Praise Through the Hard Times

Have you ever fallen on hard times? Whatever the case may be. The wife of Jacob had a problem. Leah could see that Jacob favored his other wife, Rachel over her. Rachel, after all, was who Jacob wanted to begin with. But because of the custom of the day, Leah had to get married first, being the older of the two sisters.

In Genesis 29 we find the story of Leah beginning to have sons by Jacob. She has one son. She named him Reuben. And she says, in verse 32, "It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now." But Jacob still didn't show her the affection she wanted.

She has another son. This time she named him Simeon. She said, in verse 33, "Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too." But again, Jacob isn't showing her the affection she wants from him.

She has a third son. She names this one Levi. In verse 33, she says, "Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." Except he didn't.

She has a fourth son. She named him Judah. But something different happened this time. She stopped feeling sorry for herself. She realized her worth didn't lie in her husband. She realized her worth was in God. God helped her to understand that praising Him is what it's all about. She said in verse 35, "This time I will praise the LORD."

And you know the cool part about this? When she finally decided to praise God instead of throwing a pity party, God blessed the lineage of that son. It was Judah that the promised Messiah would one day come to rescue Israel and the world.

You see? When we praise God, He does great things. Yes, it may take a while to see them. But this is a hard learned lesson sometimes. Trust me. I've had to learn this the hard way.

I've had such troubles over the years with finding a job. But I began to realize that praising God is step one. Focusing on my relationship with Him is the priority. And when I realized this, God began to bless me in ways that still dumbfound me.

And yes, I'm still learning this lesson. It's an every day, often multiple times a day, battle. The devil isn't going make things easy for me. But as long as I keep my eyes on God, the world around me can fall apart. But my God will supply all my needs, according to His glorious riches.

So when you're tempted to feel sorry for yourself, do yourself a favor, and don't. It only hurts you. Trust me. I know from experience. God is all that really matters. Rise, take up your cross, and follow Him.

2 Corinthians 5:17

So, one thing you, my readers, will discover about me is that I love the original Greek of the Bible. I love to dig into it and have fun with studying it. That being said, lets move on to today's blog post.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says this: "“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” It is interesting to note that the Biblical Greek word for “creation” is “κτίσις.” While “creation” is one of its meanings, it can translate to “the act of creating” as well. So in other words, if anyone is in Christ, they are continually being re-created. (Blue Letter Bible). When a person accepts Christ, Christ no longer sees them as the person they were. He has given them a new identity, His own identity. He sees them as washed clean with His blood. 

The old things have gone away. Adios. Good-bye. In the words of Mercy Me (one of my favorite music groups), so long self. We have moved on. The life we lived and all the worldly attributes of it: gone. We slowly notice our temper not getting so hot anymore. We begin to see our selfish nature melting away.  We have become "καινός." I know some might be saying, "Bless you," right about now. But we are made new.This word means, "recently made, fresh, recent, unused, unworn" or "of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of." (Blue Letter Bible). Remember earlier what was said about how Christ sees us? This is it! He sees as as new! We are fresh! Uncommon! And my personal favorite, we are "of a new kind!" 

So when you accept Christ into your heart, it is a life long process. Everyday we are being made new. So don't be discouraged. Be encouraged! Christ sees you as clean and perfect the moment you accept Him. You are His new creation.