Thanksgiving 2012

“O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” (Psalm 34:8)

Is life a bowl of cherries? Will people smile in our face while they rob us blind or urinate on our head while telling us with a straight face that it is raining? I would say absolutely, friend. And yet, despite the total depravity of man, millions of us will gather around dinner tables today and enjoy

countless blessings of the Lord until, engorged with the fat of the land, we literally exhaust ourselves consuming good things. Has God given us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair yet again (Isaiah 61:3)? I would say affirmative, good people. God is good and His mercy endures (Psalm 100:5) no matter how far we’ve fallen, no matter how horrendously we have treated His ‘other’ children, or how disobedient and self serving we can be at any given moment in these lives we owe to Him alone. We can only achieve relative goodness whereas God is infinitely, absolutely, and preeminently so. Sin only needs opportunity to be realized in us. If we do not well, sin lies at the door (Genesis 4:7). Therefore, I thank God He has made a way that we, being weak in the flesh (Romans 6:19), once we have confessed our sins and accepted His blood bought forgiveness, can be cleansed from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9) and even come boldly to His throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Hallelujah! Yes. I am indeed thankful today and every day for so great a salvation as God has wrought for me in, by, and through Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son (John 3:16). I think this is what I will meditate upon before I lose consciousness from Thanksgiving stuffing today. Pun intended.

© 2012 Brian L Hunter

Bitter Root 2012

“Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.” (Hebrews 12:15)

In negotiating with my own pain, please do not allow me to overlook the needs of my brother, Almighty God. I pray this prayer not only for myself but also for the entire Body of Christ. Heavenly Father, forgive us for sin committed in word, thought, and deed. Lord, as Your humble servants, we beseech You for more grace to endure offense without any root of bitterness springing up (Hebrews 12:5), to continue to give when we are unappreciated, and to love our neighbor so perfectly that they will thereby learn to give more freely to all in their sphere of influence. Help us to teach by example the perfect love of our Everlasting Father once You have perfected it in us, oh Lord. Make us to be ten thousand times more of a blessing than we have ever known how to be. Let Your light shine so luminously in us that more of Christ is seen where we stand than can be seen of us. Be glorified in everything we say, and do, and think. Perfect that which concerns us as only You can. Reveal to us by Your Spirit what flesh and blood is incapable of revealing. Help us, Almighty God, to get over ourselves today and see that we equal all those who offend us in iniquity. We are the all who have sinned (Romans 3:23). Purge us all with hyssop, and we shall be clean: wash us, and we shall be whiter than snow (Psalm 51:7). We ask it all in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

 © 2012 Brian L Hunter