Tell Him Tell You

Lamentations 3

The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.”

One of the things I love about this passage is that there are two statements, almost like telling your heart something true, and then there are two statements directed to the Lord, in faith.  In other words, we sometimes need to tell ourselves and remind ourselves about who God is, and then we need to turn to him and speak our thanksgiving and praise.

Look at it closely and see how it reads:

Hey self, did you know God is kind and his kindness never stops, and he never stops having compassion – in fact every morning he starts all over with new kindnesses and compassion?

“O Lord, you are faitihful!”

“O Lord you are what I need!”

Therefore, my soul, don’t you know it?  Your hope is in Him.

Make this a practice daily.  Tell yourself of His goodness, then tell him of his faithfulness.

A Simple Prayer

Isaiah 25

O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.

Isn’t that a great prayer?

It’s one we can pray daily, and say no more, just these words from the heart.

He is OUR God. 

We can thank him for his wonders (in the sky and on the earth and in our hearts)

We can recall his faithfulness.

We can rest in his perfection.

He is OUR God.

Wow…

Affliction

Psalm 119

I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are righteous,

And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

 O may Your lovingkindness ^comfort me,

According to Your word to Your servant.

Isn’t this interesting “you have afflicted me.”

There are so  many arguments over whether or not God “allows” pain or even “causes” it.  I think the best thing is to stop questioning his character and know that whether it was allowed, caused, or just happened, he is working all of it for a good end.  

That we know!

I know that as a parent, there were times when I had to back away from my children and let them run and even bruise their knees so they could see that my direction was good, although they wanted to disobey.  Once they bruised their knee, then they listened the next time when the danger was greater.

He, in his infinite wisdom and love, knows what we need.  Even if it’s affliction. 

And his comfort and love heals every wound.

Morning and Night

Psalm 92:2

To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning And Your faithfulness by night,

It’s a very good practice to bookend your days with loving him and recalling his faithfulness.

When we awake, we can thank him before we get out of bed for eyes that see, for the sun that peeks through the blinds, for legs that walk, for our families, for our health, for provision, for a roof over our heads, etc.

This sets a good tone for the day.

When we get in bed at night, we can again recall his goodness from the day, thanking him for this and that, praising him for working out all things for our good, and acknowledging our faith and rest in him before we close our eyes.

This sets a good tone for the night.

Train your kids to practice this, as well, so that the pages of their lives are enclosed with the goodness of God that they notice and recall and say out loud.

All Generations

Psalm 89:1

I will sing of the loving kindness of the Lord forever; To all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth.

Why do you think the Bible instructs us to sing so often?  I think it’s because songs come from the heart, and lyrics and melodies sink in deeper than just words read from a page.  I can get a hook to a song stuck in my head for days!

It’s a great practice to sing with your kids, your grandkids, or any kids you teach or hang with.  When we sing about HIM and his faithfulness, we are dripping down honey onto the next generation that will stick!

Tell your kids of His faithfulness.

Sing about it.

Let them know that He is a good God, the One who can be trusted in all things.

And see if they don’t start singing their own songs of love to him, as well.

Cultivate It

Psalm 37:3 Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

Interesting, we have to “cultivate” faithfulness in our hearts.  God is good and faithful.  However, we are prone to wander and leave him.  So just like a gardener cultivates the ground he plants, we must cultivate our hearts to be faithful.

We have to dig up the hard places.

We have to plant good seeds of truth.

We have to make sure those seeds get watered by hearing the word daily.

We have to pray for the sun and the rain to appear in season.

And then we will see our hearts remain faithful and true to him.

It doesn’t work any other way.

To the Heavens

Psalm 36

Your loving kindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;

When’s the last time you looked up to be encouraged and strengthen your faith?

When the sun rises and the moon appears faithfully every day, they remind us of the character of God – he loves us enough to illuminate our days and nights – and he shows up on time every day.

When the clouds appear and bring rain, or the sun appears and dries it up again, we can be assured that it’s from his hand that we receive all that we need to live, thrive and be.

When the mountains loom high above the earth, capped with snow, or adorned with beautiful trees, we are reminded of his majesty, his amazing power, and his faithfulness to all mankind.

Look up today, to the skies, and tell your heart, “My God is faithful,” as you feel the warmth of the sun on your skin.