The Mission: Bless the Lord O my Soul

"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.  The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer and enables me to go on the heights."

Habakkuk 3:17-19

"Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.  Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy soul with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's."

Ps 103:1-5

I'm starting this blog with the intention of getting my eyes back on Christ and only on Him.  The past year has had many setbacks, and in the midst of it all, I have developed a great struggle with a selfish, angry, and bitter heart.  My attitude through the circumstances has been one of "woe is me" and "I'm just going to throw in the towel" instead of how can I use these circumstances to glorify the God whom I love and am devoted to serve.  The good thing about this is that God has used this part of my life to examine the contents of my heart, and I have been able to see the depth of my sin and my unbelievable need for my Savior.  Dr. Berg, an amazing professor at Bob Jones, always said that we are like a tea bag.  You don't know its contents until it gets in hot water.  I've been in the hottest of water for 6 months and I can tell you this--I am absolutely ashamed and sickened of myself.  But as Mr. Spafford said in his beautiful hymn "It Is Well With My Soul," "my sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, PRAISE THE LORD, PRAISE THE LORD, O my soul!"  Though this is true, we as Christians have a responsibility to not take advantage of this incomprehensible grace and transform our hearts with the renewing of our minds.  

You see, life will happen and we cannot choose what comes down our path.  We can, however, choose our response to the circumstances.  Some times life gives us circumstances that have an awesome power to destroy us and our usefulness in God's kingdom.  The best way to counteract stress in those times is to begin to praise God and thank Him for His countless blessings in our lives.  Even if your situation seems hopeless, God is still worthy of all your praise.  As we praise and bless the name of the Most High, everything else in this world begins to pale and fade away against the sheer loveliness of who He is.  

Think of Paul and Silas in Acts 16:22-40, feet bound in stocks in a dark prison with a jailer standing guard over them.  They had just been severely flogged, ridiculed and attacked by a huge crowd of people.  Instead of fearing for their lives or becoming angry at God, they began to praise Him, singing out loud, careless of who might hear or judge them.  As they began to praise Him, their hearts were soon overflowing with the joy of the Lord.  The song of those two men who loved God more than life itself began to flow through them like a river of liquid love into their cell and out into the entire prison.  Suddenly, an amazing thing happened.  A violent earthquake shook the prison, the doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose!  Assuming all the prisons had escaped, the guard was going to take his own life, but Paul stopped him and brought not only the jailer but his whole family to Christ as well!!!  Praise always brings freedom, not only for ourselves, but for those around us who are bound up as well.  

We must get our mind off ourselves and the problems we face and onto the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.  One of the miracles of a life transformed by God is that we can be thankful always, and praise Him in all situations.  This is what He commands us to do, for He knows better than we do that the Lord of the Lord is our strength.  

This blog is an attempt to be intentional on keeping my mind off myself and onto my Father.  My deepest desire is to live a life holy and pleasing to my Father, and I plan on starting to develop this desire even further by recording the many reasons for thanksgiving in my life.  

If you want to join me in a heart of thanksgiving, I encourage you to post your thoughts on here.

May the Lord bless you through this blog, may you spread the love of Jesus wherever you may go, and may the peace of Christ rule in your heart.