June 20, 2023 – Reflection on “Celebrate!”
For you formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well. Psalm 139:13-14.
The wonder and gift of life continues to amaze me. One Lord’s Day, my grandson guided me to a group of young people, and they shared their joy, a three-week-old baby. Then I remembered Psalm 139. The joy of seeing my four children growing to being adults. And know that The Almighty Majestic Father in Heaven watched them grow from conception and the ability to learn like this tiny baby would grow up with eyes that see, ears that hear the Word of the Lord, and God gives breath in their tiny lungs.
O Lord, You have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Psalm 139:1-6. God guides us and protects us. Before we knew Him, our Father in Heaven knew us.
My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet, there was none of them. How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them. If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. Psalm 139:15-18.
How often God tells those in the Old Testament to be fruitful and multiply? And then after reading Galatians 5:22-23, The Fruit of the Spirit of God comes from believing and trusting the Father and the Son of God, Jesus. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law.
Each new learning from God is a time of celebration. It is with amazement how much celebration of the time when Moses led the Children of Israel from slavery in Egypt, and the many ways God protected them, teaches me how much God loves them, is celebrated. And how God wanted to redeem them. They were told to celebrate the Passover. When blood was put on their doorway, so the angel of death passed over without slaying the eldest son in Egypt. Jesus sacrificed His Life to make the Way for us and redeem us with life everlasting. Just as God redeemed the Israelites from Egypt and the hunger, thirst, and crossing the Red Sea on dry land. One favorite verse is this. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent. Exodus 14:14.
As Jesus neared the time of His Crucifixion, He took His disciples with Him to pray. Then He said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here and watch with me.” And going a little farther, He fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Matthew 26:38-39.
Whose will do we follow? Ours, or the will of our Father God? In the parable of the prodigal son who squandered his portion of his father’s wealth, returned home begging for forgiveness. How did the father react? But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. Ephesians 1:7-10.
Our Heavenly Father taught the Israelites how to celebrate with a menu of food, grateful attitudes, and the wonder and awe of celebrating that He is Lord of all. How do we celebrate? Usually an accomplishment, or just being His. This is not a commandment from God. I celebrate the changing of the seasons, the promise of a budding flower, and the hurting times when God gives me time to learn more of His Way, not mine. For me, it is His will, and not mine.
Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. Psalm 25:4-5.
God’s commandments begin with Love. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35.
By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. I John 3:16-18. Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God, and God in Him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. I John 3:24. ‘Trusting in the Lord leads us down the only reliable path!’ Celebrate Jesus!