Our Old Christmas Tree

 

Photo by Richard Collett 2019

Nearly a decade ago, when we moved into our present home, we decided to decorate for Christmas with a new artificial tree, wider and taller than our previous tree, as our new living room was larger. Setting up the tree was a lengthy project for my dear husband, as he spent hours on his knees removing the individual branches from their cells in a honeycomb-style container. Then he inserted each branch in its own groove on the trunk (which itself first had to be screwed together from its component pieces).

Finally we would look at it from all angles to get it as straight as possible, which meant my husband would lie prone on the floor, the lowest branches scraping his back, while he tweaked the trunk base this way and that in response to my direction.  Then came the lighting, with a key section inevitably burned out once the whole connected string was in place, requiring weeding out the defective chain and reconnecting a new one.

This process took its toll on my husband’s back and knees, not to mention on the tree limbs, which lost needles every time the tree was assembled and disassembled. Over the years, we thought about replacing it with a fresh cut tree, but we felt that a live tree looked and functioned much better in its native environment than in our living room.

Yet each year, the once beautiful and full spruce had more bare spots, with many branch tips brown from the absence of needles. My husband finally cleared out enough space in the lanai closet to store the fully assembled tree strung with lights, so that we could just do the “Christmas tree drag” through the sliders from the lanai to the living room, which was much quicker and easier. But needles still continued to fall because of contact with the tarp covering it while being stored, and because of the many ornaments we hung each year.

We thought about getting another artificial tree, but we found it difficult to justify the expense of a new tree of similar size, fullness and quality. More importantly, so many memories in our new home were inextricably linked to this “new” tree!

Such as the first Christmas we celebrated with the lovely young woman who would soon become our son’s wife! The first Christmas dinner, a succulent Beef Wellington, prepared under the leadership of our son. 

The first Christmas we enjoyed the antics of a canine guest – our son’s and daughter-in-law’s Australian shepherd, as he “herded” the stuffed toy squirrels we gave him, dashing around and around the tree, stopping and starting on a dime, changing direction abruptly, while miraculously knocking no ornaments off the tree!

And, a few years later, a second Aussie, learning the ropes of how to behave around the tree by following the example of his older yet smaller "brother."

Every Christmas we record a short video in front of this tree, recounting the special events of that year, the most memorable gifts, and especially the many blessings for which we thank God and give Him all the glory.

So each year, including this one, we drag the old Christmas tree, always showing its age a bit more, into our living room. It looks sparse and awkward at first, like Charlie Brown’s tree but broader. But soon the bare branches disappear as we fill them with special ornaments, each telling a special story that reflects a precious part of our history.

Some collectible ornaments were given to me by my mother when I was still in college. Others commemorate my rescue dog (rescued from dog lab in medical school!), our first Christmas together, our engagement, our honeymoon in Hawaii, our first Christmas in our new home, our son’s first Christmas, his first apartment. Mementos of our many travels, for dance shows and vacations, from England, Hong Kong, Japan, Italy, Ireland, Switzerland, France, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and so many more.

Our dance ministry history can be read from this tree. Special performances we gave and competitions at the Grand Ol’ Opry, Blackpool Dance Festival, World Swing Dance Championships. And a unique ornament depicting each of the dances we choreographed, to music and themes including O Holy Night, Phantom of the Opera, Christmas Toys Come Alive, Transformed, Bring Him Home, Sun and Moon, and many others!

Our old Christmas tree also reminds me of our senior saints. They may have walked this earth for many years, seen much better times, and lost some hair and teeth along the journey, but their memories, wisdom and experiences are truly irreplaceable. As lights of the world, they shine brightly with the inner radiance of knowing Christ (Matthew 5:14).

Once we are saved by trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), He enables His perfect will and plan to be accomplished in our lives (Jeremiah 29:11; Philippians 1:6). Only He can transform what is broken, flawed and worn out into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15) of unique beauty and purpose, for we are His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10).

Our Christmas tree may be old, but when lit and decorated with the colors of the season, it still serves the purpose of praising Him and reminding ourselves and others of the miracle of Christ’s birth – Emmanuel (Matthew 1:23), God with us in the flesh! He came as a lowly Infant (Luke 2:5-7), the sinless Lamb of God (John 1:29), to suffer and die on our behalf (Romans 3:25), that all who trust Him will live forever! (John 3:16)

Only Christ can take our bare frame and adorn it with precious ornaments of Godly virtue, meek and quiet Spirit (1 Peter 3:3-5), fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), the light of His love, and testimonies of His faithfulness and provision through challenges, storms and trials (1 Samuel 7:12). 

May we cherish each of these gifts and call them to remembrance daily, praising Him for the new life He breathes into our old frame. And may we look forward to that day, which I pray and believe will be very soon, when He replaces our tired, aging bodies with glorious resurrection bodies (1 Corinthians 15:42-58), and we shall be as He is!

© 2021 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

Confirmation

 

As the daily news seems increasingly to confirm that we are in the End Times, it reminds us that time is short to experience precious moments with our families, adventures we have often dreamed of, and especially opportunities to spread God's Word. Shortly after I wrote the post below about a trip my husband and I took in 2018, the world experienced the Covid pandemic, which kept many under lockdown and severely curtailed opportunities for travel. So I thought I would repost this as a reminder to "Carpe diem -- Seize the day!" 

While browsing through my junk emails, I spotted what appeared to be a good deal on a trip to Costa Rica. My husband and I have always heard of the pristine beauty of this country and had spoken of visiting one day, yet that day had never yet seemed to come.

And while I’m not a fan of bucket lists, I also had come to realize that zip lining was an adventure I had always longed to experience – a perfect blend of my love for “flying” (which partly explains why I so love Theatre Arts dancing) and for nature. There are several such attractions in Florida where we live, but somehow hanging suspended over alligators didn’t sound too appealing.

My husband was also intrigued by the opportunity to visit Costa Rica, but we both wondered whether we should spend the time and money, when there were so many pressing concerns in our lives at home that we needed to address. So we agreed to pray about it.

After a few days of prayer, I still had no clear sense of direction, so I asked the Lord to give me some sort of sign. Although Jesus spoke of the Pharisees as being a wicked and adulterous generation because they needed a sign (Matthew 16:4), His Word also promises to give wisdom liberally to all who ask Him (James 1:5).

Shortly after I prayed for confirmation from the Lord, I ventured onto Facebook, where the first post I saw pictured a wistful elderly woman with the caption beneath, “Do what you’ve always wanted to do today, for we are not promised tomorrow.” (James 4:14)

“That seems pretty clear, Lord,” I prayed. “Would you mind very much just sending me one additional confirmation?”

Now I felt like Gideon, asking God for yet another miraculous sign, except that I felt even more presumptuous as I was asking for guidance about whether or not to take a vacation, and not about a decisive battle that would affect the lives and destiny of many people (Judges 6:36-40).

But the Lord is interested in all our needs (Matthew 6; 10:29-31), and no matter is too large or too small to bring to Him in prayer (Philippians 4:6). If we don’t bring our prayer needs to Him, how can we expect Him to answer? (James 4:2-3)

So as I happened to check my emails, the most recent message was a solicitation from Barclay’s Bank, which caught my eye as Barclay is my maiden name, even though I am no relation.

“Make this the year you resolve to travel more,” said the message!  I rushed out to tell Richard that God had sent me two clear confirmations that we should take this trip, even though they came from sources as unlikely as Facebook and a solicitation email.

It is true that God most often speaks to His children through His Word (Psalm 119:105), through sermon messages (Romans 10:17), and through Godly counsel (Hebrews 10:25; Proverbs 27:17). But we should not put God in a box and apply our expectations to His infinite powers, for He can also speak through dreams (Genesis 31:11), nature (Proverbs 6:6), and presumably even seemingly trivial communications crossing our desk, mailbox or computer screen.

We both then felt at peace about embarking on this journey and eagerly planned our stay and excursions. We continued to pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17) for safety and health while we were gone, both for ourselves and for our loved ones; for safe, smooth, comfortable travel; for pleasant accommodations, excursions, food, weather and company; and to grow closer to each other and to Him (James 4:8) as we experienced the majesty and beauty of His creation (Psalm 19:1).

Praise God, He answered every prayer! He allowed us to experience a land we had long dreamed of, to see a vast variety of wildlife in its natural setting, and to interact with pleasant people and to share God’s love with them (John 13:34-35). We distributed Gospel tracts carrying the message that all who trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the only Way (John 14:6) to Heaven will have eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; John 3:16).

The trip was a much needed opportunity for relaxation and continued restoration (1 Peter 5:7; Psalm 23:2-3) after a long period of stress and illness, and we are blessed and thankful that we interrupted our usual routine to take it, and to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10).

We honor God when we turn to Him for guidance in all matters, great and small (Psalm 27:8), and I believe He honors His promises to answer prayer in the best possible way, from His perfect, omniscient, omnipotent viewpoint of infinite love. Jesus told us to seek, and we would find; to ask, and it would be answered; and to knock, and the doors of opportunity would be opened (Matthew 7:7-8).

As the zip line guide fitted me with heavy rigging before we sailed over the treetops, she asked if I had ever done this before, and if I were nervous. “This is my first time, and I’m not at all nervous, but I am praying a lot,” I answered truthfully, filled with the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

This peace (Isaiah 26:3) carried me through some challenging moments on the zip line, such as when my body weight was insufficient to carry me to the next platform and I had to turn myself around on the cable, climbing hand over hand backwards along the cable to pull myself to my destination!

Perhaps being just a little closer to Heaven added.to the joy of experiencing the jungle canopy, the plunging descent of the waterfall beside us at one point, and the exhilarating feeling of flight. Praise God that He guides us, answers prayer, wants to bless us with good gifts (Matthew 7:11), and gives us richly all things to enjoy!  (1 Timothy 6:17)

© 2018 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

Do You Want God’s Best?

 

Photo by Horia Varlan 2008

Do you want God’s best that He has planned for you, or do you settle for what you think is best?

As we grow from babes in Christ to mature Christians through daily Bible study and prayer (Acts 17:10-11), joining a church (Hebrews 10:25), and getting involved in regular service, we may fall into the trap of thinking we’ve mastered our role in Christ, or at least that we have a good handle on it. We may fall into the routine of a “spiritual checklist,” mentally giving ourselves a gold star for sticking to our Scripture reading schedule, church attendance, and ministry opportunities.

In our flesh, we may have shaped our behavior to the point that we can at a moment’s notice put on our Sunday face, give appropriate words of encouragement and perhaps Scripture verses, and even prepare a lesson or write a blog post. But have we forgotten that without Him, we can do nothing? (John 15:5) Do we decide on a plan of action for our Christian service and ask Him to bless it after the fact, or do we pray first about seeking His will?

The apostle Paul clearly had a sincere desire to follow God’s plan for His life (Acts 9:6,18,20), which he understood was to preach the Gospel of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only way to Heaven (John 14:6). Jesus Himself had revealed to Paul the mystery that he was now to spread this message to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews (Romans 16:25-26). Paul was prepared to endure great hardships and suffering to fulfill that mission (2 Corinthians 11:25-27).

God was clear in His directive; and Paul was obedient, faithful and sincere in following it. So I imagine that Paul may have felt frustrated when God seemed to be blocking Paul’s plan to carry out his mission. He and his fellow missionaries had started churches in Phrygia and Galatia, and these were starting to grow. He then intended to preach in Asia, but he was “forbidden” by the Holy Spirit. So they tried to take God’s message to Bithynia, but once again the Holy Spirit did not allow it (Acts 16: 5-7).

Why? God knows everything, past, present, and future, including things we can’t possibly know (Psalm 139:1-18). He sees the whole picture unfolding in the context of time, while we only see a single puzzle piece, and often from the wrong side, at that. God always knows best, and going to Asia at that time was not part of God’s plan for the early Christian missionaries.

Paul was practically God’s right-hand man on earth, at least at that point in church history, and yet God still revealed information to him only on a “need-to-know” basis. It reminds me of Abraham, taking the first step of faith, and then the next, without even knowing where God was leading him (Genesis 12:1-4). But Abraham was a pagan with no track record (Genesis 11), and Paul had a long pedigree of the best ancestry, religious education, and fervent zeal to serve God, albeit misdirected until he saw Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 22:3-10).

Nonetheless, God did not spell out all the details of His plan for Paul’s ministry. We may grow impatient when we don’t understand the overall picture of where and how God is leading us. But if He showed us the whole plan at once, one of two things would happen.

Either we would back away terrified at the enormity of the plan, realizing correctly that in our flesh we could not accomplish it, but forgetting that with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26; 2 Corinthians 12:9). Or we would be filled with pride that God chose us for such an awesome plan, again forgetting that it is all about His glory, not ours (Acts 12:23).

He strengthens our faith by ensuring our reliance on Him each step of the way. He gets the glory by choosing those who have no hope, by earthly standards, of accomplishing the plan. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit within every child of God guides us to want what God wants for our life, and to actually do His will, for our good and His glory (Philippians 2:13).

With His perfect timing, God sent Paul a vision of a Macedonian man asking for Paul’s help (Acts 16:9). God often used visions and dreams in Bible history to direct His children, and He still may, if we take the time to seek stillness in His presence. When testing these visions, we can rest assured that God would never contradict His Word, so that a “vision” commanding us to sin cannot be of God.

From this vision Paul understood correctly that God wanted him to set sail immediately for Macedonia, which he did (Acts 16:10). How often do we clearly understand what God is asking us to do, yet we delay in following Him? Sadly, delayed obedience is the same as disobedience (Psalm 119:60). If a parent asks their teen to take out the trash, and they obey – three days later – can we say they honored their parent’s command?

Because of Paul’s willingness to follow God’s plan and his immediate obedience, God promptly found him passage and gave him a straight course to the appointed country across the sea (Acts 16:11). If we trust in God completely rather than in ourselves, and acknowledge God in all our doings, and not just in what we consider to be most important, He will direct our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).

By worldly standards, Paul’s arrival in Philippi (Acts 16:12), the chief city of Macedonia, looked like a mistake. But God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9).

Paul’s usual practice was to find a synagogue and ask the faithful Jews if he could tell them about the Messiah (Acts 17:1-3,10). But Philippi had no synagogue, meaning that there were not even ten Jewish men living there, which was the minimum number needed to start a synagogue. God led Paul to the river, where people sometimes gathered to worship so that they could use the water in their cleansing rituals.

There Paul found a group of faithful women praying (Acts 16:13), which emphasizes the role that women have had since the early Church Age of gathering together as prayer warriors (James 5:16), to study the Scriptures to faithfully teach their children (2 Timothy 1:5), to encourage one another by sharing their joys and burdens, and to serve and support fellow believers (Galatians 6:2).

Among these women at the river was Lydia, a well-to-do business woman who was a seller of purple cloth, available only to wealthy buyers because of the large numbers of a special, small shellfish needed to concentrate the purple fluid used as a dye. She already believed in God (Acts 16:14), as so many people claim to even in our present world.

But sadly, believing in God is not enough to be saved, for even the demons believe in God and tremble (James 2:19). Salvation requires faith that Jesus Christ is God and God’s Son, Who came to earth in human form as the perfect, sinless sacrifice to pay for all our sins, to reconcile sinful man to Holy God (John 1:29; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Hebrews 2:17). Only when we are born again (John 3:3-7; 1 Peter 1:23) by believing this, turning from our sins, and asking Jesus to be our personal Lord and Savior can we receive God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life.

Faith comes only by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17), which Paul preached to Lydia and the others. When she was saved by believing the Gospel, she evidently led her household to Christ, for they were all baptized (Acts 16:14-15), not for salvation but as an act of obedience. Often one person being born again leads to salvation of the whole family, even though each family member must make a personal decision for Christ.

Lydia offered her time, talent and treasure to Christ, opening her home to shelter the missionaries for as long as they needed and to hold worship meetings (Acts 16:15, 40). Through her efforts and those of Paul’s other converts, the church at Philippi became a prominent center of Christian ministry and evangelism.

God used Paul at Philippi to show His awesome power in casting out demons (Acts 16:16-18); showing that joy in the Lord allows His children to sing His praises even after being whipped and then imprisoned (v. 23-25); and in freeing His children from jail by sending a great earthquake. Even better, this gave Paul and Silas the opportunity to preach to the jailer, who accepted Christ, as did his family (v. 27-34)

The book of Philippians, Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi, is crucial to the Christian’s understanding of joy in the Lord, and of how we can rejoice always (Philippians 4:4) knowing that we have abundant, eternal life in Him (John 3:16; 10:10), no matter what our earthly circumstances. Paul himself wrote this joyful epistle from the gloom of a prison cell!

Had Paul not trusted God’s direction, paid attention to the vision God sent him, and obeyed God immediately in changing his destination from Asia to Macedonia, none of these blessings may have come to pass.  What we perceive in our limited understanding to be good may not be God’s best. We must believe that God knows what we need before we ask Him and that He wants to give us His best (Matthew 6:8; 7:11).

If we delight in Him, He will give us our heart’s desires (Psalm 37:4). This doesn’t mean that we’ll win the lottery just because we’re saved! But it does mean that as we become more like Christ, we want to submit to His will (Luke 22:42) and to fulfill God’s perfect plan for our life, which is the best blessing we could possibly have (Jeremiah 29:11; 33:3). He answers our prayers “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).

Charles Stanley tells the story of desperately needing a car in his early days as a pastor. He prayed about it, searched diligently for a used car, and finally found one he could afford. He thought it was a good deal and would serve him well, but he did not have a real sense of peace about it. As he sat in the car dealer’s office and was about to sign the papers, he had a clear perception of God saying, “Do you want this, or do you want my best?”

So he got up from the table, apologized to the dealer, and told him he could try to explain why he had such a sudden change of heart, but that the car dealer might have a hard time believing him! Charles Stanley decided to put off his car search for a while. Three days later a wealthy member of the congregation gave him a free gift of a brand new, high-end car! 

Instead of deciding on our own what we’re going to do, and then asking God to bless our plans, may we pray to Him first, listen for His still, small voice, and immediately follow His guidance!

© 2015 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

Transitions: Triplets of Purpose – What Time Is It?

 

Photo by Isabel Grosjean

As we have seen, God will guide our transitions through life, ordering our actions, direction and timing if we follow His lead. King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, taught that there is a proper time for everything. But he also taught that all of it is vain and meaningless (Ecclesiastes 5:10; 6:2-12) unless we honor and glorify God as we go through each of life’s seasons (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

God’s timing is always perfect, even if we wrongly experience Him as being agonizingly slow to fulfill His promises (2 Peter 3:8-9), or so sudden and swift in taking a loved one home (James 4:14) that we stagger in shock and dismay. If we follow His Word and His will for our lives, our timing will be synchronized with His rather than out of step. To rush ahead of His timing or to lag behind in disobedience is sure to propel us off the cliff into disaster.

Just as He orders our physical transitions throughout life, by the miraculous way in which He designed and created us (Psalm 139:14), so does He order the transitions to each new direction, the correct pathway at each fork in the road, if we follow Him (Proverbs 3:5-6; Psalm 37:4-6).

Waiting on His perfect timing and seeking His will (Lamentations 3:25-26) leads us to God’s best, as He delivers us from trouble (Psalm 37:7-13;34), gives us a new song of praise and testimony (Psalm 40:1-3) and prepares for us unimaginable blessings (Isaiah 64:4).

Before His ascension to Heaven, Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem “for the promise of the Father.” (Acts 1:4). Surely they were eager to start telling the world of their Saviour, and they must have felt prepared by the time He spent with them, His teachings, and their first-hand knowledge of His miracles and resurrection. Yet they waited in obedience and were rewarded by the Holy Spirit empowering them to lead many souls to Christ! (Acts 2)

One of the first acts of obedience for many Christians is baptism by immersion, which pictures the cross (as the believer sits upright in the water), Christ’s burial (as the believer is plunged beneath the water), and Christ’s resurrection to His glorified body (as the believer arises from the water). Baptism does not save us, nor does any good work (Ephesians 2:8-9), but it is a public confession of our allegiance to and identification with Him.

The sacrament of baptism represents the transitions from having our sins nailed to His cross, dying to our sin nature as He died and was buried, and rising again to walk as a new creation in Him. Solomon refers to these spiritual transitions in physical terms, all of which have an appointed time (Ecclesiastes 3:2-6). We must die to self (1 Corinthians 15:31) to be born to new life and to live for Him (Romans 8:10-11; Colossians 3:9-10; Galatians 2:20; 3:24).

Ecclesiastes 3:3 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

We must kill, break down, and cast away our bad habits (1 Corinthians 15:31) so that the Holy Spirit can heal our wounds, build up our faith, and gather us together as living stones laid on His sure foundation (1 Peter 2:4). As we recognize our inability to save ourselves or to accomplish any good work in our own flesh (Romans 7:18-23), we weep, mourn and refrain from embracing those false gods that lead us to destruction (Romans 12:2). Then we can laugh and dance for our joy in the Lord (2 Samuel 6:12-15) as His everlasting arms (Deuteronomy 33:27) firmly hold us in His loving embrace.

Before we are saved we build our lives around our own desires, goals, and abilities (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25).We get all we can, we hoard or keep it for future use (Luke 12: 16-21), and we sew ourselves garments of our own self-righteousness. But when we are saved we learn that to keep our life (Matthew 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24; 17:33). we must lose our self-absorption, cast away our own selfish ambitions, and tear apart or rend our garments of self-righteousness, which God sees as filthy rags (Ecclesiastes 3:6-7; Isaiah 64:6).

The transitions of salvation do not stop there – we turn from apathetic silence about God to speaking boldly to and for Him (Ephesians 6:20); from hating to loving Him, and from being at war with God to being reconciled to Him (2 Corinthians 5:18-19) through the glorious Gospel of peace (Ecclesiastes 3:7-8). Ultimately, He even transforms us from being His enemies to being His ambassadors! (2 Corinthians 5:20)

© 2014 Laurie Collett

Edited and reposted from the archives

Songs of Thanksgiving

 

Photo by Ben Schumin 2009

Thanksgiving is nothing to keep quiet about – we should shout our thanks to God from the rooftops (Luke 12:3), and sing it aloud until the joyous sound overflows the sanctuary into the streets, for all to hear and rejoice! Even without corporate worship, we can sing the melody of thanksgiving in our hearts until it bubbles over as joy in our everyday life!

We tend to think of Thanksgiving as a holiday with time off from work, gatherings with family and friends, a feast day when we often overindulge in delicious food, the big football game, a televised parade that becomes more secular with every passing year, or even planning ahead for Black Friday sales and shopping spree.

As pleasant as all this can be, Thanksgiving is not about us. It’s all about God, and thanking Him for all the amazing blessings He has bestowed on us. Thank God we are saved by trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way (John 14:6) to Heaven! Let us give Him thanks for His Word, the indwelling Holy Spirit to teach, guide and encourage us; family, friends, health, prosperity, a loving and Bible-preaching church, and ministry opportunities in which to serve Him and bless others.

Sometimes it is easier to be thankful than in other times, but even in trials we can thank Him that He works all things together for our ultimate good, the good of others, and His glory (Romans 8:28).

There is nothing passive about thanksgiving as described in Scripture, for it is accompanied by active participation in praise, worship, sacrifice, and prayer.

The Law of Moses described sacrifices of thanksgiving that did not involve merely bringing an offering, but preparing, cooking and even frying it first! Unleavened cakes were to be mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes of fine flour and oil were to be fried. Leavened bread was also part of the sacrifice of thanksgiving, so you can imagine all the baking that went on before these offerings could even be brought to the tabernacle or temple! (Leviticus 7:11-13).

This was not to be done grudgingly or out of a sense of duty, but of the giver’s own free will (Leviticus 7:15). And yet, you can’t outgive God! (Ephesians 3:20). He commanded that the sacrifice of thanksgiving, once offered to the Lord, was to be eaten by the giver the same day, so he was rewarded for honoring God’s commandment (Leviticus 7:29-31)

It reminds me of the Easter basket my grandmother used to prepare before Resurrection Sunday, full of delicious dishes like roast lamb, colorfully dyed eggs, Kulich (a very tall coffee cake filled with candied fruits), and Pascha (a creamy sweet spread). She would bring it to the Russian Orthodox church the afternoon before the Easter vigil as an offering to be blessed, and after the candlelight procession and singing to celebrate Jesus Christ rising from the dead, we would bring it home and devour its tasty contents, all the while thanking God for His goodness!

Thanking God for a great work He has done through us (John 15:5) should not be a perfunctory acknowledgement of God’s blessing, but an active celebration, often involving song and music! At the dedication of the wall rebuilt in Jerusalem under Nehemiah’s leadership, all the Levites were summoned to keep the dedication with gladness, thanksgivings, singing, cymbals, psalteries, and harps, to sing songs of praise and thanksgiving to God (Nehemiah 12:27, 46).

The Psalms are replete with descriptions of voicing thanksgiving to God through joyful testimony of all He has done (26:7; 107:22), singing (69:30; 147:7), joyful noise (95:2), praise (100:4), calling on His Name (116:17), and praising Him on the harp (147:7).

The first Thanksgiving after I was saved, the church we joined had a service in which members were invited to stand and give a brief testimony of what they were most thankful for. I felt a very strong leading by the Holy Spirit to get up and thank Him for my salvation, yet my timidity won out, and I quenched the Spirit by remaining quiet. The next day I awoke with laryngitis and was unable to speak at all, which I took as a warning to obey God immediately when I clearly heard His voice calling me to use mine, to His glory! 

The prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah spoke of God’s plan to restore salvation to Israel, which would be accompanied by joy, gladness, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody (Isaiah 51:3) and “thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry” (Jeremiah 30:19).

Thanksgiving need not be loud and boisterous, but may be whispered quietly, as in prayer and supplication (Philippians 4:6; Colossians 4:2).  The apostle Paul encouraged us not only to encourage one another and worship Christ in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs sung aloud, but also to make melody in our heart to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19).

Not only on Thanksgiving Day or in harvest season, but every day until Christ comes again to rapture His children, may we honor Him and encourage one another with songs of thanksgiving, whether sung aloud or lifted up in our hearts!

© 2021 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

Don’t Fight Him!

 

I remember a several-day episode of major drama in the ballroom where we practice our dance ministry. Ladies would run out of the restroom screaming, and even gentlemen would gasp and lose their composure while leading a dance move. The source of all this commotion was a small lizard who had apparently sneaked in under the door and refused to leave, appearing unexpectedly at the most inopportune times.

Such lizards are common in Florida, where the sunlight, heat, humidity, vegetation and insects offer them an ideal environment. They blend well into their outdoor surroundings, where their intricately patterned colorations and interesting behaviors usually cause us to admire them as an example of God’s perfect and creative design (Genesis 1:24-25). But within the ballroom, this tiny intruder took on monstrous proportions and was described as “that humongous, nasty creature!”

My husband Richard opened the door and tried to show him the way, getting behind him and shooing him toward the threshold. But the little rascal obstinately stood his ground in the corner, then fled even further into the ballroom. Richard extended his hand to gently scoop him up and out the door, but he scurried away.

Finally Richard dropped an empty wastebasket upside down over the culprit so that he would be safely contained inside. His plan was to slide the wastebasket to the door, then to safely release the lizard outdoors where he could find the sunlight, water, and food he so desperately needed. But that rebellious lizard flung himself against the walls of the basket and even tried to escape through the bottom. In the resulting struggle, a tiny piece of his tail broke off, and when Richard finally brought him into the sunlight, the lizard seemed dazed and exhausted by his journey, resting peacefully in his hand for a moment before leaping to freedom.

“It would have been a lot easier on him if he hadn’t fought me the whole way,” Richard said.

It made me wonder how many times God says the same thing about us. Like Lot (Genesis 13:12-13;19) and Samson (Judges 14-16), we sometimes leave the provision of His presence to stray into places and situations where we don’t belong. Outside His will, we no longer fit harmoniously into the order He has designed for us as members of His body (Romans 12: 4-5; 1 Corinthians 12). Instead, we disrupt the peace and fellowship of others. We cut ourselves off from His life-giving love, safety, and blessings (Philippians 4:19), and strike out on our own as if we could supply our own needs once separated from His nourishing care (John 15:5).

But thankfully, God loves us too much to leave us in our desperate predicament (Isaiah 54:7-10; Luke 15:4-6). When we were His enemies, rebelling against His authority and even against acknowledging His existence, He pursued us to get our attention (Romans 5:8-10; James 4:4) and to show us His love (1 John 4:19).

Fighting God is pointless, for one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord (Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10). How much better to submit to His will now and live out His perfect plan for our life, than to realize too late the horrible mistake of rejecting Christ -- an error resulting in eternal damnation.

Saul of Tarsus was arguably the most zealous enemy of Christ, for he persecuted, imprisoned and even killed Christians (Acts 7: 57-Acts 8:1-3). Yet Christ appeared to Him on the road to Damascus, and Saul became Paul, entrusted by Christ with the mission of spreading the Gospel to the Gentiles and writing most of the New Testament (Acts 9:1-2).

Once we trust Christ as Savior and place our faith in His death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), He will not let us stray far from His will without intervening to call us back to Himself. Like the father of the Prodigal Son, He will be waiting for our return with His arms outstretched in love (Luke 15:20).

The good life the lizard was seeking lay just outside the ballroom door, yet in his ignorance and confusion he ran further away from it, fighting Richard’s rescue attempts with every fiber of his being. When the lizard strayed from his outdoor home into the ballroom, he was so far out of his element that he was viewed as a nuisance and a menace, rather than as one of God’s awesome creatures playing his part in the harmony of nature. When we are out of God’s will, we cannot glorify Him because others see our sin nature, and not His light shining through us (Romans 8:5-9).

Why don’t we listen to God when He speaks to us in a still, small, voice (1 Kings 19:12) and just obey Him, stepping back on the path lit by His Word? (Psalm 119:105). Why do we run further away from His fellowship, and that of other believers, into the darkness of sin? (2 Corinthians 6:14-18) Why do we wait for Him to use drastic measures to get our attention (Hebrews 12:3-11), as He did with Jonah? (Jonah 1-4)

How much better to respond to God's quiet whisper than to wait for Him to smack us on the head with a 2 X 4! When He resorts to such extreme methods, we usually have only ourselves to blame.

I felt sorry for the lizard as my husband slid him to safety in the wastebasket, because he couldn’t see where he was or where he was going and had no idea of his destination or fate. God made us in His own image (Genesis 1:27) with the ability to love, trust, and obey Him, yet sometimes we lack faith (Hebrews 11:6). We panic and fight back like the lizard, which only makes our situation worse.

When we can’t see Him at work and can’t hear His voice, we may think that He has abandoned us or that He no longer cares enough to see us safely home. Yet He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). 

Once we are His children and joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:35), and nothing can pluck us out of the double grip of Jesus and the Father (John 10:28). We cannot go where His love cannot rescue us (Psalm 139:1-12), and if we take even the smallest step on the journey home to Him, He will run to us with open arms (Luke 15:20).

Even if we can’t understand how He will see us through our distress, we should trust in His love and in His ability to bring about His perfect will for our lives (Romans 8:28). Don’t fight Him – trust Him!

Psalm 19:13: Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins.

“It is as if [David] said, ‘Keep me back, or I shall rush headlong over the precipice of sin.’ Our evil nature, like an ill-tempered horse, is apt to run away. May the grace of God put the bridle upon it, and hold it in, that it rush not into mischief. What might not the best of us do if it were not for the checks which the Lord sets upon us both in providence and in grace!
C. H. Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, March 16

© 2012 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives, edited and expanded