God's Blessing

Reading for today:

Jesus Foretold; Isaiah 53

Psalms of Blessing: 67,72, 84, 128

Proverbs 1

God, I pray that I may hear what you have to say and increase in learning. Make me a person of understanding so that I may acquire wise council. Give me a healthy fear of you so that I may gain your knowledge. Amen. (Proverbs 1)

Psalms 84 has always been one of my favorites. I am currently sitting on the porch of my new home and the rain is falling all around me… it’s beautiful. Psalms 84 feels very appropriate as the author says, “How lovely are your dwelling places, o Lord of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God…” I love how simple beauty makes me feel closer to God. The Psalm continues to say, “O Lord of hosts, how blessed those who trusts in you!” (v 12)… I pray that I can learn to simply trust.

Sometimes I worry that God might give up on me… I make the same mistake too many times and face the same sins so often that I wonder if I really mean it when I ask Him for forgiveness. When I finally do face His presence again though, I realize that I haven’t given up on myself yet and this makes me hope that since He is way more patient and knowing than I am, He must not give up either—Does that make any sense?

I worry, then I read versus like Isaiah 53:6; “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” Jesus took on all our sins. It’s a simply Sunday School lesson, but the full realization of what this means continues to impact me. He took on every single sin: the stupid sins, the ignorant sins, the stubborn sins. Isaiah 53 reminds us Jesus grew like a tender shoot, like a root out of parched ground… he didn’t look anything special and he was well acquainted with sorrows and grief. But God was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand…. The realization of how much Jesus did and who he is and was is not something we will ever fully understand here on earth, but I love how it is revealed more and differently to me every year: Jesus’ love.

I get so caught up on my problems and worries and sins… I pray that the closer I get to God, the more He will be able to bless me, and through me, bless others. I pray that I will learn to be more selfless and less afraid. I am so thankful that I am not in this alone.