Yom Ham-i-shi, Shevat 20, 6001 – January 19, 2017

Thanks From The Depths

So many times I have joined in with my brothers and sisters in praise and worship, giving thanks to our Father for the many great things He has done in our lives. This is good. We are to give thanks. A friend of mine has recently been experiencing what some of us would call the depths of despair. What he told me late yesterday is that he is thankful for the despair, because it caused him to slow down and appreciate life, drew him closer to God than he had ever been, and helped him to finally see just how self centered he was being.

In the past when he would wake up in the morning, his mind would begin running 100 miles an hour. He finally saw that as he allowed himself to think on those things, he was putting himself into those situations, as if he was in control of them. But the scriptures seem to indicate otherwise.

Psalms 63:1O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

Here the Psalmist seems to indicate that when we rise, early, we seek God, like the thirsty in a dry and thirsty land. Having spent time in the desert, I can get a clear image of this. My friend tells me he is working on this, because he wants to surrender and place the Father first in everything. Not in the ways that he has in the past, most often out of some wrote tradition, but with a true sense of need. In that he finds he can recount the great things that God has already done for him, and in that he can express his thankfulness.

This seems good to me as well. Today, let’s all slow down for a moment, get quiet, and spend time with our Father, giving thanks.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are King! Praise the name Yahuah! By Your mercy and grace, we might be Your lights in this place. Send us today Your overwhelming abundant provision. Forgive us our transgressions of the Law (sin), as we forgive those that have transgressed the Law (sinned) against us. Cleanse our hearts and minds. Heal our loved ones. restore unto Your people one hundred times one hundred times one hundred times one hundredfold all that has been taken or held back in any way, and the more besides. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.