tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838698329757338280.post7322931904681443310..comments2017-12-01T10:52:19.431-08:00Comments on Sunday Bible Study by ParishWorld.net: "For we walk by faith, not by sight"Editor @ Parishworld.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11351018547370080019noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838698329757338280.post-78986464085241438702012-06-13T13:30:44.969-07:002012-06-13T13:30:44.969-07:00Displaying an attitude of gratitude. Sending a tha...Displaying an attitude of gratitude. Sending a thank-you note. Saying your "please and thank you’s”. Such are lessons we teach our children as we train them in what is socially proper. <br /><br />If only we would spend as much time considering what is proper in the spiritual sense. <br /><br />God our Creator is all-deserving and worthy of our praise. A well-known prayer guide pinpoints 5 essential elements of prayer. Adoration, Confession, Petition, and Intercession,are ALWAYS followed by Thanksgiving. <br /><br />Psalm 92:1 is often quoted in support: "It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, Most High." <br /><br />Also to be noted is the use of the word "sing" in that first verse. The Lord loves to hear our voices in song. Thus, hymns of any sort are an integral part of worship. Something about singing focuses our hearts on Jesus and softens HIS heart to accept our prayerful pleas. <br /><br />Our Abba Father gives us our days in 24 hour increments. Could we handle any more? His grace is enough for each day; the psalmist writes (It is good...) "to proclaim your kindness at dawn and your faithfulness throughout the night."<br /><br />The cedar of Lebanon is a mighty and beautiful tree referenced throughout Scripture. In the first reading, a small cedar shoot is replanted and compared to a "majestic cedar" as it grows strong with its roots firmly planted. The Psalm says, “The just one shall flourish like the palm tree, like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow." <br /><br />Later, the psalmist writes, "They shall bear fruit even in old age; vigorous and sturdy shall they be ...." <br /><br />Living in a righteous manner, with the foundations of our beliefs firmly rooted, we, too, are called to have the strength and fruitfulness of the cedar, even unto the very end of our earthly lives. The psalmist uses the imagery of being solid, he speaks of the Lord as "my rock."Barry Lamontnoreply@blogger.com