Word of the Week - Benefits

Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all His benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Psalm 103:2-5

Forget not all the Benefits of knowing and trusting Jesus:

Our God is so good that He not only came to save us and give us eternal life with Himself, but He desires to bless us as we journey through life on our way to being with Him for eternity.  Our God is a God of relationship and deeply desires for us to know Him so we can live in fellowship with Him and realize our full God given purpose and potential.  Just like there are benefits to knowing really powerful people because they have power and influence that you can call upon and use if you know them well enough.  This is how it works with God, but He is the “great I am” with eternal and limitless power as opposed to powerful people whose power and influence are limited. “God can do immeasurably more than we can ever ask or imagine by His power at work within us” Ephesians 3:20.  I believe that one of the keys to realizing the benefits of knowing God is that our heart motivation is pure in our love towards God.  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all of your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27  Just like our children, if their hearts are right towards us and others, there is really nothing that we will not do for them within our power and influence.

5 Major Benefits:

There are endless benefits to knowing and abiding in Christ; the following are 5 major benefits outlined in Psalm 103:

• First and foremost, God forgives all of our sins.  Nothing is more powerful and valuable than having our sins removed and being washed clean in the blood of Jesus.  This is what allows us to have the hope and promise of eternal salvation.  We are made new in Christ through the forgiveness of our sins, “as far as the east is from the west”.
• Second, He heals all of our diseases.  Since we live in a fallen world of sin and disease, we will experience disease in our lives and the lives of our loved ones.  In knowing Christ we have access to His healing power that allows us to be healed and overcome disease. “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed”. Isaiah 53:5
• Third, we are redeemed in Christ.  God does not just fix us and make us acceptable He actually redeems us by taking the things in our lives that are broken and the enemy meant for harm and uses them for good and for godly purpose.  This is an amazing transformative power of God at work in us as we become His masterpiece.  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:  The old has gone, the new is here!”. 2 Cor 5:17
• Fourth, He crowns us with “love and tender mercies”, which is His very nature.  Through the Holy Spirit living in us, He imparts His very nature into our being so that we become Christlike and bare eternal fruit.  The anointing of God’s spirit makes our nature become godlike, which gives us the power to minister in Christ.  “As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you.  But as His anointing teaches you about things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit- just as it has taught you to remain in Him”.  1 John 2:27
• Fifth, our lives will be filled with “good things” and our strength will be renewed.  Our heart desires are changed toward the things of God and this allows us to walk in the abundant life of Christ.  Our God is a God of abundance and He desires to bless us beyond measure so that we can bless Him and others. “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:19

Forgiveness, Healing, Transformation, Anointing and Provision.  Let’s seek Him with a pure heart so we can know Him deeply and realize the fullness of these benefits and much, much more….

I also want to say thank you to all of our Veterans who have served our country and given us the benefits that come from their sacrifice, especially Freedom!!!!

Have a great week!!!

-Duane