2020 Reasons to Give Thanks (Or At Least 5)

 In response to a challenge to identify 5 positive things from last year, I wrote down 5 reasons to give thanks, in 2020, 2021 and any year really. There are always good things to be thankful for at all times. Thanksgiving is such a great holiday because it focuses in on that attitude of gratitude. And that's something we should remember every day. That said, here are 5 positives for me from 2020.

#1 Above all- The Lord Jesus Christ. He is always my ultimate reason to be thankful and stay positive. By faith in His substitutionary death and Resurrection that paid for all the sins of the world, I know my many sins are forgiven and I'm delivered from the Hell I deserve and instead given the Heaven I don't. God has shown Himself faithful time and again and I am always ultimately thankful for His love and providence.

#2 Nature - I have long enjoyed exploring God's creation and I did a lot more of that last year and I am grateful for that opportunity to commune with Him there. Every so often, I love to get away to a quiet place outside by myself and spend a good length of time reading The Bible and praying, as well as writing down any insights The Spirit might show me. Those times of sweet surrender have always been good for me spiritually as well as physically in some ways too.

#3 Family - I am always thankful for my family and make an effort to keep up with them. I am thankful for the opportunities I had to spend with family throughout last year, whether just spending time at home playing games or going for walks and hikes or going to church in the park throughout the summer. (I would like that last one to be an option even when there's not a pandemic going on. :-)) I constantly pray God would bless and use me and my family for His glory and I praise God for all of them.

#4 Friends - I am blessed to have some wonderful, loving and caring friends who have stuck by me through the years and I hold them very dear, particularly those who are very close to me. As Philippians 1:7 says, I hold them in my heart. And I pray for them regularly. And I am thankful for the time I got to spend with them, whether in person outside at a distance or just on the telephone or video chat. I am also very thankful for the many options for staying in touch with my friends around the world. (It was particularly neat to be able to message friends on three different continents to ask for prayer in the middle of the night since I knew they'd be up- and they are some of my closest friends anyway, even though they are some of the furthest away. And I felt the power of those prayers and again thank God for answering as He did.)

#5 Finances - I am certainly mindful of those around the world who have had their lives so disrupted by C19 and have lost jobs and loved ones. I mourn for them and pray for them. I am very thankful to have maintained a job and had a steady income from that job and had my needs met. In fact, partially because of opportunities opened by the pandemic, I was able to save some money and earn extra money through working extra hours. I was able to accomplish some long-standing goals of paying off a number of debts! I am still not totally clear of all debt but I am in a much better place financially. I have been able to turn around and use money now freed up to increase what I normally give and be more generous in giving towards ministries and charitable causes. I am glad to be able to serve God more through investing in His kingdom more in that way.

 

There are many more things I could say as well, but those are some things I am grateful for about the last year and in every year, really. Praise God for His faithfulness! I look forward to seeing how He will work and use me for His glory in this year. And, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us- everyone! :-)

Love in all Seasons (song)

 Where does the time go? Steve Miller said it keeps on slipping into the future. He's right- time keeps marching on. Yet so many times it never seems the good moments in life are long enough. If I could have a little bit longer time in those sweet spots- carefree days as a kid playing on the playground, family time at home with Mom and Dad and siblings, dating that special someone, or just hanging out with my best friends in the world! 

   As another song says, we had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun. (Thanks to Terry Jacks for the memorable performance.) And there are sweet seasons in life we cherish and miss later on. Yet we are inexorably drawn forward in time. And we must learn to live and love every moment as the precious gift from God that they all are- and thank Him for all of them. And our love for those friends and family carries on as well, in as much effort as we are willing to put out. The love of Jesus is the one constant that carries us through the changes of time. He helps us "who belong to eternity stranded in time", as a Michael Card song says, to enjoy and live and love every moment. And He helps us realize that He is the One our hearts really long for in the end. And with Jesus in our hearts, no matter what stage we're at in this life or the next, we can enjoy Love in all seasons.

Love in all Seasons
copyright by Nathan Ludwick 1/17/2020
(Ecclesiastes 3, Psalms 90:12, Deuteronomy 33:27, Proverbs 17:17 and 18:24)

You thought it'd be forever
You thought it'd never end
The vows you made to stay together
And always be the best of friends
Oh, to be back in that place and age again

Chorus 1:
Everybody freeze! Put your hands up
If you want this world to stop
Let's stay 11 years old as long as we can
Everyone's here and everything here's alright
I don't want nothing to change my world tonight

Spin the time in a bottle and see where it lands
Count out 17 little grains of sand
Cruising down Lover's Lane with the one who caught your heart
Summer days with your best pal and your best gal at your side
What more do you need? Right here it's so good to be alive!

Chorus 2:
Everybody freeze! Put your hands up
If you want this world to stop
Let's hang out at the malt shop as long as we can
Everyone's here and everything here's alright
I don't want nothing to change my world tonight

Bridge:
Why do we move away and leave our best friends?
Why do we go to different schools and new jobs and new places to live?
Why do we marry, start a family and get wrapped up in our lives?
Why do we get old and grey and eventually die?
What we do with given time's all we must decide

Chorus 3:
Everybody leaves- splits the band up
And one day this world will stop
Let's enjoy our seasons in the sun as long as we can
Everlasting Arms deal those hands at the right time
The Ace up my sleeve holds every memory tight

Chorus 4:
Only God holds me when time hands me up
Now and on that day my world still rocks
For each time and season there's a reason- so love all friends far and at hand
Everyone's here and everything here's alright
Let my growth come from change- Love holds my world for all time

(Repeat Chorus 3 and 4 and fade)

...............................................................

By Faith (song)

Note: Though I didn't really write anything with a Christmas theme for the blog this year, these last three entries were all written in some ways as gifts for others, so consider them as Christmas presents to remember the Giver of all good gifts Who gave us the very best when He sent Christ that first Christmas to save us all from our sins. Merry Christmas! Praise God for His love. :-)

It seems that Christianity has some paradoxes that we will just never fully understand even though both are true. The age old question of faith vs. good works is one that has long confounded me in the course of my walk with Jesus. Of course, I know that we are saved by grace through faith and it's not of ourselves- it's all God's work so no one can boast. Of course, the very next verse where all this is stated (over in Ephesians 2:8-10) says that we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do the good works He intended us to do all along! So, let's be clear- good works don't save anyone because none of us have enough good works to meet God's standard of absolute perfection. (Leviticus 11:45, Matthew 5:48) Jesus Christ is the only One who has met that standard- because He is absolute perfection. Of course, once He saves us by His grace, we will naturally start to do good works because we are being molded into the shape of our Saviour- and the fruit of the Spirit is just who He is! Naturally, we're going to start looking like our Father. Good works show that we belong to God and that He is working in us to make us more like Himself all the time. But we lean wholly for our salvation on the good work that Jesus performed by dying and rising to pay for our sins. We don't do anything to earn salvation and we can never pay God back for what He's done. We can only humbly accept it with gratitude and praise Him for eternity for His amazing grace and love for us! I have struggled with assurance of salvation time and again throughout my walk with Christ, but as this song mentions- He sent me a special friend named Carmen (just as the original song speaks of a Carmen!) who reminded me of a simple truth that is sometimes hard for me and others to accept- God loves me for me! I don't have to be anything special or do anything special to make Him love me- He already loves me because I am His creation. And His love came down at Christmas so that He could save us all on Good Friday and Easter. I am very thankful for my friend who has been so helpful to me in reminding me of these truths. And I am eternally thankful that the weight of my sins is on Jesus who has paid for them all and has adopted me into the band of followers like Martin Luther (whom I reference in the song) and so many others who enter Heaven one way- through Jesus by faith.


"By Faith"
(parody of "The Weight" by The Band; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 10/29/2018)
(Isaiah 64:6, Isaiah 1:18, Isaiah 61:1-2, Ephesians 2:1-10, Ephesians 3:14-21, Hebrews 8-11, James 2, Luke 15, 1 John 2:15-17, John 6:40, Luke 4:16-30, Leviticus 11:45, Matthew 5 (particularly v. 48), Deuteronomy 18:13, Deuteronomy 30-33, Luke 6:20-49 (particularly v. 36), Galatians 3, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, Matthew 11:28-30, Matthew 5:17, Romans chapters 1-7 (particularly 3:21-31; basically, just read the whole book), Jude 1:24-25)

He pulled into Nazareth- was reading out battle plan
He just reads the place where Isaiah- it says
"Lord's Spirit is upon Me- (to) share Good News and free oppressed"
Jesus then just shook them up- Yo! "Fulfilled," He said

61 Isaiah- take the scroll to read
It foretold His ministry- Covenant of Old- Christ completes

Like Nicodemus, I was looking not to grace, but pride
Got that flaw in garden with the devil- bought in to pride to life
God sent me Carmen- lightened the load of self-doubt
She said, "Our God loves us- 3 Ephesians- good works aren't how."

(You) take a load off, Nathan- Christ loves me for me!
Take a load off, Carmen- and we put the load right on Jesus!

I'm down with Moses- ain't under Law but Grace
It's 8 Hebrews- our new High Priest of the Covenant of Grace
6 Luke, Matt. 5- what about Deuteronomy?
He said, "You need My perfection (perfect Son)-
Once you're saved by Me- can't you see? It's done for thee!"

Take a load off, weary- in Matt. 11 read
Take My yoke on- easy
And you get a load light from Me.

Christ- He gestured "Follow Me" and He sought me when I was lost
Said, "I will trade your ash for beauty, Nate My dog"
I said, "Wait a minute, Master- You know I can't pay You back"
He said, "That's okay, boy- It's a free gift- no strings attached."

Take 3 Romans and read- Take Galatians 3
Take a note of James 2- saved by faith alone for good deeds!

Catch the prodigal's bro- Luke 15- such was I
My rags are stinking though- when I do "good deeds" it's a lie
Take me back, Jesus- Lord please! You know You're the only One
Who's sinless here- it's Your righteousness I rely on

Take a load off, Martin- Christ's reformed you- see?
24 in Jude and 1 Thessalonians 5- read!

Single-Minded

         "He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the LORD." (Proverbs 18:22)
"I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion." (1 Corinthians 7:7-9)
(And just to clarify, I'm speaking as a single man.)
            Marriage is awesome! Of course, marriage is also a ton of hard work! Marriage can actually have some pretty awful, strifeful moments at times and seem horrendous! But the vow of love before God helps hold a man and woman together and a cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (as Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 talks about.) If The Lord decides to let me have a wife- cool. If The Lord decides for me to remain single- cool. As Romans 14:8 says, whether I live or die- I'm The Lord's- I live and die to Him.
        As to all the business about being called to be single and such- I know Jesus refers to this some in Matthew 19. And I don't know that I feel "called" to be single (I don't know that I feel particularly "called" to anything other than called to obey God and preach The Gospel, as God commands in His Word in The Bible)- but I do know that whether I feel called to be celibate or not, I sure better be celibate as long as I'm single because sex outside of marriage is a sin.
        So I can understand the despair and discouragement and despondency and depression (wow- a lot of "d" words are rather dreary....) for the unwilling single person- I go through that some at times myself. But I honestly usually don't care- it's not that I particularly desire to be single or whatever- I would like to be married to the right woman someday- but until such time that God grants me a wife, I'll be a single virgin man who seeks to serve Christ with all his heart, soul, mind and strength even though he fails miserably quite often but still keeps trusting Jesus to work in him as Philippians 1:6 promises that Jesus will do until I'm there with Him in Heaven.
         Here's another "d" word that's a bit more cheery- Delight yourself in The Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalms 37:4) Which doesn't necessarily mean that you'll get married. It may mean that you truly do find your joy solely in The Lord (Nehemiah 8:10) and that you're not really all that worried about getting married.
         And let's not make marriage to be more than it is. Our society in the world at large tends to worship it to some degree and elevate it to a wrong status. If we're looking to marriage to fulfill all of our longings and desires for company and companionship, we're going to be sorely disappointed when we finally get it. Jesus Christ is the only One who truly can fulfill all desires of the heart- but even that will not be fully realized until we're in Heaven.
          So I just try to keep my focus on Jesus and not worry too much about marriage and such- there's no marriage in Heaven anyway [in the sense of a man and woman uniting as one before God], so why should I worry about the mistful vapor years I've got on Earth with that when I've got eternity ahead of me with more important things of the Kingdom to consider? (Not to say that marriage on earth is not important though- as I said before, it's awesome! And it can be pretty horrible at times too. It's certainly never easy.) But there is the marriage supper of The Lamb in Heaven, so I'm glad to be on the invitation list for that. And yes- the church is the bride of Christ, but it really doesn't work too well for single men to say Jesus is my husband. wink emoticon But He is my Lord, Savior and Best Friend Forever (yes- He really is my BFF and yes, I really made that cultural reference- lol) :-) and that's the most important thing.
          And I must say I really thank Him for family and friends and brothers and sisters in Christ who remind me of the fellowship that we all enjoy together in Christ now and will enjoy eternally and more so than we've ever experienced here when we all get to Heaven. :-)
           So just remember God loves you and it'll be alright. And take your pain and loneliness to The Lord- Job and David and Habakkuk and Hannah and Naomi and Jeremiah and tons of others sure weren't shy about it- and God knows all of our needs and He will provide for them all according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19) He may not provide all our wants, but it may be that He'll help us learn to be content in all situations (as Philippians 4 talks about right before that famous verse in 13- the one about how I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me- the one that might be better read as I can endure all things through Christ who strengthens me.) And don't forget that those who have given up families for Christ's sake in this life will receive 100-fold times in the next. I think sometimes God is saying to us- I want you to want Me. :-) And that's no cheap trick- look at all that God has done for us- He wants us so badly He went to Hell and back for us when Christ died and rose to pay for our sins! 1 Corinthians 10:31 commands us to do everything as unto The Lord and not just unto men. Thus, whatever I do, I want to be single-minded in purpose as I focus on bringing God glory. If I can do that better as a married man, praise God! If I can do that better as a single man, praise God! :-) (God is praised always regardless.)
I know I don't want God as much as I should- but I want to want Him and want nothing else. And I pray as Thomas Merton did that even that in itself is pleasing to Him. And He'll take care of the rest, as Keith Green said.
         Hope those ramblings help someone else who was born a rambling man (or a rambling woman, as the case may be.) Take care and God bless.