Will the dust praise You?

Psalm 30

⁷ O LORD, when you favored me,
you made my mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
I was dismayed.

⁸ To you, O LORD, I called;
to the Lord I cried for mercy:

⁹ "What gain is there in my destruction,
in my going down into the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness?

It is so important to ensure we do not go from gratitude to entitlement, and yet it is an easy path to slide down without realizing it. David asks, "What gain is there in my destruction,... will the dust praise you?"

How easy it is to take our blessings and the Lord's favor for granted! What I think we need to realize is that there is a purpose in everything - God blesses us for a purpose, and allows challenges to happen for a purpose.

Two of those purposes laid out in this psalm is that we are to praise Him, to proclaim His faithfulness.

How do I praise him throughout the day? This doesn't mean I go about singing Amazing Grace all day (necessarily).

• God is a God of order, not chaos. Doing things with order.
• God is a God of excellence, not halfheartedness. Doing things with excellence and with all my heart.
• God is a God of creativity, not apathy. Doing things with creativity.
• God is a God of love. Doing things with love, not selfishness. Serving others.
• God is a God of peace, not contention. Seeking peace with all people.
• God is a God of justice, not injustice. Doing things with justness.
• God is a God of eternity. Doing things with eternity in mind, not just the short term.
• God is a God of now. Doing important things now, not putting them off. (Ecclesiastes 11:4)
• God is a God of perfection. Giving 100% 100% of the time, not 95%.
• God is a God of perfection. Seeking to always improve to become more like my Creator.
• Any others you can think of? Share in the comments box.

To proclaim his faithfulness? To share with others what He is doing in my life, to look for ways to give credit to Him, to have a zeal for his glory, as David did.

Reporting for Duty - Part 1

How important do you think it is to know your identity?

When you go to the airport, if you aren't sure who you are you're sure to get a pat down, an odd look, and maybe a little jail time. In life, you're sure to confuse and frustrate yourself and the people around you, not accomplish your purposes that you've been put here for, and maybe a little jail time.

To me, it is all very pie in the sky talk - Know yourself, what is your identity? Who are you in Christ? What is your calling? I'd rather talk concrete stuff, like how many calories in a Jamba Juice (answer: 400+, a lot!).

Since I really believe that we all, every person on Earth, myself included, have a specific purpose and mission to fulfill, it becomes vitally important that we know who we are, who our Commander is, and what our mission is.

Can you imagine a platoon of soldiers going to battle, and no one knowing who they were (gunner or runner? Strategist or sniper? Major or Private First Class?), what their mission is (shoot the bad guys? Save the hostages? Don't get killed?) or who their commander is (that guy or this guy? Me or you?). It would be a slaughter! They would loose the battle and maybe the war!

Newsflash: We are at war. Time to get ready.

How do you discover any of these elusive elements? They seem so slippery - once you catch them, how do you keep them from falling back into the sea of oblivion?

That's what I'm going to try and work through in the next few posts. I don't have it figured out yet, but hopefully my ramblings will help you discover yours. Part 1 is Your Identity, Part 2 is Our Commander, and Part 3 is Surrender.

First up next week - Your identity - Why it matters, how you figure it out.

What are your thoughts?

Faith - surreal or practical?

And without faith it is impossible to please {Him,} for he who comes to God must believe that He is and {that} He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6

Dr. Henry Blackaby has said that “whenever God reveals something, He expects us to believe Him and adjust our lives accordingly.”

Practically, what does this act of faith look like? It means

• We trust Him implicitly for all our needs because He says He will provide Phil 4:19
• We approach crises with the assurance that God will bring good from them Rom 8:28
• We overcome anxiety during stressful situations because God instructs us to bring our requests to Him Phil 4:6
• We never worry that we are alone because God said He would never leave us or forsake us Duet 31:6
• Despite what happens in our lives, we will never doubt God’s love because He has told us that He loves us with an everlasting love Jer 31:3
• We will choose not to worry when things are rough, because Jesus promised to care for us more than the birds and flowers, besides, it’s a waste of energy. Matt 6:31-34
• We give generously because he promised to provide for all our needs, and in giving we can experience His joy and grace Heb 13:3, 2 Cor 8:1-2
• We put others ahead of ourselves, knowing that God is justice, and we will reap what we sow Eph 5:25,28,33, Matt 22:36-40, Matt 23:11,12, Matt 20:26,27

How do you live it out on a daily basis?