Weekend Words

 From Be Still and Know...

This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24)

How often at the close of the day, have you said, "What a day this has been!  I should have never gotten up this morning"?  Probably most of us have had this experience.

Our attitude at the beginning of the day can set the pace for that day.  If we begin with a spirit of complaining, dreading our day's schedule, wondering how we will have the strength and wisdom to meet its demands, soon we become filled with self-pity and discouragement.

What a difference it makes if we first look into the face of God as we waken.  We can prepare ourselves for the day by committing it to Him, by asking Him to guard our conversation, actions, and thoughts, that they will be pleasing to Him; by taking time to tell Him we love Him.  Remembering that "THIS IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF OUR LIVES."  We must ask God to fit it into His plan for us.

Each day offers new opportunities.  There will be new choices to make, new decisions, new avenues of service for the Lord.  It may even be a day filled with heartache and pain, a day filled with unsolved problems.  How different our day will be if we begin with a rejoicing spirit, knowing it has been entrusted to us by the Lord!

God has given us His promises to encourage us through the day.

"And as thy DAYS, so shall thy strength be" (Deuteronomy 33:25).  "The Lord is good, a strong hold in the DAY of trouble" (Nahum 1:7).

Yesterday, with its successes and failures, is past.  We are not to look back.  We can rest in the knowledge that tomorrow is still in God's hand.  Only today is ours to live for Him.  So it is important how we use it, for "Today is part of my life work."  Our joy is not in the day, but in "the Lord" who made the day.

The Psalmist said, "Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever" (Psalm 145:2).  "Every day" includes today.  "A DAY TO USE OR LOSE."

I Met God - Ralph Cushman

I met God in the morning, when my day was at its best.

And His Presence came like glory, a sunrise in my breast.

All day long His Presence lingered, all day long He stayed with me...

And we sailed a perfect calmness, O'er a very troubled sea.

Other ships were blown and battered; other ships were sore distressed.

But the winds that seemed to drive them, brought to us such peace and rest.

Then I thought of other mornings, with a keen remorse of mind.

When I too had loosed the moorings, with the Savior left behind.

So I think I know the secret, learned from many a troubled way...

You must seek God in the morning, if you want Him in the day.

From A Year's Journey with God...

How Kind He is!

"How kind the Lord is!  How good He is!  So merciful, this God of ours!  The Lord protects those of childlike faith." - Psalm 116:5-6 NLT

My mother loved the word 'kind'.  She had a little saying which became a recurring family joke: 'Be kind to each other,' and if she wanted to pay someone the highest possible compliment, she would say they were 'so kind'.

She was brought up on the old King James Version of the Bible, but one Christmas I gave her a present of the Living Bible, which was first published in 1971.  She loved it and used it daily for the rest of her life.  Just after she died I was flipping through it one day, fascinated by all her markings and the little notes she had written in the margins.  Every time she had come across the word 'kind' she must have underlined it, and one of the last things she ever said to me was, 'How kind the Lord is.'

When I looked up 'kind' in my thesaurus, and saw how many shades of meaning the word has, I realised the list gives a wonderfully rich picture of the Lord's character:

Affectionate; altruistic; compassionate; congenial; considerate; courteous; friendly; generous; gentle; good; good-natured; gracious; helpful; indulgent; kind-hearted; kindly; lenient; loving; mild; philanthropic; sympathetic; tender-hearted; thoughtful; understanding.

Lord, today, please help me to 'clothe myself with kindness'. (Colossians 3:12)