Monday 1/11/16 The Big Trip (24)

Dear Father in Heaven: Thank You for another great day. Thanks for blessing us again and again. Thanks for watching over us. Please, Lord, help our Matthew. Thanks for trusting me to work for You. Please watch over Your people, Lord. Please  help me with the message of today and help me to get it dispatched. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.

Dear brothers and sisters, God is so good. Today as I sit looking out my window from the computer room to our backyard, I could watch the cats play, those ones that nobody wants and turned them loose. Yes, we feed them and all  have been picked up and fixed. Walking right into the yard, seven beautiful deer that did not get shot in hunting season. I also want to alert people to this in our area. Tomorrow the weather service is calling for a fast dusting of snow, a snow squall that can cause a white-out. IT WILL ALSO FREEZE THE ROAD. Please be alert. When I was at Central Dauphin School District, I would try and tell people that the first inch is the slippery inch. Ask any firefighter or first responder how soon the call comes in after the snowflakes fly. With that said, let me get right to the message today. God just gave me this one and i know why. Please read on!!

Monday: January 11, 2016: The Big Trip (24)

Robbing God

Brothers and sisters, last week I called in an order of Bibles, four outreach Bibles and four Read-N-Grow Bibles. We order these through Jimmy Swaggart Ministries. Later that day God kept planting on my mind that we could do better than that. So later in the day I called in another order for the same number of Bibles. Today our electrical bill arrived from our power company. I opened it to pay it and it said payment due, None!!! None, zero, zip. The price of electricity is coming down and our budget was way overpaid. I will give the glory to God. I was faithful to Him and He was faithful to me. Here is a good scripture to cover what happened to us.

Malachi 3:8-12 New International Version (NIV)

8 "Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob Me. But you ask, 'How are we robbing you?' In tithes and offerings." 9 You are under a curse - your whole nation - because you are robbing Me." 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty. (NIV)

Brothers and sisters, we are never to put our Lord to a test, except on one thing, our giving. But it must be done in faith. Right now there is a lottery going on nationwide that is going to be worth over one BILLION dollars. I wonder if there are more prayers going to our Father in heaven than most times. Last week I purchased a ticket for this powerball, and before it was drawn I told God I was sorry for wasting that money on gambling. I wonder how many people are praying something like this. Dear Father, if you let me win, I will give you 20%, and maybe God said back something like this, funny, you have a good job and don't give me anything now.

If you tithe and give to God off the top, not always will your blessings come in the way of money. Look around you and see all the things you have. We are blessed, are we not? God tells us that He will bless us so much we will not be able to store it. And He will. I know because it has happened to me and a lot of people I know. I think you get the picture. I am thrilled with what God provides for us. However, like most people, I seem to just want more. We have reached the time in life that we need to downsize, not get more. However, if you do win the billion, you could buy us a cup of coffee.

Maybe we need to sing to figure out what we have already. Help me here.

Count Your Blessings

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed;
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost;
Count your many blessings,name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
(we have a house and lots of food.)

Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Count your blessings, see what God hath done.
Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

Are your ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings; every doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by.
(Think here of the Cross that Christ carried.)

Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Count your blessings, see what God hath done.
Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

When you look at others with their LANDS AND GOLD,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold.
Count your many blessings MONEY CANNOT BUY;
Your reward in Heaven nor your home on high.
(Money cannot buy salvation, it is free.)

Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Count your blessings, see what God hath done.
Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

So amid the conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, GOD IS OVER ALL.
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort, give you to your journey's end.
(Know here that God is in control.)

Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Count your blessings, see what God hath done.
Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

Dear Father in Heaven: We who are so blessed just need to really count what our blessings are, and Father, our greatest blessing comes to us in the form of Jesus on the Cross and His life-saving blood. Please help us never to forget our greatest blessings along with all the others. I love You. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.

Now go forth and serve our Lord Jesus, and sing as you count your blessings. Love ya.

Pastor Dan

Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Count your blessings, see what God hath done.
Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.