Bless the Lord

A Song of Ascents.

134 Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
    who stand by night in the house of the Lord!

2 Lift up your hands to the holy place
 and bless the Lord!

3 May the Lord bless you from Zion,
 he who made heaven and earth!

https://new.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+134&version=ESV

I woke up this morning thinking about the future.  Every once in a while I do that. I begin to think about what it will be like when every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord.  I was thinking about why God created us in the first place.  He had His angels, why did He need to create us?  These verses explain why.  He created us to bless Him and for Him to bless us. 

These verses are referring to those servants, at the time, that worked in the temple but it applies to us today.  We need to continually be blessing God with our praise but so often when we talk to God it is to ask for something.  We need to evaluate how we truly spend the time that God has allowed us to have on this earth.  Are we praising and blessing God?  As you seek Him may you see the need to bless Him by serving Him, and in return may you be blessed by God.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila 

United

Psalm 133

A song of ascents. Of David.

1 How good and pleasant it is  when God’s people live together in unity!

2 It is like precious oil poured on the head,
    running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
    down on the collar of his robe.

3 It is as if the dew of Hermon
    were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
 even life forevermore.

(https://new.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+133&version=NIV)

Have you ever been a part of a community where everyone seemed to get along?  Where others didn’t talk about each other behind the others back?  Where there was a genuine love for one another?  Where your faults weren’t frowned upon and your strengths exalted?  If you have, you have been a part of the blessings of God. 

Oil on the head of the priest consecrated them for the ministry.  It seems that in this case it wasn’t just the head that was covered but the entire body. A church that truly loves has its entire body of believers consecrated for His service. As well, when we love our brothers, as Christ instructed us to do, every part of our being is useful for His ministry.

A church that is united as one in Christ does not look at the faults of their brothers and sisters in Christ.  I am not talking about blatant sin but rather those human errors that may occur such as the way we might say something, or the little bad habits like smacking gum or whatever might be a little annoying.  When we look at each other as children of God rather than a burden or a misfit we can overlook those things that could otherwise be annoying.  A church that truly loves is a church that will be blessed by God and will be a blessing to God.  The dew of life will be upon it and it will be fruitful and multiply. Notice I did say fruit would be added but rather multiplied. 

As you seek Him examine His love and see if you can come close to loving others as Christ loves you.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila

Praise to The One True God

Psalm 135

1 Praise the Lord.[a]

Praise the name of the Lord;
    praise him, you servants of the Lord,

2 you who minister in the house of the Lord,
    in the courts of the house of our God.

3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
    sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant.

4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob to be his own,
    Israel to be his treasured possession.

5 I know that the Lord is great,
    that our Lord is greater than all gods.

6 The Lord does whatever pleases him,
    in the heavens and on the earth,
    in the seas and all their depths.

7 He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;
    he sends lightning with the rain
    and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
    the firstborn of people and animals.

9 He sent his signs and wonders into your midst, Egypt,
    against Pharaoh and all his servants.

10 He struck down many nations
    and killed mighty kings—

11 Sihon king of the Amorites,
    Og king of Bashan,
    and all the kings of Canaan—

12 and he gave their land as an inheritance,
    an inheritance to his people Israel.

13 Your name, Lord, endures forever,
    your renown, Lord, through all generations.

14 For the Lord will vindicate his people
    and have compassion on his servants.

15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
    made by human hands.

16 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
    eyes, but cannot see.

17 They have ears, but cannot hear,
    nor is there breath in their mouths.

18 Those who make them will be like them,
    and so will all who trust in them.

19 All you Israelites, praise the Lord;
    house of Aaron, praise the Lord;

20 house of Levi, praise the Lord;
    you who fear him, praise the Lord.

21 Praise be to the Lord from Zion,
    to him who dwells in Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord.

(https://new.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+135&version=NIV)

I don’t know a lot about other religions, I have no need to know because I know God.  I know enough to know that they do not serve the One True God.  They serve man, that has long past from this earth and is now in the hands of the One True God.  The people they serve are merely dust in the wind, a flower that has faded away.  I, on the other hand, serve The God that created this earth, that causes the lightening, and who give us the rain.  I serve The God that made a pathway for me to come and reach Him. 

I don’t have to climb a mountain to reach Him.  I don’t have to go to the temple to worship Him.  I don’t have to bow down to a statue as though it is all powerful.  He is right here, right now, living within me.  He is not dead but is alive.  People tried to destroy Him as He walked on this earth but many saw Him after He was resurrected.  They saw Him as He ascended into Heaven and He told then that He would send a helper in the form of the Holy Spirit, which He sent on the day of Pentecost. 

Many have rejected Him and I don’t understand why.  He is all powerful, above all other gods.  No one or no thing is here without Him making it happen.  So, why do people run from Him?  I don’t know but it makes me sad when they do.

These verses make it very clear as to whom we should give all our praise and it does not say man.  It is our God, our creator, our redeemer and our friend.  Give all praise and glory to The all powerful,  The One True God.  Seek Him and praise Him as you serve The One True God.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=one+true+God&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=8597AB4236FB47C1DBA38597AB4236FB47C1DBA3

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila

Trust = Contentment

Psalm 131

English Standard Version (ESV)

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

131 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
    my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
    too great and too marvelous for me.

2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
    like a weaned child with its mother;
    like a weaned child is my soul within me.

3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
    from this time forth and forevermore.

(http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+131&version=ESV)

Sometimes less is more and this is one of those cases where that is true.  We can occupy our lives trying to get ahead in life or we can occupy our lives with the contentment of the Lord God Almighty, who IS and WAS and IS TO COME. 

So often we get stuck in the whirlwind of this world.  We try to be who we cannot be and we occupy our minds with foolish and unnecessary questions.  We ma try to reason things out when there are no scientific or logical answers.  At that time, we find contentment when we just know that it is God doing His mighty works.

I have prayed continually for contentment and my answer is right here.  It is not something that the Lord grants to me, it is my decision to be content by putting my trust in Him and not things of this world.

Seek Him and know the answer to contentment is found in knowing and trusting Him.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila