Corona Devo 1113

Remember birthdays as a child?  The anticipation of presents, the royal pleasure of a cake in-your-honor, and people who love you surrounding you?  

...the off-beat chorus of gramma's and papa's, aunts and uncles, siblings and (of course) parents...belting out Happy Birthday to YOU.  Those were good things in the good old days.  

But even as the years pile up and our birthday traditions tame...the good things still come, and in our gratitude, we can praise the Lord for them.    

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.  (2) Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—(3) who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, (4) who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, (5) who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.  ~Psalm 103:1-5

Whether we were born today or not, we can take a day to count our blessings and praise the Lord.  Seriously, deeply...in our soul.  If we can possibly (purposely) be still and count the blessings, the people, the circumstances and the life that God has blessed us with today...if we can get real about all that God has benefitted us with since birth..it will strike a chord of praise deep within us.  All my inmost being, praise his holy name.  

Certainly there have been splinters in our souls as we have walked this earth, as well as broken hearts, bones, and relationships too.  We have sinned, and a world full-of-sin has caused us hurts.  Sin is a disease that sucks-us-in sometimes and strikes-us-blindly at other times.  But our Lord endures.  He is present and available if we will seek Him.  Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, (4) who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion (Psalm 103:3-4).

The crowns we don today sparkle with the gems of true friends, spiritual sisters and brothers, and relationships that go deeper than superficial popularity and cultural trends.  If we can count on a friend today, we can praise the Lord today, and forget not all his benefits--which includes His people.  

We cannot forget all his benefits, and if we will count-the-birthdays and peruse-the-years they have encompassed...we will see God's redemption when we have fallen into pits, and we will recognize His crowns of love and compassion when we felt unworthy to wear them.  

...who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion (Psalm 103:4).

~~~

Today--let's choose to praise the Lord, with all our soul; all our inmost being.  Give Him a shout-out for the past Year, and for all-the-years...praise his holy name (Psalm 103:1). 

Because if we are honest...if we are aware...if we are watching and absorbing and appreciative...God has satisfied our desires with good things.  He has cared for us in ways we could not have asked, and with protection that we could not have foreseen, and with salvation that we could never earn.  

...who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.  ~Psalm 103:5

Yes, His good things have pursued us, and His good things have found us...if we have found Him.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life... ~Psalm 23:6

Our next birthday might not entail a table surrounded by birthday-hat wearers or a chorus of loud people singing to celebrate us...but may we remember with youthful vigor back to the days when they did, and might we praise the Lord who satisfies our desires (and years!) with good things.  The gifts He gives are the intangibles and the peoples that bless our hearts and lives through the years.  May our faith and youth be renewed today, as we recount our good things...all given as gifts from God.

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.  (2) Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—(3) who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, (4) who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, (5) who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.  ~Psalm 103:1-5

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Corona Devo 1156

Image
At work, we provide Trainings for customers, so that they can be updated and educated on all of the latest features (and how to use them) within our product.  Many companies do this--sharing "Best Practices" are a way to ensure positive outcomes on the customer and vendor sides of things. My kids often offer me "life hacks" that they have learned from watching an online video promising to "save time" and "make your life easier".  And just this week, my husband enlightened me about the "tear-away" feature built into most plastic rings holding cans/bottles of pop or Gatorade together.  When separated, the plastic rips open easily, releasing the bottle--saving wildlife that might be caught if it is discarded as trash, and saving me  frustration or angst because I no longer have to pull with all my might to get a bottle out of the plastic rings.  ( Who knew? )  Life hacks do save time and make your life easier! Who couldn't benefit from...
Read more

Corona Devo 1217

Image
The unanswered “why’s” of life, the disorder of our days, and even the unfairness of our struggles can cause us to question ourselves and also to question our God. But the order-of-Creation and the systems that God has set in place are undeniable answers that swing back and forth like God’s pendulum-reminder that He set the world in motion, and He continues to keep order, even when it seems as if we and our world are in dis- order.   Job was a man going through some heavy and hard stuff.   Maybe we are too.   Job’s trials had caused him to question the order of life, and possibly God’s dominion over it.   We can relate.   The “Why’s?” and the “Why Me’s” can stack up in our minds and hearts, but like a parent exercising loving-authority over a child, God reminds Job and us--of His power, omniscience and of His ultimate authority over everything: Creation… and us today .   Then the  Lord  answered Job from the whirlwind: (2) “Who i...
Read more

Corona Devo 991

Running low on " good things " today?  Doesn't it (sometimes) seem like/trend like/read like/tweet like/water-cooler-chat or backyard-fence-visit like/intimidate like/depress like... there are no  good things in the land? . I know. It's no secret that many have abandoned  the Law of the  Lord,  and at times, that's us .   It is evident all around us that people have  followed each other  in this sin.  When we look around...or when we live our days...we can wonder: Are there  any  good things  left in the land? There are still some good things in the land ...and no matter how bleak we feel the "forecast" for today is...there will always  be  some good things in the land, because God is in the land.   T he Bible reminds us of that today.   ~~~ The Israelites (and their king, Rehoboam ) were God's people, but like all of us at times/seasons of our lives...they wandered from Lord and His ways....
Read more