Last night before we turned out the light and called it a day my husband and I shared some of our favorite Psalms together from the Bible. Mentioned among our favorites was Psalm 1 "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly ... . Psalm 27 "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life..." of course The Thanksgiving Psalm 100 "Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise..." But the Psalm I was waiting to share was Psalm 103.
Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits
Psalm 103:1-2
Personally I am an, "All or nothing" kind of person. In this Psalm, David doesn't just say he praises the Lord, he says it with every fiber of his being! Wow! That's the kind of Christian I want to be! Since this blog is titled Simply and Honestly I'll tell you honestly that there are days when I struggle to let this truth be fleshed out in daily living.
Let me explain a little further in detail. I Thessalonians 5:18 says that I am to," Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" I must confess it's much easier to fly off the handle when things don't go the way I want them to go. Am I the only one who can come up with sarcasm at it's finest when I'm frustrated? One of my favorite lines is . . . "of course such and such didn't happen, because that would be convenient!" It's just so much easier to whine and complain if you know what I mean!
God has been calling me away from those responses and prompting me to give Him praise in ALL circumstances! And here is yet another reason to do away with the whining, sarcasm and complaining.
"Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, "children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation." Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life." Philippians 2 :14-16
One thing I tell my son Michael is that "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how we react to it" (Charles R. Swindoll) Ouch! I'm preaching to myself! My desire and determination is to not give in to the temptation to complain when I'm frustrated. I pray for God's help, because I know I can't do this without Him!
And so to my amazement, God gives me the ability to hold back on those complaints! He puts a desire in my heart to praise Him and to look for the good! I can tell you that doesn't come naturally to me. It is God's strength in me!
This Thanksgiving Day of 2013 I want to give a song of praise to God and His goodness in my life. I want to do this with every fiber in my being!
How Can I Keep From Singing
By: Chris Tomlin
"How can I keep from singing your praise? How can I ever say enough? How amazing is your love! How can I keep from shouting your name? I know I am loved by the King and it makes my heart want to sing!
I can sing in the troubled times. Sing when I win. I can sing when I lose my step and I fall down again. I can sing cause you pick me up. Sing cause you're there. I can sing cause you hear me Lord when I call to you in prayer. I can sing with my last breath. Sing for I know, that I'll sing with the angels and the saints around the throne!
I am loved by the King and it makes my heart want to sing!
Wow! What can be greater than that? If you get a chance look up Psalm 103 because David gives a whole list of awesome things that God has done and will do in our lives if we let Him! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
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