{"id":3058,"date":"2014-08-09T19:54:01","date_gmt":"2014-08-09T23:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=3058"},"modified":"2014-08-10T15:54:40","modified_gmt":"2014-08-10T19:54:40","slug":"gods-amazing-goodness-devotional-by-pastor-jim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=3058","title":{"rendered":"Pastor’s Ponderings: God’s Amazing Goodness"},"content":{"rendered":"
Friends:<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
As part of my ministry over the years, I have written and prepared many devotionals. I am continuing to write them as the Holy Spirit leads and time allows. The Pitman UMC, where I am proud to be serving as Senior Pastor, will begin posting them on our website. \u00a0If you would like to be added to the growing email list, please write me and let me you would like to receive these as an email from me. You may email me at: revbolton@pitmanumc.org<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Grace and Peace,<\/span><\/div>\n
Pastor Jim<\/span><\/div>\n
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Greetings Friends:<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
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PLEASE READ<\/span>:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
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2 Samuel 22:1-4<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
David sang\u00a0to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.\u00a0He said: \u201cThe LORD is my rock,\u00a0my fortress\u00a0and my deliverer;\u00a0my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,\u00a0my shield\u00a0and the horn\u00a0of my salvation. He is my stronghold,\u00a0my refuge and my savior\u2014from violent men you save me.\u00a0I call to the LORD, who is worthy\u00a0of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Psalms 145:3<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
“Great is the LORD\u00a0and most worthy of praise;\u00a0his greatness no one can fathom.”<\/span><\/div>\n
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Psalms 91:1-2<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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Psalms 147:1, 3-5<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
“Praise the LORD.\u00a0<\/span>How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant\u00a0and fitting to praise him!…\u00a0<\/span>He heals the brokenhearted\u00a0and binds up their wounds.\u00a0<\/span>He determines the number of the stars\u00a0and calls them each by name.\u00a0Great is our Lord\u00a0 and mighty in power;\u00a0his understanding has no limit.”\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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On this <\/span>Saturday as we anticipate being part of worship tomorrow<\/span>, I feel led to invite us to just pause briefly and consider God’s amazing goodness to us.\u00a0 In the passage from 2 Samuel above, David is praising God as he reflects on how God has provided for his every need.\u00a0 David refers to God as his “rock,” “fortress,” “deliverer,” “shield,” “refuge,” “horn of salvation,” and “stronghold.”\u00a0 The Psalmists always have words and expression of praise for our Awesome God!\u00a0 The good news is that just as God was all that and more for David and the Psalmists, so God is for you and me!\u00a0 Below is a poem which\u00a0a Brother in Christ\u00a0gave to me several years ago.\u00a0 I pray that we all will be blessed by it, but also that the Holy Spirit might use it to challenge us and help us in our walk with Lord.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0“I Know<\/span>“<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
I know He is the Beginning,<\/div>\n
\u00a0 so why do I worry about the end?
\nI know He is the Creator,<\/div>\n
\u00a0 so why do I wonder who will destroy?
\nI know He has forgiven me,<\/div>\n
\u00a0 so why can’t I forgive myself?
\nI know He is\u00a0the Healer,<\/div>\n
\u00a0 so why do I\u00a0worry of sickness?
\nI know He can do all things,<\/div>\n
\u00a0 so why do I say I can’t?
\nI know He will protect me,<\/div>\n
\u00a0 so why do I fear?
\nI know He will supply all my needs,<\/div>\n
\u00a0 so why am I so impatient?
\nI know He is the right Way,<\/div>\n
\u00a0 so why do I choose to go the wrong way?
\nI know He is the Light,<\/div>\n
\u00a0 so why do I choose to walk in darkness?
\nI know that whatever I ask of GOD, GOD will give me,
\nso why am I scared to ask?
\nI know tomorrow is not promised,<\/div>\n
\u00a0 so why do I put off for tomorrow what I can do today?
\nI know He gives us revelation, knowledge and\u00a0understanding,
\nso why do I lean on my own understanding?
\nI know I should live in the Spirit as well as walk in the Spirit,
\nso why do I choose to live in the Spirit but walk in the flesh?
\nI know that when praises go up, blessings come down,<\/div>\n
\u00a0 so why do I so often refuse to praise Him?<\/div>\n
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Shalom,<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
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Pastor Jim<\/span><\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/address>\n
\u00a0To read other Pastor’s Ponderings, Click Here<\/a>.<\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/address>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friends: \u00a0 As part of my ministry over the years, I have written and prepared many devotionals. I am continuing to write them as the Holy Spirit leads and time allows. The Pitman UMC, where I am proud to be serving as Senior Pastor, will begin posting them on our website. \u00a0If you would like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[89],"class_list":["post-3058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastors-ponderings","tag-worship-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3058"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3075,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3058\/revisions\/3075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}