Post by Cindy on Mar 24, 2017 9:48:50 GMT -5
One of my favorite Psalms is Psalm 103. I think many people have that one as a favorite too. As I was reading it today, It made me realize just all over again just how good our God is to us each individually. That's what David was doing when He wrote this Psalm... remembering all the benefits that the Lord had given him. I was thinking specifically of just a couple of verses at first. The first ones were, “who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalm 103:4–5) That reminds me of the testimonies we all have. I always love to read testimonies, as we've all be redeemed from a pit of one kind or another. I know for me though, that although I can say and agree with the second part of that verse - that He crowns us with love and compassion - that it's also something I seem to easily forget when hard times come. It seems like as soon as things start to go wrong, He's often our first suspect. We think, "what have I done wrong? Have I sinned and am being disciplined?" Or "Why aren't things going well, I haven't done anything wrong..." Yet nothing could be further from the truth. (unless of course we are knowingly living in unrepented sin, in which case we wouldn't be wondering what we did wrong!) If only we could remember the Truth about our Heavenly Father instead and the picture of Him Jesus painted for us as the father of the prodigal son. It seems as though we see Jesus as the one who's loving and merciful and the Father as the one that's out to get us, yet Jesus told us that if we have known Him, and seen Him, than we have known and seen the Father as well, because Jesus is the exact representation of the Father. (Heb 1:3)
Then too we can also remember that He is the one who crowns us with love and compassion. Our Father loves us, and is compassionate toward us, and loves to satisfy our desires. This reminds me of what Jesus told us in Matthew 7:9–11. “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” What a wonderful God we have! That brings some other verses to mind as well: “You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,” (Psalm 10:17) “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3) He always gives abundantly, no matter what it is. He's never stingy, and never gives us "just enough", but always enough to more then satisfy us! “However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”—” (1 Corinthians 2:9) Notice in Rom 8:37 we're "MORE" than conquerors, not just conquerors! “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37) We deserve nothing, and yet He gives us everything, even Himself! Many verses in Psalm 103 should encourage us in this, such as: “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” (Psalm 103:8) Or another favorite part of mine: “he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;” (Psalm 103:10–11)
We think God's allowed various evil things to happen in our lives, but has He really? Not when you consider these verses. Perhaps, our past decisions and the decisions of others when we don't obey Him completely, set up natural consequences, like having sex outside of marriage can cause you to get a STD. Because we make decisions constantly all day as does everyone else, we can't see all the consequences or know who or what caused the evil. It's probably a consequence of many decisions made by many people over time. We can know one thing for sure when we're going through a trail. God will not waste our pain or suffering. He never wastes a single tear we shed. Instead, He will use the trail to make us more like Christ and also promises that He will use it for our good and His glory. That doesn't mean that we will understand how He has done so, or even know what the good is that God is making from it. Those are things that we generally simply have to accept by faith. Sometimes He does allow us to see some of these things, but I doubt if we'll know all the ways He used trials in our life until we get to heaven.
Yes, God does allow trials in our lives and He always uses them for our good. The Bible tells us that He will even bring about those trials at times on purpose for our discipline and to grow our faith in Him. But our Father is not sadistic and doesn't want to cause us pain. There's another wonderful verse that tells us this: “Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.” (Lamentations 3:32–33) Just as we must discipline our children for their good, and at times must insist that they do things that they don't want to do, (bring a trial into their life) so our Heavenly Father must do the same with us. The big difference is that our Heavenly Father never makes mistakes, never over does anything, and always, always treats us with great love and compassion - yes, even when He brings a trial into our life. These are the things we need to remember when we're faced with a trial, grief, sorrow or pain in this life.
When we fully realize that God has not let us down and never will, the trials that come won't seem so bad to us. we must remember that the Lord did not promise us a trouble free life. In fact, He told us the opposite: ““I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”” (John 16:33) Notice though that Jesus doesn't just say we'll have troubles, but includes that with Him we can have peace even during the trouble because He has overcome the world for us. So while there are battles we still have to fight, we don't need to worry about the ultimate outcome. We know how the story ends: Jesus wins! In fact, He already has!
God wants us to enjoy the new life He gave us when He redeemed us. Although we were oppressed by Satan, the world and our flesh, now that we're saved, we are free! We are free to love and to be loved by our wonderful Heavenly Father, who wants only the very best for us. Satan, the world and our flesh will try to convince us otherwise, but we have His Word of Truth and know better. The next time a trial comes into our life, let's be encouraged as we remember this Psalm and all that the Lord has done for us. “Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—” (Psalm 103:1–2)
Then too we can also remember that He is the one who crowns us with love and compassion. Our Father loves us, and is compassionate toward us, and loves to satisfy our desires. This reminds me of what Jesus told us in Matthew 7:9–11. “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” What a wonderful God we have! That brings some other verses to mind as well: “You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,” (Psalm 10:17) “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3) He always gives abundantly, no matter what it is. He's never stingy, and never gives us "just enough", but always enough to more then satisfy us! “However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”—” (1 Corinthians 2:9) Notice in Rom 8:37 we're "MORE" than conquerors, not just conquerors! “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37) We deserve nothing, and yet He gives us everything, even Himself! Many verses in Psalm 103 should encourage us in this, such as: “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” (Psalm 103:8) Or another favorite part of mine: “he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;” (Psalm 103:10–11)
We think God's allowed various evil things to happen in our lives, but has He really? Not when you consider these verses. Perhaps, our past decisions and the decisions of others when we don't obey Him completely, set up natural consequences, like having sex outside of marriage can cause you to get a STD. Because we make decisions constantly all day as does everyone else, we can't see all the consequences or know who or what caused the evil. It's probably a consequence of many decisions made by many people over time. We can know one thing for sure when we're going through a trail. God will not waste our pain or suffering. He never wastes a single tear we shed. Instead, He will use the trail to make us more like Christ and also promises that He will use it for our good and His glory. That doesn't mean that we will understand how He has done so, or even know what the good is that God is making from it. Those are things that we generally simply have to accept by faith. Sometimes He does allow us to see some of these things, but I doubt if we'll know all the ways He used trials in our life until we get to heaven.
Yes, God does allow trials in our lives and He always uses them for our good. The Bible tells us that He will even bring about those trials at times on purpose for our discipline and to grow our faith in Him. But our Father is not sadistic and doesn't want to cause us pain. There's another wonderful verse that tells us this: “Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.” (Lamentations 3:32–33) Just as we must discipline our children for their good, and at times must insist that they do things that they don't want to do, (bring a trial into their life) so our Heavenly Father must do the same with us. The big difference is that our Heavenly Father never makes mistakes, never over does anything, and always, always treats us with great love and compassion - yes, even when He brings a trial into our life. These are the things we need to remember when we're faced with a trial, grief, sorrow or pain in this life.
When we fully realize that God has not let us down and never will, the trials that come won't seem so bad to us. we must remember that the Lord did not promise us a trouble free life. In fact, He told us the opposite: ““I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”” (John 16:33) Notice though that Jesus doesn't just say we'll have troubles, but includes that with Him we can have peace even during the trouble because He has overcome the world for us. So while there are battles we still have to fight, we don't need to worry about the ultimate outcome. We know how the story ends: Jesus wins! In fact, He already has!
God wants us to enjoy the new life He gave us when He redeemed us. Although we were oppressed by Satan, the world and our flesh, now that we're saved, we are free! We are free to love and to be loved by our wonderful Heavenly Father, who wants only the very best for us. Satan, the world and our flesh will try to convince us otherwise, but we have His Word of Truth and know better. The next time a trial comes into our life, let's be encouraged as we remember this Psalm and all that the Lord has done for us. “Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—” (Psalm 103:1–2)
!!
