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Bless the Lord, O My Soul

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“Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me; bless His holy name…and forget none of His benefits.” Psalm 103:1-2

This time of the year reminds us of a word – thanksgiving, or the giving of thanks. What a wonderful word, idea, and thing to do. We have been so blessed, been given so much; more than we deserve and actually, for many of us, more than we need.

How blessed we are to live in a place where we fret more about our choices than we do with our wants.

There will probably be a lot of leftovers this next week. But how blessed we are to live in a place where we fret more about our choices than we do with our wants.

However; more importantly, are those blessings that are not physical, but are spiritual in nature. One of the great Psalms is 103. Notice the words that David uses to describe His blessings and benefits. “He pardons, heals, redeems, crowns, satisfies, renews, removes, and performs. He is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, merciful, and understands.” WOW!!!!

No wonder David starts out and finishes by saying, “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” So, what is it that you were fretting about? In another scripture, David said, “Fretting, only leads to evildoing.”

O Lord, please remind me how blessed I am.

Are you religious or are you converted?

Posted on by Bob Mathews

In spite of its frantic pursuit of religion, America has never been less spiritual. Jesus came into a world that was very religious, if not Jewish, then pagan. Jesus did not come to establish a new religion, but to convert the world, because while they were religious, they were not saved.

Religion is from within, redemption (conversion) is from above. Religion brings one to worship, conversion brings one to God. Religion is a response to the void within man, conversion is a response to the voice of God. Religion can restructure your life, conversion can restart your life. Religion may get you thru life, conversion will get you to heaven. While religion might affect your diet, conversion will affect your destiny.

Oh be careful little tongue what you say

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Jesus, said, “every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for in the day of Judgment.” (Matthew 11:36 NASB). Paul said “let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth”.

An innocent word spoken maybe in fun to the speaker, can become a wound to the hearer. According to James the tongue is a very small part of the body but can be tamed by no one and can cause enormous damage. I know that you don’t have to be evil or have an ugly heart to say words that are not beneficial but are damaging. Peter said that he would not deny the Lord, yet later he would deny him with cursings, yet Jesus knew his heart and would allow him to have the keys to the kingdom.

It behooves each of us to try to make the words that we speak like “apples of gold in settings of silver” (Prov. 25:11), that they are “words of grace as seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6) The only words that we should speak are words “good for edification according to the need of the moment so that it will give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29).

My prayer is that God will help me to always make the words of my mouth not only be acceptable to Him, but also to those who hear.

Let Your Difference Make a Difference

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Thinking and acting differently than the world will make a world of difference. That’s what the church is all about. Paul and other Christians were brought before the city officials and accused of “upsetting the world” with their teaching. (Acts 17) Why? Because they were different in their thinking and acting. They were not into the idea of “What’s in it for me?” but how can I bless those around me. That is what the church is about. We are the called-out from the world.

We are to be in the world, but not of the world. The world will not like us and actually hate us as it did Jesus and those who followed Him. We will offend those who differ from us, not by being rude, but by following the teachings of Jesus, by going the second mile, by turning the cheek, by being good to all, regardless of their status in life.

Let your difference make a difference in the world.

God reigns!

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We have seen, heard, and even experienced the idea of change. Politicians have used that word and have we ever seen the change that has happened in our country. We who have been blessed to get past being young and now are getting to be “old” have seen and experienced the changes that have taken place in our lives.

With all this change going on, we wonder what is going to happen next, what will be changed in the morning when I wake up to a new day? Most of us don’t handle change very well. We don’t like big changes in our lives. We don’t like to get out of our comfort zone. So we say, leave it alone, “If it is not broke, don’t fix it.” I know I feel that way a lot of times. However, from the above passage, let’s focus on two things when changes occur.

God…even the One who sits enthroned from of old—with whom there is no change.
                    Psalm 55:19

First of all it says that God is “enthroned.” When the children of Israel wanted a king like everyone around them, Samuel was disappointed, but God was even more so; but there is one thing that we can be sure of, God is on the throne! He is still in charge! He is still sovereign over all things. It is still true that we “live and move and have our very being in Him.”

One of the first things you notice about the book of Revelation is that John is allowed to see the throne room to see God on the throne. A lot of Christians thought God had left them alone, but He had not, so John sees and tells about God on the throne, ruling everything. When life gets tough, tedious and it looks like God doesn’t care, just remember, He is still ruling this world!

The second thing is that God doesn’t change. Oh, there are things about Him that change. His laws, for example, have changed. We don’t have to build an ark. We don’t have to offer up animal sacrifices. We don’t have to go to Jerusalem. But His nature does not change. He still desires the sacrifices of a broken and contrite heart over our sins. He is still looking for a demonstration of faith in our lives. He is still full of compassion, mercy, and forgiveness. He is still the same yesterday, today, and forever!

So, stop wringing your hands and trying to figure out what God is doing. He is still ruling like He always has done and He is not going to change, even if the whole world does. Rejoice and be happy, for He is so good, gracious, and faithful.