The LORD impressed on my heart to carve out a section of my blog to share what I am thankful for. I started it on a Thursday and decided to call it "Thankful Thursday." Each week I share what I am thankful for. Come back each week so we can count our blessings together.
I have so much to be thankful for. I am sick right now, but I am getting much better every single day. I was exposed to someone with Covid on a Monday and that Thursday I started having symptoms, Friday I had even more symptoms and by the next Tuesday I lost my sensation of taste and smell. I have had trouble breathing, have been confused and just major brain fog, and I have been miserable, BUT I did not have to be hospitalized; I did not die; and I am recovering well. I have SO much to be thankful for.
I am thankful for a praying husband who will pray the prayer of faith over me, even when I did not know it. I am thankful for praying children who include me in their talk time with the Father. I am thankful for my praying mother, sisters, brother, and their families, and my friends who have covered me and held me up. I am thankful for Amy who is more than a sister in Christ...she has taken my cause to the Father countless times, battled in the heavenlies as the enemy enjoys attacking us, and has been an encourager and builder of my faith!
The Old Testament is probably my favorite part of the Bible. I love it all and I enjoy reading it cover to cover, but there is something so special and comforting about reading the Old Testament. My grandfather would teach me for hours and hours about the Bible and expound on the Scriptures and I would hang on his every word. Reading through the pages of the Old Testament is like visiting a friend. I enjoy reading their stories and triumphs. Life was not always easy and following God's plan did not mean a free pass. Yet God has proven Himself faithful time and time again; not only in the pages of the Bible but in my life as well!
My son chose the verse for today's blog post and I love it! It is found in the book of Ezra and it's a wonderful account of how God keeps His promise to the children of Israel to get them back to the Land of Promise after they have been in exile for 70 years!!! That's a lifetime! The sad part is this second Exodus is not as massive as it could have been because so many people refused to go! I cannot imagine God promising them a future and they're like, "Nay! I'm good!" But it happened! The passage we are reading today is after they rebuild the temple and there's a mixture of people there: some who see the temple for the first time and it's new and beautiful and they celebrate; others are there weeping at the new temple because they remember the way things were before...the beauty and splendor. Maybe they were sad that it did not look the same, maybe they were sad that man strayed so far from the loving God that led them to the Promised Land the first time! A mixture of emotion and experience takes place, let's look:
EZRA 3:8-13 (8)Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the LORD. (9)Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites. (10)And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. (11) And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because He is good, for His mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. (12) But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice: and many shouted aloud for joy: (13)So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.
Can you imagine being far away and all of a sudden you hear this noise...shouting and weeping?...and I am sure it made those who heard it curious. Have you ever been wanting something so bad, praying so hard, working diligently to make a thing happen and then when it comes to fruition you just want to shout and dance and tell everybody? Imagine if there was never any sickness, disease, pain, death, hurt, loneliness, fatigue.... oh, wait there is! It is in heaven and can you imagine the jubilee in the hearts of the saints! We are going to rejoice! We are to shout! We are going to praise our God and our King Jesus who made it all happen for us! We will be dancing on the golden street!
We don't have to wait for heaven to celebrate. We don't have to wait until something miraculous and BIG happens to rejoice. If we start counting our blessings and looking at what God has done, we will begin to thank Him and praise Him and rejoice. We will have a spring in our step. People will take notice. They will wonder what is WRONG with us that we can have financial hardship and still smile... we can have sickness or death in our family and still say BUT GOD IS GOOD! ....we can lose our job or have to relocate and not have all the details and still say, "Thank You LORD because YOU are good, your mercy endures FOREVER!" Take a page out of Ezra's book and be thankful. God is doing so many amazing things.
The news headlines want to point out the dark, the evil, the hard, the sad, the depressing events and put them in our face. The world is discouraging, cold, hard-hearted, and angry. You will not rejoice in the news of this world. Turn your eyes to the Savior. Look full into His wonderful face. Watch Him do the powerful, the miraculous, the ordinary in an extraordinary way and be thankful. Encourage yourself by remembering all God has done for you. Take a sheet of paper and I dare you to start with right now and count back as far as you can to what God has done for you. Can you breathe without a machine? Are you able to walk, talk, see, hear, or taste? Can you feel things with your hands? Are you able to read the Bible anytime you want? It's free online to read the Bible if you don't have a Bible. Do you have a home? Electricity? Running water? Is there food for you to eat? Are you able to bathe and brush your teeth with clean water? Do you have a church? Are you able to work? Do you have a vehicle? Look at all the blessings those are, not to mention the way God works out your problems, helps you stay safe on the road, free from danger when you are out and about. How about this, are you saved by His mercy and grace? That is the biggest blessing of all!
Tell someone what God has done for you and then ask them if you can pray for them specifically about a need or trial they are facing. We are in a pandemic and we have to social distance but we can still reach out to a friend in need. We can still pray. We don't have to distance ourselves from God. The Bible promises that as we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. What are you thankful for today?
God bless you!
~Bridgett Owens
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