Monday Morning Devotion-March 30, 2020
Your Next Blessing
One of them when he saw that he was healed came back praising God in a loud voice°Jesus asked, were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give thanks except for this Samaritan? Luke 17:13, 17-18.
When will your next blessing come from the Lord? I guess that is a legitimate thing to wonder in these trying times of world crisis caused by the evil coronavirus. But, a better question to ask is have you thanked Him for past blessings received?
Mark Batterson says that he tries to live by a little maxim: "Whatever you don't turn into praise turns into pride." He explains further: "There are no exceptions, which means there is no alternative. One of the simplest ways to position ourselves for future blessings is by praising God for past blessings! In fact, we're not ready for the next blessing until we have adequately thanked God for the last one!
According to the Talmud which is the central text of Jewish learning: If you enjoy something without saying a blessing, it's as if you have stolen it. "A man embezzles from God when he makes use of this world without uttering a blessing."
In his on-line devotion Batterson asks: "How many little blessings have you shoplifted? How many big blessings make you guilty of grand larceny? The way we make restitution is by recognizing that every good and perfect gift comes from God. Anything less is embezzlement."
Saying a blessing is a natural way to thank and praise God. These don't have to be elaborate and full of fancy phrasing. The important thing is that they come from the heart.
Batterson says that an observant Jew says a bare minimum of hundred blessings per day. These run the gamut of the human experience. They may consist of a bookend blessing---before and after---the meal. May even utter a blessing during a meal for a taste or smell. May also bless God for a new day, a new article of clothing and a new experience. And whenever they experience something pleasurable, it translates into praise.
At our house we always say a blessing before we partake of a meal. We do this even before we eat in a restaurant. TLS and I have taught our little Ellee, now just 4 years old, to say the blessing. Sometimes she says it so quickly it is hard to understand. But we know that God hears and understands and maybe even smiles down on those sweet blessings.
Batterson says his family has four cardinal points on their compass: These four values are---gratitude, humility, generosity, and courage. They are not unrelated because our generosity will rise or fall to the level of our gratitude.
"A wide variety of well-substantiated studies have found that gratitude increases patience, decreases depression, replenishes willpower, and reduces stress. It doesn't just lengthen life; it improves the quality of life."
Batterson adds: "If you want a good night's sleep, don't count sheep. Count your blessings."
Where have we heard that before? Remember the 1954 Movie: White Christmas?
Bing Crosby sang:
"When I'm worried and I can't sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings.
When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings."
We read the story of the ten lepers in Luke 17 and marvel at how much ingratitude is displayed there. Getting healed from leprosy was huge. It was a major big deal. As pointed out in The Life Application Bible: "People who had leprosy were required to try to stay away from other people." (Obviously social distancing as a protective measure for society didn't just come about with the coronavirus.) "A leper would also have to announce his presence if he had to come near someone. Sometimes leprosy went into remission. If a leper thought his leprosy was gone, he had to present himself to a priest who would declare him clean. Jesus sent 10 lepers to the priest. They responded in faith. And Jesus healed them on the way. Is your trust in God so strong that you act on what He says even before you see evidence that it will work?"
Here's the deal. Jesus healed 10 lepers from this dreaded disease but only one returned to thank Him. Even though the nine showed an appalling lack of gratitude for this miracle they all were healed.
LAB points out: "Only the thankful man learned that his faith had played a role in his healing and only grateful Christians grow in understanding God's grace. God does not demand that we thank Him but He is pleased when we do so and He uses our responsiveness to teach us more about himself."
In a sermon series title "Mountains Move" Mark Batterson challenged his church members to pray the bravest prayer they could pray. He said that by bravest prayer he meant a prayer you could hardly believe God for because it seems impossible. It often could be a prayer that you've prayed a hundred times that hasn't been answered, but you pray it one more time anyway.
Batterson had been plagued since youth with asthma. He had many middle-of-the-night attacks, some of which ended up in the hospital. He had prayed for healing from this hundreds of times. So, to honor what he was asking his congregation to do he bravely prayed again for healing. Since he prayed that prayer this one more time, he has not taken a puff off of that inhaler again. He was healed after a span of forty years of suffering with asthma.
What would happen if each one of us, every day, first praised God and gave him thanks for our blessings, even to the point of falling asleep at night counting our blessings? And along the way each day, in faith, we fervently prayed for God to protect us and wipe out this coronavirus disease that is plaguing the world?
Prayer: Dear God you are so faithful to hear and answer our prayers. We praise you for all your blessings big and small. And now it is our fervent prayer that you will eliminate this dreaded virus and help us to learn from this how to honor you more and better protect your creation. Amen!