Scripture
“I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will tell of all His wonderful deeds.”
~Psalms 9:1, NRSV
Quote
When we turn our worry into worship, God will turn our battles into blessings.
~Image Quotes
June and I had supper with Joe David and Family last Friday night. Our waitress was very slow and the tables near us had not been cleaned. There were several things that came to Lori and June’s attention. Of course Ty and I were not offended in any way; we fit right in at a dirty restaurant. Joe David said, “I am not going to complain. I promised the LORD that if he got me home, I would not complain about service at a restaurant.” I knew exactly where he is coming from: I spent 9 days in Africa back in 1986 and those nine days changed my life forever. In reference to Psalm 9, we do not know what David had been delivered from but we do know he was at the gates of death and God delivered him. David was giving thanks with his whole heart. He was also ready and unashamed to tell the world what God had done.
If you are having trouble giving God thanks or praise with your whole heart, take a trip to Somalia, India, North Korea or one of the Muslim countries. Trust me, you will not have any problem giving God the glory He deserves when you get back, if you get back. Our greatest problem in giving God whole hearted praise and thanksgiving is our selfish carnal nature. We don’t praise HIM with our whole heart because we don’t want HIM getting all the glory but when you have a narrow escape like David, you don’t mind giving HIM all the glory. As a matter of fact, you are thrilled to give Him all the glory. Once you give Him all the glory, you experience the joy of whole hearted worship and you never want to return to the carnal state. I do not want to sound condescending, but if every worshiper understood the truth in this blog, it was totally revolutionize our worship.
To get to where David was in worship, whole hearted praise and thanksgiving–you need that narrow escape. I’m sure you are thinking: I don’t want to go to the third world and I certainly do not want to visit a Muslim or Communist country, is there another way? I am glad you ask. You are living in your comfort zone. You refuse to take any risk. You are like the eleven who stayed in the boat with their life jackets on. You have to be like Peter and go overboard. Get out of your comfort zone, take a risk. God cannot deliver you out when you refuse to get in. Jesus saved Peter from the raging sea– giving Peter a story to tell. The eleven had no story because they refused to put themselves at risk. You don’t have to travel to put yourself at risk: try sharing Christ with your neighbor.
- Steve Kelso has been in HH but he came home yesterday. Steve had bleeding ulcers but they have him fixed up. Vickie Livingston Tidwell came home from GRANDVIEW in Birmingham Saturday evening. I’ve been to or through Birmingham 6 times in the last two weeks. I’m ready for some new scenery.
- Lori and I greeted yesterday and our crowd looked slim but we had a slew who came in late and by the time Joe David got in the pulpit, the crowd looked pretty good.
- The Nursery floors look great: a special thanks to Trustee David Wood and Jim Tanner’s men’s class–they paid for the floor.
- A little dread concerning today: Dentist at 9:00 for crown and then I have to take June’s car to Huntsville for repairs. I don’t recommend buying new vehicles but I did and it has two flaws. Hopefully they will fix them both. It is a high tech machine. It will not allow tailgating. It will brake on its own. It also talks to you. On my way in to Birmingham Saturday, a woman’s voice interrupted my sermon saying, “Driver distracted, pull over and rest.” A yellow warning light flashed with the voice.