Tag: Forgiveness

Benefits of Worship and Obedience

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Faith, Forgiveness, Humility, Obedience, Righteousness, WorksLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Psalm 112

OBSERVATION

Psalm 112:1-9 ~ … The LORD blesses everyone who worships him and gladly obeys his teachings. Their descendants will have great power in the land, because the LORD blesses all who do right. They will get rich and prosper and will always be remembered for their fairness. They will be so kind and merciful and good, that they will be a light in the dark for others who do the right thing. Life will go well for those who freely lend and are honest in business. They won’t ever be troubled, and the kind things they do will never be forgotten. Bad news won’t bother them; they have decided to trust the LORD. They are dependable and not afraid, and they will live to see their enemies defeated. They will always be remembered and greatly praised, because they were kind and freely gave to the poor.

APPLICATION

I have included a lot more scripture verses than usual today because I was so touched by it. God is so moved and blessed by our worship and obedience to Him that He used David to show us that there are many benefits to us:

  • Our children will be given great power, because God blesses all who do right;
  • We will get rich and will prosper and will always be remembered, because of our fairness;
  • We will be so kind, merciful and good, that we will be an example or role model for those who endeavor to do the right thing;
  • As we freely lend and be honest in business, we will see life go well for us;
  • We won’t ever be troubled;
  • The kind things that we do will never be forgotten;
  • Bad news won’t bother us, because we are so determined to trust the Lord in all things;
  • We are dependable (so we should be some of the best employees!);
  • We will not be afraid;
  • We will live to see our enemies defeated (although I hope that we will never have enemies!);
  • We will always be remembered and greatly praised, because we were kind and always freely gave to the poor.

Wow, wow, wow! What more can we ask for? What more can we expect? If you are like me I believe that we will say, “But I just want to worship my Lord and obey His Word”, and we will have the best goal in life, but these verses are placed to let us know that there are definite benefits to doing just that! Now put that in perspective and ask why we would deserve this kind of love and I believe that, like me, you will conclude that it is the grace of God that saves us, not anything that we might do, otherwise we might selfishly boast. God is awesome, let’s devote ourselves to worshipping Him and obeying His commands, and in turn be blessed by Him beyond all that we could imagine or expect!

PRAYER

Father, I am committed to worshipping You and obeying Your Word. I acknowledge that this will require much devotion and commitment from me and much help from You to help me keep my focus and devotion to what You teach in Your Word. I know that I will have to depend on You daily, thank You for being there for me. I am so appreciative that You would love even me to the extent of blessing me in all these ways if only I will do what I am suppose to do. Thank You Jesus!

How God will Sometimes Deal with Sin.

On By Ed AlgreenIn Christian, Forgiveness, Humility, SinLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE

Studied: 2 Kings 24

OBSERVATION

2 Kings 24:2-4 ~ The Lord sent raiding parties from Babylon, Aram, Moab, and Ammon against Jehoiakim to destroy Judah. This happened as the Lord had said it would through his servants the prophets. The Lord commanded this to happen to the people of Judah, to remove them from his presence, because of all the sins of Manasseh. He had killed many innocent people and had filled Jerusalem with their blood. And the Lord would not forgive these sins.

APPLICATION

In this short passage God showed me how the sins of one man could affect the lives of so many, and how bitter God could be towards sin. In this particular case I believe that God had warned Manesseh many times about his sin, but he continued to take the blood of innocent people in Jerusalem. We are told that God warned about this through His servants, the prophets, and then He sent raiding parties in to destroy Judah. Reading this today we may wonder if something like this could possibly happen today. I dare say that it could, and may very well happen to those that we know and love. God’s Word is full of His warnings, His prophecies, His statutes, His commands, yet we read right over, or through them and continue in sin. How much more of this will our righteous and holy God take? I know that He loves His people and because of that He is very patient with us, but I believe that some of our sins are so blatant and affect so many people that God will see to it that His chosen people, those that He loves so dearly, are not negatively impacted by people that are out to destroy the message of love and the saving grace of our Lord, that Jesus came to fulfill and deliver to the masses.

PRAYER

Lord may I always be a facilitator of Your work and not a stumbling block. Please continue to lead me against the vile of the Evil One and instead, fill my path with righteousness, love for my fellow man, forgiveness for those that offend me, and words to share with the unsaved that will lead them to You. Your ways are righteous and holy, may I be filled with qualities that will reflect Your holiness and righteousness in all that I say or do, and may I be granted boldness to share Your love with everyone, especially those that may seem undeserving at times. Please grant me strength to overcome my weakness in this area during those times that I am tempted to do otherwise, so that others may see You and not faltering mankind.