Jan 9 Cold Toast

January 9

Cold Toast

 

Ps 68:19 Blessed be the Lord,

who daily loadeth us with benefits,

I hate cold toast. Or I should say I used to hate cold toast. But now I don’t mind it at all. I had some this morning and it was pretty tasty. But then a lot of things have changed since my wife had a stroke.

She spent four days in the hospital and when released she had to use a walker. Fortunately it was a mild stroke which only affected her balance. But that impacted a great deal in our daily routine.

Now I am learning how hard women work taking care of the house; shopping, cooking, dishes, cleaning, dishes, laundry, and always dishes!

But I don’t really mind, because now I can do things for her. Fixing her breakfast may take some time and my toast may get cold, but who cares. I sort of like cold toast and lukewarm coffee. Actually what I really enjoy is caring for my wife and doing whatever I can for her. Eating cold toast is now a reward for me.

Some peoples reaction have been interesting. One person seemed a bit overwhelmed with the horrible tragedy they thought we were now suffering. I explained that we don’t feel like we are suffering at all. The bountiful blessings of the Lord are so great that a change in our health or circumstances are not comparable to our daily blessings.

It sometimes takes a life changing event for us to count our blessings. The beginning of a new year is a perfect time to do that.

Our meditation for today can be summed up in the old hymn “Count your Blessings, Name them one by one, count your many blessings, see what God has done.” The four lines of the song each address a different kind of problem we may face. For our devotion today we will look at what scripture says about each one.

The first verse says “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost

That was how Joshua felt in his complaint to the lord after the Israelites were defeated at the battle of Ai.

Jos 7:7 And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD,

wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan,

to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us?  

Joshua was discouraged. He told God as much in his complaint. Joshua did not see any way out of the situation he was in. They would all die.  God responded very directly and with little sympathy.

Jos 7:10 ¶ And the LORD said unto Joshua,

Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?

There were reasons for their defeat. Joshua was told what the problem was and he immediately set about to fix it. There was a sin problem and when it was taken care of Israel was again victorious.

When we are discouraged, despondent and see no solution we should turn to God as Joshua did. Huge problems cannot be resolved immediately. Just as a huge knot in a ball of twine takes time to unravel, so some problems take time as well. But we must start on the small things we can do, even if we do not know all the solutions, then God will provide answers for us to keep going.

The second verse talks about being heavy burdened.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?

 

The Bible says

Mt 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;

We need to submit our necks to the yoke of Christ, and

understand what His message is for us. 

How will taking on addition things like that help with our

burden? In two ways.

Mt 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light

First, to take Christ’s yoke we must take our burdens from

around our neck before we can take on His yoke. He tells

us his yoke is easy. Adding His yoke to our own heavy one

will not work.  

Secondly He tells us his burden is light so if your burden is

heavy, then it is self- imposed! If you think the Christian life

is a burden then you are doing something wrong. James

said it was a joyful thing.

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy

when ye fall into divers temptations;

 The third verse considers a common problem.

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Looking at what other people have is a sure way to be

envious, dissatisfied and discouraged. When we think

about how much other people have and how little we have

it opens the door to coveting. God said coveting is a sin.   

Ex 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house,…

Coveting is forbidden in what we know today as

“the Ten Suggestions” Do not think a million dollars would

make you happy. When someone asked John D Rockefeller

(the richest man in the world at that time) how much

money do you want? He responded, “Just a little more” 

 The love of money is the problem. I do not need to

explain how many people have ruined their lives gambling,

stealing, lying, etc. just to get more money.

Ps 73:2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone;

my steps had well nigh slipped. 3 For I was envious

at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

The fourth verse reminds us that no matter the size of the

problem, God is in control.

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Every verse has the same remedy. Count your blessings.

Those who name Christ as their savior are already blessed

beyond measure.  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.

For our meditation today just pause for a

moment and think of all the ways you are blessed.

Count your blessings, name them one by one…and then be

thankful.

Ps 68:19 Blessed be the Lord,

who daily loadeth us with benefits,

even the God of our salvation. Selah.