Remember to Bless the Lord

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Read Psalm 103

Last week we discussed the coffee cup analogy and how you have to be filled with the right stuff

How many of you are prisoners of the moment?

That means that what is going on in front of you is the most important thing ever

I know I suffer from that

Especially in the face of challenges and trials. It is easy to get caught up in what is going on and forget what happened

I have the ability to completely disassociate my current condition from any past events or any future hopes

There are times when we as human beings begin to see our microcosm of the season we’re in and we forget that there were sunny days before the rain and our history and experience shows us there will be sunny days again

This is one of the reason’s I love the way scripture speaks to us

God the Spirit speaks through these pages and gives us incredible insight into what it means to live this life in light of the hope of Christ

Between these pages is the message of Life and how to live that life in abundance

One of the ways to overcome being a prisoner of the moment is by the simple act of remembering

We have to find ways to call to mind our history and who God has been in our life

As believers we need to create a habit of remembering

This is what the people of God have always done

This is why we have a Church calendar

It’s not just for catholics

There are seasons that we go into that spark up moods and memories

Advent is coming up

season of expectation

associate with the birth of Christ

Lent

Season of contemplation and self denial as we associate with the sufferings of Christ

Easter

Celebration of the resurrection of Christ

New life and hope found in our realized promise of salvation in Christ

Pentecost

Celebrating the birth of the Church

Celebrating the Holy Spirit and his work in our life

Time of joy and revival

The ancient Jewish church had yearly cycles of feasts and fasts that continued to remind them of the character of God

How he had saved them

How he sanctifies them and calls them his own

Our psalm from today is a call for us as the people of God to remind themselves of who God is and what he has done

This is a psalm of David and He begins by telling his soul to bless the Lord

and all that is within him

How many of you know that there are times that you have to command your soul to Bless the Lord

You have to call your inner most being to attention

You have to tell yourself that its time to stop throwing the pity part

It’s time to bless the Lord

But I don’t feel like blessing the Lord

Thats the exact point

You don’t feel like blessing the Lord because you are too caught up in the moment, in the season in this time in your life

You can’t see beyond your current situation

You can’t seem to remember who God is

David says forget not all his benefits

Now that doesn’t mean don’t forget what you can get from him

It means don’t forget all the works of his hands

Look back and see what God has done for you, for your family, for your friends, for those who you love

Don’t forget that he is the one who forgives all your iniquity

David is saying that God is not just the one who can help you out of the physical

But that God is the one who saves eternally

He forgives All Your iniquitiey who heals all your diseases

that means phi