Blessings for the Forgiven
Last night I got out and attended the “Allies” men group at Timberline Church. I was one of 120 men joining to listen to Pastor Dick Foth and begin a study of Mark Batterson’s book, “All In.”
Today Debbie was able to come home before noon and was home the rest of the day. This provided us the opportunity to run some errands and have lunch together. We picked up some paving stones to place in the garden to keep from getting stuck in the strawberry patch. This was the first time that I drove with Debbie along. As fate would have it all the driving issues that I criticized Debbie for while I was eager to drive, I committed in one outing! Ouch.
I began to reflect on our days in Strasburg many years ago. During a special occasion (probably Pastor appreciation day ironically) the youth group in a skit lampooned my church van driving skills. They then presented me with an “Official Backseat Drivers License.” I’m trying to remember if they were “laughing with me, or at me!
(For those not following me on FaceBook, above is a picture from Sunday and my first sermon in well over a year.)
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY… “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him.Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!” Psalm 32:7-11
I entitled this blog as “blessings for the forgiven” because David begins this Psalm with the words, “Blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.” (Psalm 32:1,2)
A new life in Christ begins with turning to Him in repentance and receiving the forgiveness of sin, but that new life is lived out each day was we place our trust and confidence in the Lord.
David says of the Lord, “He will protect..surround…instruct…teach…counsel..surround with unfailing love…” He doesn’t do those things because we earn them or deserve them, but because we trust in Him; because we reject our natural tendencies to “do our own thing.”
You see trusting in the Lord takes on meaning when we understand what we place our trust in instead of the Lord. We are use to trusting in ourselves, our own strength, our own wisdom, perhaps the wisdom of the world, fate…..the list could go on. Trusting in the Lord is the confidence that we place in Him regardless of what is happening in our lives and the timing of what we want to see happen.
Trust is a decision we make. If we can trust the Lord to forgive our sins, we can grow in our trust in Him as the One who knows how to protect, guide and provide for us all that we need.