BLESSED BY GOD

Psalm 119 New International Version

“Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.”

       Being happy, joyful or blessed in the truest sense can only be achieved thru obedience to the word of God.  Can that be literally true?  Happiness outside of obedience to God is unattainable?  Millions of souls would no doubt scoff at that, claiming to be happy in the now without needing God to achieve that.  But is the happiness any of us achieve outside of God’s sphere of influence truly happiness at all or is it that we know it as happiness because of the things we have to compare it to?  The things of this world, including our feelings and emotions induced by our circumstances, come and go; ebbing and flowing like the ocean’s tide.  Nothing is lasting, all is temporal, a vain pursuit at best, a chasing after the wind.   Solomon knew this and says so repeatedly in Ecclesiastes. 

       I chose the NIV translation of these two verses because I like the use of word blessed over NLT’s use of joyful.  To be joyful seems like a temporal emotion that can be diverted by a shift in circumstance.  Blessed seems more like something that is tied to God’s grace.  We are favored, thus we are blessed.  We are most assuredly joyful as well, but blessed sounds more like a permanent disposition or attitude. 

       The key to being continually blessed by God is to live a blameless life, walking according to the Law of the Lord.  Now we no longer live by the Law for we are under God’s umbrella of grace; however, we live the Law by virtue of our attentiveness to the standards God has set down.  We aren’t obligated, yet we now have a compulsion to please our Savior.  Imitating Christ in all our endeavors will achieve the desired results.  Being blessed is a condition of the heart.  When we receive Christ we instantly become blessed of God because of who He is and who we have now become.  Seek God and live according to His statutes and you will be blessed.  Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Note: This is both the longest psalm and the longest chapter in the Bible. Almost every verse mentions God’s Word. Such repetition was common in the Hebrew culture. People didn’t have personal copies of the Scriptures to read as we do, so God’s people memorized His Word and passed it along orally.  The structure of this psalm allowed for easy memorization.  God’s Word is the only sure guide for living a pure life. (The Life Application Study Bible; publisher: Tyndale House.)

FIND REST IN GOD

Psalm 62:1-2 New International Version

“Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.  Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” 

       Through all the trials and tribulations King David encountered in his life, still he proclaimed that he found rest in God.  All knowing and all-powerful, the Lord is the rock on which believers stand.  God is all places at one time, ever present in our time of need. He provides forgiveness for even our most heinous actions. He is our salvation and our provision.  He is our all in all, all we will ever need this side of heaven. 

         Think of what a fortress is.  Stone walls many feet thick to provide protection from unwanted intruders. It represents stability and security and can be relied upon.  Unlike God, stonewalls can be breached.  God can never be breached.  God will never give way.  God will never fail.  God is God; the Almighty Jehovah, Creator of the universe and all that is in it. 

          When standing for God you are never alone, for with you stands all the power and authority of the One who was and is and ever shall be.  Nothing can harm you and nothing can overtake you if you but place your unwavering and unyielding trust and reliance on the One who made the stars.  Find rest as David did in God and God alone. For true rest is found in no other.  Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Translation: New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

LIVE YOUR FAITH

James 1:21 New Living Translation

“So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.”

       James, the brother of Jesus, wrote this letter to the Jewish believers who were scattered throughout the Mediterranean world at that time.  Persecution had caused these believers to fall into an intellectual rather than an actual faith, for true faith will produce loving actions towards others. Intellectual faith is kept to yourself inside.  James was concerned that they would become a shadow of what they once were due to the pressures of those surrounding them.  He wanted them to understand afresh and anew what true faith really is so they do not cheapen God’s grace by living in hypocrisy. 

       The world believes Christians today are nothing more than hypocrites.  Are we?  Do we simply put on a show of our faith without truly living it out?  It’s fairly easy for outsiders to see when a believer is just going thru the motions.  However, non-believers only accept what they can see and that is our ‘do what I say, not what I do’ mentally.  Every believers isn’t guilty of this of course, but many are.  The remedy is to sell out to the idea of imitating Christ in all we think, say and do.  A ‘what would Jesus do’ mentality.  If we continue to fill our lives with the filth and evil of this world we become no different than those we are meant to save.  Our life raft becomes filled with holes and we begin to sink rather than offer a safe, dry way of escaping the evil of this world. 

       The ways of God are in direct opposition to those of the world.  We cannot relate to them, but we may end up identifying with them if we aren’t careful.  Keep your focus on the Lord and not on that which surrounds you.  Stay humble and dig into God’s word so as to bolster your spirit man.  For a day is coming when you may be asked to stand up for your faith and if you cannot stand up under the heat of persecution where will that leave you?  Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Resource: The Life Application Study Bible, published by Tyndale House.

WHO ARE YOU COMPARING YOURSELF TO?

Galatians 6:4 New Living Translation

“Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.”        

       How do we know if we are doing right or wrong?  What standard are we using to make that judgment?  Too many people compare themselves to their neighbor, their classmate or their co-worker to determine how they are doing as a person. They admit they aren’t perfect, but are certainly better than this person or that person. I believe all created beings can be guilty of this. We want to believe the best about ourselves so we find those we feel have worse character and/or behavior and quickly point out how much better we are then those individuals. But how can we say that when we know nothing about their personal lives and the struggles they may be going through?  To compare ourselves to another created being is wrong thinking. When God’s judgment comes He won’t be stacking your behavior up against someone down the street. He will look upon your behavior as it lines up with the standard He has laid out in His word.

       The satisfaction spoken of isn’t the haughty, arrogant type, but rather having a healthy sense of satisfaction in your godly accomplishments.  Having personal pride in yourself while keeping a humble spirit is a good thing and a characteristic that believers should seek.  Look at your own actions.  How do they line up with the word of God?  Don’t concern yourself with what others say about you.  We are to please God in all we think, say and do, not man.

         We all want to be liked by others. We all also have the tendency to want to fit in with our surroundings.  It’s our human nature to be like that.  God is asking us to stand apart from the crowd even while we are in the midst of it. We are the same as those in the world in many aspects, yet are very different at the same time, therefore, be light where you are and compare yourself to no one but God. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resource:  The Life Application Study Bible; Published by Tyndale House.

TRUE WISDOM

1 Corinthians 3:18-19 New Living Translation

Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, “He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness.”

          True wisdom comes from God. Those who don’t know God believe wisdom can be obtained through schooling, research or reading the writings of world renown scholars. The problem with that lies in the words ‘world renown’; in actuality it’s nothing more than flawed mortals reading the writings of other flawed mortals. The supposed great minds of this world have largely declared that God does not exist. They deduce that since there is no actual proof of His existence He must not exist. In fact, they scoff at those who do believe in God as merely weak individuals in need of a crutch. These weaklings are incapable of the wisdom attained by these self-proclaimed giants of intelligence, so they must grasp for whatever they can get a hold of to prop themselves up. If it happens to be some imaginary spirit being, so be it. The worldly wise toss aside the Bible as just another book that they have determined is nothing short of unspectacular, containing nothing more than interesting stories for the feeble minded.

          It’s sad to me that so many people can be so full of themselves that they are incapable of even considering the existence of someone greater than themselves. It will be sad for them when this unseen deity whom they have shunned shall require that they kneel before Him and proclaim Him Lord. They really don’t stand a chance, for they have had their minds clouded over by the enemy of our soul. They are the ones who are incapable of discerning true wisdom. God looks upon those of His creation who deem themselves wise as ‘fools’. Man’s greatest achievements are nothing compared to that which God has done and will do. They pale in comparison; in fact, there truly is no comparison at all. All those who require proof in the existence of God may never understand or see the true value of a faith-based belief system; for all the money this world has to offer cannot buy what God provides. Wisdom does not provide lasting peace. It doesn’t provide lasting comfort. Neither does it provide lasting hope. More importantly, it doesn’t provide forgiveness.

          Christ came to earth to rescue fallen man. God’s plan was to provide a blood sacrifice to end all blood sacrifices. Christ died for the weak and the wise. Only once a man realizes that all worldly wisdom is flawed and that he is nothing in the shadow of Almighty God can he gain true wisdom and be redeemed. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resource:  The Life Application Study Bible; Published by Tyndale House.