“Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare his praise? Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right. Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them, that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise.” Psalm 106:1-5
It is Saturday and for me this is weekend number 3,452 and I’m not sure how many more my Lord has in His planner for me; only He knows our expiration date. Not sure what my plans will be as the weather forecast is for rain and that too is in His hands and has never been in my control. I saw on Facebook yesterday where somebody had taken a photo of a sign out in front of a Baptist church in MN that read “Just love everybody; I’ll sort ‘em out later-GOD” and that just really summed up how we should be living every day…for Him. It is no accident that our Heavenly Father has either placed people in your weekend plans or allowed them to stray into your pathway; love them and let Him take it from there. The photo that I am sharing today is of two girls who attend the Bois Marchand Lutherienne School in Gonaives, Haiti and this photo was sort of an accident as it wasn’t planned or posed. I was carrying my camera at my waist and snapped their image not knowing what image would be captured and now hundreds of people have seen their faces and loved them and some have even been moved to help feed other children like them in Haiti through a Trinity/HOPE feeding program. They are in school learning about Jesus, being fed and then sent out to bring that love of Jesus to others in their neighborhood and then the Holy Spirit takes it from there; just love everybody. I am closing today with the words from the hymn ‘Love Divine, All Love Excelling’ that were written by Charles Wesley in 1747.
“Love Divine, all love excelling, Joy of heaven, to earth come down, fix in us Thy humble dwelling, all Thy faithful mercies crown. Jesus, Thou art all compassion, Pure, unbounded love Thou art; visit us with Thy salvation, enter every trembling heart. Breathe, oh, breathe Thy loving Spirit into every troubled breast; let us all in Thee inherit, let us find the promised rest. Take away the love of sinning; Alpha and Omega be; end of faith as its beginning, set our hearts at liberty. Come, Almighty, to deliver; let us all Thy life receive. Suddenly return and never, nevermore, Thy temples leave. Thee we would be always blessings, serve Thee as Thy hosts above, pray and praise Thee without ceasing, Glory in Thy perfect love. Finish, then, Thy new creation; pure and spotless let us be. Let us see Thy great salvation perfectly restored in Thee, changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place, till we cast our crowns before Thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise.”
Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Jay