Psalm 103 ~ forget not all His benefits

Psalm 103

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children's children,
18 to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.

20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
22 Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!




For each of us, we find a day we feel just plain inadequate.

There is quite a good reason to feel inadequate for us all. We are not God. The only place on earth I really see the Magnitude of God Himself is the Ocean. And for a good reason Heaven does not have an Ocean. Heaven is the Home of our Father God where He will live and move and have His Being with us.

Here on earth, we live and move and have our being with Father God only in faith. Heaven will have Shining Water and if we follow the water, we will arrive where God our Father has all of our prayers in His Heart. Jesus would say, "Fear Not." And we are invited with boldness and confidence to enter His 12 Open Gates and ask of Him all of our cares and prayers.



The Ocean is pure light in summer with families and newlyweds, the people who gaze and gaze and gaze at the unending water and sky and seek the sunrise and sunset. The Ocean. All is Bright. Glories steam from Heaven afar. Love’s pure light. Radiant beams from Thy Holy Face With the dawn of redeeming grace, The Lord in Heaven on high decreed. The Ocean is a visual aid to the Size of God to be fully understood.



The Ocean can be extremely formidable. In Winter, what was warm is now an entirely different color. Waves Boom, Crash and Pound. The relentless force of the Ocean is captivating. How is this to be seen. With extreme joy to be indoors with a very nice warm drink. Hopefully a fire nearby. This is extremely peaceful.

John 3:8
The wind blows wherever it wills. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

And this is how we will face our inadequacies. With God's Grace. It is He who has made us and not we ourselves. To see the Ocean and understand the storms is to understand the mysteries around us God will not unfold. To our very Blessing.

We will never be able to do and serve and Love and Heal and forgive and nourish and lead and fill ourselves and others like the 3,000 pages God has Spoken in His Word. Jesus will save humanity and He will fill every dot and every iota. And this is our Comfort and Helper.



We will take stock of ourselves and we are told only God and our own heart truly know us. There will be days we howl with desire to do more, to be more, to fill more and shine brighter. On these days, we have to know God has known us and put our names in the Book of Life. Do we know and read and write in the Book of Life? Of course, we do not.

God does tell us this. His Glory falls on us.

We are meant to be made each day in the Image of God. When we see Jesus, we see what God sees from far away like the Prodigal Father willing to put down His Wisdom, His Work He does today, His Heart and His Legs run to us coming Home. In our Adoption into Jesus - our Wonderful Savior. God sees part of Himself coming Home. His own Words tell us, "Beloved."

Remember on your days of storm, the haven from the storm, Your Shelter.

Jesus spoke the Words we know 2,000 years later nourishing the millenniums of the Communion of Saints - Called to Jesus Christ - and as He walked by all were healed. And as He walked by, the mournful and needy felt such Love from Jesus - there was an invitation to Touch God. Reach out to Jesus Christ and be Healed. Jesus would call us by name and say, "Well Done, Good and Faithful." Jesus also said, "Rise."


And in what way will this touch our lives?

I have known a man of God for 40 years and he looked over his life and said, "Was this enough?" And known the True Answer is, "Yes." We do not know what Words we speak that will touch love and life forever. And really all of God's Story is placed all around us in His Goodness. It seems a little too little to mention the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life." And yet, I want to tell you for 28 years my mother and my grandmother, Anita, preached, "Don't go out late alone without truly needing to. Don't let someone with a gun put you in the car. I mean this. Get under the car. Roll under. Get shot running zig zag in a parking lot. Don't roll your eyes at me, Promise!"

You grow up with this for 28 years and you glance over with boredness and agree and pick up the tv remote and change the channel. Until your brother John goes to Stephen F. Austin University and puts gasoline in his blue VW Bug in 1990, one quiet afternoon. And as he had $15 and put in just a top off, he got in his car to find the most afraid teenager telling him to drive him to Tyler, Texas. With a very, very shaky handgun pointed at John. This was someone not used to guns. Who profoundly apologized and said if my brother drove... Then all would be peaceful. My brother drove 100 feet and pulled over and said your choice is to shoot me here or as I get out and run. He told the teenager he wouldn't be reported but call the police for a ride if it was an emergency. And my brother jumped out of the car and made to safety.


What the point of this story is - the stories we tell our children - make a path. Make a Way. The way we help people - helps people. We are part of a LIFE . Part of a Way. Part of a story. Part of a Plan -where we walk by faith.



Feeling inadequate? Ok. We are. Our God given job is John 6:29 "The work of God gives us is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

We will take today. And Believe as Jesus has Loved us, we will provide nurture. We will provide help. We will provide Comfort. We will provide Love. We will provide Joy. And in doing this - we will love ourselves as God does.

Making Peace. Doing what we can to be peace to one another as a Work of God. Finding in our heart a place for those who dwell beside us peacefully. Showing Mercy. Our Neighbor. And, surely, we will leave in our footsteps, all the days of our lives, allowing God to help our lives, will and way that goodness and love will last in our footsteps even to the confidence of dwelling in the House of the Lord.

Where did we learn this? From Jesus. Tenderly forgiving each other and showing honor.

Abba Father,

We ask Your Blessings. Most especially on those working according to Your Purpose.

In the Power of Jesus.

Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †