Giving Thanks to the Lord
It is good to be home! We had an enjoyable weekend but a busy one. It was really my first time to be out and about in a large group with a busy schedule. Debbie and I enjoyed the Western Conservative Summit, but it was taxing as well. By the end of today, I was ready to crash. But a little rest for me goes a long way.
I was good to see many friends, but it was also humbling to have many others I didn’t know greet me and to say, “we have been praying for you!” I owe a great debt of gratitude to the President Bill Armstrong of Colorado Christian University. He has had his leaders and staff praying for me from the onset of my illness.
I had the opportunity to greet President Armstrong and thank him for his personal support and that of so many at CCU. I even met an old high school classmate who is now employed at CCU who told me how she had been praying for me.
CCU is gaining national recognition for its achievements as an institution of higher education. I recall back in the mid 1990’s it seemed that the focus at CCU at the time was to gain status by just charging a high tuition and minimizing the “Christian” aspect of its history.
When Bill Armstrong became President (which is a story in itself. He was not looking for a job at the time.) He quickly placed his stamp upon the university which included a Christ-centered education and campus. I comment to him frequently that, “Bill Armstrong put the ‘Christian’ back into “Colorado Christian University.” Today when I said that he responded, “Jesus has done that!” Even though it has been a few decades since Bill Armstrong served as a U.S. Senator from Colorado he continues to be held in high esteem in Colorado and across the nation. He has set a great example to show that men of faith can serve with character and distinction and have the respect of a cross section of people.
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY… “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! …they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress….For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things….He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction…..Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! ” Psalm 107:1,6,9,20,21
When I consider the greatest of the Lord, yet the plague of idolatry among the Children of Israel, the contrasts between the living God and those idols of man are immense. Idols are worshiped in order to achieve personal gain. Yet one thing that is missing from the lips of those who worship idols are words that we find resonating in the Psalms like Psalm 107.
“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.” You don’t associate “love” and “wondrous works” with idols of wood and stone. You don’t associate these attributes with “wishing upon a lucky star” or allowing your life to be guided by your horoscope. You don’t associate these attributes with the philosophies of new age or world religions.
Our creator God, the all-powerful God is worshiped with thanksgiving for who He is and what He alone possesses in His nature and dealings with His creation.
The Lord hears us in our trouble and delivers, He satisfies our soul, He makes us complete, He brings wholeness to our being and keeps us safe. The focus in idolatry is on the Idol, but the living God we worship and to whom we express our thanks has His eye upon us. Our job is not to coerce His favor, but to respond to Him in relationship and to experience the “His wondrous works to the children of man.”