A Door of Hope – Page 7 – Obtaining Mercy

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving in Psalms Day 2

November 3, 2025November 30, 2025 by ObtainingMercy, posted in A Door of Hope, Thirty Days of Thanksgiving in Psalms

Psalm 18:49 – “Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.”

This verse, and actually the entire chapter, is the song of praise from David found in II Samuel 22:50.

As an old man, David is looking back over his life and recounting all the ways that God has blessed him. It’s a song of love, praise, adoration and remembrance of the gracious and merciful acts of the Lord.

This verse gives us an outline for a life that is full of gratitude for all that God has done for us:
• We give God thanks privately (our daily devotional time)
• We give God thanks by telling the unsaved about Him (witnessing)
• We give God thanks publicly (ministry and service)

Being thankful is something that should permeate our lives every day, not just something relegated to one month of the year. I believe it is truly a way of life.

If you look at the lives of great preachers, you will notice that they never take the goodness of God for granted. The sweet spirit of gratitude is the driving force behind their preaching and their ministries.

That spirit is a by-product of their internal thoughts about their God. They remain constantly amazed and humbled by God’s goodness in their lives.

We would do well to emulate the Psalmist’s practice of filling our minds with thoughts of God’s great goodness to us.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving in Psalms Day 1

November 1, 2025November 30, 2025 by ObtainingMercy, posted in A Door of Hope, Thirty Days of Thanksgiving in Psalms, Uncategorized

Psalm 6:5 – “For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?”

Our physical death means an end of our praise.

Others may be able to look at the lives we lived and praise the Lord for us, but our own personal praise, here on the earth about our great God, will stop.

If I could live over a hundred years and only thank the Lord for one unique thing each day, I would never run out of things for which to be thankful! Why would I ever want that time to be shortened?

If for no other reason, each day has great purpose because I can fill it with thanksgiving to my God!

The first mention of the word “thank” is in Leviticus 22:29. “And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will.”

If we want a life full of meaning and purpose and direction, we should begin to fill each day with thanks to the Lord. On the days we feel like there is nothing to be thankful for, when our thanksgiving is a real sacrifice, at our “own will”, let’s offer our thanks to God anyway.

I believe it will change our focus and give each day a new purpose. It will give us a heart full of thanks and a reason to live!

The Adventures of Beans and Other Climbers

August 12, 2022August 15, 2022 by ObtainingMercy, posted in A Door of Hope, Obtaining Mercy Croft

I love to examine and investigate plants that climb. We are currently growing rattlesnake beans. They have inched their way to around 7 or 8 feet high on the cattle panel. It is so cool how they twist and grasp each rung as they climb.

The vine is the most important part of the plant. No beans would grow, mature or even be able to reproduce without the vine.

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
John 15:5

Jesus is our Vine.

He controls how and where we grow. Without Him, we cannot do anything – just like we are not able to have rattlesnake beans without the vine. Our only job is to abide in the Vine (our only source of water and nutrition).

I know when I examine my own life and choices, I have the habit of trying to do things on my own and attribute it to God. These things may be working, serving God, fixing problems.

The thing is when I get to the end and it’s not where it needs to be, my tendency is to blame the Lord.

The harsh reality is that God doesn’t need my input. I have to remind myself, what is my job? My job is to abide in Him. That’s it, and follow in obedience.

God is good and we can trust Him.

Drinking from the Spring,

Doug

The Importance of Water, Part 2

August 9, 2022August 9, 2022 by ObtainingMercy, posted in A Door of Hope, Obtaining Mercy Croft, Uncategorized

As a beginner gardener, I have a new appreciation for rain.

In the past I haven’t always appreciated the rain. It may have a bit bothersome, or an inconvenience to my present plans. But since starting a garden, the rain is beautiful; a refreshing gift from the bounty of God; an encouragement that helps to keep me going through this Florida heat.

Rain has become a hopeful and blessed event. It’s arrival raises thankfulness in my heart. I know that rain and my watering are a blessing to the garden. There is no life or growth without water.

The Master Gardener know the importance of His Word (compared many times in Scripture to water).

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
Psalm 42:1

A few definitions as we move along. The hart is an adult male deer. To pant is to long for, or to passionately desire. A brook is a small natural stream of water, or a current flowing from a spring or fountain.

That deer in his movements through the forest or countryside is thirsty and passionately desires the water brooks. God through the psalmist writes “so panteth my soul after thee, O God”

Do I pant after God? What do I pant after? What do I passionately desire?

Is it the brook? That small, consistent, daily water source that flows from that spring.

Unfortunately, I know that I pant after other things too many times. I pant after connections, notoriety, comfort, maybe even rest. These things are not a substitute for the water brook of God’s Word.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Psalm 1:2-3

God wants us to seek Him first, today and everyday. Jesus is our Answer to today’s question. He is our Peace, our Joy, our Life.

Drinking from God’s Spring,

Doug

The Importance of Water, Part 1

July 25, 2022 by ObtainingMercy, posted in A Door of Hope, Obtaining Mercy Croft, Uncategorized

When I started gardening I thought I understood the importance of water for healthy plants. The truth is I think I severely underestimated how much water plants really need.

Planting seeds is always exciting. When the plants first push through the ground and start growing, that is an energizing and exhilarating thing to be part of! That excitement fuels my care for the seedlings, because watering at this stage seems to bring changes to the plants every day.

But soon, the plants reach a stage where they begin to slow down their growth. They are preparing to produce flowers and fruit. This is where my challenge begins.

The plants seem healthy and they are doing well. So it’s easy to assume they have all the water they need, and I lose the urgency to water well, because I see no immediate results. Without that necessary water the plants become weak and more susceptible to pests and disease.

The Master Gardener knows our fragility and our need for spiritual water. We are, after all, sinful by our very nature, and by our choice. Jesus told the woman at the well that He could give her a well that springs with everlasting life.

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
John 4:14

Our sin separates us from God. And when we look within ourselves, we feel an emptiness and void that we cannot fill on our own. That emptiness can only be satisfied by Jesus Christ. We receive His everlasting life when we cry out to God, and ask Him to forgive our sin and become our Saviour.

We must take an honest look at our sinfulness and realize that we are not able to make ourselves good enough. We must look to Jesus, the one Who died for our sin, shed His blood, and rose from the dead.

We must choose for ourselves. We must step out by faith alone and call on Jesus personally. Then we can have that well that springs up to everlasting life.