About Thanks

Müller, Heinrich - About Thanks. 

Turning back is the best Thanks.

Luke 17:15-18

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

You praise God with your mouth, and you do well to do so. The offering God wants from us is Thanks. The more you open your mouth, the more He pours in. Every thanks procures a new blessing. The waters originate from the sea, and flow back to the sea. Prayers direct the flow of Grace from God downwards, thanks-giving directs them back up again. The goodness of God is a Jabobs Ladder, where angels climb up and down. A prayer up - a blessing down; thanks up - blessings down; blessings up and down, up through "Our Father" - down through Gratias (thanks). Everything seeks out its origin and therein it rests, also Gods blessings.  

 But tell me, do you praise God with your life? Turnaround is the best thanks. Contemplate your life, where are you? Your Savior teaches in Matthew 7:13-14 "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:  Are you on that same path? Do you hold company with the masses? Do you conform to the world?  

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Are you among the few? Where does your path lead? Observe your footsteps. Pride, anger, hatred, injustice, and lies are the footsteps of the world. Humility, meekness, love, justice, encouragement, mercy, and truth are the footsteps of Jesus. Where are you? Turn back, turn back, if you are not on the right path. Through turning back one praises God. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven ~ Matthew 5:16 

I ask you one more. Do you praise God in your sufferings? Submission is a beautiful praise of God. God gives you good things; you say "The Lord has given, His name be praised!"

The Lord takes away; do you then say "The Lord has taken away, His name be praised!"

A submissive heart is always prepared for a turnaround. What God gives, a submissive heart is ready to give back, if it so pleases God. 

 I will praise God with my heart and mouth, in life and in love. All that is within me, Praise the Lord. 

Where Vegans Have It Wrong

A recent hashtag #farm365 that was started to showcase the hard work and care that farmers put into producing food at a farm level really brought some different views into farm tweeters timelines.

“Killing our fellow beings” “Raping dairy cows (AI) and then stealing their young for slaughter all for a few liters of milk per day” “Taking a life for a meal” “Murderers” Their views are so far off as to say ”Earth would be better off without humans” “A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy” is another classic.

Little do they know domestic livestock is called domestic for a reason. These animals are ill equipped to live without human care and would succumb to the elements, predators and starvation in the arms of Mother Nature in short order.

Regarding the moral aspect, yes animals feel pain. That’s why we farmers take great measures to ensure our livestock is treated with due care and respect. But to take the “they can feel pain part” and turn it into “they can comprehend their reason for existence” is wrong. A pig's heart valve will function in a human body, but a pig has no qualms about eating grandma Sue or brother Bill for breakfast if they should fall dead before them in the morning. They can feel pain but have no concept of it; neither can they comprehend the concept of death or even life for that matter. They live in the moment, and we farmers do the best we can to make that moment the best we can. We give them shelter from the elements, food at their every whim and protection from predators.

Now to the point where vegans have it wrong.

We were created in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image” and God lives In us as we can read in 1 Corinthians 6:19 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.”

Therefore, if we were created in the image of God and God lives in us then human life is sacred and holy and also has meaning. And if we are not our own, neither are we anyone else’s except Gods’.

 To put animal life on the same scale would be quite foolish and quite frankly, impossible.  The only way one could even comprehend human and animal life to be of same value were if one were to take the atheist view that God doesn’t exist. But that view has its own issues for if God doesn’t exist then nothing is sacred, nothing is holy and nothing has meaning.

1 Corinthians 8:6 Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

New year, new beginnings. Let it be good.

The New Year is like a fresh new slate, clean and empty. The Old Year’s slate is full, done and wrote. As we reflect back on that old, wrote slate we see many warm and happy writings on it, we can also read of many deeds that gave us a sense of great accomplishment and joy but maybe there’s talk of a few that didn’t. The slate also talks of many events and happenings that were out of our control but also of a great many that weren’t. There are probably many things we wish it would say and many things we wish it didn’t. We can’t go back, erase and edit but what we can do use that old slate to inspire us to write a new and better one, and write this one as carefully as we wanted the old one to be written. There’s no rush for this slate can only be written one day at a time.

 “I am your life, handle me with care” ~ your soul