psalms

Achoo! Bless You

~ Connie Haus ~ Leave a comment

It has become customary that when we hear a sneeze (or two or three …) to automatically say “God bless you”. How did that come about?  Do we truly mean it or say it because it has become what we do?  Habit?

The history of the sneeze blessing goes way back before my time for sure!  It was thought that a sneeze could spread infectious diseases such as the bubonic plague.  It is also stated that Pope Gregory the First bestowed such a blessing during a bubonic plague outbreak.  Going back further the Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder pondered the same (am I among great minds?? yikes!) But good ol’ Pliny didn’t know how it started either so it must have been around long before his time (77BC).  The last common theory I will mention is that in ancient times it was thought that evil spirits could enter the body or momentarily expel the soul from the body (glad that’s a misnomer because I sneeze a lot some days!) or even stop the heart,  So a “God bless you” became a prayer to protect the sneezer and those close by.

All that brings me to this point … when we say “God bless you” it should mean something to us and to the person you say it to.  To say it should be meaningful.  Do we want God to bless someone who reviles Him?  Do we know who we are asking God to bless?  What would be a good response to the sneezer if we didn’t say “God bless you”?  Is it considered poor manners to let a sneeze go unanswered?  If a “blessing” is not forthcoming it sometimes leads to an awkward silence.

The question remains unanswered!  But it leads me to another “blessing”.  Someone recently asked a serious question to a group that I was a part of … “How can we bless God? God is God, He already has everything so how can we bless Him”.  There were several responses and I take this away … in the past, I have asked the same question but a couple things come to mind (well, maybe more than a couple!).  

1)  The Bible tells us to bless Him! The first scripture (among many) that comes to mind is “Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name” Psalm 103:1.

2)  We can bless Him by offering singing, thanksgiving, praise, and worship. (Psalm 100)

3)  We can bless Him by living a godly life (“Worship the Lord with the beauty of holy lives.” Psalm 96:9 LB)

4)  We can bless Him by willingly obeying Him (“If you love me you will obey me (John 14:15)

  5)  The Psalmist danced, clapped, and lifted his hands to the Lord in exuberant worship … why are we embarrassed to do the same?  Dance before the Lord in worship!

6)  Bless Him by sharing with others what the Lord has done for you.

7)  Be a part of the heavenly hosts who worship Him who sits on the Throne, “they worshiped without ceasing day and night, singing, ‘Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” (Revelation 4:8)

8)  Here are just a few of the admonitions in the Psalms … exalt the Lord, praise Him for He is great and holy, God the great forgiver, enter His gates with singing & thanksgiving, “I will bless and praise the Lord with my whole heart”, let everything (and everybody!) PRAISE THE LORD!  That blesses Him!

We as Christ’s followers have fallen into the trap of always asking God to bless us, and He does, but often we fail in blessing Him.  He is worthy to be blessed. He is blessed by our offering our blessings to Him.  He lives in our praises so BLESS HIM!

Connie Haus

Be Still

~ Connie Haus ~ Leave a comment

“Be still!”  Smile … how many times have we told that to our children or to others who couldn’t seem to sit still or BE still!

It is not easy for me to be still.  Oh, I can sit and read a book, watch TV, or sit in a car or plane, but I don’t like to be inactive for long.  I’m a “to-do” kind of person.  I have my list and feel accomplished when it’s done.  

I’m not a good sleeper (thank you menopause!).  I can hardly keep my eyes open by bedtime and many times as soon as I get in bed the brain kicks in at about 100 miles per hour!

Such was the case tonight so up I got … couldn’t really concentrate on my Bible, didn’t want to read a book, didn’t want to spend time on the computer, didn’t want to wander around the house so finally went back to bed.  As I lay down the song began to play in my brain … “Be still and know that I am God, be still and know that I am God, be still and know that I am God.”  Psalm 46:1, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

It hit me … do I really know how to “be still”?  Being still isn’t keeping your thumbs from twirling, feet from bouncing, or sitting in a chair without moving a limb!  “Be still” … stop the mind from wandering, keep centered on God and His Word, stop striving, relax.  It’s meditating on His Word, listening for Him to speak to me. Be settled, be calm because we can TRUST GOD.

It’s not easy to be still!  We are prone to be active, to control our environment, to “be in charge”.  But God is saying, … “Be still and KNOW that I. AM. God.!”  

The only way I see of “knowing” is “knowing” Him!  How do we “know” Him?

How do you come to know anybody?  By spending time with them!  Talking with them, listening to them, interacting with them … and it is the same with our heavenly Father.  It’s not enough just to know about Him … but KNOW Him!

I’ve read about Queen Elizabeth, President Trump, and other world leaders and famous people.  I know about them but I have never met them or interacted with them so I don’t “know” them.

So in the stillness that God is calling us to He wants us to KNOW Him and that He IS God.

As I lay in bed and concentrated on that thought another verse about Him came to mind.  We are in the midst of a never before pandemic.  Folks are scared, we are sheltered in place, we feel locked up and death abounds.  Psalm 23:4, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me.”

I’ve always told myself that when faced with circumstances that could lead to death or any kind of a serious valley, I would want to RUN through it … not walk!  Also, it’s walking THROUGH a shadow!  A shadow is not the real thing!

At the beginning of this pandemic, I told my husband I had no fear … and I still don’t but I feel it creeping in after so many weeks and further sheltering along with face masks.

So how should we handle fear of this unknown “thing”?  Back up to Psalm 46:1 … “Be still”, listen for His voice, quiet our emotions and scary thoughts, and “know”, be assured of, that HE IS GOD! 

He will be in the furnace with us and deliver us … BUT IF NOT … we can still trust Him because our greatest deliverance will be when we are with Him for eternity!  The three Hebrew young men were not doubting with that statement … they were stating the fact that no matter what happened they knew that God was with them.

Exodus 14:14, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Psalm 37:7, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him”

Connie Haus (I wrote this in 2020 but never posted it until now)