The Blessings in the Lessons!

I cannot leave this series without declaring that every lesson, no matter how long it took me to learn it- brought a multitude of blessings! I hear Marvin Sapp singing, “Never Would Have Made It – and the end refrain – I’m stronger, I’m wiser, I’m better – much better – I would have lost it all, but now I see that You were there for me -”

This is our journey, we rise, we falter, sometimes we even fall – but our loving Father is always there to pick us up, brush us off, take us through, and then turn around and bless the socks off of us! He’ll use the worst mess ever to give us a testimony that will bring Him glory and bless other people. I always say, you can’t lose – with the stuff I use ( God’s Word, God’s Grace, God’s Mercy, God’s Love!)

I was up last night, the first time in a long time, and I watched Worship Videos on the televiision to try to get myself to sleep – instead they woke me up even more – the beauty of God’s creation, the wonder of it all – the majesty of His power (look at a river winding down a hill and turning into a mighty waterfall. See how God cares for every flower, every tree – every bird – yes, every bee. Tender, yet a torrent of power unleashed to make all things happen everywhere at the same time..the complexity of an atom – the simplicity of the gospel.

My heart is full – Join with me in worshiping God with a song (psalm) of David:

“Let all that I am praise the Lord.
O Lord my God, how great you are!
You are robed with honor and majesty.
You are dressed in a robe of light.
You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens;
you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds.
You make the clouds your chariot;
you ride upon the wings of the wind.
The winds are your messengers;
flames of fire are your servants.
You placed the world on its foundation
so it would never be moved.
You clothed the earth with floods of water,
water that covered even the mountains.
At your command, the water fled;
at the sound of your thunder, it hurried away.
Mountains rose and valleys sank
to the levels you decreed.
Then you set a firm boundary for the seas,
so they would never again cover the earth.

You make springs pour water into the ravines,
so streams gush down from the mountains.
They provide water for all the animals,
and the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
The birds nest beside the streams
and sing among the branches of the trees.
You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home,
and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor.
You cause grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for people to use.
You allow them to produce food from the earth—
wine to make them glad,
olive oil to soothe their skin,
and bread to give them strength.
The trees of the Lord are well cared for—
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
There the birds make their nests,
and the storks make their homes in the cypresses.
High in the mountains live the wild goats,
and the rocks form a refuge for the hyraxes.

You made the moon to mark the seasons,
and the sun knows when to set.
You send the darkness, and it becomes night,
when all the forest animals prowl about.
Then the young lions roar for their prey,
stalking the food provided by God.
At dawn they slink back
into their dens to rest.
Then people go off to their work,
where they labor until evening.

O Lord, what a variety of things you have made!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.
Here is the ocean, vast and wide,
teeming with life of every kind,
both large and small.
See the ships sailing along,
and Leviathan, which you made to play in the sea.

They all depend on you
to give them food as they need it.
When you supply it, they gather it.
You open your hand to feed them,
and they are richly satisfied.
But if you turn away from them, they panic.
When you take away their breath,
they die and turn again to dust.
When you give them your breath, life is created,
and you renew the face of the earth.

May the glory of the Lord continue forever!
The Lord takes pleasure in all he has made!
The earth trembles at his glance;
the mountains smoke at his touch.

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.
I will praise my God to my last breath! Psalm 104:1-33 (NLT)