Matthew 26:26-28
What a blessing it is to know that the Savior of the world gave us the opportunity to take communion and remember the gift that He gave us. As I sat in church this morning and took communion I was reminded of this blessing. Jeff walked us through 15 Psalms this morning and showed us the meaning of each of them. God had a purpose for the words that were written and they each individually show us the beauty and grace of our Father. Psalms 120-122 are Psalms of vision. We see here that the God of the universe watches over every single one of us. He knows all of our individual needs and desires. None of them go unnoticed and they are all important to Him. As long as our eyes are fixed on the Lord we will be able to see things come together in His perfect timing. Psalms 123-125 are Psalms of confidence. Having confidence in who you are in Christ is so important. We belong to Him and nobody else. We should meet with Him daily and realize that He is enough for us and nothing we can do can tear us away from his loving arms. Where we find our confidence is so important. "Our help is in the name of the Lord and our confidence is found in Him." Psalms 126-128 are Psalms of enjoyment. Having the joy of Christ is a feeling unlike any other. Waking up each day with the feeling that we are here for a purpose that is so much bigger then we can fathom is so incredible. The joy of life should pour out of us. Our hearts should be filled with so much laughter and joy because we have a reason to celebrate every day, and that reason is Jesus! In 1 Thessalonians 5:16 it tells us, "REJOICE ALWAYS, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." This verse couldn't have been written any better to explain the joy that we should find in our God. Pslams 129-131 gives us a glimpse of how sometimes our pride gets in the way. It is so easy to take the glory for the things that we do every day. God continues to work every single day, and while He uses us in situations, the glory should always be given back to Him. ALL things come from Him. James 1:17 says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly light." We should always remember this in times that our pride tries to get in the way of giving the glory back to the One who deserves it. Psalms 132-134 is a beautiful picture of the blessing that we have to bless others around us. We are blessed so we can bless the lives of others around us. I can't think of a better way to show the love of Christ then to share God's love and be a blessing to those around us. I couldn't begin to count the number of blessings that God has lavished on me, but I do know that He is the only one that they come from. We have been chosen by God, we are His and we get the opportunity to make His name known! "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light," 1 Peter 2:9.
Last night marked a very important milestone in my life. I graduated from college! Looking back at my four years at Union I can't begin to thank the Lord enough for all the blessings. Not only did He put people in my life that will be my best friends forever, but He grew me and stretched me in ways that I could have never imagined. He showed me daily how much He loves me and how His love is constant and unending. He taught me hard lessons that I will never forget, and in the hard times He was always waiting for me arms open for me to run to. Closing that chapter of my life was hard, but looking now to the future has never been more exciting. As the summer begins I pray that you will join Nathan and I in this journey. A journey that we don't know exactly what it's going to look like. A journey that is going to have it's surprises and uncertainties. A journey that is so exciting that I could jump out of this seat I'm sitting in right now. During the next few months we will be seeking the Lord's guidance in all that we do. We want to make sure that every step is God ordained and that He receives the glory for everything. Like I talked about above, we want each step to reflect those Psalms. We want to have our eyes on the Lord daily. We want to be confident in who we are in Christ and confident in the direction that He is leading us. We want to be so joyful in the fact that the Lord has called us to take His name to South Africa, not only as individuals but as a married couple. I pray that our marriage will be a reflection of the love that Christ has for the church and people will be able to see that in us. We don't want our pride to get in the way of the glory that God deserves. He is the only reason that we are getting the opportunity to spread the Gospel and make His name known. Lastly, I pray that we will be a blessing to others. We are both blessed way beyond what we deserve and we want to be that blessing to every single person we come in contact with. The God of the universe gave his Son so we may freely receive the blessing of spreading His name throughout the world. His body and blood were given so we can freely live in the arms of our Savior and I pray we will never let that be far from our mind. The next couple of months are going to be busy, but I ask you to continue to pray for Nathan and I as we continue to seek God's hand in our lives. We are so thankful for each and single one of you and the encouragement that you bring to our lives. May God receive the glory today and all the days to come.
Last night marked a very important milestone in my life. I graduated from college! Looking back at my four years at Union I can't begin to thank the Lord enough for all the blessings. Not only did He put people in my life that will be my best friends forever, but He grew me and stretched me in ways that I could have never imagined. He showed me daily how much He loves me and how His love is constant and unending. He taught me hard lessons that I will never forget, and in the hard times He was always waiting for me arms open for me to run to. Closing that chapter of my life was hard, but looking now to the future has never been more exciting. As the summer begins I pray that you will join Nathan and I in this journey. A journey that we don't know exactly what it's going to look like. A journey that is going to have it's surprises and uncertainties. A journey that is so exciting that I could jump out of this seat I'm sitting in right now. During the next few months we will be seeking the Lord's guidance in all that we do. We want to make sure that every step is God ordained and that He receives the glory for everything. Like I talked about above, we want each step to reflect those Psalms. We want to have our eyes on the Lord daily. We want to be confident in who we are in Christ and confident in the direction that He is leading us. We want to be so joyful in the fact that the Lord has called us to take His name to South Africa, not only as individuals but as a married couple. I pray that our marriage will be a reflection of the love that Christ has for the church and people will be able to see that in us. We don't want our pride to get in the way of the glory that God deserves. He is the only reason that we are getting the opportunity to spread the Gospel and make His name known. Lastly, I pray that we will be a blessing to others. We are both blessed way beyond what we deserve and we want to be that blessing to every single person we come in contact with. The God of the universe gave his Son so we may freely receive the blessing of spreading His name throughout the world. His body and blood were given so we can freely live in the arms of our Savior and I pray we will never let that be far from our mind. The next couple of months are going to be busy, but I ask you to continue to pray for Nathan and I as we continue to seek God's hand in our lives. We are so thankful for each and single one of you and the encouragement that you bring to our lives. May God receive the glory today and all the days to come.
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