The Twelve Days of Christmas – Day 9

Psalm 103 (1-18)
1-2 O my soul, bless GOD. From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name!
O my soul, bless GOD,
don’t forget a single blessing!

3-5 He forgives your sins—every one.
He heals your diseases—every one.
He redeems you from hell—saves your life!
He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
He renews your youth—you’re always young in his presence.

6-18 God makes everything come out right;
he puts victims back on their feet.
He showed Moses how he went about his work,
opened up his plans to all Israel.
God is sheer mercy and grace;
not easily angered, he’s rich in love.
He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold,
nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve,
nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
he has separated us from our sins.
As parents feel for their children,
God feels for those who fear him.
He knows us inside and out,
keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.
Men and women don’t live very long;
like wildflowers they spring up and blossom,
But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly,
leaving nothing to show they were here.
God’s love, though, is ever and always,
eternally present to all who fear him,
Making everything right for them and their children
as they follow his Covenant ways
and remember to do whatever he said. MSG

What more can we ask for? God has given us a complete package of benefits with His gift of salvation! How can we not be grateful? Look at this benefit package…
* He forgives all of our sins (that alone would be worth it)
* He heals all of our diseases
* He saves our life from the grave (death is only the beginning for the believer)
* He daily gives us love and mercy
* He gives us more than enough good things
* He keeps us young!
* He does what is right by us, even when others wrong us
* He is merciful!
* He is kind!
* He is slow to anger and slower to wrath – (can we say this about our self)
* He doesn’t throw our sins or our failures up in our face, or nag us for our shortcomings
* He has neither punished us according to what we deserve, nor paid us for all the wrong we have done
* He has even taken the wrong that we have done and cast it far away (he doesn’t keep record – he forgets)
* He knows that we are feeble, made only of dust and we break down
* His love continues forever and ever
* He remembers those who are His and who follow His instructions!

There is no benefits package like this one! It is worth living for God – when living for Him gains us all of the above! And yet I still hear the words of Andrae Crouch who wrote a sentiment that I ascribe to…

“If heaven never were promised to me, neither a land where we’ll live eternally,
It’s been worth – just having the Lord in my life,
Living in a world of darkness,
He came and brought me the light!

He’s been my closest friend down through the years,
And every time I’ve cried
He’s wiped all my tears,
It’s been worth, just having the Lord in my life,
Living in a world of darkness – He came and brought me the light!

God Bless You and Yours,
Maria