Blessed

How often I have said, “I’m blessed!”  And meant it!

Every night before I fall asleep, I recite Psalm 23 … “The LORD is my Shepherd!”

I speak each verse slowly and picture in my imagination those green pastures and quiet waters. I even try to picture the “feast” and what might be on that table. And I wonder what my cup overflowing “with blessings” looks like.

“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.” [Psalm 23:5 NLT]

But when I returned home from my recent trip to Montana for Patty’s Celebration of Life, I realized how much those “small” blessings, which I often overlook, bring me the greatest joys.

Blessings of my own pillow and bed. Blessings of my warm blanket and cup of strong coffee in the mornings. Blessings of my comfortable chair (the chairs in motels are often not comfortable). Blessings of my own shower.

We usually don’t need prompting to be thankful for the “big” blessings God bestows and I have had some “big” blessings. Someone once bought me a new car – I expressed my gratefulness quite rapidly and loudly. But it is usually rare for me to thank God for the blessings which surround me daily.

BUT do without them for a few days and you often find those “SMALL” blessings really are the “BIG” ones!

I woke up the other morning thinking about being blessed by God. “Blessed” is a word Christians use frequently. We come by it naturally as the Scriptures speak of blessings and being blessed a lot in both the Old and the New Testaments.

Merriam-Webster defines blessed with phrases like, “Enjoying happiness,” “bringing pleasure, contentment, or good fortune.” We all surely want happiness, pleasure, contentment, and good fortune in this life, but is that the way we understand being blessed in the Scriptures?

The Bible speaks of being blessed differently from how the world thinks of it. One the primary passages on being blessed in found in the Beatitudes. In the Beatitudes blessing is linked to poverty, mourning, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, and even persecution.

To understand God’s blessings is to understand that they affect the inner part of us. They are not dependent upon circumstances. God’s spiritual blessings are a deep abiding joy that cannot be shaken by lack, sorrow, deprivation, persecution, war or any other trial or difficulty we face in this life.

James reminds us that “blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the LORD has promised to those who love him.” [1:12]

I doubt we would find, “perseveres under trial” as part of the definition of “blessed” in our contemporary dictionaries, but we find it, and phrases like it, in the Scriptures.

When I think of being blessed by God, I think of three things. Tomorrow!

I make lists, grocery lists, to do lists, things I want to think about lists, thoughts for devotions lists, all kinds of lists. I could say I do it because I am extremely organized, but lately I do it more so because I am old. (Remember that sign of being old from the October 29 devotion that said, “you forget at least one thing every day.”) Yep, that’s me.  So, I make lists.

I was reading in Matthew 5 recently and found a list. That lists begins the Sermon on the Mount. Verses 3 through 11 list a number of conditions wherein we are blessed. I like the way the Holman Christian Standard Bible translates them.

It begins “the poor in spirit are blessed …” and then goes on. “Those who mourn are blessed … the gentle are blessed … those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed … the merciful are blessed … the pure in heart are blessed … peacemakers are blessed … the persecuted for righteousness are blessed ….”

It ends with blessings for the insulted, persecuted and falsely accused.

That is quite a list. It is not a list to which most aspire. I wondered as I read that list what response we’d get if we applied it to the 100 most successful people in the USA, or to politicians, or to the rich, or to celebrities. (The list could go on.)

Yet, note the blessings for people who do aspire to those qualities. The kingdom of heaven is theirs, they are comforted, they have an inheritance, they are filled with the righteousness of God, they are shown mercy, they will see God, they will be called sons of God, the kingdom of heaven is theirs, and they will have a great reward in heaven.

When you think of that list in the terms of the blessings, maybe it is a list that we should embrace and aspire to throughout our lives.

Thank you, LORD, for the blessings that are ours both in this life and in our eternal life in Your presence.

I am so blessed. So very blessed by God.

Yes, I have my struggles, but I am never alone in them. He is always with me.

Yes, I do not know what the future holds. But I know that there is nothing in the future that will take my LORD by surprise. I do not need to worry.

Yes, I have a body that is aging, often fatigued, sometimes in pain. But this body is not my home! One day I shall be absent from this dusty old tent and have a new glorious body like unto His.

I am so blessed. So very blessed by God.

I have a husband who has loved me for 55 years – even though I have not always been lovable. Have we had our ups and downs? Surely. Have we fought like cats and dogs sometimes? Yep. But by the grace of God we are still together (and still loving and fighting).

I have three wonderful children who care about and for us. And three grandsons that I am so very proud of.

I have friends that I have had since the 1980’s, who still love to gab and laugh. I pray for them, and they pray for me.

I have a church family that loves me and still wants me around even though I have been retired from pastoral ministry.

I still have enough clarity of mind to read and study and write.

I am so blessed. So very blessed by God.

As I sit here this morning, I can sense His presence with me. Can you get more blessed than having the Eternal, Almighty, Gracious God on your side? I don’t think so.

I am so blessed. I am sitting in my living room in a big comfortable lounge chair.  I am looking around my home and out the windows at my backyard. The back door is open and the birds that nestle in our treetops next to the feeder that Bob maintains are singing their hearts out. The sound is so sweet.

I am so blessed. My home is not the biggest and best in the region, but it is warm in the winter, dry in the rainstorm and water flows freely through the pipes.  I have food sufficient for the day.

I am so blessed. I have a church that I love, people that I love, and opportunity to write my thoughts about the LORD.  There are still freedoms that allow me to worship and speak.

I am so blessed. I have received Christ Jesus as the LORD of my life. I have a security in the midst of the storms of life. I have the promises of God that are always “yes” and “amen” for me.  I have a future, not only for this life, but for eternity. I will dwell in the presence of the Lord God Almighty, forever.

“Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, overflowing with gratitude.” [Colossians 2:6-7 HCSB]

I am so blessed—so blessed I am called to be overflowing with gratitude.  Gratitude keeps envy at bay.  Gratitude overcomes disappointment and discouragement.  Gratitude lights the darkness.  Gratitude brings peace to the soul.

I am so blessed, yes, so blessed.

Blessed beyond my ability to comprehend at times. I have found there is a big difference between being blessed and life being easy. Too often we equate God’s blessings with escape from the difficulties of life, or always getting every little thing we might need or want. That has never been the case for me.

Growing up was a difficult experience, yet still had its share of joys. My teen years were full of rebellion, yet God kept me from harm. Married early, three children, financial difficulties, and God through all those things brought supernatural healing for a child, led me to salvation, and gave me a hope that transcended every grievous trial.

We built the house of our dreams and lost the house of our dreams. We found a church we loved that loved us back. Recession moved us away from that church to another state. And as I look back, God led each step of the way.

There have been joys and griefs, delights, and discouragements. Through it all I have learned that God loves me. He loves me. Me! That unhappy, rebellious, short-tempered, impatient person, AKA me, is loved by the Everlasting, Infinite, Almighty God. He has walked with me in the joys and in the griefs. I know His presence in the delights and discouragements. He loves me.

That is blessing—not that I might have avoided all the dark trials and circumstance, but that He has been the light amid every one of them.

Romans 8:28: “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.”