Give Thanks In All…
Author: Dan
Greetings from Tucson
Welcome to ShalomWalk. A place of respite for the inquisitive mind and the weary heart.
I'm Dan Craig, my I co-writer is Beth McKean. We are both retired professionals, we're both Christians, and we both enjoy writing about things that matter to us. We want to share things that we think about, as the days come and go. The blog will be comprised of; (1) single page essays on a wide range of topics derived from reading scripture; (2) recipes from Pepper with a story behind each recipe; (3) other kinds of useful information for running a household; (4) Photographs from Pepper and original instrumental music from Dan.
Our blog focus. By wisdom our house is built on a sturdy foundation; by understanding the roof brings comfort from the heat of life; by knowledge the rooms are filled with grandeur. As a person thinks in their heart, they become in real life (implied in Proverbs 24:3-4 and Proverbs 23:7).
May God bless you and keep you safe in His heart. May God bring you his truth and peace. Amen.
The Goodness of God.
It was my observation while creating this essay that I smiled a lot. The goodness of God is an amazing theme to consider. Yet it is difficult to find the language to define what it means for us.
In a world of troubles — learning God is kind, cordial, benevolent, and full of good will towards his creation — is remarkably peaceful. Elohim is extremely tenderhearted; he is full of sympathy. In his goodness he presents a strong cheerful outlook, which is frank (respectful) and friendly. Imagine a world leader taking the time to help you clean your backyard, cook dinner for you, and help your children with their homework – all without us asking for help. This is God’s nature. He is inclined to be helpful.
Blessings follow Elohim wherever he hangs out. If we accept the fact that Elohim is always in all places, blessings happen everywhere all the time. He takes extreme pleasure filling our life with blessings from him. His goodness is the force behind all our blessings. If God was not the definition of goodness, I doubt we would be able to see a distinction between kindness and cruelty, mercy and justice, or love and hate.
Psalms 100:5 says — For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations [NIV]. Goodness is for all people, God’s goodness is infinite, perfect, eternal, has always been present in God. His immutable nature means his goodness never varies. He will never be more good than he is now, he will never be less good than he is now. He does not have favorites; he brings the sun and the rain to all of us. The cause of his goodness is found in his essence. His goodness is offered to all without regard to compensation (reward for good behavior).
James 3:17 says — wisdom that comes from heaven is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere [NIV]. Goodness of God is not based upon human conduct, not even in the most pure or best conduct. Rather, goodness is based upon God’s actions, God’s wisdom offered freely to all.
Isaiah 41:13 says — For I am the Lord your God [who] takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you [NIV]. Goodness overcomes fear. Sin brings us to a timid and self-conscious state of mind. We have a history of rebellion against God that drives fear. We are conditioned to embrace the fear rather than the blessings from God. We find it difficult to trust the goodness and kindness of God; we are unsure that the past will not be held against us. What do we do?
Psalms 145:8-9 says – The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made [NIV]. God’s goodness is absolute. Jesus walked on earth that He might show us the true nature of God. He taught us about the Goodness of God. From Jesus we learn how God acts toward people. Our penitent hearts encounter God’s mercy and goodness; the crushed will find His kindness overwhelming. The frightened will find shelter and forgiveness; for the lonely, they will find companionship.
The goodness of God is infinite, an overflowing font, yet God will never force His hand upon us. When we arrive as the prodigal, the feast is put into motion. The legalists slink about, seeking to disable this goodness offered, but the Father — he smiles as we enter his gates. The greatness of God brings respect, the goodness of God brings peace. We feel accepted. We fear (respect) God but are not afraid of God because of his goodness – this paradox is one of the deep mysteries of our faith.
I choose Jesus.
How Great Thou Art
Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed
1 Alas! and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die!
Would he devote that sacred head
for sinners such as I?
2 Was it for crimes that I have done,
he groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
3 Well might the sun in darkness hide,
and shut its glories in,
when God, the mighty maker, died
for his own creature’s sin.
4 Thus might I hide my blushing face
while his dear cross appears;
dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
and melt mine eyes to tears.
5 But drops of tears can ne’er repay
the debt of love I owe.
Here, Lord, I give myself away;
’tis all that I can do.
Isaac Watts was an English Congregational minister, hymn writer, theologian, and logician. He was a prolific and popular hymn writer and is credited with some 750 hymns.
Born: July 17, 1674, Southampton, United Kingdom
Died: November 25, 1748 (age 74 years), Stoke Newington, London, United Kingdom
Daniel and the Lions
This is a story about Daniel. He actually came to Babylon with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and each king that came and went liked these men because they were honest and hard workers. They were always given the most important jobs which made the other workers of the king jealous.
This time the king’s name was Darius and he also liked Daniel. He knew that Daniel was a good worker so he decided to put Daniel in charge of the whole country. The other servants of the king were very jealous of Daniel and they tried to find something that would get Daniel in trouble. They were trying to get him fired, but Daniel obeyed God so they couldn’t find anything.
Finally these men said to each other, “We can’t find any reason for the king to fire Daniel. The only way we could get him to disobey the king is if we made a law against his god.” So they went to king Darius and said, “O great king, you are so wonderful that no one should pray to anyone but you.”
The king said, “That sounds like a great idea!” Then the men continued, “All of your workers have agreed that this should be done and that anyone that prays to any other god should be thrown into the lions den.”
The workers lied and said that everyone who worked for the king agreed, but of course they never talked to Daniel because they knew he wouldn’t agree. The king didn’t know this, so he made the law and it couldn’t be changed.
When Daniel heard about the new law he did what he always did. He went home to a room upstairs and opened the windows that looked out over the city. Three times that day he went down on his knees and prayed to God just like he always had.
These men went as a group to Daniel’s house and found him praying and asking God for help. So they ran straight to the king and told him, “Your worker Daniel is ignoring your command. We have seen him praying to his God three times today.”
When the king heard this he was very sad. He really liked Daniel and he didn’t want him to die. He tried everything to get the law changed to stop Daniel from being thrown in the lions’ den, but the men came to him and reminded him that the law could not be changed and Daniel would have to be punished.
So at the end of the day the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “I hope your God who you serve and pray to will rescue you!”
A large, heavy stone was rolled in front of the den and the king went back to his palace with tears in his eyes. That night King Darius couldn’t eat or sleep he was so worried for Daniel.
The next day, as soon as the sun came up the king got up and ran to the lions’ den. As he got closer he shouted, “Daniel, has your God who you serve and pray to rescued you from the lions?” The king waited quietly for a response.
Then all of a sudden Daniel said, “O king, live forever! My God sent an angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me because I have done nothing wrong.”
The king jumped with joy and immediately ordered that Daniel be removed from the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, there wasn’t even a scratch on him because he trusted in God.
The king knew that the men had tricked him into punishing Daniel so he punished them.
After that the king made a new law and he said, “Daniel’s God is great, and I order that everyone in my kingdom must respect the Lord God, who rescued Daniel from the hungry lions.”
Friday Quote
Romans 8:38-39 – For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Hand of the Lord was upon Him
It was my experience while assessing the Babylon exile story, Ezekiel entered this at the very beginning of the story. Ezekiel was among the first wave of captives (Much of the Hebrew nation was still in their own land). Jeremiah spoke of this first wave of exiles as the ‘good figs’ who had been initially sent to Babylon (Jeremiah 24:5). For this group of figs, God provided a prophet to bring them back to the Law. We read in Psalms 94:12 — “Blessed is the one you discipline, Lord, the one you teach from your law. From this context, we could say, this first group was being pursued by God.
Ezekiel 1:1-3 paraphrased says — In my thirtieth year … the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest … in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the Lord was on him [NIV].
I think we can agree that it is an act of mercy for God to bring a message of hope to them even when they were experiencing self-inflicted trouble. Those chosen to deliver God’s message and mercy are blessed for their actions. I would be remiss if I did not make clear; it was 5 years into the exile before God provided Ezekiel (see Ezekiel 1:2). He gave the Hebrews in Babylon time to realize their need. However, at the same time, God provided Jeremiah to the Hebrews still in Jerusalem to guide them. Even in distress, God did not leave the Hebrew nation unguided, no matter how obstinate they were.
It was by the rivers of Babylon the Psalmist spoke of musicians setting down and singing songs of lamentation (see Psalm 137:1-3). What was the topic of their songs? The people who were in this area Babylon were experiencing the harshness of captivity, more important, they were feeling the national and personal judgement inflicted upon them for sin against God’s law. Yet, they were not very repentant – they continued to claim entitlement as God’s people. This accounts for Ezekiel’s assessment of their resistant heart as the cause of their woes. This theme recurs often in Ezekiel’s message
His message was a combination of condemnation, aggressive counsel to repent, and restoration (the exile would not last forever). I think God knew the message would be easier to hear if the message came from a fellow exile. For, even though God’s messenger is bound in chains, the message from God is not bound (see 2 Timothy 2:9). John the Revelator was banished to an island and yet the message from Jesus to John left the island and traveled around the globe. Paul tells us — For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:5)
Ezekiel was clearly being guided by the Holy Spirit, he tells us what he saw, what he heard, and what he felt; all of it centered on connectivity with the Spirit of God. In the first chapter, Ezekiel saw a profound vision of God, even when scripture says no man can see God and live, Ezekiel has a vision (the next best thing). This was not the first time this happened. We are reminded of visions in Isaiah Chapter 6 and Jeremiah Chapter 1. Furthermore, let us not lose sight of Moses (Exodus 34:5-7), Abraham (see Acts 7:2), and Paul (Acts 9:1-19) to name a few. They all saw, they all heard the voice of God.
It is wise for all of us to be well acquainted with God and willing to be influenced by his message. Especially if we want to be engaged in the business of bringing others to the knowledge and love for Jesus. In this context, we find the hand of God upon Ezekiel, as it was on Moses, Abraham, and the others. This kept them focused, safe, and able to press forward not crushed by resistance to the message. God’s grace was sufficient for them. Furthermore, it is sufficient for us as we press on towards that higher calling. His hand is certainly upon us. His grace will abound. I choose Jesus.
Shalom Talk 