Cultivating a Heart of Thanks

Psalm 106:1-2 says, "Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever. Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare His praise?" When we give thanks to the Lord we proclaim His awesome acts. He is most worthy of our praise and thanksgiving. Thanksgiving promotes not only the glory of God, but humility in us. It is the tendency of the sinful human heart - even the regenerated heart - to usurp credit that rightly belongs only to God. Thanksgiving stimulates our faith. It promotes contentment. I would recommend making a list of things for which you are thankful and make reference to that list frequently. Perhaps the following items would be a good start: your personal salvation, your opportunities for spiritual growth, the availability of the Word of God, the fellowship and instruction of the church, the abundance of helpful Christian books and broadcasts, opportunities for ministry and service, a godly spouse. Paul made frequent statements in his letters, such as, "We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you." (Colossians 1:3) Later in the same letter he instructs the Colossians, "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving." (4:2) As you meditate on these verses, ask God to give you a genuine attitude of thanksgiving. At the Atkins' home we are rejoicing and giving thanks today that the 9th MRI was clear, and showed no harmful development.

Card Carrying Aliens

The Bible contains many designations for believers in Jesus Christ who at one time or another are referred to as "the way," "strangers," "pilgrims," "disciples," "believers," "saints," "members of God's household," "a royal priesthood," "living stones." The one I've been thinking about lately is Peter's designation in 1 Peter 1:1 as "aliens." C. S. Lewis, who I hope to meet someday, said in "Mere Christianity" that we live in occupied territory. That is what this world is. "Christianity is the story of how the rightful King has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage. When you go to church you are really listening in to the secret wireless from our friends: that is why the enemy is so anxious to prevent us from going. He does it by playing on our conceit and laziness and intellectual snobbery." I remember from reading one of A. W. Tozer's books years ago that one chapter was titled "The World: Playground or Battleground." The recipients of 1 Peter clearly knew that the world was a battleground. As we have noted from "Mere Christianity" Lewis understood that this was enemy occupied territory. Believers need to awaken to the fact that the conflict is real, that the armor is provided and the campaign of sabotage continues. Leading people to Jesus Christ, to be their Savior, discipling men, women, and children and transforming our minds by the Word of God will tilt the battle in Christ's favor and sabotage our adversary.

On a medical note: my 8th MRI is scheduled for Monday. Please pray for a clear. My bilirubin was at 1.6 at the last count 2 weeks ago, and will be tested tomorrow. Thank you for your visit to the blog.

Simple Truths for Young and Old

Tonight during council time at Awana, I reminded the clubbers of several things that I felt were important when facing difficulty and hardship. The first reminder is that we are loved. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?" There is NOTHING that shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. The second truth is that we are part of a plan, as Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us: "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." The third truth is you are never alone. Zephaniah 3:17 states, "The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love." Of course, the last words in Matthew's gospel are the memorable words of our Savior, who said, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age." Young or old, well or ill, joyous or despairing, we should remind ourselves daily of these three truths: we are loved, we are part of a plan, we are never alone.

Medical update: Our cup is overflowing with praise to God Who is our Help, our Deliverer, and our Shield, because the 7th MRI results today revealed that the image was clear. All praise, glory and honor to our Heavenly Father for His lovingkindness and help.

Beyond All Measure

Fernando Ortega has a beautiful song with these lyrics,
"How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He would give His only Son,
To make a wretch His treasure.
How deep the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory."
Who could ever contemplate or imagine the intimacy of the Father's and Son's relationship? They are one. Who could ever imagine the deep pain of having this relationship interrupted? Maybe a preposition within the original Greek will help us understand better. John 1:1 states, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God..." The word "with" means face to face. John could have selected a different preposition for the word "with." It is "meta" which means "in the midst of." "Sune" means "in closest association." "Para" means "by the side of" but "pros" means Jesus was facing God the Father, acting with God and acting in closest intimacy and fellowship and communion with God the Father. This was interrupted when "He who knew no sin became sin for us." So when Ortega asks how deep is the Father's love for us, his reply is totally correct in that it is vast beyond all measure. This should elicit praise from the believer without interruption for all eternity.

Acknowledgement and medical update: I wish to thank people who have read my blog faithfully and apologize when I haven't submitted an entry in a timely manner from the previous one. Your prayers also mean the world to me, as my 6th MRI was clear of tumor activity. My 7th MRI is right around the corner and we've asked our Heavenly Father for another clear. I praise God not only for my salvation, but for my saliva, which continues to be a relief to the dry mouth condition. I also praise Him for repair of the liver, as the last bilirubin measurement was 3.7! Enzymes dropped somewhat. Have a blessed and safe Labor Day. Love, Chris, McCook, Nebraska

The Hope Diamond of Scripture

I have been thinking a lot about numbers lately. One of the reasons is the flack that I have been given (in jest) over the Jayhawk jersey of Mario Chalmers hanging in my study. Not too popular in Cornhusker country! So I simply relate the numbers that justify its hanging there. The Rock Chalk Jayhawks have won the national championship in basketball four times. They have been to the final four twelve times. They have won the conference championship 50 times and have had 22 all-American players. When your team can come close to those numbers, I'll hang your jersey up - ha ha! Max Lucado has written a book entitled "3:16 - The Numbers of Hope." Most people that read the blog are familiar with this verse and some of the sharpness of it has worn smooth with familiarity. I challenge you to read it slowly and meditatively, to observe how God loved us. Lucado writes, "He didn't love in order to get something from us, but to give everything of Himself to us," paraphrasing Ephesians 5:2. He knows that our goodness cannot win God's love, nor our badness lose it, but you can resist it. I am simply staggered once more by the awesome reality that God loves. That God gave. That we believe. That we live. The good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ compels us to take the reality of this verse to those who continue to resist it - the lost. He does not desire people to perish, but to have eternal life.

On a medical note - We thank and praise the Lord daily for 5 clear MRI's and a bilirubin count that reached the single digits - 8.5. Our next MRI is August 17th, and we covet your continued prayers. May God richly bless you.

Attending Worship

Not long ago, the world watched as three gray whales, icebound off Point Barrow, Alaska floated battered and bloody, gasping for breath at a hole in the ice. Their only hope: somehow to be transported five miles past the icepack to open sea.

Rescuers began cutting a string of breathing holes about twenty yards apart in the six-inch ice. For eight days they coaxed the whales from one hole to the next, mile after mile. Along the way, one of the trio vanished and was presumed dead but finally, with the help of Russian icebreakers, two of the whales swam to freedom.

In a way, worship is a string of breathing holes the Lord provides his people. Bruised and battered in a world frozen over with greed, selfishness, and hatred, we rise for air in church, a place to breathe again, to be loved and encouraged, until that day when the Lord forever shatters the ice cap. How is your attendance at worship these days?

On a medical note: the good news to report is that my bili-rubin is now in the single digits at 8.5 and we give thanks and praise to our God for this!!!!!!! My next MRI is scheduled for August 17th. Thank you for all of your prayers and concern.

Venting, Whining and Complaining

Reportedly, we spend a third of our life eating, and a third of our life sleeping. I believe we spend the last third of our life complaining or venting about everyday grievances. When we complain it is with a sense of discontent with people, things or circumstances. We imply that God is not doing His work properly, that if He would only trust us with His work, everything would be solved - and in quicker time, too. Are women the complaining sex? Well, everyone complains, but in one study, when a doctor (female) asked subjects to write down as many personal annoyances as they could come up with, women jotted down nearly four times as many as the men did. I am certain that the Israelites in Numbers 11 were made up of men and women who complained about the absence of fish, cucumbers, melons, onions, garlic and more. God was totally displeased with their attitudes. If you and I are to be blameless sons of God in the midst of a crooked country, we need to take serious God's command in Philippians 2:13 to do all things without murmuring and complaining. Maybe the best antidote is to read Psalm 103 daily until the habit of complaining is broken.

On a health note, blood was drawn today. We are hoping that the results will show continued movement in the right direction in respect to the liver.