What Have You Done For Me Lately?
Psalm 78:11-12 They forgot His deeds And His miracles that He had shown them. He wrought wonders before their fathers In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
They forgot His deeds but didn’t even notice their own…
Psalm 78:40-41 How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness And grieved Him in the desert! Again and again they tempted God, And pained the Holy One of Israel.
Sounds just like me! Childlike, right?
A child who has a LOT TO LEARN!
Just like Israel, who was/and is God’s first fruits from nation planting… the children of the promise… God’s promise.
Romans 9:25-26 As He says also in Hosea, “I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’ And her who was not beloved, ‘Beloved.’” “And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘you are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.”
They (Israel) didn’t know how to be sons of the living God, anymore than we do now.
Thank God His promise was never made on the foundation of our learning curve or our ability to EVER live up to the inheritance He has for us! Even with training (Train up a child in the way he should go – Proverbs 22:6) children will pretty much, always be childish. Imagine that!
Have you ever noticed, in your own world or the world of those around you, that we fully expect MAXIMUM benefits from MINIMUM effort?
What happens when things don’t work that way? Come on, say it with me… we rebel against Him!
WHOA! “Not against God, NEVER against God!”
I say, because it is God who is at work in us to will and to work for His good pleasure, it is ALWAYS about rebelling against God.
“If God loved me… Where’s God when… I’M A GOOD PERSON… ever heard any of these proclamations? Ever heard them come from your own mouth/thoughts? I have – more than I care to share with you!
We forget His deeds And His miracles especially in the midst of pain, suffering, and general unhappiness. Even knowing He’s a “Good Good Father” (I love this song by Chris Tomlin!)… perfect in ALL of His ways, I sometimes declare war on His ways and means in me.
We’ve all heard and probably most of us have repeated the phrase, “No pain, no gain!” It’s true, NOT because God is a masochist but because WE ARE! My computer’s dictionary says… a masochist is a person who enjoys an activity that appears to be painful or tedious:… I don’t think we enjoy the actual pain but we are convinced that THE ACTIVITY (without the pain) will SATISFY ALL MY DESIRES AND SOLVE ALL MY PROBLEMS so we jump in with both feet without regard to those nasty consequences!
So it becomes God’s job, His directive from ME, to let me do whatever I want and to make sure I NEVER suffer… or else! Unfortunately, we never learn from this wonderful heartfelt idea. Our focus turns from our Father’s perfect love to… “Yes, but… What have you done for me lately?”
Having forgotten that our ways haven’t turned out well, we cry out for (fill in the blank) relief from whatever this moment is causing us to suffer. We FEEL the BURN!
God answers! With the same answer He gave to His child/apostle Paul,
2 Corinthians 12:9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”
Perfected… THIS is God’s desire! For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)
Our way (without God) produces calamity and a future without hope, God’s way, because He will never leave us nor forsake us, is an eternal promise. WE WILL be changed, the perishable will put on the imperishable, and the mortal must put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:52-53) and be with Him in eternity.
Even when we “give up on God”, God never gives up on us! We will be perfected… BUT NOT IN OUR STRENGTH… in the power of Christ.
For God so loved the world…
John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life
Not our way but God’s way…
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
They forgot His deeds And His miracles, have you?
If sending Jesus were God’s last (and we know it’s not because we are still breathing) deed and miracle, can I just say… JESUS IS ALWAYS ENOUGH! If salvation were God’s last deed and miracle, it (salvation) is ETERNAL!
But we know the GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY was/is “God with us”… Immanuel.
Power Perfected (God’s power) in weakness (our’s)… therefore… I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
What have You done for me lately?
Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way
Let me NEVER forget… let me NEVER rebel… let me NEVER grieve You in the desert – tempt You – or pain You, the Holy One of Israel.
Lead me on Lord!
Psalm 119:7 I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments.
And proclaim (the answer to the song, released by Janet Jackson in 1986) ALL that You have done for me lately!
**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.