Lord, It's Me Again ...

For some this may give food for thought. For some it may give a key to a much more fruitful relationship with our Lord. For others, perhaps just an encouragement to continue. But whatever the case, I hope you find blessing...

Have you ever known someone who was so continually needy that every time you saw them coming your way you had to check yourself because you knew what was coming? I sometimes wonder if we ever stop to think about what our Lord might be thinking when He hears us calling Him. We have emotions because we were created in His image so ... what about His emotions ... and His feelings? We know that He's perfect where we're not and we know that His love is unfailing. But He allows Himself to have needs also - needs that only we can fulfill. He made Himself vulnerable to us by allowing Himself to love us so much. He needs to hear our hearts for Him. He needs to hear our recognition and praise for the things that He does for us ... and for the tremendous volume of great and awesome works that He's already done on our behalf ...

I'm going to borrow a famous phrase from an American president and convert it to something much more meaningful than it's original intended purpose. What he intended was good and of a good spirit. But taken to another level, it can become so much more life changing.

Here it is: Ask not what your God can do for you, but what you can do for your God ...

As human beings with weaknesses and needs, we're so easily wrapped up in ourselves and our dilemmas in life. We need things, we want things and we encounter things that we of our own power are not able to conquer. But we weren't created to live for ourselves and we weren't created to just enjoy ourselves to the fullest in the worlds' pleasures - we were created for our Gods' pleasure.

Our Lord knows that we have needs and He knows the desires of our hearts. As a faithful and loving Father who dotes on His children, we can rest assured that He'll provide what we really need ... if we first devote ourselves in obedience to what He asks. This is part of His promises to us. But sometimes I think some people struggle because they forget that we can't expect the result without first doing what He's laid out as the prerequisites to His promises. If we will ... He will. The word of our Lord is full of reasons to be obedient, to put Him first, to give Him our worship alone, to walk in His ways, etc... there are always connected blessings and glorious promises!

But there are reasons that we don't always get what we expect or what we're convinced that we need. It's important for us to recognize that everything we want or think we need isn't necessarily good for us and (I thank Him gratefully and praise Him because...) from His perspective He knows the difference. As the perfect Father with perfect wisdom who only gives good things to His children (ever read what it takes to be called His child?), He protects us from things that would cause us harm when we don't even know we would be in danger.

But enough about us! Are we so selfish and self involved that we don't realize that our Lord allows Himself to need something that we alone can give? Do we forget to be grateful for all that He's already done and all that He's blessed us with? Do we remember that it was His hands that laid the foundations of the earth? Are we grateful that He gives power to the sun and that He holds the planets in orbit? As we gaze into the night sky are we remembering that it was His hand that placed each one? As we witness the beauty of creation. the lakes, rivers, trees, mountains and valleys are we reminded when we see them that it was our Lord who placed them here for us to enjoy? It was our God who imagined all of these things, even the flowers and all of the creatures of the earth just for our pleasure.

We may have thanked Him once, or twice - maybe even several times for these things. But do we not owe Him continuing unbroken gratitude and praise for the ongoing pleasure and benefit we receive every day from His efforts on our behalf. Is it not our God who makes the sun come up every morning? Do we think of that every time we see it and feel it's warmth? Do we thank Him every time we're blessed by it? Not a day has ever gone by that we could have existed with out His continuing effort and not a day will ever come that we are not totally dependent on Him. But is our gratitude to Him as new every day as His grace to sustain us? Is it in keeping with the number and size of His continuing blessings?

We've only scratched the surface in counting the blessings He's already given us. We haven't even mentioned the awesome, astounding and inconceivable eternal blessing of Christ's sacrifice! Do we thank Him for the trials and the things that He allows for our correction? Are we wise children who recognize the value of His efforts to refine and perfect our character? Or do we weep for ourselves like spoiled children ignorant of His wisdom and excellent and loving intentions toward us?

It's likely that every one of us has felt the pain of ingratitude and the disrespect of our efforts and hard work at some time or another. Good parents constantly give good care and gifts to their children as they're able and as it's prudent to do so. But some may know the burning sting of rejection or disrespect from the ones they love so dearly. Some may know what it feels like to have their heart felt efforts taken for granted or even disregarded. Some may know what it's like to feel these things even as those same people come back to ask even more of them ... why would we ever think that our God would have these same feelings any differently? We have emotions because we were created in God's image - He had them first.

Our God is not flesh, but spirit - so we were created in the image of His spirit. We inherited emotions from Him. Of course how we mange them and what we do with them is dependent on our individual character. But the point is that we have feelings and emotions like our Lord God has (not the other way around). The history of scripture that He so mercifully provided to us, shows a history as long as the history of man of continuous abuse to His great and awesome heart. No one has suffered more at the hands of another than our very own awesome, generous and loving Father. No one has suffered more ingratitude, disrespect, and unfaithfulness or has been taken for granted more than He has. Yet, His patience, His mercy and His love endure ...

I cannot take any credit for having recognized these things. It's only because of His mercy in wrestling with my own heart that I've come to see them. But it's because I see them now that this tough, weathered, 51 year old father and husband who has survived many amazing things by Our Lord's grace, often cries broken in His presence. The well of my gratitude will never run dry, but it can never, ever, begin to equal in measure ... the magnitude of what He's already done. Food for thought ...

Father ... it's me again ... I just want to offer you more from my heart of my unending praise and worship ...