BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL!

There has been a large response to the last two Barnabas Bulletins on “Encouragement” and “Encourage Yourself”; this tells us there is a real need for Christians to be encouraging one another in these days. When we are encouraged we make much better decisions and have a brighter outlook on life in general. It is so important that we know who we are in Jesus Christ, for it is His living reality in us that makes us rise above the negative forces that are so active in the world today. We all can have times of doubt and discouragement; and it is during those times that we need to be somewhat “hard” on ourselves and talk to our own soul (like David did of old): “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: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:1-5, NKJV). It is good for us to speak these words out loud over our own lives, and allow the positive message of them to infiltrate our inner emotions, to bring them into line with the truth of God’s Word. If we do not believe the truth of what God says about us, then we are believing a lie. Truth is positive; lies are negative!

Jesus Christ has done everything He can to make us vibrant and positive disciples of His. He called us to Himself, invested Himself in us, has given to us “exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature . . .” (2 Peter 1:1-11). It is our responsibility to receive this powerful truth into our hearts, to believe it and walk in the light of it, so that we can overcome every negative and opposing obstacle that gets put in our way as we walk through life. The “natural” part of us does not easily believe the truth: it doesn’t make us “feel” as though that is who and what we are in Jesus Christ. We seem to believe what others say of us more than what God says of us! So we have to make decisions as to who are we going to believe? God (the Truth), or self, and others (who set standards for us that are short of the Truth)??

Yes, there is need for us to “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me to bless His holy name”! As we build ourselves up in the truth of God’s Word, we will find ourselves encouraging others more and more. God will be using us more and more to be part of the answer, and not part of the problem. And we will be encouraged because of the joy of knowing that God is using us to help and inspire others.

 IT’S TIME TO BREAK FORTH!