Pastor’s Corner

Trivia:

Well this fact as to how the 50 star U.S. flag was developed was true. It was developed as a class project of an Ohio high school class project. The student’s teacher gave him a B- for a grade if you can believe that. Bob Heft a student at Lancaster High School in Ohio. He actually made a model of his flag design to bring to class over two years before it was chosen to be the actual flag by President Eisenhower staff. Upon being selected as the actual flag his teacher, Stanley Pratt, raised his grade to an A. It took more than 12 hours to just cut out the 50 stars.

What does the word “yerk” mean? To laugh; To sleep; To write; To whip? This word was commonly used in Old Norse.

Challenge:

Psalm 111:2a How amazing are the deeds of the Lord!”

The writer begins with the Hebrew letter, for A - In Hebrew it is the letter aleph; it looks like an X in our translation. These letters were used in the early rabitical schools in order for their children to learn to read the Hebrew alphabet.

History tells us about the dedication of Solomon’s temple, that is found recorded in 2 Chronicles 5:1-14 and the fact that the elders of Israel, along with the leaders of each tribe, upon entering the temple, the glory of the Lord was so magnificent that the people fell to the ground. They couldn’t help but bow on their knees because everything was so glorious.

Aren’t you glad you’re not an unbeliever? Just think, When you witness a beautiful sunrise or eat a delicious meal, who can they thank? When you smell a glorious fragrance, who can they applaud for this glorious creation?

This verse is reminding us of the fact that God and His many works are so unfathomable in their beauty and greatness that we can’t stop in our adoration of His many glorious deeds.

Tuesday we drove home from our travels in Anaheim and on the returning travel through the back roads (Anaheim Hills) we were overwhelmed with the beauty, of the trees, foliage, mountainous terrain, the homes that were designed to accentuate the natural surroundings. After the rains of the past week we were overwhelmed with the beauty of all of the surroundings. We couldn’t help but experience just a bit of the wonder of God’s creation and the development that the architects had put into the development of these magnificent homes and surroundings.

In the same way as we travel through the Old Testament we are reminded of God’s architecture of history. Even the times that Israel disobeyed God and yet He intervened the evil that godless men were attempting to bring harm to the Jewish people. The fact that these difficulties caused the nation to draw close to God for only He could save them from these harmful attempts by wicked men to bring destruction to them.

As we look back in our own lives we are reminded of the many times that we could have experienced harm, BUT GOD, intervened and brought blessings, as the saying is spoken, “Beauty from ashes”. Our faithful Lord has promised to minister these wonders in our lives, if we will but learn this lesson. To joy in saying “How amazing are the deeds of the Lord!”

SO GO WITH GOD for He has amazing and wonderful things that’s He has in mind for you. Those times of heartache are meant to build character and strength into your life. Unfortunately, they can only bring these amazing qualities into our lives if we learn to daily give thanks to Him for these hardships. Are they easy lessons? No way! They are heart wrenching, and soul stirring, but they have as their end; blessing, and the development of confidence and courage to be instilled into our lives.

As I look back I can still hear my dad say, “You know son, this task seems to be almost impossible but when we finish this difficulty we’ll be filled with joy in the end.” When we hauled all of those bales of hay into the barn, or cut up all of the wood for the stove, or shoveled all of the coal into the trailer, He was right!

That winter when we fed the cattle and they chewed on that fescue so joyfully, and as we sat around that pot belly stove for warmth in that 0 degree night, or when mom cooked our dinner on the coal burning stove, then we were glad for all of that effort that we had invested back many months earlier.

Remember the amazing deeds that our Patient, Loving Father has poured into your life. Though it wasn’t an easy thing to struggle through, He has many blessings to build into your life through this struggle today. My friend, Joy in these difficult times for tomorrow will be rich and fulfilling. As dad would say, “Just you wait and see son, its like money in the bank.”