Tag: Great things

The Lord has done great things

“So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”

Psalms 92:4  For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.  How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!  The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this:  that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever;  but you, O LORD, are on high forever.

Isaiah 65:13-14    Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame;  behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out for pain of heart and shall wail for breaking of spirit.

2 Corinthians 2:14    But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

Psalms 145:6-7    They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness.  They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

Psalms 104:34    May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.

Psalms 126:3     The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad.

Psalms 64:10    Let the righteous one rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in him! Let all the upright in heart exult!

Where do you look for these great and awesome deeds and working of God?  Historically we can look back to the time of the great reformation, Christ, minor Prophets, time of Solomon, David, Joshua, Caleb, Moses, Joseph, Abraham, Issac, Noah, Adam and Eve.  We read of God’s hand through His great power, might, blessings, judgements, provision, defense, love, mercy, and grace.  We read of great flood, seas split in two, rivers stopped, people brought back from the dead, walls of Jericho falling, and much much more.  This is all important and gives us hope, faith, and security.   Shouldn’t it be more than this.  How does it apply today?  How do we see it?  What does it look like so we can recognize it?  For that matter how do we get to a place in our everyday lives that we see it and are able to say and speak of the hand of God?  Staying close to God allows us to see His hand at work all around us.  We can see it in creation if we allow our selves to think about it and marvel at it.  Looking through a microscope or telescope and anything between we can see wonders of God through nature in what He created.  Another place to see His blessings and activity in your life is through he people He has speaking into you life.  I recently was going through a difficult situation and a person out of the blue sent me a pod cast to listen to.  It was what I needed to hear at the time I needed to hear it.  I know in my heart this was from God.  Sometimes we get so busy with issues and cares of this world we loose sight of God and all He has done, is doing and will do.  Dear God open our eyes, ears, heart and mind to see more and more of Your active presence in our lives.  Worthy are You for praise, honor, and glory.

They soon forgot

“then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.”

“They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,”

“Then they believed his words; they sang his praise. But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.”

“They did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,”

“they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant.

Psalms 78:35  They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer.  But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant.

Deuteronomy 32:4    “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

Deuteronomy 32:30  How could one have chased a thousand, and two have put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had given them up?  For their rock is not as our Rock; our enemies are by themselves.

Isaiah 29:13   And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,

Ezekiel 33:31   And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain.

Reading these scriptures should challenge our heart and mind to faithfully serve God with our whole heart mind and soul.  Just as those from years gone by have done, we too need to be certain our mouth is not saying one thing and our heart is serving another – more than likely (Me, Myself, and I).  His word tells us that people easily forget God and what it means to cling to, rely on, and trust in Him.  It is hard to tell who these people are because many times all we hear is what comes from their mouth.  “they honor me with their mouth but their heart is far from Me”.  I wonder if it is our lack of spending time in knowing and understanding His word.  I wonder if we judge our walk by how others walk and in doing so we end up at a place where our faith is nothing more than words spoken.  This is a place where there is no heart deep desire to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey God but rather just words stating it.  God sees our heart and knows our thoughts and intents.  Many will enter eternity and when standing before God will hear depart from Me for I never knew you.  Be mindful of what it means to be redeemed and to follow and obey Him with all your heart, mind and soul.

I will Praise You

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.”

“I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me.”

Psalms 71:14  But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone. O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.

Psalms 66:16    Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.

2 Samuel 22:1 And David spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.  He said, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,  my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence.  I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.  “For the waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction assailed me;  the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.  “In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I called. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry came to his ears.

1 Chronicles 16:4  Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!  Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!  Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!  Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!  Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered,

Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  Giving thanks to God and speaking about His righteousness, power, might, strength and salvation are indicators of the abundance of Him in our heart and mind.  Note how those in scripture speak of God.  This is for our edification and to encourage us to continually seek God in all we do.  A good place to start is in His word with a daily desire to know and honor Him.  This is a heart deep commitment and most certainly He is worthy of our all.

I will

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”

Joe 2:18  Then the LORD became jealous for his land and had pity on his people. The LORD answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations. “I will remove the northerner far from you, and drive him into a parched and desolate land, his vanguard into the eastern sea, and his rear guard into the western sea; the stench and foul smell of him will rise, for he has done great things. “Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the LORD has done great things! Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield. “Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. “The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.  You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame.

Psalms 46:5
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.

Isaiah 12:6
Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

Leviticus 26:11-12
I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.

Deuteronomy 23:14
Because the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you.

Matthew 6:24
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

“I will be among you,” “I will help you”, “I am jealous for you,” “I will deliver you,” I will walk among you,” and “I will restore you.” These are all promises of God.  Do you ever think God doesn’t care or seems distant? He is ever present and is very near.  There are many things that can separates us from understanding His presence, love, mercy and grace. Scripture states “if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us,” “if we knock He will open the door,” and “if we seek we will find Him”.  When things around us are going well do we seek Him, or draw near to Him?  More than likely it is when the things around us are falling apart, or facing a trial, or something has happened we don’t understand, or when we have tried to handle it on our own and failed.  This is when we start seeking, knocking and trying to find God in the chaos.  What would it feel like to be friends with someone who never has anything to do with you until the day they are in trouble?  Time and time again never wanting anything to do with you until you are their last resort.  The point I am trying to make is that this type of behavior is one sided and is not a relationship. God wants to be the Lord of our life – all of it – all of the time.  He has done great things and had them recorded so that we might know of His power, might, strength, love, mercy, and grace.  He is worthy of our praise, honor, glory, and humble service.  Do you want to know Him more – read His word with desire.  Do you want to see His hand at work in all of your life – Seek Him.  Do you want to have peace, joy, love, rest, and hope – choose to serve Him sincerely every moment of every day.