two timed

Psalm 44:1 O God, we have heard it with our own ears— our ancestors have told us of all You did in their day, in days long ago:

2 You drove out the pagan nations by your power and gave all the land to our ancestors.

You crushed their enemies and set our ancestors free.

3 They did not conquer the land with their own hand; it was not their own swords that gave them victory. It was by Your might power that they succeeded, it was because You favored them & smiled on them.

1 Corinthians 15: 10 But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out His special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by His grace

vs 58 So, my dear brothers & sisters, be strong & steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

Since I read the Bible everyday, it isn't an unusual thing for God to speak to me about something day after day after day - it could be some issue, some person, some ministry opportunity, something about myself He wants to (usually) change or (more likely) prune off.

It is very rare that He speaks to me about the same thing in more than one place. That's what happened this morning. As you may know, every day me & Billy Graham read a psalm in sequence. Nothing unusual about that. A little over a couple of weeks ago I felt like God was leading me to start reading sequentially the chapters in 1 Corinthians. Nothing unusual about that - it's been a few months since I've read it.

I was reading Psalm 44 this morning & the part about it was "because You favored them & smiled on them" part that came up from the page. I'm becoming more & more aware that the good stuff I see going on in my life & the impact & influence I have is not because I'm particularly brilliant or holy (sorry if that comes as something of a surprise! LOL). It's simply because our Abba Father chooses to favor me with that influence (which conversely would mean He could choose to not favor me.).

Ok, so I thought about that for a while, & I'll carry that around all day, & probably run into something today that will help me see more clearly the whamo-bamo truth of those verses.

Then I'm reading through 1 Corinthians 15 - lots of good stuff - when I get to "whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out His special favor on me" There's that "favor" word again - gettin' a little more than coincidental.

Then He threw in "it was not I but God who was working through me by His grace" & "for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless" - hmmmmmmmm

So my question for today is, "What's He tryin' to say?" Yes, I understand it's something about His favor in my life. But what's the particular application right now?

I have something I'm taking baby steps with right now. As I walk into it, maybe He's reminding me that this time it's all about His favor, & not about my ability. As a music minister for decades, I got the "planning ahead" thing conquered. I always had a plan, worked it, & God bless anyone who was stupid enough to get in my way! But I've been living in a whole different relationship with Him these last 8 years, with amazing successes & embarassing failures. Maybe this time, it's gonna be all about His favor, His smile on what I'm trying to be & do & not about my ability.

I'm not trying to be coy, oblique, droll, or subtle. I'm serious when looking for what He's trying to say to me.

Anybody got some insight, or a word from the Lord about this? If you do, lemme know - SOON!