Who pardons all your iniquities; Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit; Who crowns you with loving-kindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle. Ps.103: 3-5.
Seriously? I’d call those some major benefits–almost too good to be true! And yet those who make God #1 in their lives experience it. Pursue God and He will bring it all to pass.
Author Archives: Dan Lemburg
Worship? It’s Soul Food! A Psalm 103 mini-series
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits. Psalm103:1-2.
Worship is the act of glorifying God. It is most valuable when it originates from the heart–thus, “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” The word itself is rooted in the idea of worthiness: “worth-ship” one might say. Because God is infinitely worthy, our response should just naturally be that of praising and glorifying Him. What are some of those benefits?–next time.
The Recipe for Life
It doesn’t matter so much what I think. What matters is who God is and what is his will. Pursue God and He will reveal himself to you bring you into conformity with his will.
Domain of Darkness
What is this “domain of darkness” the Bible talks about? Is this darkness merely sin, or should it also be thought of as a state of lawlessness? Actually, sin and lawlessness are one and the same(1 John 3:4).
It’s helpful to see that sin, by its very nature, is a shunning of God’s law. The citizens of the kingdom of darkness are those who rebelliously make sin the practice of their life. They spurn what they know of God, willfully choosing the opposite of His revealed law—or at least carefully skirting it.
They live in rebellion against God. And yes, without Christ, even those who are considered to be good people fall into this category.
Much More!
As wonderful as our salvation is, is there more to being redeemed than we are often told? I think most of us sense this very thing from time to time. Sometimes we hear about there being a lot more, and once in a while even sing about it.
But if so, just how much more is there to experience? Have you thought about what might be keeping us from finding out more about the truth of God and His ways—from emerging from that fog into deeper relationship with Him? Could it be that true intimacy with God is more than we think could ever be achieved?
Maybe we just don’t know what steps we need to take toward God. Or maybe we don’t realize who we really are in Christ—where we actually stand with Him. Maybe we don’t know what it means to be free from the power of sin!
Our True Home
The other morning as I was sitting quietly praying and meditating in God’s word, I heard that distinctive and familiar voice exhorting me to remember that everything I hold dear here pales in comparison to my true home.
Although I’d heard it said, as well as believed it, many times throughout my Christian life, this time was different: “This earth is not your home!” When God speaks, Dan listens! It’s hard to communicate the impact God’s subtle voice had. But I’m sure many of you have experienced His prodding in many different ways. So I’ll leave it at that
No doubt I was once again getting wrapped up in my earthly environment, enjoying all God has given me as well as anticipating more of what God may give. I guess I needed a clear reminder. Hope I don’t soon forget it!
Jesus Is the Kingdom
Paul tells us that God has, “…delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”(Colossians 1:12-13) But it’s a little hard to believe, isn’t it? Being trapped in these fleshly bodies here in this fallen world leads us to believe anything but. Yet it’s true!
Did you notice here that this is another of those “in Him” verses? Being “in Christ” is synonymous with being redeemed—rescued from the domain of darkness while simultaneously birthed as God’s child into Christ’s kingdom. But we need some fresh thinking about what it actually means to be a son or daughter of His kingdom. Why? Because Christ’s kingdom isn’t merely some sort of divine institution here on earth, or even that glorious place where we go once we die; Jesus is the kingdom!
What Did Happen?
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The reality of our state of affairs as believers poses a difficult yet valid question: “If I have truly died to sin, why do I still feel so alive to it?” This really is mysterious. But don’t think you’re the only one who feels this way; it’s not an uncommon problem by any stretch of the imagination.
Ask yourself a different question: “just what did happen to me when I became that new creature in Christ? What’s this life all about?” The answer to this question lies in the fact that it’s not about what we do or don’t do. Rather, it’s about who Jesus Christ is and what He has done.
No, this doesn’t relieve us of all personal responsibility. Of course not: “How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2) But it does mean that the foundation for our relationship with God has been laid by Him alone, not by anything we can do in and of ourselves. “Oh, I believe that,” you might say—but do you really? Do you really believe that your union with God isn’t actually somehow rooted in trying to be good?
Past, Present, Future
The issue of forgiveness of sin—past, present and future—has been resolved in God’s mind. It’s a done deal! Freedom from sin was never meant merely to be applied to our initial salvation experience, but as an enduring guarantee of intimate relationship with God.
But this doesn’t mean that the inevitable struggle between the appetites of self and the requirements of God’s law are not going to be an ongoing battle for us. To be sure, this conflict is precisely why being freed from slavery to sin is so crucially important as we go about living our new life in God. Yet given our human condition in this world of sin, it’s not too surprising to find this truth so routinely misunderstood.
It’s really sad that so many have been duped by the enemy into believing that we must somehow earn our own way now that we’ve been saved. Think back to the desperately sinful circumstances you were in when He reached down and pulled you out of that pit. Having been so amazingly forgiven and cleansed from that muck, how could we think that He would now abandon us just because we continue to struggle with sin in various areas of our life?(Romans 5:8-10)
No More Bondage!
Having died to sin, we are no longer subject to the bondage of sin that formerly enslaved us. Therefore, we are not to give ourselves back over to it once again.
When we commit our life to the lordship of Jesus Christ, we are automatically freed from sin’s domination, and instead become slaves of righteousness. This means that, as long as we continue to present ourselves to God through obedience to Him as the practice of our life, our natural inclination will be to serve God in the righteousness He has provided.
In other words, we now have a predisposition to righteousness as opposed to the penchant for sin of our former life.(Romans 6:17-18) This pretty much strips us of any excuse not to pursue God because of fleshly weakness, doesn’t it?