Scripture references;
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;
18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
19 The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
20 Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
21 Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
22 Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul. Psalm 103 KJV
This is a hard post for me to write, because I have reached Genesis chapter 5 which ends like this:
“28 When Lamech was 182 years old, a son was born.
29 He named him Noah, saying, This one shall bring us relief and comfort from our work and the [grievous] toil of our hands due to the ground being cursed by the Lord.
30 Lamech lived after the birth of Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters.
31 So all the days of [a]Lamech were 777 years, and he died.
32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” Genesis 5:28-32 AMP
This tells me that God was about to destroy the earth. I don’t like to think about sin, suffering, death and destruction. These are touchy subjects. There are many people who have seen these things going on in the world today, and have read enough of the Bible to know about the story of Noah’s Ark and many other accounts where the Lord dealt with mankind in ways that are hard to understand, and have concluded that either the God of the Bible doesn’t really exist, or that He does exist, but He isn’t loving. I suppose we could back all the way up to Genesis 2, and find things that have troubled some readers.
“15 And the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and guard andkeep it.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and blessing and calamity you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:15:-17 AMP
I must confess that at times I am troubled when I contemplate things that are hard to fathom. I want you to know that I am not writing in order to prove that my faith in the Lord and His goodness is valid. I am writing merely to share glimpses I get from time to time from scripture that appear to affirm the hope I have inside me.
So far as I have studied the book of Genesis I have noticed some things that people think and feel, and that they say and do. I have noticed things the Lord thinks and feels, and says and does. I have seen some causes and some effects. I have seen creation, and destruction, things that happened abruptly and things that happened over the course of time. Like I said above, I believe the Lord is Loving and good. I am looking forward to taking this opportunity to find and expose some of the various examples in these past chapters and in the chapters to come that will illustrate that.
You might like to do the same thing and when you read my next post you can compare your findings with mine. Please feel free to share them with me and my other readers. 🙂
Would you like to read more posts from this series? This link will take you to the Table of Contents. It has contains links to them:
https://pronetoponder.wordpress.com/2015/08/06/a-loving-pursuit-a-table-of-contents-part-onescripture/
Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord? Please click here:
https://pronetoponder.wordpress.com/category/about-salvation-very-important-words/ and make sure.
Do you have a Bible? If you don’t have one, you need not worry. Just click here: www.biblegateway.com They have many versions and translations of the Bible that you can read. Some of the best things in life are free!
thefisherlady said,
January 31, 2014 at 5:08 pm
God’s grace is always kind
it is life that is hard
and though so often joyous
life has a way of pulling the carpet right out from under us
at times
we just don’t understand God
but
God’s grace is always kind
in that hard spot
when life seems to just swallow us
and we would shout out at Him
and say Why God
Why me God
Why all this pain
or all this joy
or all this sorrow
God’s grace is always kind
and comes to us
and puts its arms around us
holds us up
binds up our woundedness
waits with us
for healing
or gives us better
God’s grace is always kind
don’t ever think there is not enough
don’t ever think you are not worthy
that He is blind and does not see
or understand
your depths
of agony
God’s grace is always kind
its purpose is life
and that abundantly
in our hearts
in our minds
in our whole beings
not just for now
but for Always
this grace
has tasted life’s agonies
and joys
its victories
and triumphs
it is God’s grace that holds us
when all is lost
when we are found
Be still and let it hold you
rest in its embrace
you are His Beloved
let His Grace show you
the kindness of God
——————-
beloved let us love one another
for love is of God
and he that loveth not
knoweth not God
~I John 4:7,8
——————-
Greater love hath not man than this
that he lay down his life for his friends
~John 15:13
——————-
Love is patient,
love is kind
and is not jealous;
love does not brag
and is not arrogant,
does not act unbecomingly;
it does not seek its own,
is not provoked,
does not take into account a wrong suffered,
does not rejoice in unrighteousness,
but rejoices with the truth;
bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.
Love never fails…
~But now abide these three; faith, hope, love,
but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7,13
————————————
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.~Romans 8:38-39
God’s grace is always kind
my favourite things
~the fisherlady
Moore to ponder said,
February 2, 2014 at 6:10 am
That is so beautiful! and I could really sense that it was coming from your heart. I am so glad you shared that.
Blessings,
Theresa
thefisherlady said,
April 6, 2014 at 6:35 am
God is … my breath… my all ! Isn’t He so wonderfully Faithful
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