A love of football that branches off into life lessons about leading people.



Friday, July 9, 2010

Daily Devo 7/9/10

Psalm 103
1Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. 2Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; 3Who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases; 4Who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with mercy and compassion;

How can God bless?
The word “bless” has such terrific meaning. Its usual idea is that of tangible items that are rewards for something. God certainly does bless people with material goods. Another is the idea of qualities, that people are blessed with the abilities they have. That is also true.
The idea here is blessing imparts a holiness, something or someone is made special, unique or holy like God (in a sense, since there is none like God).
Blessing is always conferred from the greater being or person to the lesser. The one with power blesses the one with less or no power. The one who can give a blessing is greater than the one receiving it (Hebrews 7:7). So how can David say “Bless the Lord”? Is he greater than God?
No. The contexts makes clear, that he is not the one doing the blessing. He is not saying, “God, I bless you”. He is uttering a prayer that God would be blessed by his actions and then flips the statements around to explain all the blessings God has given.
While God certainly does bless us with material goods and abilities, none of those is mentioned here. The blessing David declares are all spiritual ones. It is almost as if he asks rhetorical questions.
Who else can pardon YOUR sins? As if someone or something else could. God alone has the power to forgive sin and wipe it from memory.
Who else can heal your diseases? There is no other doctor or god that can intervene in the life of the sick.
Who else can buy you back from the slave market that would destine YOU to the pit of hell? As if you had the power to keep yourself out or the righteousness to meet God face-to-face.
Who else can give YOU mercy and compassion that you could wear as a crown to prove how good your God is? There is no other supposed deity that is considered merciful in the least. Think about it. All other gods force man to work and miserably sacrifice for a chance to achieve eternal life. Our God is the only one that did all the work for us and sacrificed on our behalf to not just give us a chance, but to guarantee our freedom and eternal life.
Every one of these “blessings” mentioned are intangible, spiritual and eternal rewards (except the healing of disease, which Is caused by sin in the first place) that God GIVES. I fear that in America, believers look for God to “bless” them with property, wealth and prosperity and not with the things that God considers so much more vastly important: His character!
Today, begin looking for the blessings God has given you….and don’t check your bank statement first!

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