Journeying with Mary toward Bethlehem: Advent Expectation

Mary expecting,

Her womb great with child.

Pregnant with her firstborn,

God’s Only Begotten Son.

Mary’s heart full of expectation:

She would be a mother!

What will it be like to give birth?

How will she rear the Son of God?

Soon to travel toward Bethlehem,

The city of David, Joseph’s ancestor.

How will the trip go?

Where will I deliver?

Expectation of good,

Mixed with apprehension.

She prepares for Bethlehem,

For the birth of the Christ child.

This Advent we join Mary

Along a bumpy road,

Many unanswered questions,

Yet hearts full of expectation.

These four weeks we move forward,

Co-traveling to Bethlehem,

Expectation of new life for each of us,

Opening ourselves afresh to New Birth!

© 2016 Glenn E. Myers

Thanksgiving: The Whole Earth is filled with Awe at Your Wonders!

What an opportunity we have to express our thanks to God on this Thanksgiving Day. We join people across the nation in awe of God’s goodness toward us. He has indeed blessed our crops and crowned the year with bounty!

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
    where morning dawns, where evening fades,
    you call forth songs of joy.

You care for the land and water it;
    you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
    to provide the people with grain,
    for so you have ordained it.
You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
    you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
You crown the year with your bounty,
    and your carts overflow with abundance.
The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;
    the hills are clothed with gladness.
The meadows are covered with flocks
    and the valleys are mantled with grain;
    they shout for joy and sing.

            -Psalm 65:8-13

Thank you, O God Eternal, for your goodness toward us, for your provision of food and clothing and shelter. We shout for joy and sing of your greatness and your kindness toward us. Thank you, O Lord. Amen.

2016 © Glenn E. Myers

Thanksgiving: Beholding God's Goodness

“Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

            -Psalm 34:8

From beginning to end, our God is pure good! God is good in the sense of always having our best in mind. He is good, wills good, and does good. 

As we read through the Psalms, we become impressed how often they declare God’s goodness. The Lord has good intentions: “For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, / And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You” (Psalm 86:5, NASB).

The Almighty does not withhold any good thing from those who seek him and obey him:

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
    from those who walk uprightly.

            -Psalm 84:11 (ESV) (see also Psalm 34:10)

The Lord blesses crops, giving food for all (Psalm 85:12). Moreover, the Almighty provides for all our needs: “For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, / And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good” (Psalm 107:9, NASB).

However, we often miss the Lord’s gifts. Preoccupied with activity and weighed down with cares, we walk right past the good things all around us. We fail to behold what the Almighty has given us.

A wonderful spiritual exercise is going through the day, spotting all the little manifestations of God’s goodness. I have sought to practice this many days over the past couple of years. In the morning see the Lord’s goodness in providing breakfast, causing the sun to rise, providing a job, surrounding me with a wife and many friends. Throughout the day I see the Almighty’s provision and care displaying his goodness toward me.

At bedtime, I think of 3 things for which I am grateful and express my thanks to the Lord. Then in the morning as my feet touch the floor, I begin my day by expressing gratitude for 3 more blessings.

The practice of looking for God’s goodness totally changes my perspective and attitude as I do so. This month of Thanksgiving is an excellent time for this simple but profound practice. I invite you to join with me in actively and intentionally beholding God’s goodness. Indeed, “The LORD is good to all, / And His mercies are over all His works” (Psalm 145:9)!

2016 © Glenn E. Myers

This series is Creation Proclaiming God’s Divine Nature, as Romans 1:20 declares, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.”

God of Autumn Abundance!

“They feast on the abundance of your house;
    you give them drink from your river of delights.”

            -Psalm 36:8

Every autumn Sharon and I love to take drives. As well as enjoying all of the beautiful colored leaves gracing the countryside, we notice the fields ripe for harvest. This year the Lord has blessed us with ample rain, and the crops are rich and full.

Autumn speaks to us of abundance. It speaks of God’s provision. What a wonderful picture of the Lord’s forethought and care we get each fall as the fields turn golden, ripe for harvest!

Indeed our God is gracious and giving. The Almighty is benevolent, supplying food for creatures great and small. Psalm 145:9, 15-16 declares:

The Lord is good to all;
    he has compassion on all he has made.

The eyes of all look to you,
    and you give them their food at the proper time.
You open your hand
    and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

As we drive through the countryside this year, I want not only to see the bean fields, golden for harvest, I want to see God’s hand of abundance touching the earth. Not only does the Almighty provide food for us, he provides for all our needs.

The more we truly see that abundance—physically perceiving it and mentally comprehending it—the more we cannot help but praise our God. Not only has our Creator given us a beautiful season of fall, he has lavishly supplied all that is essential and more. Our God is a God of Autumn Abundance!

2016 © Glenn E. Myers

This series is Creation Proclaiming God’s Divine Nature, as Romans 1:20 declares, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.”