Praising Him!

It seems most everyone has a "blog" (or web log, an online diary) on the Internet nowadays. I had been thinking of creating my own and posting it on my web site, but didn't figure anyone would really be that interested in reading it. Then it occurred to me that I should go ahead and do a blog, making it a log of all the times the Lord blesses me, answers a prayer, or merely lets His power and presence be felt in my life.

Praise the LORD! O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures for ever! - Psalm 106:1

Granted, God is constantly doing all those things - each breath I take is a blessing - so I could never make note of them all. However, I do want to share as much as I can with others. Not to point out how much I am blessed, but rather to show just how good God is. As I hope that you can see by looking through the entries listed below, the Lord is faithful, trustworthy, and simply put: good.


April 27, 2005
Seeking an Unchanging God - Looking up even when I'm down.

March 11, 2005
Trustfully Tithing - The Lord's overflowing answer to prayer.


Seeking an Unchanging God
Though I have been dealing with it to one extent or another off and on throughout my life, on occasion over the last several years since I have been saved, I have gone through times of real depression. While at times the depression has been self-imposed through sin and the resulting guilt, there have been other instances where the only explanation seems to be a "chemical imbalance" of some type (i.e. something I have inherited from my now-passed-away family members). I can usually differentiate those times from the others by the ups-and-downs I experience over a short period of time: one moment I'm smiling, the next I feel like I could cry.

I learned early on in my Christian walk that just because I am saved (by God's grace) doesn't mean life is going to be smooth sailing. There are going to be peaks and valleys in life: times when I am overflowing with joy; other times when I feel alone and can barely hold my head up. The Lord allows both these high and low times for the same reason: to bring me closer to Him. The times of good cheer produce prayers of praise and worship, as well as provide encouragement and comfort when the "bad" times come around. The down times, while tough, help me seek the Lord above all other things and people. When I am at my lowest I look to Him the most. I am humbled and reminded that God is the sole source of every blessing and every moment I have. All I need is Him, and when I trustingly and whole-heartedly look to Him, He will not only draw near to me and bless me with His perfect peace, but handle everything else as well.

But when I am afraid, I will put my confidence in you.
Yes, I will trust the (perfect) promises of God.
And since I am trusting Him, what can mere man do to me?
Psalm 56:4

I can trust the Lord because He does not change. He is faithful. He is unwavering. I may change; the people around me may change; the world may change, but God does not. Every time I need Him (which is actually all the time) He will be there. Even when I think I can make it on my own, He is working "in the background," protecting me, surrounding me with the exact people and circumstances I need in order to not only be lifted out of whatever I'm dealing with, but to grow closer to Him through it all. This only helps me to trust Him more, to better serve Him, and to be able to (I pray) be a blessing to others.

If you want favor with both God and man,
and a reputation for good judgment and common sense,
then trust the Lord completely; don't ever trust yourself.
Proverbs 3:5

Whether you have depression or, like everyone in life, experience stressful and sometimes discouraging times, thoughts, and feelings, I hope and pray that when those opportunities come, God is your initial thought, not your last resort.
He is the Answer.


Trustfully Tithing
Though I have done better than I ever have in tithing to the Lord over the last year and a half, I still sometimes have trouble faithfully giving what God has asked of me when it comes time to pay bills (which I usually do the second or third day of the month). Well, due to a family vacation ending at the beginning of March, I ended up being a week or so behind submitting payments. As a result of that, I had an entire week to think and pray about how much I should tithe to my church, having planned on taking care of my bill on Sunday afternoon.

That Sunday I happened to be visiting a new church where as it turns out a guest speaker was delivering the message that morning. In direct answer to the prayers I'd been praying the prior week the sermon was about (yes, you guessed it): tithing. Needless to say the preaching done was exactly what I needed to hear and once I got home that afternoon I joyfully gave the Lord his portion of the paycheck he had blessed me with. But God wasn't done yet.

"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough
food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD Almighty,"I will open
the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great
you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you!"
Malachi 3:10

As I noted in my forums a few months back, late in 2004 I had to begin working a second job to help me "get ahead" money-wise. After finishing up that extra work about a month ago - and clearly seeing just how much the extra income helped - I knew I would need to look into getting another second job come summertime (at which time I would have about a month off from my main employer).

By His grace, and I feel sure because of my faithful tithe unto the Lord, five days after receiving God's answer to my financially-minded prayers, I was given the opportunity to increase the number of days I work each year at my current job (basically working the four weeks I would have had off during the Summer). Following my thankfully accepting the new schedule I soon realized that I would not only no longer need to find a second (and by comparison a lower-paying) job, but that I had essentially just received a 12% raise.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. - Psalm 23:5

I give a little; God (always) gives a lot. If I am faithful to Him, His blessings overflow moreso than ever. In spite of my apparent need to put every extra penny toward bills, if I just give to the Lord the small portion He asks, He will provide. All I have to do is trust in Him, and His power, grace, and love will be rained down upon me. I hope you can allow the Lord to do the same for you. God is good.

Addendum: (April 11, 2005)
At the end of March when I received my first paycheck after being "promoted," I discovered that month's check was nearly double the amount of my previous pay. I verified with my employer that no clerical error had occurred, eventially finding out that - due to an overlap in the pay schedule of my "old" and "new" jobs - I was being given additional compensation to account for the change. Plus, I also learned that my new salary is going to be even higher than expected!

God's continued abundant blessings have now allowed me to give even more back to Him, as well as pay even larger amounts towards the debts I was so concerned about putting extra money towards in the first place. The power and purpose behind the Lord's plans are simply amazing and very humbling. All I had to do was put things in His hands and trust in Him. God is so good. Glory unto Him!



Copyright © 2005 Joel Shoemaker