See The Blessings – Give The Thanks!

“And the Lord sits as King forever. The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.” Psalms 29:11 (NKJV)

Every month, I choose a theme for the month. And whatever theme I choose, is what I concentrate my personal Bible study and daily reading upon. October’s theme was “Fix My Eyes on Jesus” and the theme I have chosen for November (knowing that the American holiday of “Thanksgiving” is coming up on the 26th) is “See the Blessing – Give the Thanks.” It’s a theme to help me consider all the abundant blessings that I have received from the hand of my God and to offer up to Him thanks and praise for His goodness to me. The Bible happens to be full of verses that talk about blessings and thanks. I would encourage you to take a Bible Concordance and look up the word “bless/blessing” and the word “thanks/thanksgiving” and spend a little time looking up the multitude of Bible references listed there for you to consider. It is quite the heart-warming study. Already this month, I have enjoyed the study of some of those verses. They leave me with a grateful heart and an attitude of gratitude to the God who showers me with such great blessings every single day.

The verse that I am considering in this posting, is one in which the Psalmist David reminds us of three (3) great blessings from our God.

First, there is the blessing of having, of knowing that the Lord is the King who sits on heaven’s throne forever. This is one blessing that we, as Christians, tend to take for granted, perhaps something that we don’t think about as often as we should. But, for just a moment let the truth of those words sink down into your heart. “The Lord sits as King forever.” It is a blessing for sure, especially in our very chaotic world of today, to know we have a Lord of all, a King of Kings and He reigns forever. That thought should bring comfort to our hearts and inspire us to offer up our thanks and praise.

Secondly, the Psalmist reminds us of the blessing of strength. Strength that comes from the Lord to His people. Who among us doesn’t need strength? Strength comes in various measures, and for different reasons. God strengthens us physically so that we are able to accomplish all that we need to do in a given day. He strengthens us when we are facing illness or have difficult tasks to complete. God also strengthens us mentally and emotionally to help us cope with the various stresses we face in life. To help us withstand the battles we face that we have no control over. And God strengthens us spiritually. He strengthens our beliefs, our faith, our trust in Him. He gives us spiritual strength to prepare us when we have to face our daily battle over sin and evil. He gives us strength to grow a deeper relationship with Him. I don’t know about you, but I will honestly admit that I often take this blessing for granted. I just assume that it will always be there when I need it to be. Yet, what a blessing strength is when it comes from the Lord!

Thirdly, the Psalmist reminds us of the blessing of peace. Not the kind of peace that the world offers us, but the kind of peace that only comes from the heavenly Father. It is a peace that passes all understanding. It is the peace of God and the peace with God. Do you know that peaceful blessing in your own life?

I am so glad, so thankful that the Psalmist David reminded me of these great blessings. I needed that reminder. And yet, as I sit here and think about it – my God has blessed me with so many blessings. He has showered me with His abundant blessings! As I think about them, I can count them all; I think that list would be rather long. What if you counted your blessings, how long do you think your list would be? Now, what do you suppose that God wants us to do with all those blessings?

I think God would want us to enjoy our blessings. After all, that is why He gave them to us. But I think He would want a little more than just that. God would want us to use those blessings that He has given us. Share them with others. Take the blessing we have received and pass it on. We have received blessings from the Father so that, in turn, we may be a blessing to others. It is not about what we can say about our blessings, nor is it about the number of blessings that we have received from God. It is about what we do with those blessings. I think that is the true measure of our thankfulness toward our God.

The Psalmist David helps us “See the Blessings…” and the Psalmist also (in the very next chapter) helps us to “…Give the Thanks!” Psalms 30:4, tells us, “Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.” My heart so often seems to be bursting at the seams with gratitude for all the blessings that my God has given to me. I just want to burst forth and start to sing. I would sing songs of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord of Lords and the Kings of Kings.

I pray for you, my reader, that our God may bless you, bless you indeed and bless you richly from the storehouses of heaven. God bless you as you go out into your world today. “See the Blessings – Give the Thanks!” as you go. Then, watch for the blessings to rain down upon you. They are coming from the Lord our King! They are meant for you to enjoy!

SPECIAL NOTE: One of my many blessings, is the blessing of YOU, my blog readers. Those who take the time to visit my blog site, and read the entries there, and leave me a “like” or a “comment” – you are a blessing to my heart. I’ve enjoyed friendships that have blossomed from my blog readers. I am blessed by every comment left on my pages. So, I want to take this opportunity to say thank you! My heart is blessed by YOU!!