I prepared two cups, filling them to the brim, one with tea and one with hot chocolate.

I prepared two cups, filling them to the brim, one with tea and one with hot chocolate.

With all the snow we’ve had recently, and almost no melting, the driveways and the roads have been pretty slick.
“Remember to extol his work….” Job 36:24
Picture: studded snow tire.
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.” Hebrews 13:15
Hebrews 13:15
Once upon a time there were two people living in a foreign land who got a package from Germany.
When they went to the post office to pick it up, the customs official opened it and took out two packets of tea,
the kind of tea that they really liked but wasn’t available locally.
Smiling, he said, “You can’t have these; customs regulations!”
And with that he put the tea into his desk drawer.
Now, how should these two people react to such random injustice?
There are only two basic possibilities: to complain or to praise, and we all know which is correct.
These two people took a moment to pray, “Lord, thank you for all the times tea did come to us and customs let it through.
Thank you that this time you chose to have it otherwise.”
Then those two people left the post office with light hearts and good thoughts and had a really good day.
Praise is a wonderful responsibility that God has given us. It keeps us dwelling in the Truth,
and, as you know, Jesus said in John 8:32, “…the truth will set you free.”
Praise sets us free from the nasty so we can dwell on the nice,
as Paul pointed out in Philippians 4:8.
Very often we seek God’s will in certain matters, but more often we forget God’s will for all matters: Praise.
“…give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1Thes. 5:18).
A prayerful response to this verse we’ve looked at:
“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4
Prayer: “Forgive me, Lord, for seeking these things elsewhere,
wanting things now, my way, for my reasons.
Forgive me for these idols, the things I demand to be happy.
Help me instead to turn my eyes to you,
to lift up thoughts and feelings, desires and fears to you
so in the light of your presence Truth may rule, reality may reign
and my heart may be united in living for you alone.
‘
Put your desires in my heart.
May your Spirit unite my heart to fear your name.
Then I will praise you, O Lord my God,
with all my heart and glorify your name forever more.
For, you have redeemed my soul from the pit,
from the grave, from the lowest hell.
You are worthy of trust, of obedience, of worship, of glory.
May be that in my life in my life; may this overflow on those around me
because you are there. Amen.”

You, Lord Jesus, are in every way the delightful God:
there is no repugnant,
ugly,
unjust,
impure,
evil,
wrong aspect
to your nature, your character, your thoughts or your actions.
In You all is
good,
pure,
loving,
just,
positive,
gracious,
righteous,
wise
and perfect.
You are all that our hearts ever desired,
you are beyond what we could conceive,
you are the fulfillment of every positive dream.
We are made to be with you,
to find in you alone
meaning,
fulfillment,
joy,
peace,
grace,
help,
direction,
safety,
wisdom
and goodness.
We praise you for the wonder of your being,
the wonder of being your child
and the wonder of walking with you every day.
Picture: God’s perfection

“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4
To delight in you, Lord, in one sense is so easy, for in every aspect you are wonderful beyond conception.
You made all, you know all, you hold all together.
You know the make up of every atom, the information in every DNA molecule,
the workings of every cell in the brain, the condition of every artery, the reproduction of every cell—
nothing escapes your attention and knowledge.
You have control of all events, balancing perfectly the genuinely responsible choices of billions of people
with the specific plans you have for each individual, each moment, each generation, each epoch—
and at the right time you will bring about the end of history, of time and of evil.
You are perfect in your wisdom, perfect in your love, perfect in your justice, perfect in your mercy, perfect in your timing.
You are the God of
grace and justice,
righteousness and mercy,
truth and love,
Heaven and Hell,
light and mystery,
purity and punishment, f
orgiveness and vengeance—
each in its time and place.
And as we delight in you, our Great Loving God, you put YOUR desires in our hearts and then fulfill them.
The greatest of which is the desire to know you more!
As the author of Psalm 73 said, “Whom have I in heaven but you, and earth haas nothing I desire besides you.”

The 7th and FINAL qualities of victims and victors.

The Sixth qualities of victims and victors
Here is a description of a victim’s thinking and where it takes him:
“When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you.” Psalm 73:21,22
The Fifth qualities of victims and victors
A VICTIM sees other people as the enemy.,
This ties in with wanting to blame someone
and often results in arguments, meltdowns and sometimes fights.
As it says in James 4:1,2 “What causes fights and quarrels among you?
Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you quarrel and fight.
You do not have because you do not ask God.” The focus is on people who are blocking your way, not God.
This is exactly what Satan wants; he is called” the accuser of the brethren,”
and when we listen to him, we, too will accuse those around us.
In contrast, the VICTOR sees that the real enemy is Satan.
He understands that it is Satan is using people against him,
and that if he fights people, he will lose; but if he fights Satan, he will win.
As it says in James 4:7, “Submit yourselves, then, to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Part of this is learning to use the armor of God against Satan.
You can learn more of how to do this from this book pictured below,
available on Amazon.

Here are the FOURTH qualities of a victim and a victor.
