August 21st

AUGUST 21st

Psalm 103:1-5 Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Psalm 103:8-12 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

These passages display the balance between the mercy and judgement of God, between His love and the reality of our sin and the consequences of living in this fallen world. We see sin, disease, pit, iniquities, and transgressions addressed with grace, mercy and love. We are reminded that these are benefits of belonging to Him, of following Him.

We are forgiven, healed, strengthened, renewed, satisfied, redeemed, cleansed and loved. All of which occur over and over again throughout our lives. Let’s not get hung up on the fact that sometimes we will have to wait until Heaven to see complete healing, our healing will begin here. Look at the word disease. Dis-ease. Dis means “un.” So our un-ease. We don’t have to wait for God to address our uneasiness. He promises us peace here, whether or not it is in His plan to give us physical healing. Often we sell ourselves short because we don’t bother to reach for His peace if we don’t see physical healing.

Read those verses again. That should bring you peace. He is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love! He does not treat us as our sins deserve! His love for us is higher than the heavens! He crowns you with love and compassion! You are walking around today with a crown of His love on your head! -And all of the spiritual forces in this world can see it! It lets them all know you are His and you are covered in His love, bought with a price that set you free from all guilt! If you remember that as you walk through your day today, you won’t be able to help yourself, you will be basking in His love and I’m pretty sure that crown of love will start to be evident to the physical people in your life too!

Lord thank you for your perfect love for me! Thank you for rescuing me and forgiving me and for not treating me as I deserve. Thank you for all of these benefits that you pour out on me. Help me to recognize them, remember them and cherish them everyday. Thank you for your healing, help me to remember to reach for your peace regardless of the situation I face physically. Thank you for loving me so much!