For the Lord is always good. He is always loving and kind, and his faithfulness goes on and on to each succeeding generation.
Psalm 100:5 TLB
Psalm 100 is opened with a request from the writer to ALL believers: “Applaud God..” How? How can we show applause and be genuine, within our friendship circles? Heart-i-tude. Our hearts understand what we are not always able to say. Why? What’s so difficult about applause to our savior? Because the 100th Psalm is personal even intimate and, requires transparency in front of friends. Gratitude expresses thankfulness for an undeserved gift. As hard as we work or are quietly committed to doing right- didn’t get what we deserve. Our achievements, survival, failures, sacrifices led us to a victory- even a lesson. Acknowledging the journey is gratitude. Acknowledging events of journey, the ‘behind the scenes’, begins our Heart-i-tude of Gratitude. Transparency. God calls us His own; however, we are often lackluster in our Applause. We can be absentminded. Once again there is the space made to receive God’s Grace. The writer of Psalm 100 encourages us to dig deeper, think harder, be resilient and unrelenting about our Thankful expressions because out of Thankfulness comes testimony. Testimonies are rooted in Truth. Our truthful expressions of Gratitude move each generation- not our opinions. Applauding God in our social settings is vulnerable but sharing truth’s about the outward blessing while acknowledging the ‘behind the scene struggle helps us maintain a Heart-i-tude filled with Gratitude.
“Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.”
II Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
The reality is God chose us first; whether life’s circumstances or another person’s choices have impacted our lives; He chose humanity. We are still here; therefore, we have purpose. Centering our heart within gratitude allows us to possess a ‘Heart-i-tude‘ filled with love for others because we understand our own need for space to fall apart, be ourselves, learn and moving past uncomfortable circumstances. The New Year and festivities present perfect opportunities to extend God’s Grace to our loved ones by giving space for them to express what’s gratifying in their own live(s). This tact may lead to awesome conversations about Christ: Healing, Deliverance, Peace of Mind, even accomplishments amidst struggles. In a just world, we would ALL pay a penalty for something; yet Grace, MERCY, relieved us the burden of wrongdoing, wrong living, misguided assumptions, even a bad attitude that manifested as inappropriate behavior. Life happens to us all at some point or another; so, understanding the space we have received is vital to extend towards others as they search for their better self. We never get what we truly deserve- even though our egos do not always process this concept.
“I will sing about your loving-kindness and your justice, Lord. I will sing your praises! I will try to walk a blameless path, but how I need your help, especially in my own home, where I long to act as I should.”
Psalm 101:1-2 TLB
Our mindset is important- especially in the season of so many celebrations that cause us to interact with loved-ones. Soon the Year 2023 will no longer exist and 2024 will begin there is nothing wrong with using this time as a planned Reset- even a Restart. Reminding ourselves about expressing Gratitude. Treating others with dignity while giving space to extend God’s Grace- even when ‘just desserts’ is believed a well-deserved outcome. Psalm 101 is a precursor to King David’s reign over all of Isarael not just Judah. David had been Anointed King on three separate occasions. Yet, during this ‘in-between’ moment, he was Judah’s King waiting to be declared King for all Israel, he prepared to be King by focused prayer on his own heart, desires and attitude. David was in between roles. Uncertainty may have been within him, but it didn’t rule him. The soon to be King David of Israel attempted to plan, process and pre-determine responses and set standards expressing how he would lead. We are able to do the same within our own households, personal dispositions and reactions to social interactions- even how to respond to challenges within professional settings.
How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.”
II Corinthians 5:21 MSG
God’s Love for us is everlasting and grace is extended to generations just based upon our gratitude and confidence in Christ. We’ll be gathering often over the next month and let’s set the atmosphere gratitude, based in the reality, God’s Truth, of our personal shortcomings. God’s Mercy and Grace exist within our lives and hearts. We get nothing of what we deserve; yet all that God’s Grace establishes.
Friends, stay encouraged. And for all that I understand about walking through uncomfortable circumstances- I absolutely know God shows up! So, just keep getting up, dreaming up, being present and walking!
God’s absolute best to you and yours this Holiday season- and a Festive Blessed New Years.
