I'm going to try to do these two posts each week or so; Miscellaneous Monday and Thankful Thursday. Even in this time of having to live a bit differently, because of the pandemic, there is still
so much to be thankful for. No matter what is going on in our world these words are still true:
"This is the day that the LORD has made; let us
rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24.
The sun still rises and sets because God is still faithful and in control. In Jeremiah 33 God even uses the sureness of day and night as a sign that His covenant to Israel will not be broken.
So, here is what my thankful thoughts are for today...How Much More... A few years ago I did a Bible study in which five "recalibrating" questions were presented. These questions were based on ones that God asks in the Bible. The very last question was How much more? This question is posed by Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount; recorded in Matthew 7.
"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father who is in heaven give
good things to those who ask him! ~ Matthew 7:11
In Luke 11, Jesus, after teaching the disciples how to pray, tells us just What that gift is...
"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! ~ Luke 11:13
An adorable picture recently reminded me of the greatness of that gift of the Holy Spirit and just "how much more" God truly does love us.
While flipping through a website I saw the picture below...
I wondered if the picture was real so I did a bit of digging. This is, in fact, a real picture of a tiny harvest mouse asleep in a flower. According to an article that Ranger Rick magazine had on harvest mice, "These mice are no bigger than an adults thumb. They are the tiniest rodent in Europe" One photographer who has several pictures of these tiny mice wrote "The mice love the smell of the pollen and climb inside the flowers to eat the stamen, often falling asleep inside the flower." ~Miles Herbert. How very much in character with who He is for God to provide not only such a beautiful and comfortable place for the tiny mouse to rest but also have it be one of their favorite places.
Going back to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount we see how that Jesus Himself reminds us to look at how He cares for nature.
"But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and
tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you,
O you of little faith?" ~ Matthew 6:30
Notice again His use of the words "much more". The greatness of God's love for us is something we can only understand so much, this side of heaven, yet He proved how much more He loves and cares for us by sending Jesus to die on the cross so that we can have the greatest gift of all....His presence continually with us...through the Holy Spirit in us. How much more we truly are provided and cared for as His Spirit in us guides, works and teaches. How much more we can rest knowing that He is here with us. I'll end with a quote from the devotional I'm currently working through. It's an "older" book titled "Behold Your God" by Myrna Alexander; the study is a wonderful look at the attributes of God. In the chapter titled "God is All-Powerful" she reminds us that
"it is just as easy for God to speak a universe into being as it is
for Him to provide you with a needed new coat. It is no more
difficult for God to transform a person characterized by hate into a
disciple of love than it is for Him to get you through a particularly
hectic day effectively and peacefully. There are no bounds to God's effortless power."
How much more! Thank you Lord for the greatest gift; the sacrifice of Jesus that we might have the Holy Spirit...Your constant presence with us. And thank you Lord for the reminders you place throughout all of creation of how much you love and care for what you have made and how much more precious we are to you!
"From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the LORD is to be praised!"
Psalm 113:3
