SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/30/2019
11:33 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “For
what are we to give thanks?—for all things”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ephesians
5:20
Message of the
verse: “always
giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even
the Father;”
We talked about humility, something
I mentioned that I was focusing in on this year, and probably even after
that. We stated that pride is the opposite
of humility, and we know that pride is sinful.
Believers are still subject to the temptations of pride. You know that life is a battle even when we
become believers and pride is something that is difficult to get away
from. The only cure to pride is
humility, and this comes with being filled with the Holy Spirit, since being
filled with the Spirit is to die to self.
MacArthur writes “When we cease with selfishness, the consequence is to
put Christ and His will above all else.
Humility dethrones self and enthrones Christ, and in doing that it
thankfully acknowledges that every good thing—including many things that do not
at the time seem to be good—are from His gracious hand.
We now move on to the next
sub-section entitled “How are we to be thankful—in the name of Jesus Christ.”
What we are to do is to give thanks
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and to do that we are to give thanks
consistent with who He is and what He has done.
In order to do this we must know about who our Lord is and this is done
by studying His attributes, and His attributes are the same as the Father’s and
the Holy Spirit’s. In understanding His
attributes we know that He is HOLY,
good, glorious, pure, sovereign, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, truth,
measureless, omnipresence, omnipotent, omniscience, all wise, immutable,
eternal, God is wrath, God pardons, God is Jealous, faithful, God is love and
just. Our Lord is in control of all
things even when we don’t understand how certain things happen to us, He is
still in control, and knowing this we can give thanks always and for all things
because no matter what happens to us it will turn out not only for our ultimate
blessing but, more importantly,
for His ultimate glory. MacArthur
adds “When we sing, it is Christ singing through us, and when we give thanks,
it is Christ giving thanks to the Father through us.”
Without our Lord Jesus Christ it would be foolish to be
thankful for everything for apart from Him all things do not turn out for
good. Oh it may seem good for a while,
but thing later on it will not seem so good and one may wonder why they thought
it was good in the first place.
I want to finish this SD with an enjoyable story, and
then, Lord willing we will pick up on this section again tomorrow. Enjoy the story!
In his book In the Eye
of the Storm, Max Lucado tells the story of “The Woodcutter’s Wisdom”:
“Once there was an old man
who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he was envied by all, for he owned
a beautiful white horse. Even the king coveted his treasure. A horse like this
had never been seen before – such was its splendor, its majesty, its strength.
People offered fabulous
prices for the steed, but the old man always refused. ‘This horse is not a
horse to me,’ he would tell them. ‘It is a person. How could you sell a person?
He is a friend, not a possession. How could you sell a friend?’ The man was
poor and the temptation was great. But he never sold the horse.
In his book In the Eye of the Storm, Max Lacado
tells the story of “The Woodcutter’s Wisdom”:
One morning he found that
the horse was not in the stable. All the village came to see him. ‘You old
fool,’ they scoffed, ‘we told you that someone would steal your horse. We
warned you that you would be robbed. You are so poor. How could you ever hope
to protect such a valuable animal? It would have been better to have sold him.
You could have gotten whatever price you wanted. No amount would have been too
high. Now the horse is gone, and you’ve been cursed with misfortune.’
The old man responded,
‘Don’t speak too quickly. Say only that the horse is not in the stable. That is
all we know; the rest is judgment. If I’ve been cursed or not, how can you
know? How can you judge?’
The people contested,
‘Don’t make us out to be fools! We may not be philosophers, but great
philosophy is not needed. The simple fact that your horse is gone is a curse.’
The old man spoke again.
‘All I know is that the stable is empty, and the horse is gone. The rest I
don’t know. Whether it be a curse or a blessing, I can’t say. All we can see is
a fragment. Who can say what will come next?’
The people of the village
laughed. They thought that the man was crazy. They had always thought he was a
fool; if he wasn’t he would have sold the horse and lived off the money. But
instead, he was a poor woodcutter, an old man still cutting firewood and
dragging it out of the forest and selling it. He lived hand to mouth in the
misery of poverty. Now he had proven that he was, indeed, a fool.
After fifteen days, the
horse returned. He hadn’t been stolen; he had run away into the forest. Not
only had he returned, he had brought a dozen wild horses with him. Once again
the village people gathered around the woodcutter and spoke. ‘Old man, you were
right and we were wrong. What we thought was a curse was a blessing. Please
forgive us.’
The man responded, ‘Once
again, you go too far. Say only that the horse is back. State only that a dozen
horses returned with him, but don’t judge. How do you know if this is a
blessing or not? You see only a fragment. Unless you know the whole story, how
can you judge? You read only one page of a book. Can you judge the whole book?
You read only one word of a phrase. Can you understand the entire phrase?
‘Life is so vast, yet you
judge all of life with one page or one word. All you have is a fragment! Don’t
say this is a blessing. No one knows. I am content with what I know. I am not
perturbed by what I don’t.’
‘Maybe the old man is
right,’ they said to one another. So they said little. But down deep, they knew
he was wrong. They knew it was a blessing. Twelve wild horses had returned with
one horse. With a little bit of work, the animals could be broken and trained
and sold for much money.
The old man had a son, an
only son. The young man began to break the wild horses. After a few days, he
fell from one of the horses and broke both legs. Once again the villagers
gathered around the old man and cast their judgments. ‘You were right,’ they
said. ‘You proved you were right. The dozen horses were not a blessing. They
were a curse. Your only son has broken his legs, and now in your old age you
have no one to help you. Now you are poorer than ever.’
The old man spoke again.
‘You people are obsessed with judging. Don’t go so far. Say only that my son
broke his legs. Who knows if it is a blessing or a curse? No one knows. We only
have a fragment. Life comes in fragments.’
It so happened that a few
weeks later the country engaged in war against a neighboring country. All the
young men of the village were required to join the army. Only the son of the
old man was excluded, because he was injured. Once again the people gathered
around the old man, crying and screaming because their sons had been taken.
There was little chance that they would ever return. The enemy was strong, and
the war would be a losing struggle. They would never see their sons again.
‘You were right, old man,’
they wept. God knows you were right. This proves it. Your son’s accident was a
blessing. His legs may be broken, but at least he is with you. Our sons are
gone forever.’
The old man spoke again.
‘It is impossible to talk with you. You always draw conclusions. No one knows.
Say only this: Your sons had to go to war, and mine did not. No one knows if it
a blessing or a curse. No one is wise enough to know. Only God knows’.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I am
thankful that the Lord has either taught me or reminded that a humble person is
filled with the Holy Spirit.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be a
humble person.
Today’s quotation is from
Thomas Fuller: “He who cannot forgive
breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.”
7/30/2019 12:22 PM
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