Wednesday, July 8, 2015

7-8-2015



 Good Morning All!!
             Psalm 13:6; “I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.”
    Living on the plains of South Dakota is always an interesting time.  Many people around here will tell you that February, March and April were among the driest ever witnessed.  Although not spoken, the dreaded “D” word (drought) was on the mind of many.  Cattle producers were worried about hay supplies lasting as there was none to be found to buy.  Grain farmers were debating whether to plant or wait for rain.  The retired old timers would quote the old saw “plant in dust and your bins will bust” while the active farmers looked at the amount of money being put into dry, cool ground.  I took my cues and was dusting off the sermons and prayers that asked for rain and encouraged patience while trusting God to supply us.  So how did it go?
    Well, I do my gardening in garden boxes.  I use potting soil in lined boxes with an irrigation system in the bottom.  I used a type of potting soil that had moisture retention qualities.  So I spent July 3rd and part of July 4th scooping some of the soil out of the boxes, spreading it on a tarp so it would dry out because the boxes had received too much rain.  The pastures have tremendous growth.  If you missed the hail, most crops look fantastic.  What a turn around, what a change, what a phenomenal blessing from God!
    This is one place where we really need a boost.  Too often we expect God to fail us.  We expect God to take something from us or deny us and so we spend a lot of time missing the joy around us.  God deals with us bountifully, we only need to look around us as we are surrounded by God’s grace.  He pours his love out upon us.  He offers us his peace and he uses the people around us to do this.  He uses the created things that surround us to give us hope for our day.  He blesses us bountifully at all turns as we are promised eternal life, with him in paradise.  A promise paid for by Jesus and guaranteed by the Holy Spirit is ours, always.  So we can always look to this as a sign of God’s bountiful love for us as he delivers to us his bountiful mercy every day.
    Being a Christian means starting each day new, revitalized by the forgiveness which is bountifully poured out upon you.  Thus each day we, by faith, are renewed, refreshed and restored.  We live a life with much potential because of all that God gives to us.  It is the devil that wants you to focus on what you don’t have but what we don’t have is miniscule compared to what we do have.  We have his love and mercy and promise of eternal life.  We know that he has defeated the enemies in this world for us and that he has promised us abundant life.  For this we should sing his praises forever.
Father of all good things, your blessings pour over us and refresh us each day.  Help us to focus on your incredible mercy and wondrous kindness which never ends.  Lift up our eyes to see your mercy.  Help us to point others to your hope.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret

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