{"id":3370,"date":"2016-07-27T18:50:49","date_gmt":"2016-07-28T00:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/?p=3370"},"modified":"2016-07-27T18:50:49","modified_gmt":"2016-07-28T00:50:49","slug":"blessed-to-bless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/?p=3370","title":{"rendered":"Blessed to Bless"},"content":{"rendered":"

BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…\u00a0<\/strong>“Once I was young, and now I am old.<\/span> Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned<\/span><\/span><\/em> or their children begging for bread.<\/span><\/span> The godly always give generous loans to others,<\/span> and their children are a blessing.”<\/span><\/span><\/em> Psalm 37:25,26 NLT<\/p>\n

Psalm 37 provides a striking contrast between the wicked and godly. For the godly, the wicked are not be a source of worry, anger or fear. God watches over the godly and but the wicked will “like flowers in a field\u2014<\/span><\/span><\/em>they will disappear like smoke.”<\/em> (Psalm 37:20 NLT) The Lord provides and protects the godly and makes them a source of blessing. “The wicked borrow and never repay,<\/span><\/em> but the godly are generous givers.”<\/em> (Psalm 37:21 NLT) The wicked are takers and the righteous are givers.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

David summarizes the faithfulness of the Lord by reflecting on the Lord’s faithfulness over a life time. “Once I was young and now I am old…” <\/em>During his span of time David had times of discord and peace. David had his failures and his victories. But through it all he saw that the Lord remained faithful and consistent. God never abandons His own, even if they are unfaithful to Him. This is the testimony of the godly.<\/p>\n

The Lord provides the needs of the godly and sustains even in times of difficulty and trial. That provision becomes a channel to others to help them in a time of need. But it doesn’t end there, “The godly offer good counsel;<\/span><\/em> they teach right from wrong.”<\/em> (Psalm 37:30 NLT)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Psalm 37 ends with yet another resounding statement of the Lord’s faithfulness. “The<\/span> Lord<\/span> rescues the godly;<\/span> he is their fortress in times of trouble.<\/span><\/span> The Lord<\/span> helps them,<\/span> rescuing them from the wicked. <\/span><\/span>He saves them,<\/span><\/em> and they find shelter in him.”<\/em> (Psalm 37:39,40 NLT)
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Before these final words of assurance we find an invitation for all to heed, “Turn from evil and do good,<\/span> and you will live in the land forever.<\/span><\/span>“<\/em> (Psalm 37:27 NLT) Then there is this declaration, “Look at those who are honest and good,<\/span><\/em> for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace.”<\/em> (Psalm 37:38 NLT)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Prayer for today…\u00a0 <\/strong>“<\/em>Lord, thank You for the encouragement to keep our eyes on You and the future you have in store for those who love You. Thank You for your protection and provision. Help us to remember that we are to allow the blessings from You to flow to others.”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…\u00a0“Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread. The godly always give generous loans to others, and their children are a blessing.” Psalm 37:25,26 NLT Psalm 37 provides a striking contrast between the wicked and godly. For […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3370"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3371,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3370\/revisions\/3371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}