A year as a/an: Old Testament Believer, a vegetarian, a green life advocate, eating at Mc Donalds????

I was journaling this morning, noting especially blessings from yesterday, and the last thing I wrote kind of birthed this: The presence of God in reality – noticing it afresh because of “A Year With God,” a book I am reading this year. 

As I jotted those lines, it occurred to me that “A Year With God” ought to change me. It’s not that God has not changed me in the past, nor that I don’t anticipate growth in my life.  You kind of never stop growing, or at least should never stop growing and learning until you die.  We read books, we talk to people, we watch TV, not all TV is educational, but you can learn things there.  We travel, we surf online, we take or teach classes, all of those activities are opportunities to learn and grow.

But, I anticipate that this book, this journey, will grow me in a specific way, change me in a specific way, make me more like Christ, or at least a lot closer to Christ, to God. 

Every day there is a challenge of some kind and today the challenge is to “remember the Lord your God, for it is he who give you power to get wealth.”  And the related challenge: beware of the complacency of success…  When life goes well, we forget God because we don’t think we need him."

Unfortunately I know this is true, at least in my life.  My time in prayer, and therefore awareness of God skyrockets when I or my family faces tough times.  But God wants our attention, our faces, our fellowship all the time.  So, unfortunately, he is forced to allow tough times into our lives to bring us back home.

I have to add a PS here, all times of challenge are not because we have lost fellowship with the Father.  Sometimes he allows such difficulties into our lives because he knows we can be trusted with them.  We will so live through them that we will point the way to others.

But my point today is that God, our Father, desires fellowship with his children.  Today, he is present with us, and I think he wants to hear from us.  I think he likes it when I record my blessings.  He knows then that I have taken time to notice how he has worked in my behalf. You see, I did not come from money.  And we have never pursued money or economic success in our adult life, but God has blessed us beyond measure.

So, I am off, to “A Year With God.”

 Psalm 30
¹ I will exalt you, Lord,     for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
² Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me.
³ You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit.
⁴ Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name.
⁵ For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night,
    but rejoicing comes in the morning.
⁶ When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.”
⁷ Lord, when you favored me, you made my royal mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face,
    I was dismayed.
⁸ To you, Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy:
⁹ “What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
¹⁰ Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me; Lord, be my help.”
¹¹ You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
¹² that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever.