Next week we’ll begin to post blogs from the second book in there From Here Books series.  This book, “From Here …By Faith (Ouradnik, 2024) will help you learn more about how to grow in faith.

From Here Books at lennyo.org is built for you.  For the last several months I have posted blogs taken from the first book of the series, “We Can Get There From Here (Ouradnik 2013).”  I wrote that book to bring focus to simple things any one can learn to do.  For instance, choosing to become a thankful person will change your life.  There’s biblical evidence for this, even as there is scientific evidence in the psychological body of work.

The word for salvation in Hebrew is yesha (pronounced yay-shah; Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance #H3468).

Yesha means this: deliverance, salvation, rescue, safety, welfare.

Safety

Welfare

Prosperity

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have this salvation actively working in your life every day? It can.

Once we begin to know the love of God in our lives, we can begin to take the next step.  I believe that the right next step is to choose to become thankful.

David understood the importance of being thankful.  He wrote what God has to say about giving thanks in difficult times in Psalm 50.

If you’re going to go through the pain and effort to tell the truth about yourself, there better be a pretty good reason!

That reason has to be that we can rely on the steadfast love of the Lord. No matter who we are or what we have done.

Jesus talked about truth and its work:

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32).

If what Jesus told the Jews was true 2000 years ago, it is true for us today.

We all know someone who can’t get enough love.  We could stand beside them 24 hours a day and tell them we love them over and over again and it wouldn’t be enough.  They wouldn’t believe it.  Because they’ve been hurt and they’ve decided to hold on to that hurt rather than let it go, at best they can only hold on to love for brief moments. 

Jesus spoke of our hearts many times when He was on earth.  In Matthew, Mark and Luke he says we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, our soul, our mind and our strength.  The Greek word used in the Gospels for heart is “kardia.”  Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance (G2588) defines kardia as “…the center and seat of spiritual life: the soul or mind, as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavors…of the will and character.”her fellow teacher to shreds.

Do you have troubles? ‘I’ve had troubles.  Most of us have had troubles.

I have a friend who is a teacher in a small school in a small town.  My friend has trouble getting along with others sometimes.

One day she was walking down the hallway and another teacher commented on her outfit.  “That’s a cute outfit!”  My friend took it the wrong way and became incensed. and she proceeded to cut her fellow teacher to shreds.

I sometimes think that we’re a lot like pioneers who know the way to the West.  We point to the West and say, ”It’s that way!”  But knowing how to get somewhere isn’t the same as making the journey.

Ultimately, this is what I discovered:  All the knowledge I had from reading books and witnessing deliverance didn’t bring change to my life. I felt quite humbled when I recognized that for all my reading and all my experience I couldn’t even solve my own problems.  It felt like I had a giant brain and a tiny, little spiritual body.

Many times, when we have trouble honoring our parents, our husbands and wives, our bosses and co-workers, our brothers and sisters, or even our pastors, it is because we have become offended.

What is your relationship with your parents like?

It should come as no surprise to us that God has addressed our relationships with our parents.  In fact, He is quite clear how we are to treat them.

What is your relationship with your parents like?

On a scale of 1-10 1 being the worst and 10 being the best give yourself a score on your relationship with your parents.

Again, on a scale of 1-10, 1 being negative and 10 being positive, rate the impact your relationship with your parents is having on your life right now.

What do you imagine you would do if Jesus Christ showed up in your living room or in your church?

Maybe you imagine that if Jesus actually revealed himself as a physical presence you would run up to Him and dance around and give Him a hug.  That’s a great image.

You establish a personal connection with God through worship.

In Psalm 25:14 we see one of the greatest benefits of worshipping God.  The Lord will actually confide in those who fear (or worship) Him.

You establish a personal connection with God through worship.

In Psalm 25:14 we see one of the greatest benefits of worshipping God.  The Lord will actually confide in those who fear (or worship) Him.

For a long time as I worked to get to know God better, I felt as though I was making little progress.  I tried to behave better.  I tried to serve more.  I read a lot of books.  I prayed.  I fasted.  After all my work I found I didn’t know God any better than I did when I started.  I knew God was there, but I couldn’t feel Him. I couldn’t sense Him.

He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God. Psalm 50:23

There is a difference between being more thankful and choosing to become a thankful person.

What is your experience with love?  Did you know love as a child?  Are you good at love at this time in your life?

Have you ever been manipulated by love?  Have you ever manipulated some one with love?