Good morning,
Life has a way of putting us to sleep so that we lose our passion and our vision.
Sometimes things happen and we get discouraged, or we may even get the breath knocked out of us. One problem we may struggle with is problem of depression. Many people are beset with massive depression. Sometimes we get discouraged when our expectations are not met. When this happens our faith becomes weak and there is a tendency to slip into a kind of spiritual slumber or sleep.
One of the salient truths of the Bible is that the Lord God, revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ our Lord, loves to bless His people. In the Genesis account we read that the Lord God, the maker of heaven and earth, created Adam and Eve and He blessed them. (Gen 1: 27-28) Jesus came to the earth blessing people. In Ephesians 1 Paul wrote that we are blessed beyond belief in Jesus Christ. We are blessed and we are chosen to bless each other. Whenever we are in the presence of the Lord in a intimate way we are moved and we are blessed; we are provoked and we are stirred.
Michal, the daughter of Saul and wife of David, was unmoved in the presence of God and his plan. According to the book of Samuel, all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, gathered to take part in bringing the ark of the Covenant, God's presence, into the midst of his people in the new capitol, Jerusalem. They escorted it into the city with rejoicing, shouting, dancing, blowing on trumpets, and similar undignified pursuits. King David himself danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing nothing but a linen ephod. But one person was conspicuous by her absence from this picture. Michal, Saul's daughter and Jonathan's sister, was not there. She looked out from her window with scorn and disapproval. She saw David's extreme joy and despised him for its expression. So, even an awareness of God's presence is not enough.
We often ponder the divine plan for our lives. Paul put the whole plan into a context of blessing, saying, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." He said that all of this plan is working to the praise of God's glory, and that we are now to live to the praise of God's glory. How do we do that? The Psalmist says that those who will stand in God's holy place will be those with clean hands and pure hearts, those who do not seek what is false, those who do not swear deceitfully. We know, because we know of the Father's plan, that the Father has gifted us lavishly with his grace and destined us to be holy and blameless before him in love. So, in that knowledge and with faith in God's grace, let us strive live our lives in love with clean hearts and pure hands. May we imitate David in his dance of joy, however undignified and unkingly. Let us not be as Michal in ignoring God's presence and scorning those who rejoice in it.
We are all touched by the tragedy of immense magnitude that has occurred in Haiti. Our Lord is the Man of sorrows. As such He is deeply touched by the massive grief and the sorrow of His people. We are calling our church people to give generously and sacrificially to help those who are hurting and in great need. If the Lord leads to participate in this ministry of sharing and caring you can send your gift for this ministry. Make your check payable to the Union Center United Methodist Church, with the memo note, "Haiti Relief Fund". The entirety of our gifts will be sent to Haiti through UMCOR, the relief Agency of our church. 100% will be used in the relief Effort. You also can send your checks to World Vision. You can find their address on World Vision.org
May the Lord provoke us to care and share. May Jesus Christ be glorified in our lives as we will come alongside the people of Haiti in ministry.
Our Church Address is:
Union Center United Methodist Church
128 Maple Drive
Endicott, NY 13760
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d61LamkXfwk
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