For the most part, we suffer from amnesia when it comes to remembering the benefits of our relationship with God.  Perhaps it’s because God’s moves are often so subtle that we take God for granted.  Maybe, it’s because God is so good to us all of the time and that “All the time, God is Good”, that we’re forgetful about those times and things that God has saved us from.  What’s clear is that if and when we think about it, we have to admit that God has showed us mercy for which God is due an adequate and appropriate response.  It’s no different than if we were helped by a friend or neighbor when we found ourselves in desperate straits.  If we do the right thing to our neighbors and friends, our most likely response is to say, “thank you.”  We may even tell someone how generous our friend or neighbor was to help us out of a jam.

         So, what might be the appropriate response to God for getting us out of a jam that no one else could have gotten us out of?  If we are to do right by God, then remembering what God has done and is doing, and sharing (testifying) to others is one way of giving praise to God.  It’s the right way to glorify God with an acceptable sacrifice of praise.

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving God, enable me to always remember the renewing benefits of Your mercies to me and all that I experience because of Your love. Please accept my witness to Your grace as an adequate sacrifice of praise.

         The poet Rudyard Kipling once penned a poem subtitled “The Elephant’s Child”.  I’ve remembered the opening line of the poem, because it speaks such truth.  Kipling wrote,

         “I keep six honest serving-men

            (They taught me all I knew);

         Their names are What and Why and When

            And How and Where and Who.”

When we think about God and relate Kipling’s poem to the questions Paul asks, the questions are all relevant.  Who of us can search and know the What, Why, When, the How, the Where, or the Who (or to Whom) of the mind of God?  And no one has ever given anything to God for which God owes them a debt.  If we accept as truth that “from God and through God and for God are all things”, then everything we have and every blessing that comes our way can only be attributed to God.  That’s especially true when we consider that being rescued from the depths of despair and trouble “at the right time” is not a matter of circumstance.  It is because God sees our dilemma, hears our cries for help, and steps in to rescue us from our dilemma.  God didn’t owe us a debt.  But our response to God should be one of praise within ourselves and among the congregation.  Perhaps it’s not a sacrifice that we make telling others of what God has done.  But it is a sacrifice that is pleasing and acceptable to God.  And it’s all that God requires in response to God’s merciful acts of grace.

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
God of all Wisdom and Mercy, we could never repay you for all Your generous acts of mercy. Accept our sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise as our only way of giving honor and glory to You.

         There is no greater comfort than that of being rescued from a situation that — from all perspectives — seems hopelessly lost.  When we’ve run out of human options and answers, it’s usually then that we seem ready to turn to God for a final solution.  What we sometimes don’t consider are the actions we took which placed us deep within that hopeless condition.  Perhaps there were times when — had we been more attentive to the voice of God leading us and guiding us away from those times of danger — that we would have found ourselves on less shaky ground.  But being who we are, those issues that would have us compromise ourselves and our faith seem so tantalizing.  And so, we bite the proverbial apple not once — but over and over again until we find ourselves in the deep torrential waters of life.  Unable to swim, it’s then that our cries scream out to God to come and save us.  And what is God’s response?  God’s love for us is so great that our death would be painful — even to God — to allow us to be harmed in such a way.  It is then that God shows up and saves us and we know from experience that our cries have been heard.  We are at one and the same time both astounded and relieved.  Knowing that God and God alone has saved us is one thing.  Telling others about is a sacrifice of praise.  It tells others how faithless we were and glorifies God for God’s faithfulness.

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious God, enable and empower me to have the courage to tell of Your mercy to me when I was helpless as a return to You a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.