The Lord has declared today that you are his people, his own special treasure, just as he promised, and that you must obey all his commands. (Deuteronomy 26:18)
Read: Deuteronomy 26:1-27:26, Luke 10:38-11:13, Psalm 76:1-12, Proverbs 12:15-17
Relate: I am fighting a cold that just will not quit. Have you ever had one of those? When I first got it, I was like, “Bummer. I’m gonna be down and out for a day or two.” Then it became three, and four, and five. If I am not better by the time I wake up tomorrow, this think will have gone into double digits. First it was in my throat, then I was all congested, now I am back to sounding like a teenage frog with bronchitis going through puberty.
Maybe you are a bit better at handling these things than I am. I mean, I sprained my ankle, it blew up like a balloon in a couple hours. Yet I still managed to walk twenty kilometers out of the wilderness into town and to a hotel where I can rest and recover. I’m a man. (Insert arm whipping and grunting noises here). But give me a tiny little persistent cold and you will find me moaning on the floor of the shower as the water beats down saying, “God, I’m ready. You can take me home now.”
React: When the skies are grey and the rain drizzles on and on and on… and so does my nose, I don’t feel all that loved. I don’t feel all that special. I don’t ever really have any bad hair days because I don’t ever have hair but there are plenty of other little things that seem to get to me. Sometimes I have what I call “Murphy’s Law” days. Sometimes they become Murphy’s Law weeks. It is in times like those, it is in days like today that I just need to pick a song like the one above and just play it on continuous repeat. When everything seems to be going well, I don’t need reminders that I am loved, but on days like today… I am so grateful for little reminders like this song popping up in my email, and verses like this showing up in my daily read.
Respond:
Dear God,
Thank You for loving me. I know how beautiful You are and how undeserving I am of such favor but still You lavish it out on me. Thank You. Thank You especially for the gentle reminders when I need them most that I am loved. Thank You for the countless ways You show me. Help me now to show that love to others I know that need another reminder from You.
Amen
THE RIVER WALK 
You know that amongst the sixteenth century puritans being ill was to be seen as a blessing because there was enough interest in you to continue being tested.
I didn’t know that but I can easily picture Cotton Mather, or even Jonathan Edwards talking along those lines in their writings.
Hi BJ, glad to see the keystrokes again! My wife says she knows why woman have babies and men don’t. Something about pain and discomfort I think. I don’t for the life of me understand where she gets that from. Blessings.
The cold is gone now. Lasted longer than two weeks. This was on paper and just today had a chance to get it out here. I’ve got a couple others I will fill in as I have time but you can expect tomorrow morning for me to be back to my regular schedule.
Awesome post. I can literally relate because Monday night a cold hit me out of nowhere. All the symptoms you describe but it left on Friday. I thank God for it because through it I realized there are so many that can’t breath on a daily basis because of chronic or acute conditions, etc., etc. It helped me to be thankful in ALL things no matter how small in hope that I’ll have that strength when the big things happen. God is so good.
I’m with you on the little colds, man. Little colds are the absolute unmitigated worst.
Reblogged this on ChristianBlessings and commented:
Thank You Lord for being the Lifter of my head. Thank You for lifting me up when I am down.