i receive an email daily from ravi zacharias' ministry. today's was what i needed to hear as i am very self focused, very much a complaining israelite, unappreciative of all the manna and quail falling down upon my head in the midst of moving our tent from one part of the land to another. i am full of complaint instead of compliance to His will, of terseness rather than thanksgiving for His provision. according to the written Word, this is a complaint against the Lord who is among me (numbers 11:20). i am glad He knows my frame, that i am but dust but values me anyway, enough to save me from what i deserve through His Son rather than punish me according to my transgressions. (the bolded and italicized parts below are mine.)
11/24/08
From Whom All Blessings Flow
Jill Carattini
The four lines of what is commonly known as the Doxology have been sung for
more than three hundred years.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise Him above ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
It has been said that the Doxology, which literally means words of glory,
has done more to teach the doctrine of the Trinity than all the
theological books ever written. To this day, when I sing those powerful
lines, I recall the colorful lesson of my first grade Sunday school
teacher. With something like cookie dough and bologna magically falling
down on the table before us, she read us the story of a God who made the
heavens rain bread and quail so that his grumbling people might be
satisfied and know that God is God. I was impressed. And when we sung
the Doxology at the end of the service, I thought it immensely helpful
that I knew a little more of what it means when we sing that God is the
God from whom all blessings flow.
Cornelius Plantinga Jr. once made the pointed comment that “it must be an
odd feeling to be thankful to nobody in particular.” He was commenting on
the odd phenomenon of finding, especially around the American celebration
of Thanksgiving, so many people thankful “in general.” To be thankful “in
general” is very strange, he concluded. “It’s a little like being married
in general.”(1) Of course, his words are not dismissing the thought that
it is good to give thanks in all circumstances. Rather, Plantinga raises
an important philosophical question. Can one be thankful in general,
thankful for the blessings that flow, without acknowledging from where or
from whom they might be flowing?
In what remains a revealing look at human nature, Moses describes life
after Egypt. Rescued Israel was a grumbling people sick of manna, wailing
for meat, even longing to go back to the land God had mightily delivered
them from. Though their daily bread was actually falling from heaven,
they wanted more. In the midst of their discontent, Moses revealed God’s
promise for meat, but added the wake up call: “You have rejected the Lord,
who is among you” (Numbers 11:20).
To our grumbling prone lips, these words are quite revealing. If being
thankful is by nature being aware and appreciative of things beyond
ourselves, complaining is refusing to see anything but ourselves.
It is refusing to see the one who is among us. Moreover, it is an
expression that serves only to affirm our own expectations, whether they
are based on faulty visions of reality or not. Certainly the Israelites
did not want to go back into captivity, but in their grumbling even
slavery began to look inviting. Likewise, the falling bread from heaven
ceased to be a remarkable sign of provision from the Father, but
remarkably, a sign of monotony and their own dreariness.
Our complaints are not only a choice to overlook the blessings around us,
but the choice not to ask where or from whom our blessings come.
Thanksgiving, on the other hand, makes the choice to inquire. Being
thankful is therefore always more than a glib note of gratitude or a warm
sentiment in general; it requires something far more personal. It
not only chooses to recognize the gifts before us, but recognizes that
there must also be a giver. There is someone to thank. There is one
from whom all blessings flow.
Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi
Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.
(1) Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., “Assurances of the Heart” Christianity
Today, Vol. 39, no. 13.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 2008 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM)
"A Slice of Infinity" is aimed at reaching into the culture with words of
challenge, words of truth, and words of hope. If you know of others who
would enjoy receiving "A Slice of Infinity" in their email box each day,
tell them they can sign up on our website at
http://www.rzim.org/slice/slice.php. If they do not have access to the
World Wide Web, please call 1-877-88SLICE (1-877-887-5423).
From Whom All Blessings Flow
Jill Carattini
The four lines of what is commonly known as the Doxology have been sung for
more than three hundred years.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise Him above ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
It has been said that the Doxology, which literally means words of glory,
has done more to teach the doctrine of the Trinity than all the
theological books ever written. To this day, when I sing those powerful
lines, I recall the colorful lesson of my first grade Sunday school
teacher. With something like cookie dough and bologna magically falling
down on the table before us, she read us the story of a God who made the
heavens rain bread and quail so that his grumbling people might be
satisfied and know that God is God. I was impressed. And when we sung
the Doxology at the end of the service, I thought it immensely helpful
that I knew a little more of what it means when we sing that God is the
God from whom all blessings flow.
Cornelius Plantinga Jr. once made the pointed comment that “it must be an
odd feeling to be thankful to nobody in particular.” He was commenting on
the odd phenomenon of finding, especially around the American celebration
of Thanksgiving, so many people thankful “in general.” To be thankful “in
general” is very strange, he concluded. “It’s a little like being married
in general.”(1) Of course, his words are not dismissing the thought that
it is good to give thanks in all circumstances. Rather, Plantinga raises
an important philosophical question. Can one be thankful in general,
thankful for the blessings that flow, without acknowledging from where or
from whom they might be flowing?
In what remains a revealing look at human nature, Moses describes life
after Egypt. Rescued Israel was a grumbling people sick of manna, wailing
for meat, even longing to go back to the land God had mightily delivered
them from. Though their daily bread was actually falling from heaven,
they wanted more. In the midst of their discontent, Moses revealed God’s
promise for meat, but added the wake up call: “You have rejected the Lord,
who is among you” (Numbers 11:20).
To our grumbling prone lips, these words are quite revealing. If being
thankful is by nature being aware and appreciative of things beyond
ourselves, complaining is refusing to see anything but ourselves.
It is refusing to see the one who is among us. Moreover, it is an
expression that serves only to affirm our own expectations, whether they
are based on faulty visions of reality or not. Certainly the Israelites
did not want to go back into captivity, but in their grumbling even
slavery began to look inviting. Likewise, the falling bread from heaven
ceased to be a remarkable sign of provision from the Father, but
remarkably, a sign of monotony and their own dreariness.
Our complaints are not only a choice to overlook the blessings around us,
but the choice not to ask where or from whom our blessings come.
Thanksgiving, on the other hand, makes the choice to inquire. Being
thankful is therefore always more than a glib note of gratitude or a warm
sentiment in general; it requires something far more personal. It
not only chooses to recognize the gifts before us, but recognizes that
there must also be a giver. There is someone to thank. There is one
from whom all blessings flow.
Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi
Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.
(1) Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., “Assurances of the Heart” Christianity
Today, Vol. 39, no. 13.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 2008 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM)
"A Slice of Infinity" is aimed at reaching into the culture with words of
challenge, words of truth, and words of hope. If you know of others who
would enjoy receiving "A Slice of Infinity" in their email box each day,
tell them they can sign up on our website at
http://www.rzim.org/slice/slice.php. If they do not have access to the
World Wide Web, please call 1-877-88SLICE (1-877-887-5423).
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