The Blessing Clicker

Tally Counters

Can we see a blessing? Because if we cannot identify a blessing, then we most certainly cannot count it.

I want to address what kind of blessings we should be counting to get the benefit behind the idiom, count your blessings.

Count

Not like Count Dracula, but like the Count on Sesame Street. Counting. Like 1-2-3. Like the manual tally counters pictured above. I know. I know. Those are old school. Maybe you have a Fitbit that automatically counts steps. Too bad we don’t have that kind of technology to add up all our blessings every day!

Your

What is yours, personally. What you currently have in your possession.

Blessings

Noun. The object of what you count. It’s plural, too, assuming you have more than one.

Blessings are what the one giving the blessing gives to the one receiving the blessing. Yes. Blessings are a gift. A free gift. They can be material. They can be monetary. They can be spoken like compliments, congratulations, or well wishing. They can be health related. Blessings can be most anything.

The Source of all blessing is God. We can only truly bless others after we ourselves have been filled up with His blessing. A person cannot give what he does not have.

Since it is by blessing we receive gifts, then our response should be one of thanks. Thanks to the giver (if human) and also to God, the ultimate source of all blessing.

But all things that we have in our possession are not truly ours. They are His. We are only temporary stewards of all that we have.

And the purpose of being blessed is to bless others. And we use the resources God has given us to help make this world a better place.

Let’s see how this works. Was the world created because you deserved it? The stars? The moon? The sun? Were any of us deserving of the waters of the earth? The creatures of the sea? The dry land? All the creatures of the world? The air we breathe? For life itself? No. We didn’t deserve any of it. Creation was God’s first act of grace. His free, unearned acts of lovingkindness had nothing to do with our deservedness. It had everything to do with his character. He is a good God. He is a loving God. He is a giving God. He is the God of blessing.

Which of us deserved to have eyes or ears or mouth? Or arms or legs? Or a heart? Or blood? Or lungs? Or kidneys? Or 37 trillion cells? Over three billion strands of DNA in most of the cells? Or the breath of life itself? Or the next breath we take? Which of us deserves another day? All of these are free gifts to us. Things to treasure and care for. Blessings for which to be thankful.

Which of us deserves family? Friends? Community? A government to keep us safe? Stores and businesses? Shops and services? Technology? Science? Arts? Skills? Knowledge? Cars? Shoes? Clothes? Houses? Passions? Hobbies? Pleasure? Relationships? Children? Care? Love? Kindness? All gifts to us. All things to be thankful for.

And the awesome daily natural world we see and live in? The beauty in a sunrise? Or sunset? The colors of a bird’s feathers? The delicateness of a butterfly? The sweet smell of a flower? A clear blue sky? Soft, billowy clouds? Rain that waters the earth? Did we deserve any of this? I think not.

We are marvelously made. We live on a fantastic planet. Our blessings are vast and far reaching. We are bathed in blessings every day. Blessings are acts of God’s gracious, lovingkindness that can be seen and heard and smelled and tasted and touched. It is splendid beyond human language.

A few years ago I prayed a prayer I now say every day. It has literally changed my outlook on life. Here it is:

Lord, show me Your grace
Bathe me in Your mercy
Fill me with Your lovingkindness
Give me Your patience

Let me see what You see
Let me hear what You hear
Show me the things
That You value most

Let me be Your feet
Let me be Your hands
Let me feel what You feel
Let me speak Your words

Let me be the answer
To someone’s prayer today

Even if you don’t remember all this just ask God to let you see what He sees and do what He wants in the same nature and character that He has—love.

Now I look for people every day. I look for the brokenhearted, those weighed down in anxiety, the despairing, the hopeless, the hurting, the fearful, the sick, the weak, the lonely, the outcast, the misfit, the unloveable, the handicapped, the disadvantaged, the grieving, the afflicted, the lost, and the blind. To the least significant person on earth: I love you. And so does God.

This is how my blessing clicker works. It counts so much that I end up counting all day long. It makes me more thankful. It makes me more peaceful. It makes me feel content. It calms my thoughts. I am more relaxed.

I can now see differently with the eyes of my heart. My outlook on life has changed. I always tried to be positive. But when my mind ran out of reasons to be positive I would lapse back into negativity. I was trying to think positively on my own effort. It was only temporary. I was stuck in the negatives. Now I have zillions of reasons to be thankful.

Yes, but don’t you have bad days? Don’t you have dark times? Don’t you have hardships? Yes. Yes to all of those questions. But what do I do in those situations? Two things: 1) increase my thanks to God and 2) look for more opportunities to bless others. I double down.

The whole reason I am alive another day is to be a servant of God’s blessing to others. Revealing God’s grace in acts of lovingkindness to others is my sole mission in this earthly life.

So count your blessings! Give thanks. Enjoy. Then share. It’s God’s way.

The Secret of King David

Great Blue Heron on nest with Florida sunrise – photo by Greg Miller

After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’

—Acts 13:22

Wow! A man after God’s own heart! That is amazing! But this fact made me wonder “What was it about David that made him a man after God’s own heart?” And I’ll bet that you, like me, have heard many sermons on what it was that made David so special. And I’ll also assume that not many of those preachers agreed on what was the secret of King David—why he was so God’s pick over all the other men of that era.

I’ve heard many times that it was David’s quickness to repent after having Bathsheba’s husband killed in battle so he could take her as his wife. But if you look at the story in 2 Samuel 11 & 12, David was quick to repent only after he got caught. David’s son from Bathsheba was already born so it had to be a minimum of 9 months later that he repented. Besides, God called David a man after his own heart long before the Bathsheba incident (1 Samuel 13:14).

I’ve heard, too, that it was David’s many praises recorded in the Psalms that made him special. It’s true that praise is certainly important. And David appears to have done it more than most. But is this what prompted God to tell Samuel to go and anoint David King of Israel? Besides, the Psalms were written after David became king. And God called David a man after his own heart before he became king. (1 Samuel 16)

Recently I was studying about grace—God’s unmerited favor. I wondered if there was a counterpart to the word “grace” in the Old Testament. There is a Hebrew word for God’s favor in the Old Testament. It is chesed. Of course, under the terms of the Old Covenant, this favor was earned. It is a powerful Hebrew word that is not easily translated into English. In a nutshell, this is God’s Covenant Love for His people. The New American Standard is pretty consistent in rendering this word as lovingkindness. And more than half the references to this word are used in just one book—Psalms.

When I stumbled across this I was almost sure that I had found what made David so special. I felt like he was more familiar with his personal relationship with God than anyone else. And David knew intimately God’s love and favor toward him. As I read through Psalms again it was easy to see how many times David made mention of God’s favor—chesed. I was close. I had part of it. In fact all those other things are part of it, too.

Sometimes my lightning fast mind gets in the way of itself. This was one of those times. I spent years wondering and looking. And then recently my eyes were opened. The answer was right there in front of me all along. You all probably already came to that conclusion long before me. It is right there in the first verse I referenced at the top of this blog. Here it is again:

After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’

—Acts 13:22 (bold is my own emphasis)

I finally read that last part of the verse: “…he will do everything I want him to do.” It is simple obedience borne out of David’s relationship with God. Hear and obey. It is so uncomplicated that I missed it over and over again. It seems anticlimactic, too, doesn’t it? Weren’t you expecting something more fantastic? I was.

At the end of all this it made me wonder. Why was I so intent on finding out what made David a man after God’s own heart? Looking inside myself I found that I wanted to be like that—a man after God’s own heart. But I already know that God loves me unconditionally. There is nothing I can do to make Him love me more. And there is nothing I can do to make Him love me any less. His Love is not performance-based. So how does obedience factor in with grace?

It is like this: how God motivates us—how He leads us is key here. God loves us first. As a result we are able to love others. God proves Himself to us. We trust Him. And the overflow of love inside us spills out to those around us. It is not forced. It results in outward actions that were birthed on the inside of us as a result of God’s abundant love.

Yes. God wants our obedience to Him. But not from our outward behavior modification. Man tries to emulate the outward actions without changing the heart. But God looks at the heart. It is the treasure on the inside of us that brings forth the fruit of obedience. When we value the things that God values on the inside then our outward actions will change.

Prayer: Lord help me. Show me what is truly important to You. Show me the things that you hold most valuable. Show me what has the greatest worth. Open my eyes to see and understand what You want me to see. Open my ears to hear and understand your voice. I give up all my opinions of what I think is right. Make my mind new today. Thank you, Lord, for hearing my prayer.

 

Wrestling With Your Own Thoughts

Acadia National Park in Maine -photo by Greg Miller

Psalm 13 (NIV)
For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.
[emphasis mine]

Are you, like David, waiting for a loooong time for God to answer your prayer? A long enough time to make you feel like God has left you alone to fend for yourself? And you might feel like He has so many other requests and demands, maybe He has forgotten you.

The Psalmist here says he was wrestling with his own thoughts. Is your mind so overwhelmed with clutter that you are finding it difficult to make any choices? Do you feel like God is distant and He isn’t even a part of your planning process?

And this has gone on so long that your heart is heavy. You feel lonely and sad. Every day. Sorrow and sadness are never far from you. Your problems loom large and appear impossible. Day after day you wake up with dread for the day ahead. You are bombarded with criticism and accusation. For David, there were people who wanted him dead. It was their sole purpose to hunt him down and kill him.

David cried out to God, “Look here! Look at my situation! Answer my prayer for help! Or I will die!” He continued, “If you don’t help me now then my enemies will conquer me and they will be glad when I fail!”

Do you see what happens in verse 5? In the midst of pouring out his innermost feelings, the words change and make a complete reversal with one simple word “But”. Watch what David writes next, “But I trust in your unfailing love;” The Hebrew word that David uses here is chesed (the ch has a hard sound like k). It means favor. Under the Old Covenant one had to do all the works of the Law to earn God’s favor. But it was certainly a part of the covenant agreement with God. And David draws on this word in Psalms more than any other Old Testament writer. David knew if he obeyed God’s commands that God would be loyal to His promise of favor toward him. Time after time in the Psalms David reminds God of their covenant agreement. He trusted God to uphold His end of the deal.

By now you may be thinking that this Hebrew word, chesed—God’s favor, sounds a whole lot like the New Testament Greek word, charis—God’s favor, then you are right. But the Hebrew word carries with it the condition of each one of us having to obey all of God’s commands first. In other words, under the Old Covenant, favor was earned by each one of us. Under the New Covenant, favor was earned by Jesus and then freely given to us. Our only requirement is to trust what He has done.

But there is one more thing. Jesus didn’t come to abolish the Old Covenant. He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 5:17) The Old Covenant Law and all the prophecies were executed perfectly by Jesus. This was so that we could partake of all the original blessings of the Old Covenant (like God’s all powerful, never failing, never ending, unconditional, unmerited favor).

What does that mean when we read the Psalms? It means that the promises of God’s blessing, favor, and protection that David trusted in are the very promises that we can trust in, too. It is because of what Jesus Christ has accomplished on our behalf! We get all the Old Testament blessings and none of the Old Testament curses!

Now the tone of writing changes dramatically. In the midst of imminent danger, long term sadness and grief, and feeling like God was distant, David continues “my heart rejoices in your salvation” Really? How can he rejoice when his circumstances have not even changed? Is he just fooling himself? No. He is not lying to himself. David had an understanding about his covenant with God. He reminded God and himself about their agreement.

The part that caused David to rejoice? And this is so very good. Listen closely. David reminded himself of God’s commitment, loyalty, and favor toward himself. The commitment of God was personal to David. And it is personal to you and I as believers today because Christ has made the way possible. Direct access. Direct favor. God’s thoughts are toward you. His attention is toward you. He cares for you. Always. And you have His commitment of loyalty to His promises for you. And now you know how David changed his attitude by reminding himself of God’s loving favor toward him personally. God is thinking good thoughts about you now. He wants to show His favor toward you personally.

David finishes up the Psalm with the triumph of heart in verse 6. “I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.” Here again you might be tempted to think David is either over stating his plight at the beginning of the Psalm or you may think he is deluding himself at the end here.

Previously I wrote about David reminding himself and God about the covenant agreement that they shared. But his circumstances hadn’t changed yet. So how could the last phrase be true “for he has been good to me.”? It’s right in front of us. Look at the verb tense. “Has been” is past tense. And here we find the final key to changing one’s outlook in life when facing impossible situations. David called to mind all the good things God had already done for him. On purpose, David changed his focus from negative circumstances he faced to the reality of God’s love and favor toward him. Recalling past blessing was like icing on the cake.

We can apply the same principles today. David was not afraid to express his deepest emotions to God. Do you think God was surprised by David’s expression of emotion? I think not. God isn’t surprised with how you feel either. You might as well tell him. Share your problems with Him like you were confiding in your best friend (because He is!). Next David spelled out all the scary circumstances. For David, elite militia were commissioned to kill him. Trained killers. You may not have killers after you. But the problems you face are very real. Go ahead. Tell God the circumstances. Tell Him all about it.

And finally, tell God (and yourself) about your covenant agreement together. Acknowledge God’s commitment to you based on what Jesus did for you. You don’t get blessings because you are good. You get blessed because Jesus is good. You have favor because Jesus had favor and He has freely bestowed it upon you. His commitment to you is that He will never give up on you and to never let you down so that you are all alone. He will never leave you. He will never forsake. He will always protect you. He will always be with you.

Now remind yourself of all the good things that God has already done for you. Even the smallest things count. As you think of those things, thank God for each one. As you are thanking God, you will find that you actually want to give Him praise. Go ahead! Let the song in your heart come out!

Today my prayer for each one of you is that you get so blessed with His love that you want to do kind things for other people. Yes. I pray that your heart is so enriched that the excess of God’s love will spill out to those around you! Blessings of health and wellness to you. Blessings of abundance to you. Blessings of peace and joy to you. Blessings of favor with others for you. Blessings to you and your family. And blessings of protection and safety to you. May this day be a turnaround day for you!

So What Do Thanksgiving and Communion Have in Common?

Well, I mean besides getting to eat bread on both occasions. Or just eating, for that matter. Ok. Maybe I’m making this too difficult.

The Ancient Greek word for “thanksgiving” is eucharisteo. It is where we get the English word Eucharist, a word often used for Holy Communion. Eucharisteo literally means to give thanks for God’s good grace. When Jesus broke bread and gave thanks before feeding a multitude—the word He used was eucharisteo—He gave thanks. And Jesus at the Last Supper gave thanks—eucharisteo again.

Are you seeing the link? We should take opportunity to give thanks to God for His unmerited favor towards us every day. And our minds should constantly be filled with an awareness of His great love for us. The better we know His love for us, the easier it will be to extend that same love to others. God’s love for us is not performance-based. Our love for others should be just like that–with no conditions. Without a thought for what we will get in return. Without worrying what we’ll look like to others. Without fear. Without judgment.

So how did grace become a part of thanksgiving? Haha! I am glad you asked. At its root, the word eucharisteo has the word charis—which is the Ancient Greek word for grace! There is one more important word that shares the same root (etymology) and that is chara, which means to rejoice or be glad for God’s grace. All three words are related in the New Testament with grace as the root of each word. And I believe all three are significant in our celebration of Thanksgiving and our participation in communion. Being joyfully grace-conscious every day will change our outlook on life!

The grace we receive from God is invaluable. Being mindful of its worth is how we should receive communion. And our minds should always be conscious of His favor towards us when we celebrate on Thanksgiving Day. Be thankful for His abundance for us. It is this abundance that we should use to be a blessing to others, not just on one day of the year, but every day. I’m glad we have a holiday. It is very special to be with family.

And for those of you reading this who do not have family, or you are single, or in a hospital, or just alone somewhere for the holiday I am mindful of you, too. I’ve spent holidays in the hospital. I’ve spent Thanksgivings alone. I know what it feels like. You turn on the TV and everyone’s eating and seemingly having a good time. And you’re not there. There is no one to celebrate with. It leaves one feeling empty on the inside. You might even feel forgotten, overlooked, or rejected. You might not feel very worthwhile. No one invited you to go anywhere. Or maybe you lost a loved one on or near this holiday. But I am remembering you right now. My thoughts and prayers are with you. And God is with you. Right now. He is our Comforter. Receive a big, long hug from Him. His eye of favor is on you. He cares for you more than you can possibly know. May He fill you with His tender mercy and lovingkindness.

I am wishing you all a joy-filled holiday!

In everything give thanks…

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Supernatural 9-1-1

We all know what to do in an emergency—we dial 9-1-1. We do it for situations that require urgent and immediate care. Accidents, tragedies, heart attacks and the like are examples for which we use this service.

But what happens in life when you face situations that are personal emergencies that are not covered by 9-1-1? Like that time you got news of a life-threatening illness? Or a death in the family? Or an unwelcome financial surprise that strains your very ability to make ends meet? Or you lost your job, your house, or your car?

And what about migraines from extreme pressures you are facing? Or fears that are so strong that they inhibit your ability to perform normal everyday activities? Or feelings of such great inadequacy that it leaves you in deep depression and you just want to hide from everyone.

I may not have described your urgent need. In short, I am reaching out to those of you who feel helpless—those of you who feel like you have no place to go. You are at the end of your rope. It’s a dark place.

I am thankful that God has 9-1-1, too. I have used it often. You can find it in Hebrews 4:15-16.

Hebrews 4:15-16 New International Version (NIV)

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

This supernatural 9-1-1 doesn’t really need dialing—it is immediate direct access! If you and I were on a ship and you fell overboard, would you ask me in a calm voice “Oh, devout friend Greg, wouldest thou peradventure, tosseth yonder life jacket towardst thy humble brother?” Ha! I think not! I bet your request would be more like this “HEEEEEELLLLLPPPPP!!!”

If your little child comes running to you in tears during a thunderstorm because they are scared, do you tell them just to suck it up and be strong? Of course not! You open your arms and pick them up and hold them close. You assure them that everything’s going to be okay. But how often do we feel comfortable running to our loving Heavenly Father when we feel like our lives are a wreck?

Maybe you have heard that God hates sin. Yes, He does. And there is severe punishment for it. God’s wrath. You’ve probably heard all about it…over and over again. Did you know God took out his wrath on Jesus? God placed our sin on Jesus and He bore it for us so that we don’t have to. Jesus took the guilt and punishment of God’s wrath on our behalf. This is the how and the why we no longer face an angry God. We have all the benefits of God’s covenant love toward us because of Jesus.

Now we can enjoy the benefits of verse 16. Long ago, approaching a king’s throne was a scary thing. If you came to his throne without approval or even just at a bad time, it could mean death. But Jesus won God’s approval—His favor. And we have access on Jesus’s merit. We now have God’s favor toward us all the time. We can approach the very throne of grace without the fear of rejection. God’s loving arms are open wide to receive us when we come running to Him. And we can receive God’s twins of love—mercy and grace. Mercy is us NOT getting all the bad things we deserve. Grace is us getting all the good things we do not deserve. We no longer have a contract with God that relies on our deserving works. It relies on what Jesus has earned on our behalf.

The last part of verse 16 is “…help us in our time of need.” The original Greek here means to provide you with aid in your urgent and immediate need. It can be at the point of exclamatory urgency. Yes, you know. The exclamation point. That part of writing that gets totally overused on Twitter and Facebook. It is supposed to give a sentence emphasis. But here, you can apply it in a worthy manner. How is that, you say? When you have that urgent emergency and all you have is “HELP!” That’s enough for God to hear you, embrace you in His love, and then act on your behalf. Because it is not about how much we care for Him. It is how much He cares for us that really counts.

So even though you do not feel like you deserve help. And you do not feel like God is near. And you do not feel like God even cares. When you feel like there is no hope. You are now a candidate for God’s disproportionate grace. God’s love for you is always more than enough. Call out to God and let Him love you now!

You really don’t have to wait for a crisis to get a dose of God’s grace and mercy. It’s there for you all the time. Spending your days close to the throne of grace is a wonderful thing.