"In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." (Philippians 4:6)
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"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing." (Philippians 3:13-16)
One of my favorite sections of scripture: "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace." (Philippians 1:3-7)
There is a song that sounds much like a verse of this Psalm and I find myself singing it as I work around the house. Let us keep in mind that serving the Lord should go hand in hand with joyfulness, gladness and thanksgiving. "A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations."
(Psalms 100:1-5) Genesis 25:27-28 "And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. (28) And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob."
How much attention do you pay to the favoritism you show toward one child over another? Favoritism can cause a host of problems. Isaac and Rebekah suffered because of their favoritism and so did Esau and Jacob. When we play favorites we will suffer and so will our children. Of course we also have to grapple with the fact that loving them equally does not mean loving them the same. My son would love to have an hour making a costume or taking a computer apart to see how it is put together, while my older daughter would rather play with dolls or play make believe, and the youngest gets a thrill out of just a couple of minutes to go out to see the dog or a story read to her. Definitely not the same, but if I love them all I have to make time for each of them. Your thankful memory verse for the week:
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:6-7) There are days that try the patience of poor Mommas that are trying to be the mothers they ought to be. What is a Momma to do on those days? Here is a good section of scripture to think on those days when you need a bit of extra patience and strength: “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” (Colossians 1:9-17)
"A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David. I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication. What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth? Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever." (Psalms 30:1-12)
"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth." (1 John 3:16-18) Do we love the church enough to lay down our lives for them? We should have the attitude of being willing to serve our Brothers and Sisters in whatever need they have. Let's not simply tolerate our fellow Sisters, but LOVE them as Christ did.
"And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:" (Genesis 18:1-3) Here is something interesting I learned in my husband's sermon tonight. When you see 'LORD' written in large text in some Bibles (here in the KJV), it is a Hebrew word for Jehovah. But notice in verse 3 there is another word, 'Lord' with a capital letter and lower case letters for the rest of the word. This second is the Hebrew word, 'Adonay'. One may think here, that Abraham didn't realize this was God in a fleshly form, but the term 'Adonay' is only used with God. How did Abraham know this was 'Adonay'? This could be an interesting study for someone wanting to dig deeper!
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