Count yourself Blessed!
Daily Word - Nov.17.2018 - Pastor Sheliah ======
❤️ We were so blessed Wednesday evening as David was baptized and we watched as he testified of the peace and excitement he has discovered because of Jesus’s mighty work in his life!
And this week, we have seen God at work in the life and heart of another young man, and heard him “counting his blessings” for all that Jesus has done - and is doing - for him!
Neither of these men have yet seen the complete “turn-around” in the tangle and troubles of their lives, but they have a hope for their future, and they know they are not where they were even a few months ago!
By His Love and Grace, God has saved them and set them on His path of Life! There is a peace that passes understanding, and doors are opening before them and the Goodness of God is overwhelming!
And it is so refreshing and stimulating to those around as we are experiencing that inevitable JOY of the Lord anew ourselves! That’s what your Christian family (i.e. “church”) is all about!
Makes you want to share the amazing Salvation that Jesus has made possible for everyone! Here’s some scriptures that tell the story better than I can. Read it and Rejoice!
PSALM 32
1 Count yourself blessed, how happy you must be—you get a fresh start, your slate’s wiped clean.
2 Count yourself blessed—God holds nothing against you and you’re holding nothing back from him.
3 When I kept it all inside, my bones turned to powder, my words became daylong groans.
4 The pressure never let up; all the juices of my life dried up.
5 Then I let it all out; I said, “I’ll make a clean breast of my failures to God.” Suddenly the pressure was gone— my guilt dissolved, my sin disappeared.
6 These things add up. Every one of us needs to pray; when all hell breaks loose and the dam bursts, we’ll be on high ground, untouched...
10 God-defiers are always in trouble; God-affirmers find themselves loved every time they turn around.
11 Celebrate God. Sing together—everyone! All you honest hearts, raise the roof!
OH THE BLISS OF HIS FORGIVENESS!
OH THE JOY OF A CLEAN SLATE!
“It was our weaknesses He (Jesus) carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. Yet, we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins!
“But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
“All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on Him the sins of us all.
“He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet He never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, He did not open His mouth.
“But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush Him and cause Him grief.
Yet when His life is made an offering for sin, He will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in His hands.
“When He sees all that is accomplished by His anguish, He will be satisfied. And because of His experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for He will bear all their sins.
“Give Him the honors of a victorious soldier, because He poured out Himself to death and bore the sins of many.” (Isaiah.53:4-12 TPT)
~ Shelia Hart Artt
@GloryBarnBranson