A Christian Recipe for Dressing-Stuffing

Strange title, right?  Work with me here…

As we approach this Thanksgiving feast of the next few weeks, we will sit down with our families, and we will thank him for the food that he has prepared for us, we will thank him for the assembly and fellowship of our family and loved ones, and we will reach for the item on the dinner table that is our most favorite. For a whole lot of folks, there is this one dish that they are truly thankful for:  Dressing.  Depending on your geographic location, some folks call this dish–stuffing.

Folks making the trimmings on Thanksgiving would never forget to make the dressing.  Apparently, they tell me that this particular side dish (notice I said, they tell me, I have never been able to find the particular flavor of it) is “THE” dish that makes the whole thing right.  Strangely enough, other cultures in America call this dish “stuffing”.  I have tried to figure out why they call it “stuffing” other than the fact that it gets stuffed inside of Ted, or Tom, or whatever you call your turkey.    This particular dish has some characteristics that are particularly interesting, there are some other things, but there are some main ingredients and properties about dressing that make it a rather unique dish:

Ingredients – there are more than this (this recipe varies, with folks adding all kinds of stuff: bell peppers, green onions, shrimp, pieces of turkey, giblets) but it seems as though there is some consensus about some critical ingredients:

• Cornbread – foundation of the dish, preferably made from scratch–no disrespect, but cornmeal mix will just not do
• Eggs – allow for fluffiness and texture, doesn’t cause dryness
• Seasonings and broth – give flavor and texture

Dish Properties, in other words, the thing that makes this dish become edible for human consumption:

• Mixed well—dressing isn’t layered together in individual steps, it is all folded and blended together.
• Baked in the oven @ 325 degrees until just golden brown, depending on the pan size.
• When done, its consistency  should be firm and not soggy.
• Served hot—it’s all right cold, but it tastes better served hot

Well, the Christian is similar to a dish of dressing.   Just what does dressing have to do with the Christian?  (Yes, getting to the point!):

Ingredients—there are some distinct characteristics of a Christian that must be present to properly claim membership in the body of believers:

• Cornbread – Foundation. The foundation of the Christian is the Word of God; it is the basis for the essence of the Christian. We aren’t talking about no “jiffy” form of foundation—we’re not talking about the Christian that gets his/her “Word” on in those quick “I’m going to take it from the words from a song,” but we’re talking about the Christian that has studied the word of God for himself, to show themselves approved unto God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, and rightly dividing the Word of truth (II Timothy 2:15).

• Eggs – Consistency. The Christian has a continual prayer life.  Pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks to the Lord, for this is the will of God, concerning you!  (Thessalonians 5:17-18). Prayer allows the Christian to continue to rise, even though the storms of life come.  A developed prayer life alludes to the Christian that doesn’t become dry or washed out, just because things aren’t going their way.

• Seasoning and broth – Flavor and Flexibility. The Christian is the salt of the earth—You are the salt of the earth, a city sitting upon a hill that cannot be hid.  This is evidenced by the Christian in his/her praise.  Praise allows the Christian to experience joy—praise is initiated by the Christian and worship is the result as God inhabits the praise of his people.

Christian Properties

• Mixed well – The Christian has a balance of study, prayer and praise/thanksgiving going on in their daily walk.  The balance is right, as they know that is isn’t just about how well they can teach the lesson, pray in the sanctuary or attend all the worship services held by the church.  This is the Christian who understands that a thankful and joyful heart is a testament to the creator as well.    This is the Christian who all things don’t always work out the way they want them to, but they’ve got enough balance to work thorough the bumps and the shakes of day-to-day Christian living.

• Baked in the oven until just golden brown – The Christian has some storms to go through, and some trials to overcome, some mountains and hills that must be climbed.  The Christian’s faith is tried in the fiery furnace.  However, when the Christian gets where God wants for them to be, you won’t see any lumps anymore—some old behaviors have changed, some old things have passed away.  This new Christian has a thankful and joyful heart, and lifts up everybody else around them.

• Served hot – The Christian that is hot is on fire for the Lord.  This is the Christian who has his/her priorities straight—has their mind stayed on Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith.  This is the Christian that exclaims for the world to hear from the words of Psalms 34 1 & 3:   I will bless the Lord at All times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth! O Magnify the Lord with me!  Let us exalt his name together

When you put it all together you’ve got a dish that when served, puts the finishing touches on everything else around it. You’ve got a dish worthy of a Thanksgiving meal.  This other dish—this Christian—is the salt of the earth, these are the people who are the light of the world.  This Christian has a thankful heart, a joyous spirit, even when there doesn’t seem to be anything to be thankful for.  It is then, in the midst of un-thankful circumstances, the believer looks and says to the circumstances surrounding them “O taste and see that the Lord is Good: Blessed is the Man that trusts in him!” Psalm 34:8.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Cecelia

Overcoming a Martha Mindset

What is a Martha mindset? I’m referring to Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus in the Luke 10:38.

³⁸As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

⁴¹“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴²but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Martha is concerned that her sister Mary is not helping her as she prepares for Christ’s visit. Mary is concerned only about what the Master has come to say. While she realizes that there are important things to be done around the home–the preparation of meals, the cleaning, the sweeping–she realizes that she needs to hear from Jesus even more than she needs to attend to these concerns. These things are important, but an audience with Jesus Christ is more important to her right then.

Martha is ticked off because her sister isn’t helping her. Yes, Jesus has come to visit, but there are things to be done! There is a proper way to do them, and they need to be done now!

Have you ever been in the place of ministry when the details of getting the ministry accomplished, or the tatical handling of the program take a back seat to the message of Jesus Christ? That’s what I call a “Martha Mindset”. You’re worried about the details so much that you miss the blessing you’re supposed to be getting in the meantime.

Martha takes her concern to Jesus, and Jesus chides her that she worries too much! Jesus gives her a gentle rebuke to look for the most important thing.

How many times do we get so caught up in handling the work of the ministry that we forget the actual work of the ministry? As mothers and women, we tend to always want to handle the details–but do we lose the message in the meantime?

Do we lose what the Lord is trying to tell us, when we focus on the minutiae rather than whether or not we are spreading the Gospel of Christ?

Take some time today to prioritize your focus and NOT get distracted by the details!

Ain’t No Valley – A Novel

During my morning commute, I like to read to make the time go by faster.  I picked up a copy of  Sharon Ewell Foster’s book (2005 – Bethany House) Ain’t No Valley, and I was awed by the interweaving of  the parable of the prodigal son, the story of Ruth and the wedding feast spoken in the book of Revelations.  This book is a work of fiction, but it speaks to the very real experience of living and prospering in the midst of the valley.  A particular passage spoke to me:

“We supposed to invite people to the wedding that don’t deserve to be there…that we don’t think deserve to be there. ‘Cause the truth is, we don’t deserve to be there ourselves. She pointed to her chest.  ‘We supposed to be inviting the uninvited, we supposed to tell them that the King of Kings has requested their presence.  He has asked for them by name.  We need to tell them that they may not have the right clothes, people might not like them, but they’re still invited.  If they get on our nerves, we still supposed to invite them.  Prisoners, sick people, doctors, lawyers, drug addicts, prostitutes, policemen, teachers, Black, White, Brown, Red, Yellow–everybody, even Inez.  They may not be ready now–they might not have on the right clothes or have oil ready for their lamps, they may not be studying or living right–but we still supposed to invite them.”

If you get a chance, check it out.  It is the third book in her “Ain’t No River” series.

Thankfulness in Un-Thankful times

Just how do you feel thankful to God when things aren’t going well? How do you work on the attitude or demonstration or continuation, when you aren’t feeling particularly thankful?  How, then, do you find a grateful heart?  Some examples that come to mind:

• Job layoffs are at record levels, unseen in the last thirty years–these are  Unthankful times.
• AIDS, cancer, diabetes and heart disease still claim lives everyday—these are Unthankful times.
• Healthcare coverage is being debated fiercely across both sides of the political aisle-these are Unthankful times.

As Christians, we know that we must continue to give God the praise, even when it doesn’t seem like things are going on in the right way.  You know, that’s real easy to say—but not as easy to do.  Three quick points:

Number 1:  Acknowledge that He is still in control.

The Christian approaches uncertainty with the realization that God is still in control. Deuteronomy 7:21 (NIV) records: Do not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God. If God be for us, we need not fear the power of any creature against us. There are some things that will make you start to fear what man can do.  There are some times when the enemy starts to form seeds of doubt in our minds, to make us think that he has some kind of real power.  We start to get despondent, and start to believe that our problems are too heavy for God.  We start wondering what we have to be thankful for.  So many things are going on.  Tomorrow doesn’t look like it is too promising.  But the Christian believer uses the Word of God as a calm assurance, looking to Psalm 27:

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

When we acknowledge that God is in control of situations that we do not yet see a clear answer to, we will give thanks and praise, because we know that Victory is ours.  We can give thanks, when we don’t see clear to the other side. There may be fog—but Jesus is guiding us through.

Number 2:  Count your blessings.

Sit down and make a list, don’t just name them—number them.  Write it out.  Start with that that seems to be the most obvious and start to thank him for the blessings that don’t seem so obvious—I like to call them, the uncommon blessings.  While I’m trying to find a reason to be thankful, I gotta thank God for some uncommon blessings:

• My horrid commute:  it means I still have a job
• My overactive children fighting in the car:  because they are healthy and growing
• My bills that seem to pile up:  because yet I’m still receiving his blessings
• My trials & tribulations: because they cause me to seek His face, and draw nearer to God
• My conflicts: because I’m learning to lean and depend on His Word

You see, when I start to thank God for the things that don’t seem to be worthy of thanks, I become more grateful for the blessings that I take for granted every day.

• When we receive bad news—loss of a loved one, we thank God for their blessings in our lives up until this point.

• When we receive bad news—illness has racked the body of our loved one, and the doctors have given up all hope, we thank God that he has allowed health for all these years.

• When we receive bad news—We still thank God for his mercy, in spite of tragedy; he still sends rainbows of hope; We thank God that what could have destroyed us only made us stronger; We thank God for His grace that shows up as evidence in new mercies each and every day.  We find ways to count the blessings that surround us every day.

When we start to count up the list—we can start to be thankful, despite  un-thankful times.

Number 3: Remember his benefits

Sometimes we get so caught up being busy, we don’t take the time out to remember.  We get caught up in the day-to-day hustle and bustle; the day-to-day grime, that we forget about just how far we have ALREADY come.  When we remember what God has brought us from, we see more clearly the path through which he delivered us.

It seemed scary and uncertain at the time, but when we look through the vision, which is the past, we are able to view our circumstances in a more clear light.  We see where the hand of God influenced and touched each person in our lives, and whether willingly or unwittingly, they helped bring about the fulfillment of God’s will for our lives.

When we remember when we didn’t have the job that we have now; when we remember when we didn’t have the prosperity that we currently have; when we remember when all those family and marital relationships were strained, but how God has pulled us through, when we remember the days and nights we spent full of worry and God saw us through; we are then able to Thank him for where he has already brought us.

When we add up these up, we are able to find a grateful heart, and a thankful spirit, when we think about where we could be versus where we are, we are able to lift our soul in thankfulness to the one who has always held the master plan.  He who knew where we were going, even we were determined to go our own way.  In the midst of our determination to think that we don’t have too much to be thankful for, it is then that we realize just how much we still have to be thankful for.

Same circumstances, Different results

Ruth 1:

⁷ With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah. ⁸ Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the LORD show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. ⁹ May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”  Then she kissed them and they wept aloud ¹⁰ and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”

¹⁴ At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her.

Orpah was similar to Ruth, but yet we see the same circumstances yet very different results. She chose to stick with the familiar.  She started down  the road with Naomi, but when given the opportunity to leave; she kissed Naomi good-bye.  She heard the same words that Ruth heard; she observed the same behavior; she was influenced by the same behavior—yet her response was different.  She did not want to be a stranger in a strange land.  She did not want to leave her people and her ways.  She loved Naomi, but she was not willing to make a sacrifice based on that love.

Not everyone that hears the Gospel will respond in the same way.   Not everyone that comes in your sphere of influence will respond in a like manner.  Not everyone that sits on a pew and hears the same sermon or the same praise and worship will respond the same way.  It does not mean that the Gospel is not preached.  It does not mean that the Spirit of the Lord did not fill the church in praise.  It does not mean that there is no effect.

It means that the individual has not had the relationship experience that allows the Spirit of the Lord to move on them.  We can’t put too fine a point here:  Christian response is based on relationship—not with YOU (the messenger), but with the Lord.

Orpah starts out with Naomi to go with her but the commitment is not a strong one.  She wants to do right by her mother-in-law, but the desire is not strong enough to overcome the uncertainty that lie ahead.   When reminded to count the cost, it is a price too much to bear.

There are those that would profess Christ, and will start out with good intentions to follow, all the way.  Commitment to the Lord is not based on what our friends and family may do—each person has to have their own dedication, they have to have their own motivation to serve the Lord.

There are believers in the life of the Church that may sign up for the program, will give good-lip-service; but just can not forsake the other things that true servitude toward Christ requires.  The commitment to give all for Christ is not there.  There are those that love the Lord—just as long as it is still convenient for them. The trials and tribulations that being a servant of the Lord requires is just a bit too much to bear.

Don’t be discouraged when folks don’t do what they are supposed to do—the lack of commitment has nothing to do with you.  The commitment they lack is between them and the Lord.

When It’s Time to Go

Ruth 1: In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. ² The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

³ Now Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. ⁴ They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, ⁵ both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

⁶ When she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. ⁷ With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

Naomi is an old woman – she has lived, she has had a husband and two sons.  And yet, both her husband and sons are now gone.  Her life has changed.  She could be bitter and wallow in her own self-pity, but she makes a decision. Life has dealt with her, and she makes a decision to return to her home, the place where she has been.  She makes a decision to return to her people and return to her place.

It is most interesting that when given the opportunity to make a decision about the path that one’s life will take, that one will return to that which is familiar.  To really understand a person’s true motivation and true character—put them in a situation where they meet the “Y” in the road.  Put them in a position to make a real CHOICE as to which road they will actually follow.

Take away all of the comforts of the present, and see where you go.  Change a few circumstances in your life—some things, some places, and some people you don’t think you can live without.  Make a few changes in the way you handle your business, and you will find out where your faith really stands.    You (and everybody else) will find out what you are really made of.

Older women can learn from Naomi—she was a woman worth following.  Her life and her actions were consequential in that they set an example for younger women coming after her.  Christian Women have a responsibility to live before other women to serve as an example.  Whether you know it or not, there is somebody watching you.  They watch how you behave, they watch how you talk, and they watch how you carry yourself.

Look out among you today, and believe this: Your actions are the bible which people read. Your walk with the Lord isn’t just between you and Him:  Others—your daughter, your sister, your friends, your gossiping buddies, and even your enemies—yes, they are watching to see how you stumble or how you rise when life circumstances throw you a curve.

The only way to measure a Christian is to see how they behave when things aren’t going their way.  Naomi handled her circumstance in continued faith, that the Lord would bless his people, if they would turn to his way.  She measured up the cost, and realized that it was time to GO.   Count up your own life, is it time to go?

Why ask Why?

A few seasons ago, a popular alcoholic beverage company pondered the question in a series of funny television commercials.  While the subject matter was about consuming this beverage, the question is really a good one.  Why Ask Why?

There are many times that we sit and wonder “why” do things happen to us.  Why does misfortune seem to keep on coming my way?  Why did my loved one have to die? Why don’t my children act right?  Why won’t my husband (wife) act the way he should? Why?  Lord, Why? Why did it have to happen to me?

It’s a rear-view mirror view…we are driving on the highway of life and even though we can only make forward motion or stop, we choose to keep looking in the rear-view mirror to lament about what is already behind us—even though there is nothing we can do about it:

• That raise, promotion or job we SHOULD have had
• Those folks that treated me bad
• That woman or man we SHOULD have married
• My parents did me wrong
• My children didn’t turn out like they SHOULD have

We question the circumstances that happen in life as though if we were provided an answer that would somehow miraculously change the outcome and situation! It seems to me that it is more important and more relevant to leave the context of the circumstances alone and turn our energy and focus on the solution:

Romans 8:28 tells us:  “And we KNOW that all things work together for the good of those that love God, and are called according to his purpose.”

Rely on the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent hand of God to work through the situation.   Let God handle the why, because He is all powerful, He is all knowing and He is everywhere. God already KNOWS the intricate of your situation—he knows the why, and he can handle the what.

Let him do the providing.  All you have to do is remain faithful!

What time is it? Living on Holy Ghost Time

Time equals Money.  Yes, this is one algebra problem that has a definite application to your everyday life.  You have been given exactly a certain measure of time for your entire life to accomplish every single thing that you need to do.  Why waste it?  If you think of time as a bank account, and every single minute that you waste, you lose money—would you think of time differently?

The question remains:  What is the purpose? Man struggles with the notion or concept that there is no purpose to this life. We seem struggle from day to day, marking time.  But God has allowed us to experience each season for a purpose.  There are some things you MUST go through to reach another place.  There are some struggles in this life that you must endure simply because God need to teach you to reach the place you need to be.  Your “testimony” is driven by your “test”.

What time is it? Time is relative.  When you are young, 6 months is a long time, 5 years is forever and you can’t even imagine being 30, 40 or heaven-forbid 50.  However, once you’ve put a few years under your belt, then time doesn’t seem so short.  It goes much faster.  Age 60 and 70 don’t seem like that old!

Yet, God is faithful throughout time.  “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:8).  In spite of circumstances, God is still faithful.

Morning. When you’re young, preparation is the last thing on your mind.  The most preparation you’re looking for is what you’re going to wear next Friday.  What you’re hair is going to look like.  Who you’re going to be hanging out with.  Some of you young people might have it a little more together, and you’re trying to figure out what school or college you might attend.  Some of you might be thinking about your career aspirations.  In either event, you’re planning really doesn’t go beyond 5 years in the future.

Noontime.  You’ve reached the point where you’ve started making some preparations—‘cuz 60, 70 and 80 aren’t as far a way.  You’ve got your 401K set aside, and you’re contributing the maximum to your IRAs, and putting some away in those Money Market funds, CDs.  Your pension fund starts to make some sense to you, and you’re trying to figure out just how much is going to be in your retirement fund.  You’ve already checked with Social Security to figure out what your annuity and monthly checks will be.

Evening time.  When you’ve reached the evening or twilight of your life,  your preparations start to focus on what will happen to your children and loved ones when your time is done.  You might have taken the time to assess your pre-need services for your burial.  You don’t want to leave a burden on your children and loved ones, so you’re making some preparations now.

In this brief season between the cradle and the grave, there are some other preparations to be made.  It is time for the people of God to come before the Lord in Spirit and in Truth.  It is time to be about our Father’s business.  Right now, wherever you are on the wall clock of life—it is time to make preparation.  We get ready for our lives and careers in the morning time; get ready for retirement at midday, and get prepared for material considerations for the twilight of our years, but the real question remains: 

Are you ready to meet the Creator?

Have we spent so much time being busy, getting married, raising families, making money and running church programs, that we haven’t made the most important time investment?  Have we allowed our soul to fall into a state of disrepair?  Have we not started sowing the seeds for eternal harvest?

What time is it?  It is time to step into a new season—when Jesus Christ comes by to touch your life, a change must occur. It is time to set your mind and heart on things that are above (Colossians 3:1).   The writer Rex Williams says, “Get yourself on the HOLY GHOST TIME ZONE”.  The time is NOW to be holy and righteous.  It is time to put aside that petty, wasteful attitude.

When you’re living in the Holy Ghost Time Zone, you don’t have time to waste on attitudes, you don’t have time to spend trying to figure out why somebody else is doing better than you; you don’t have time to belittle or betray; you don’t have time to do anything but get yourself in the right personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Before you can step into a new season and start looking toward that new day;  before you can start talking about that fresh anointing and start to reap the benefits of being a child of the Most High God: you’ve got to start with some preparation—you’ve got to meet Jesus Christ for yourself. It doesn’t matter where you are on the clock of life, you can start the preparation NOW.

When I’ve marked the time on the clock of life, when my divine appointment is called this season must come to an end.   I don’t know if my 401K will be in great shape; I don’t know if my Fidelity funds will be mature; I don’t know if my insurance premiums will be current, I don’t know how much I might leave behind.  I don’t know if I’ll have made my final material preparations—but I can tell you this, my eternal preparations are made:

My soul is ready for that final train ride; my ticket was purchased on Golgotha’s Hill, better known as Calvary.

My arrangements were confirmed on that early Easter Sunday Morning,

I’m listening to hear my Savior,

That Lily of the valley, the bright and morning star,

I wanna hear him call me– not by my name, “Cecelia”, Not Wife, Not Mother, Not Daughter, Not Sister, Not Friend,

I just wanna hear him say:  “Servant,  My good and faithful servant, you’ve been faithful over a few things, come on up high, and I’ll make you ruler over many”

When my feeble life is over, when time for me will be no more,

Guide me safely, over to thy Kingdom, shore to shore.

Just a closer walk with Thee; Grant it Jesus, if you please,

Daily walking close to Thee Let it be, dear Lord, Let it be.

What Season is It?

It is the middle of summer on the calendar.  July 15 to be exact.  Yet,  believers, what season is it?  There is a time and there is a purpose for everything in our lives.  We mark the period of time that occurs between those two extremes of beginning and end as SEASONS.  There are seasons for everything in life.

God has arranged it this way—in Genesis 8:22, it records “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” A season is a time in our life that has been allotted for something to happen.

Seasons are divided into two types—seasons of seedtime (preparation) and seasons of harvest (reaping from what has been sown) during the season of seedtime.  In Verse 2 of chapter 3 in Ecclesiastes, we learn that there is no reaping without sowing and what we reap is determined by what we sow.

One thing to note:  we will always reap LATER than what we sow. Wait a second, let me make that a little plainer:  Just because we sow those seeds today, doesn’t mean that we will see the fruits of that labor today.  In due TIME (known as a season), we will see the fruits of what we have planted.

There are some seeds of blessings that have been planted years ago that still have not yet been seen, because it is not yet the time of harvest for those particular blessings.  Some prayers that have not yet been answered because it is still not the appropriate time.    Still not clear? Okay let me put it this way:

• The cute designer sling-back shoes I buy today that equal a week’s worth of wages–will in the not too distant 24 day future equate to a credit card bill that I will have to pay.

• The sugar, salt, harmful smoke, and spicy foods we put into our bodies in the days of our carefree youth, don’t seem to hurt until we reach our middle age, and we start to hear the Doctor say words to us like “Diabetes”, “Hypertension”, “Lung Cancer”

Eventually, we have to pay for our actions.  Sometimes, we can continue to do well and serve the Lord, and not see the results of our actions.  We get discouraged and want to give up on the work of the Lord.  But, we have encouragement –  (Galatians 6:9) “And be not weary in well doing, because in due season, we shall reap if we faint not.” Oh yes, please remember saints, that (Philippians 1:6) “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”.

Sometimes, we think that we’ve gotten away with something, simply because we don’t see the consequences of our actions at the time that we are doing it.  But in due season, (at the appropriate appointed time), we will reap what we have sown.  There are some evil seeds that have been planted, some hurtful words, some hurtful deeds that we have done, that we still haven’t been punished for yet.  But, in due season—the punishment will come.  There are some things we THINK we’ve gotten away with; some things that we think nobody will ever know, that haven’t yet been paid for yet.  We just haven’t harvested the consequences yet.  But in due time, we WILL pay the consequences of our actions.

You have been given exactly a certain measure of time for your entire life to accomplish every single thing that you need to do.  Why waste it?  If you think of time as a bank account, and every single minute that you waste, you lose money—would you think of time differently?  What season is it in your life?

Your deliverance is in your praise!

Psalm 107: 1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

When we consider the Lord, we can remember his goodness, but we should give God thanks because his mercy endures forever.  That word endures means to remain set in purpose; hold out; to last for a long time. God’s mercy endures for a long time, it lasts forever. We are here today because God’s mercy endures forever.

The psalmist goes on to say “Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say so”  Those that have been redeemed from the enemy, need to acknowledge the one who set them free.  Those that have been redeemed by the Most High God— indeed bought with a price–have a reason to declare the Goodness of the Lord in peculiar praise. Christ has paid the ransom for his people, and His people ought to give him some praise.

When deliverance does come, it is time for the delivered to return the favor—God’s looking for the evidence of your thanks—outward praise.  We need to acknowledge God’s goodness not only within ourselves, to others to let them know just how good God has been to us.

We claim that God has made a way where there was no way; that’s deliverance—but when you’ve been through and now you are OUT, you need to give God some praise.  Don’t just keep that praise to yourself.  You need to share it with somebody whose deliverance has not yet come.  Let other folks know that you’ve been blessed.  Let other people know where you came from.  Let them know what you’ve been through.  Give God some credit for working it through in your life.

Some times, you have not yet made it out of your situation. Sometimes the Christian finds himself or herself trapped in a situation where there is no out.  Perhaps the believer is in prison.  Please note, that not all prisons have walls and not all prisons have bars. Some prisons can be found in our homes, on our jobs, in our schools, in our family.   Some of our prisons can be the result of our own making.

The text specifically records in verse 11, that the children of Israel rebelled against the words of God.  They got themselves into a mess that they couldn’t get themselves out of.  We  get into some situations because of the hardness of our hearts when we choose to do that which is knowingly contrary to the will of God.

When you’re stuck in a situation, there is still hope:  You can lift up your cry to the Lord.  There are many people who will find themselves in a situation, but it is grace that allows man to cry to the Lord.  God will deliver his people.

• There is no jail built that God cannot deliver you from.
• No walls are strong enough.
• No cells are fortified enough to withstand the reach of the Almighty God.
• No situation you’re facing is bigger than God.

Hold on a second, there is a caveat:  He may not pull you out of your physical prison—but He will deliver you WITHIN your prison.  That, my friends, is DELIVERANCE in PRAISE.

But, Cecelia, what if it seems He doesn’t deliver?

• What if my prison just won’t go away?
• What if my financial mess gets worse?
• What if my family still won’t act right?

It is then, that the worshipper likens themselves to the three Hebrew boys—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—BUT EVEN If he doesn’t deliver us from this calamity—it is still well.  Even if things don’t go my way:

I will bless the Lord! (Psalm 150)

Praise God in his sanctuary:

Praise him in the firmament of his power.

Praise him for his mighty acts:

Praise him according to his excellent greatness.

Praise him with the sound of the trumpet:

Praise him with the psaltery and harp.

Praise him with the timbrel and dance:

Praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

Let Everything that Has Breath, Praise the Lord!