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away: as it has pleased the Lord, so is it done: blessed be the name of the Lord.

This Bible verse frames my trust and attitude towards God. It helps me to accept the diverse realities of life with its mysteries if Joy and Suffering. a great motivating factor in my day to day life.

When he spoke these words, Job had just lost all his children and all his property. Yet even as he mourned, he gave thanks and praise to God. Because our Lord will not allow Satan to burden us with more than we can bear (I Corinthians 10:13), we can do the same.

5. From here at Catholic By Choice by paulinecauton

Ecclesiastes 3:11 — All that He does is apt for its time; but although He has given us an awareness of the passage of time, we can grasp neither the beginning nor the end of what God does.

In another version, “He has put the timeless in our hearts.” I love to be reminded that though I operate in days and hours, God, and His ways, don’t. How I wish to teach my heart to desire and wait on God timelessly.

Of all the books of the Bible, Ecclesiastes seems to speak most directly to me. Solomon learned humility from bitter experience. As life humbled him, what he wrote humbles me. What he wrote seems so simple. I think I understand. Then I realize I do not, and I am forced to study further. Then I begin to grasp what Solomon eventually accepted. God is God, and I am not.

6. From here at 8kidsandabusiness

Joshua 24:15 — “as for me and my household, we shall serve the Lord.”

The most important role of Christian parents is to teach our children about God. To do that, God must be central to our home life so that one day, when they make decisions about their future, their vocation, they will be equipped to listen to His voice.

It is with great wisdom   cites this passage as her first choice. Because the Bible is a complex and difficult work, we can be easily tempted to set it aside and busy our lives with so many other things, things of this world. It is then we leave those most precious to us unprotected.

1 Peter 5:8 Good News Translation (GNT)

Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

7. From here at Biltrix

Luke 19:41-42 –As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.”

On my pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2006, I had my strongest epiphany moment at the Church of Dominus Flevit on the Mount of Olives. I will need to write a separate post on this when proper the occasion arises (see Jesus Wept).

Because so many neglect the Old Testament, all but the last of the passages above is from the Old Testament. Why is this one from the New Testament? Jesus knows how we suffer. He regrets the necessity, but He gave us hope and a glimmer of what is to come. Some day what makes for peace will not be hidden from our eyes (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Thanks be to God!