The Morning Watch

After a home care visit today…We were talking about gratefulness. She has a tremor, and trouble walking due to the pain in her feet. She started to list all the things I could be grateful for, like not having to worry about my bible bouncing out of my hands while trying to read it, or the simple fact that I could walk without pain, and for the ability to care for myself. The things we take for granted. Let us give thanks. 🙏🏻 Psalms 107:1, “Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”

I’m so thankful there are no limitations with God! I was reading this morning in Exodus 7:7, that Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 when they spoke to Pharoah, and were used by God to deliver His people. Joshua too was  “old and advanced in age,”  yet still being used by God in passing the baton to the next generation. (Joshua 23:1) Sarah, at the of 90 bore Isaac! She also said,  “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”  (Genesis 21:7) Elizabeth too, in Luke 1:36,  “Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” David, although “just a shepherd boy,” was chosen to be king. When Samuel would have chosen one of David’s brothers based on appearance, the LORD said to Samuel,  “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused...

So the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped. -Exodus 4:31 Nothing goes unnoticed by God. He sees all. He hears all. He knows all. The children of Israel were in slavery for 400 years! That’s a really long time! But the Lord intervened and sent a deliver. He used Moses and Aaron to bring them out of bondage into the promised land!  The host of human trafficking and forced labor colloquially called “slavery” in the modern usage could be said to have lasted approximately 373 years. That number varies according to different usages of the word. But another deliverer was raised up. William Wilberforce, a British politician and philanthropist who from 1787 was prominent in the struggle to abolish the  slave trade  and then to abolish  slavery  itself in British overseas possessions. Wilberforce’s  abolitionism  was derived in ...

Contentment. It’s a beautiful thing. These words, penned by the apostle Paul, who learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. He knew that wherever he was, or in whatever circumstances he found himself, he was there by divine appointment. A few verses later (vs. 13) Paul says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” What a testimony of faith in the Good Shepherd!

Today I watched as a man wheeled himself up the road through the melted snow. He was determined to reach his destination. He had lost the use of his legs but not his arms. I paused to give thanks for the use of my legs. How often do we take things for granted in this life, forgetting those who struggle to get by most days? “Lord, teach us to be grateful!”  “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalms 34:1)

Prophecy of Jesus coming to bring salvation, soon to die on a cross for the sins of the world! Notice the cross on the donkey’s back? He chose the most humble animal too!  “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9)  “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every ...

Isaiah 44:21, “O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me!”  Romans 3:11, “There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.” Psalms 139:17,18- “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.” Malachi 3:16, “Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, And the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name.” “If I forget Him and wander away, Still He doth love me wherever I stray; Back to His dear loving arms would I flee, When I remember that Jesus loves me.” -Philip P. Bliss