Image from haaretz.com
Hear the devotional read here: https://bit.ly/2X7zVCX
8 Bless our God, O peoples! Give him a thunderous welcome! 9 Didn't he set us on the road to life? Didn't he keep us out of the ditch? 10 He trained us first, passed us like silver through refining fires, 11 Brought us into hardscrabble country, pushed us to our very limit, 12 Road-tested us inside and out, took us to hell and back; Finally he brought us to this well-watered place. 13 I'm bringing my prizes and presents to your house. I'm doing what I said I'd do, 14 What I solemnly swore I'd do that day when I was in so much trouble: 15 The choicest cuts of meat for the sacrificial meal; Even the fragrance of roasted lamb is like a meal! Or make it an ox garnished with goat meat! 16 All believers, come here and listen, let me tell you what God did for me. 17 I called out to him with my mouth, my tongue shaped the sounds of music. 18 If I had been cozy with evil, the Lord would never have listened. 19 But he most surely did listen, he came on the double when he heard my prayer. 20 Blessed be God: he didn't turn a deaf ear, he stayed with me, loyal in his love. (Psalm 66:8-20 The Message)
Happy Thursday, dear Friend! I pray this finds you well and enjoying God's love in your heart. We continue to pray for those who have lost loved ones during this difficult time; who have lost jobs and all sources of income to support themselves and their families; for those who continue to labor in the frontlines of this virus and all it is causing. We hold on to hope and the promises of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Pray for one another, pray for yourselves.
I don't know many people who hate barbecue, least not from Texas. Most babies upon delivery are handed a rib as a teether in most Texas hospitals. Okay, just in some hospitals. But today's psalm seems to have been written in Texas, the land of celebrations. And most celebrations that I've known had some kind of barbecue meat with which to celebrate something or someone. Nellie and I went through the 90s attending weddings, rehearsal dinners, baby showers, bridal showers, where the menu was standard as if Moses had truly dropped the third tablet on which was written THOU SHALT SERVE BBQ AT ALL CELEBRATIONS WHERE GOD'S NAME IS INVOKED IN BLESSING AND DISMISSAL. I have the other fourteen commandments memorized and may preach on them some day! But that commandment, WHERE THOU CANST, SERVE BRISKET, POTATO SALAD, BEANS, PICKLES AND ONIONS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ALL GOD HATH DONE. And if one tries, you can almost see the celebration the psalmist is writing about; God is the honored guest. He is due a "thunderous welcome" because of all God has done for us, both that which blessed us and that which taught us. The main thing for the writer is that God set us on the road to life. (I dare not list the RM or FM because we'd have a civil war on the internet!). God also is to be praised for keeping us on the straight and narrow ("out of the ditch"), and "road-tested us inside and out, took us to hell and back; but He finally led us to the well-watered places." And that's the gathering he's writing about. We have brought gifts of praise and worship and the celebration is all about Him!
Friends, we know that God is due all honor and glory for all things. We have indeed traveled far and wide, in the good and bad, and at times it even seemed like we wouldn't make it, but here we are and we praise Him for all. The above photograph is at a Samaritan worship center, where a real fire sacrifice is celebrated once a month to offer up the sweet smell of our gratitude in the form of a lamb or ox roasted as that which has taken our place for the death we surely deserved. We thank God that once and for all, Christ Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sinfulness and such worship is no longer needed, even among the Jews; but the Samaritans like celebrating in this way. (Ancestry.com might find some Texan in them I believe!).
We end with what the Psalmist wrote, "Blessed be God: He didn't turn a deaf ear, He stayed with me, loyal in His love." Amen!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, blessed are You for all You have done. We pray that we might today find a way to thank You for what You have done on our behalf. We pray for those still in need that together You and all of us, could find ways to help and lift them up. Bless us and use us; that's our prayer that we lift up in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Truly bless someone with a special prayer dedicated to them.
Receive my blessings of love and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
