Hee Haw

[jerry ralph]

Thought for the day: Praise the Lord.

Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all you sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
PSALM 103:1-5 NIV

“Forget not all his benefits.” This is the key to walking daily with the Lord. At least in my life, I realize that I must maintain an attitude of gratitude by remembering all His benefits, and by always remembering that I have been redeemed from the pit. I don’t know exactly what kind of pit David was referring to, but I know the pit that I was in. In this affluent country it is difficult to be in a real physical pit. There are many safety nets out there to keep people fed and clothed and housed. The pit that I was redeemed from was one of “Gloom, despair, and agony on me. Deep dark depression, excessive misery. If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all. Gloom, despair, and agony on me.” Many of us have heard that song on the TV program Hee Haw, and we laugh at it. I don’t believe in luck, there was no luck involved in my gloom and despair. I did it all myself. The pit that I have been redeemed from was one that I dug myself by self-indulgence in alcohol and drugs. Praise be to God who pulled me out of my pit and “satisfies my desires with good things.” My desires today are so much different than they used to be, they don’t pull me down and down, and keep me blinded by the walls of my own prison. My desires today look up, out, and around. I see true friends and mentors with outstretched hands. I have been crowned with love and compassion, and see others wearing the same crown. The crown cannot be prideful and must be humbly worn. It must be invisible to me. If I can see it, it is not real. “Praise the LORD, O my soul,” God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………….JRE

“What seemed at first a flimsy reed, has proven to be the loving and powerful hand of God. A new life has been given us or , if you prefer, ‘a design for living’ that really works. Alcoholics Anonymous page 28

 

[brinny]

I was drawn to your thread out of curiousity about the title.....can't resist a hee haw or a hee hee

But anyway, as I read and saw the Bible verse you used, I really cued into the part where it talked about a pit. I've been there. You hit the nail on the head about the humbleness. I'm allowing God to teach me what it is now. My knees are shaking, but it comes down to whether I trust Him or not. I know what needs to be rooted out and I'm trusting Him to do so, no matter what it takes.....and I'm not gonna bite my nails, nope. Just gonna release it all to Him.

It's been my will for such a long, wearying time. I'm seeking His now.

 

[jerry ralph]

Thanks for your response. I too have "stuff" that needs to be rooted out in my life. I am learning to turn it over daily and ask for God's help. I like what Corrie ten Boom said, "It's best not to hold on to things too tightly, because it hurts when God pries your fingers away from them."
thanks for sharing.....Heeeeeee Hawwwwww