Falling into His Blessings

It's that time of year again to dig out those jackets. The air is turning crisp and the colors of Fall are starting to show.  When the weather gets cooler, my meals tend to change to more stews, soups and comfort foods. I love this time of year for its color, scents and clean, brisk air. I find myself daydreaming about pumpkins, cinnamon, molasses cookies and apple cider. Today, I am going to dig out my warmer clothes and be thankful for the many blessings God has bestowed me with. A husband who loves me and works hard to support our family, a job that I love, a warm and safe place to stay at night, food on my table, friends and family who love me and most importantly, a Savior who died on the cross for my sins. As I study God's Word I am reminded of how much He loves me and what He does for me daily without me even realizing it. In my Bible study recently I read something that really made me think. It's a passage in Psalms that I've read so many times and yet, it hadn't really hit me like it did yesterday.

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 of His benefits—Who forgives all of your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy; Who satisfies your mouth with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle's! The Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
~Psalm 103:1-6

We can't find anyone or anything on earth that can do that! Only God can truly satisfy. After reading this passage, the Holy Spirit convicted  me of how much I take things for granted in my Christian walk. Do I praise the Lord for everything He does for me? Am I grateful to Him even in the good times? I need to bless the Lord with my mouth, praise Him for all the things He does for me. He forgives, heals, redeems, beautifies, dignifies, crowns, satisfies, executes righteousness and justice. What an amazing God!

Ouch, That Hurt!

This last week in Bible study, we discussed the sin of pride and how it affects so much of our daily life.  In one portion of the study, we were asked to rate on a scale of 1% to 100% how many of our everyday troubles have to do with the issue of pride. Wow! That was a hard thing to think about. I never really understood or realized how many of my problems have to do with pride, I mean I know I have sin problems, but ouch, that hurt! The two verses from the study that have really been sticking with me are from Isaiah and James:

Isaiah 57:15 "For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."

James 4:6 "But He giveth more grace. Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. "

The days following our discussion have left me to really think about my attitudes towards others. Just the day after our discussion, (not even 24 hours later) I got into an argument with one of the new interns at work. It was really a petty thing, not even worth arguing over, but I found myself going to a different source after the fact to prove to myself that I was right. A couple hours later, I was thinking about my attitude and was amazed at how much trouble I went to, just to prove that he was wrong. All I could think was, "wow, how trivial can I get?" After the initial awakening, I have seen other times where I have had to prove myself. Let’s just say I feel like all I’ve been doing the last few days is confessing my sin of pride and asking for God to continue His work in this particular area in my life, but He is so good! He forgives even when I keep committing the same sin time and time again. What a merciful and patient God we serve!