A Light to Future Generations

 

Recently, as I have been doing my Health Rider in the morning, I have been listening to a CD by 4HIM...one of my all-time favorite groups. I just can’t get away from the songs, including the one “For Future Generations.” The line in the song “to be a light for future generations” keeps running through my head and heart, reminding me to think about my responsibility. We are grateful for the “lights” in our past who have taught us by their examples and words to love the Lord Jesus and live for Him.

 Psalm 145:4 gives us a direction: “One generation will praise Your works to another and declare Your mighty acts.”

Psalm 78:4 - “...Showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He has done...

Vs. 6 - That the generation to come might know them...who should declare them to their children

Vs. 7 - THAT THEY MIGHT SET THEIR HOPE IN GOD and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.”

These are sobering thoughts about our responsibility as adults...whether having children or grandchildren, nieces or nephews, neighbors. If we do not tell them about this mighty God, to quote the song, “Will they have the strength to stand?” In today’s culture, we all need that firm foundation of God’s Word, His might, His strength, His salvation to help us to stand when difficulties and temptations come. 

But how do we do this? How do we live as “a light for future generations”? To quote another 4Him song: “Pull back your bow, let love go, aim straight for the heart.” Brant Hanson (Christian radio): “No matter how strong the conviction or cause, love people more.”

We can’t make them believe, but we must be careful we don’t give them a reason NOT to believe. We must pray for the Holy Spirit to give us love for our family and friends and discretion to know how to live our lives as good examples and how to speak to them about the Lord. Sometimes it is just allowing the Holy Spirit to do the work that we cannot do. God does say in Nehemiah 9:20 that He gives “His good Spirit” to instruct us.

Our prayer should be for our children and grandchildren, as Moses said in Deuteronomy 5:29: “Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!” 

And one of my very favorite verses to pray for my family (Isaiah 41:20):

“That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this!” I always want them to know that it is the Lord Who is watching over and caring for them.

My heart’s desire is to be a “light for my future generations” so they will know and love the Lord Jesus and will pass that message on to those who will come in the future.

--Maylou Holladay

In Everything Give Thanks!

I love fall!  (Though I love Christmas, too, I hate the rush through fall.  Remember when the Christmas season, even shopping, didn’t start until after Thanksgiving?)  I love the crunch of dry leaves, the nip in the air (I can never decide whether to enjoy the nip or wear a light jacket), and the fall decorations—sweater pumpkins, dried okra bouquets, acorns and pinecones.  My favorite color is orange, so I love seeing the pops of orange on other people, too.  I think it shouldn’t need to be said, but I will say it anyway.  I love Thanksgiving and the emphasis on expressing gratitude.  

To thank is a transitive verb; it needs a direct object to receive its action.  I grieve for those who do not have God to thank.  I have two plaques which say, “Give Thanks.”  You can buy magnets, plaques, shirts, banners, which all direct you to give thanks.  I have a pillow downstairs which says, “He fills my mouth with good things,” Psalm 103:5.  There is the object:  God is the source of all good things in my life.

I was recently browsing through Southern Living of April, 2022, when I spotted an article entitled “How to Keep an Attitude of Gratitude.” This Texas family started playing a game they called “Popcorn Thanks.”  Instead of playing the game only on Thanksgiving, they began playing it every day.  Natalie Chodniewicz says, “It’s been sort of a tradition.  It’s a habit in our lives, a daily part of our activities.  We do it before bed, at dinner, or in the car—talking about the good in our lives.”  She and her family must be believers.  They root their practice in Scripture, “Give thanks in all circumstances.” Natalie adds, “There’s been research analyzing thankfulness, and it’s been proven to make people happier, healthier, and more capable of handling hard times.  Those were all things that I wanted for my kids.”  Those are all things we want for ourselves and our families.  

Natalie has written a book for children entitled Popcorn Thanks. It personifies gratitude through a corn kernel named Popcorn Pearl and comes with a small knitted version of Pearl.  I plan to order this little book for the children in my life, but in the meantime. . . . 

One of my daughters recently sent me a Facebook list entitled “Thirty Day Gratitude Challenge.”  I am going through that list, especially at night before I fall asleep.

A person in my life, my friend who struggles and triumphs in the same ways I do.

A space in my house that makes me happy, my back deck where I feel as if I am swaying in a tree house

Something that makes me laugh, my four-year-old grandson who is a perpetual motion machine, when he sings and dances in a four-year-old frenzy

A person who is always kind to me, my neighbor across the street

A favorite smell, bread toasting in the oven

A favorite sight, the number of a family member or close friend showing up on caller ID

A favorite taste, savory chicken soup when I’m sick and nothing else tastes good, especially when brought by a friend or family member

A favorite way to spend time, an afternoon nap on the couch

A favorite book, read again late into the night, as if I don’t know how that plot twist will resolve 

I am working on my attitude of gratitude.  I have a very small blank book that I bought to record my thanks a long time ago. Unfortunately I only filled five pages. But now I’m working to fill it with my own “Popcorn Thanks.”

I Thessalonians 5:18, In everything give thanks.

Psalm 136:1, O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good.

Ephesians 5:20, Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS.

            ~~Faith Himes Lamb

Help Thanks Wow

Occasionally I pick up a book that I know I am not going to agree with on theological issues, but that has intrigued me on some level.  Here is an example.  The title is Help Thanks Wow.  The subtitle is The Three Essential Prayers.  The dust jacket says these three prayers are asking for assistance, appreciating the good we witness, and feeling awe at the world.

 

So the first is Help.  Looking at Scripture, asking for help is definitely part of prayer.

 

Philippians 4:6, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

 

Matthew 6:11, Give us this day our daily bread.

 

James 1:5, But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

 

So we say Help.

 

The second word is Thanks.

 

I Thessalonians 5:18, In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

 

Ephesians 1:16, I do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers.

 

Ephesians 5:20, Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.

 

Psalm 92:1, It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Thy name, O Most High.

 

I think this second word, Thanks, is the most difficult of the three because we are told to give thanks for everything.  I can give thanks for most things, but some things are difficult to be thankful for.

 

This third word, Wow, I think primarily should be used for God Himself, but also for the works of His creation, which cause us to praise Him. We have an awesome God. 

 

I Chronicles 29:11-13, Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth:  Thine is the dominion, O Lord, and Thou dost exalt Thyself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from Thee, and Thou dost rule over all, and in Thy hand is power and might; and it lies in Thy hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.  Now therefore, our God, we thank ‘Thee, and praise Thy glorious name.

 

Psalm 66:1, 2 and 5, Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; Sing the glory of His name; Make His praise glorious.  Come and see the works of God, Who is awesome in His deeds toward the sons of men.

 

Stand in awe with me.  Wow!

 

So here are my thoughts on Help, Thanks, and Wow.  I have meditated less on Wow than on the other two.  May I learn to include all three in my prayers.

 

 

~~Faith Himes Lamb

 

 

Imitators of God

 

As a person who has spent a lifetime in and around church, I find that I sometimes read and pass over a scripture passage without much thought. Recent events have helped me to slow down a bit and consider what God means by some of the things he tells us. Both Leviticus and I Peter contain verses that tell us that we are to be holy just as God is holy: “[L]ike the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior because it is written ‘You shall be Holy, for I am Holy.’”

Holiness is a tall order. How am I—a badly flawed human—to be like God? We all know it’s only through the blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. Those are good Sunday School answers, but they are good answers because they’re true, as a wise young person said to me this past week. We don’t want to slide too quickly over the profound idea that “it is God who works in [us] to will and to do his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). So, even though in my flesh I am decidedly not holy, as a child of God, with my sins paid for by Jesus, I possess his holiness. How am I, then, to conduct myself?

In Isaiah 48, God says that he is concerned about his “own name’s sake” (9). In other words, he has a reputation to uphold. In verse 11, he declares that he will not let his name be polluted. I, too, have a reputation to uphold, and so do you. If people know we are Christians, they expect a level of integrity that we are duty bound to display. This awareness has helped me walk away from volatile situations and think before I speak.

Other times call for moving forward instead of away. In our small group, our teacher, Burdette Burgen, made a statement this last week that stuck with me. I can’t recall the exact words, but the essence is that God always takes the first step toward us, initiating reconciliation and fellowship. We are admonished in Ephesians 5:1 to be imitators of God, and I immediately thought of a situation in my life in which I might need to take a first step toward an individual. So on Friday, I was able to do just that, resulting in what I hope is the beginning of a better relationship and improved outcome for this person.

It is sometimes said that you or I might be the only Bible some people read. Likewise, what people think of our God might be determined by our attitudes and actions. If the Holy God of the universe is protective of his reputation, we should also, as his representatives, guard our mouths and monitor our behavior, for in some situations, we stand in God’s place.

 

--Sherry Poff