Tuesday, November 4, 2008

A Sun and Shield on An Autumn Day

For the LORD God is a sun and shield, the LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will he uphold from those who walk uprightly. Psalm 84:11

The writer of this psalm longs to be in the presence of His LORD and to be with Him in worship. He fully trusts in the LORD for His provision and His protection. Similar to God's promises in Romans 8, God is for us! He promises to lavish upon us His grace and goodness - He will not withhold any good thing from us.

Sun and shield. God is the source of all good and our defense from all evil. He gives grace here on earth and glory in the hereafter. He witholds all that is not good - even health or wealth - if it is not good for us at that particular time. We must, therefore, trust in Him even when we do not understand His particular ways and His timing.

Whatever I need, that is what the Lord is, according to Ray Stedman. What a wonderful truth!

Stedman uses this acronym: Jesus Exactly Suits Us Sinners.

Warren Weirsbe writes that the Christian life begins with grace and ends with glory. In between, life can be rather difficult. In between, we have the promise of His provision and protection. We must walk uprightly by obeying God's Word and trusting in its promises.

It is 7:44 a. I woke up this morning, about 5:20, with a very dry mouth. And I had some difficulty breathing. It was a bit scary. I drank some water and took my pain medication. It helped some.

My wife opened my curtains a few minutes later to reveal the early morning colors of an Autumn day. The school-bound children all stepped in my room to say good-bye, then all waved from the septic mound as they made their way to the bus. "The mound is alive, with the sound of music . . ."

God has gifted me with another day! Another day to know Him better, to glorify Him, to encourage others. To share life with my wife, children, friends, and family.

There are disability papers to complete, and a few other details to take care of - but mostly, this day is all about responding to the opportunities that God brings my way.

Breakfast has arrived. So it is time to break my fast and enjoy the meal that has been prepared for me. And my older son has joined me. Until later.

2 comments:

Gregory said...

Thank you for this wonderful site! I’m currently working on our church’s website and one of my feature articles is about Family Blessings
. Hopefully, I can take into consideration some of the ideas you gave me. Thanks again!

Scott Covenant Marriage said...

I agree with you, I guess. I just don’t know how to argue just as passionately. Perhaps this is the result of attending too many
Covenant Marriage Seminars. I’ve mellowed somehow.