Verse of the Day 10/23

Psalm 139:17-18How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
    I awake, and I am still with you.  English Standard Version (ESV)

I grew up in a small church in Illinois and to this day I am thankful for the ministers of that small church that made such an impact on me and many others in those congregations.  What came through was their love of God and love of His Word.  Their hearts desire was to share what God had laid upon their hearts in the hope that it would be passed on to the next generation and shared with others who would also pass it along.  It is at the root of why I send out these "posts" day by day.  I'm hoping that His Word will do the "speaking". 

For the last year or so, several times when I've visited our plant in South Carolina I've visited a small church for their Wednesday night service with a co-worker.  We've talked about what it must be like to serve in a small church.  Listening to the prayer requests it becomes obvious that though the church may be small, the burdens and challenges may be great, sometimes, perhaps oftentimes greater than someone leading a large congregation with an exponentially larger staff.

I'll share a post I read this morning from an A.W. Tozer devotional.  It brought this home:

"No matter how insignificant he may have been before, a man becomes significant the moment he has had an encounter with the Son of God. When the Lord lays His hand upon a man, that man ceases at once to be ordinary. He immediately becomes extraordinary, and his life takes on cosmic significance. The angels in heaven take notice of him and go forth to become his ministers (Hebrews 1:14). Though the man had before been only one of the faceless multitude, a mere cipher in the universe, an invisible dust grain blown across endless wastes-now he gets a face and a name and a place in the scheme of meaningful things. Christ knows His own sheep "by name."

A young preacher introduced himself to the pastor of a great metropolitan church with the words, 'I am just the pastor of a small church upcountry.' 'Son,' replied the wise minister, "there are no small churches." And there are no unknown Christians, no insignificant sons of God. Each one signifies, each is a "sign" drawing the attention of the Triune God day and night upon him. The faceless man has a face, the nameless man a name, when Jesus picks him out of the multitude and calls him to Himself. We Travel an Appointed Way, 19."

"Lord, I pray this morning for that discouraged pastor of the 'small church upcountry.' Let him see how much You care for him, and how significant You see his ministry to be. Amen."

If you have roots in a small church or perhaps attend one today, say a prayer of thanks for your pastor and if you have the opportunity share a word of encouragement.  Let them know that what they do is significant for you and seen that way by the Lord.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Psalm 139:13-18New Living Translation (NLT)

¹³ You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
    and knit me together in my mother's womb.
¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
¹⁵ You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
    as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
¹⁶ You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed.

¹⁷ How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
    They cannot be numbered!
¹⁸ I can't even count them;
    they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
    you are still with me!