Trivia:
Can you imagine having a stuffed animal produced in honor of you? Well, believe it or not that was the case with Theodore Roosevelt. He was a honored by the creation of a bear called "Teddy", even to this day this stuffed toy is kept as the name of President Roosevelt.
In fact, this bear became so popular that Mr. Morris Mitctom began making this plush bear cub to be place in his main store window. The call was so great for this toy that he established a company solely making this bear cub toy. His company became the largest doll-making firm in the U.S. to the extent that even today the cub bear is continuing to be the most popular toy made.
Do you know which American swimmer is one of the most decorated Olympian of all time? Tom Jaguar; Michael Phelps; Nathan Adrian; Aaron Pierson? Make your guess!
Challenge:
Psalm 78:11-39 "They forgot what He had done--the great wonders He had shown them, 12 miracles He did for their ancestors ... in the land of Egypt.... 17 Yet they kept on sinning against Him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. 18 They stubbornly test God in their hearts, demanding the foods they craved. 19 They even spoke against God himself, ... 22 For they did not believe God or trust Him to care for them. 23 But He commanded the skies to open; ... 24 He rained down manna for them to eat; ... 25 They ate the food of angels! ... 27 He rained down meat as thick as dust--birds as plentiful as the sand on the seashore! ... 32 But in spite of this, the people kept sinning. Despite His wonders, the refused to trust Him. ... 34 When God began killing them, they finally sought Him, They repented and took God seriously. 35 Then they remembered that God was their rock, the God Most High was their redeemer. ... 38 Yet He was merciful and forgave their sins and did not destroy them all. ... 39 For He remembered that they were merely mortal, gone like a breath of wind that never returns."
This section of the Psalm recounts the many failures of Israel and yet the faithfulness of God to uphold them as His children. Just think, here is Israel without any army, without any resources to sustain them, (water, food, or direction( and yet God in His love calls down rain, brings to them their daily need of manna, and even brings to them miraculously birds to catch, eat, and enjoy, beyond their ability to number.
Then in verse 32 God tells us that "in spite of this, the people kept sinning" ... "the refused to trust Him." Not until God dealt with their sin by ending their lives through poisonous snake bites did they call out to Him and repent, and take God seriously, as more than just their cosmic bell hope.
Verse 35 was when they woke up to the graciousness of God for them, they realized that He was the only one they could depend on. "He was their rock", their redeemer, their only way to experience forgiveness, their merciful redeemer. He alone was able to able to heal, forgive, and lift them up from their frailty and illness, He alone gave them and us the ability to remain healthy on this earth.
Have you noticed this is the cycle that we many times fall into in our course of living? We begin to think that God owes us His intervention into our troubles even though many times these troubles are a product of our own rebellion and disobedience?
That rather than choosing to commune and fellowship with Him, we on a regular basis, get busy attempting to provide for our own needs and tend to forget the benefit that comes to our lives from daily going to Him for guidance to share in the fullfilment of provisions that we see and recognize as are our needs.
Aren't you glad that God recognizes our weakness and need for His provision in our life? That He rather than simply punishing us for our disobediences and walking away. Rather, he hears and sees our wrong response and our tendency to complain and ungaratefully express our dissatisfaction to Him, and regardless of these wrongs. He graciously recognizes our sinful humanness, and reaches out to care for us.
He forgives us of our sins, and then lifts us up reminds us of our standing with Him, "His chosen ones", and He holds back His anger and disappointment, and rather cleanses us, and fills our life with His Spirit. By this work Her gives back to us His empowerment to move past these failures and struggles, and He lovingly reaches out to us and draws us back into proper fellowship with Him.
SO GO WITH GOD for He alone is our Rock, He alone recognizes our weaknesses, He alone reaches into our lives by loving us when we are unlovely. He alone is capable of redeeming us from our failures and sins. Though we many times fail to obey Him and walk in harmony with His instructions, He none the less, lovingly lifts us up and sets for us a new way, in a new day.
As the song says it so well; Praise the name of Jesus, He's our rock, He's our fortress, He's our deliverer in Him will we trust. Praise the name of J-e-s-u-s.
Phelps