This is a blog of the ongoing Bible studies me and my (currently 9 year old) son are doing together. His answers follow my own. You are encouraged to follow along and simply erase our answers and insert your own. feel free to share if you'd like as well. we'd love to hear from you.
The passage we read was Psalm 145:1-21
You can find that passage here:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+145%3A1-21&version=NIV
My summary of the passage is this:
The Lord is great and worthy of praise. We should receive from the last generation their stories of His greatness and pass them on to our kids. We should meditate on His wonderful works and tell others about them. Celebrate and be joyous. The Lord is faithful to all his promises and He loves his creation. He upholds all who fall and lifts up those who are bowed down. He feeds us. He is righteous. He loves us. He is near those who call on him in truth. He hears and answers those who fear him. He watches over those who love him, but destroys the wicked. Praise Him.
My son said:
They’re talking about how great Jesus is and how they praise Him.
As I reflect:
That’s a hard one to summarize. Each verse seems to point out yet another wonderful thing about our God. As I read this passage, I was reminded of a situation in my own life. I realize that often in this day and age we don’t hand down a story from generation to generation anymore. It seems to all be converted to electronic and possibly adjusted media now. Although that can make it hard to believe in some of the findings being shared on the internet, I personally can say I have seen and heard of miracles from those that I know would not lie or modify the story. I personally share the evidence of God and His miracles in my life with my children on a daily.
Here are the verses that got me thinking:
6 They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
and I will proclaim your great deeds.
7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
11 They will tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,
12 so that all men may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
This reminds me of when my wife and I were discussing our finances so long ago in our first apartment. My wife kept telling me she felt like it was time to move and I kept responding that our finances weren’t in order yet and we didn’t have enough extra money to consider moving up yet when we could barely afford where we were at. My argument to my wife was that we needed to be good stewards of our money before the Lord would bless us with a larger place. My wife’s position was one that I couldn’t deny came from the Holy Spirit speaking to her. She said to me, “Honey, do you remember the story of Peter walking on the water to Jesus?” “yes” “You remember how the weather was?” I said “yes, it was a huge storm. Your point?” She replied, “Peter didn’t wait for the weather to be calm before he stepped out of the boat. And If you will keep your eyes on Jesus, I know this storm won’t affect the blessings He has in store for us.” With that being the end of that conversation, I was stumped… I couldn’t argue with her willingness to take a leap of faith and I jumped on board as we stepped out of the boat in the middle of a financial storm. The very next day when I got home from work, she had a list of houses to go and look at and off we went. At the very first house, we saw the largest back yard we had ever seen among any family member or friend. It had huge shade trees and a living room that seemed to go on forever. A tri-level house with three bedrooms and a garage?! “Wow”, I thought, “there’s no way we can afford something like this”. And despite my doubt, we had prayed together previously that He would open doors no one could close if He wanted us somewhere, and close doors that no one could open if He didn’t. As we were preparing to leave and thanking the gentleman for his time, he got off the cell phone he had and handed me the keys to the place saying, “My dad says these belong to you.” And so it is today that we live in that house and we pay just $50 more than what we paid every month in that small apartment. Well, after that transaction I can’t think of a single friend or family member we didn’t tell. As me and the kiddos work on landscaping or improving upon the house, I have been asked more than once why we were doing it. I always tell them of the grace God had on us by using this man to bless us and that we would bless him back by improving upon his property so that when we leave, it’s worth more, not less.
I think stories like that are important to share. Some people call it coincidence but for those that love God and are called according to His purpose, we know it’s a much different thing. We don’t share the stories with people because of coincidence. We are sharing of the mighty and wonderful God we serve who is worthy of all praise and glory. There are many miracles big and small, noticeable and hidden that I have shared with friends, family, strangers, work colleagues, etc. This is something we should always do. We should share and pass on the stories of what the Lord has done in our lives and it doesn’t have to be something huge like being raised from the dead or having a total care destruction type accident without even a scratch. You could share something that is easy to miss but may just be enough of a reminder to the person you share with that the Lord is gracious and compassionate. I believe the point here is to be joyful because of what the Lord has done (every good thing big and small) and to share it with others.
My son reflected:
That we need to tell other people about Jesus and what He did for us. And then those people can also talk about Him.
My response to the Lord:
Lord… You know me to be a man not eloquent with words. I am no longer articulate or as intellectual as I was in my youth (a result of my own past choices to sin). But, Lord if my articulation was to be granted back to me for one moment in time, I long that it would be used to better worship and exalt your Holy Name. Father…You have made me glad beyond description and so I sing to you day and night. There are not enough words understood by my feeble mind to describe your wonders enough. That I would never cease to share your glorious works with others Lord, let that be my prayer. Speak through me as I attempt to share what you have done and are continuing to do during this journey Father. Hear my voice as I sing your praises, for this is my gift back to you Abba. Be pleased at the joy you have caused in my life. In Jesus Name…
My son responded:
Dear Lord, thank you for all of your creations and all you’ve done for us. Amen
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