– Unknown
Today in my personal Bible reading and study, I was encouraged after reading Psalm 67 and wanted to share with you what I learned. Here is the entire Psalm; it’s a short one with only seven verses, but it has a powerful message:
May God be merciful and bless us.
May His face smile with favor on us.
May Your ways be known throughout the earth,
Your saving power among people everywhere.
May the nations praise You, O God.
Yes, may all the nations praise You.
Let the whole world sing for joy,
because You govern the nations with justice
and guide the people of the whole world.
May the nations praise You, O God.
Yes, may all the nations praise You.
Then the earth will yield its harvests,
and God, our God, will richly bless us.
Yes, God will bless us,
and people all over the world will fear Him.
The first verse asks God to be gracious to us and bless us.
When things are good, it’s easy to say we are blessed. And we see everyone else’s blessings all over social media.
But what is a blessing? Really?
A blessing “is a gift from God that glorifies His name, helps His people and through them reaches out to help others who will glorify His name. God blesses us that we might be a blessing to others.” (1)
“But you are my witnesses, O Israel!” says the Lord.
“You are my servant.
You have been chosen to know me, believe in me,
and understand that I alone am God.
There is no other God—
there never has been, and there never will be.
(Israel 43:10)
How were they to be witnesses?
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you?
He requires only that you fear the Lord your God,
and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and
serve him with all your heart and soul.
And you must always obey the Lord‘s commands
and decrees given to you today for your own good.
(Deuteronomy 10:12-13)
Following God’s directives, the nation of Israel would be continually blessed. Other nations would see this witness and learn that there was no other god but Israel’s God, and desire to be a part of God’s people, experiencing His salvation.
That is the purpose of this song that the Israelites sang long ago.
As Gentiles today (all people but the Jewish people), our gift of salvation is because of Christ’s death on the cross. By accepting Christ, we have been given the same as the Israelites:
We are part of God’s chosen people;
We are now His witnesses to the rest of the world.
As Christians, we are also asked to obey the Lord, live in a way that pleases Him, love Him, and serve Him with all our hearts and souls. When we pray and trust Him, we can receive God’s blessings.
However, here is the crucial part – He will provide what we need, and in turn, we are to use those blessings to help others. The world will witness what we have and that God cares for us. This opens up opportunities for us to tell others about Jesus.
Reader, as I put words to paper (or screen), I am preaching to myself today. That has made me think: “What are my blessings from the Lord that are meant to be shared?”
1. Time. Because I do not work a full-time job, I can use my extra time doing this – writing to help others. I can also volunteer where others don’t have time to.
2. Creativity. Besides my writing, I love to create with paper, making handmade cards that are mailed to provide encouragement to others.
3. Stewardship. Being frugal with our household needs, I have extra that can be shared with others.
However, I also have to watch that I don’t get so busy sharing these gifts that I forget to bless my own family. They need to come first.
What blessings do you share with the world?
Or how can you share your gifts better? I’d love to share a discussion!
(1) Warren Wiersbe, “Be Worshipful: Glorifying God For Who He Is,” a study of Psalms 1-89. All Scripture from the New International Version.
2 responses to “How Do You Count Your Blessings?”
What a beautiful blog post and video. What a pleasure to share in this with you! I have many blessings – the one I am most actively aware of right now is the blessing of living in this home – a manse connected with the church where my daughter is pastor – and healing from a lot of “stuff” that has been festering for a while now. Such a joy!
I received the biggest blessing 5 years ago when my granddaughter had major surgery to entangle a tumor that was wrapped around half her spinal cord. The prognosis was she could be paralyzed from her chest down but God guided the surgeon's hands and she made a remarkable recovery. God is good in so many ways and blesses so many.