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Friday, March 15, 2024

ALL His Benefits

One last time, for the people who came in late! This is the list of benefits God has for His children, as listed in Psalm 103:

  1. forgiveness for iniquity - read the post about it
  2. healing for diseases - read the post about it
  3. redemption from "the pit" - read the post about it
  4. being crowned with "steadfast love and mercy" - read the post about it
  5. being satisfied with "good" - specifically good health - read the post about it

Can I attempt a paraphrase of the list of benefits, based on what I've blogged about them? Here we go:

  • God knows we struggle with our sin natures, and He pardons us when our motives are wrong.
  • God provides healing for us when our bodies aren't working right.
  • God knows that we were imprisoned and headed for ultimate destruction, and paid the price for our release.
  • God's love is so deep, devoted, and unchanging that it completely surrounds us.
  • God supplies us with things that are good for us, bring joy to our lives, and help us be strong as we make our way through life.

Picture in your mind a man or woman who is imprisoned and in chains. They are 100% guilty of what they have been accused of. They have been beaten and wounded during their crime and later as punishment for it, and they look decades older than they are because of what they have experienced. Now imagine that they are brought before a judge, That judge is God. God picks up his gavel, bangs it on the desk, and says, "I hereby pardon this person." Then God comes down to the person, touches them with His hands, and their wounds immediately disappear. He turns to the bailiff, and says, "Release them - I have paid back everything owed." The bailiff takes off their handcuffs, and instead God wraps the former prisoner in a luxurious robe of His love which they need never take off. Next He gives them a refreshing drink of the best water that has ever existed. When the person drinks the water, they visibly become more alert, their breathing is more calm, and they look back at God with eyes filled with peace.

That's you. That's the benefits God has provided. Don't let them pass you by!

 

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Benefits (Benefit #5)

 Here's that list of benefits from Psalm 103 again:

  1. forgiveness for iniquity
  2. healing for diseases
  3. redemption from "the pit"
  4. being crowned with "steadfast love and mercy"
  5. being satisfied with "good" - specifically good health

God satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's

There is an inspiring story about eagles, that they fly to the top of a mountain and break off their beaks and lose all their feathers and grow new ones. I'm no ornithologist so I don't know if that's true or not, but I don't think this means that your body is going to regenerate somehow and you'll suddenly look 20 when you're 60. I think the imagery in the Bible of an eagle is an image of strength. Look at what it says in Isaiah 40, for example:
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
     and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
     they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
     they shall walk and not faint.

I think that the image of the eagle in the Bible represents strength and stamina. It is true that sometimes we have to go through a painful process to get to where God wants us to be, but in my opinion, that's not what this is about.

So what is the process that this verse is talking about? It says that our youthful strength and stamina is renewed because God satisfies us with "good". Good what? Well, the word just means good and pleasing. What if God wants to satisfy us with things that make us happy? And I'm not talking about expensive cars and yachts and huge televisions and that sort of thing... even people who don't believe in God know that wealth alone doesn't make you happy. I think that in general God wants us to be supplied and comfortable in our lives – I think He wants our lives to be full of joy. I mean, if God wanted us to suffer, he could send us all right to Hell right this minute. The Gospels don't show us a Jesus who came and injured people and caused damage... Jesus came and healed people, supplied for their needs, even sometimes fed them. I think God wants to bring things, people, and circumstances into our lives that we can rejoice in, that put a spring in our step, that make us feel like we could spread our wings and fly up into the sky!



Counter point: Sometimes Believers suffer.

Yes they do.

In fact, the next verse, immediately after the benefits, acknowledges that: "The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed." (Psalm 103:6) Some people, it says, are oppressed. BUT: God is working in their behalf, bringing justice, bringing that "good" promised in the benefits! The Bible isn't some kind of utopian nonsense. It fully admits that difficulties exist. God's benefits are not a denial of reality – they are hope that it will get better!


On to the final wrap-up, or start from the beginning!

Friday, March 1, 2024

Benefits (Benefit #4)

Here's that list of benefits from Psalm 103 again:

  1. forgiveness for iniquity
  2. healing for diseases
  3. redemption from "the pit"
  4. being crowned with "steadfast love and mercy"
  5. being satisfied with "good" - specifically good health

God crowns you with steadfast love and mercy

Crowns are round, and that's why translations use the word "crowns" here. But it doesn't seem to me to be about a royal crown. The Hebrew word means "to encircle" – it seems to me that this is more of a protective measure than the coronation we might think of. In Psalm 5:12 it says "For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield." That word "cover" is the same word translated "crown" here, in Psalm 103:4.

"Steadfast love" means loyalty, devotion, and the unchangeable nature of God. In Deuteronomy 31:8 (and also a few verses before in 31:6) Moses said this about the nature of God: "It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." In the passage in Hebrews 13 that quotes Moses, the author wraps it up this way: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) God loves you, and He isn't going to change His mind!

And finally, "mercies" means a deep well of loving compassion. In verses 13-14 of this same chapter, the Psalmist expands on this a little bit more: "As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust." God isn't looking for a reason to condemn us. He knows that we are fragile creatures, able to be wiped out by nothing more than a change of temperature or an invisible gas that we breathe. When one of my children is in pain or fearful or in some kind of danger, I am immediately there for them, in their corner, because I know them and I know when they have a need. That's the way God is for us.

All of that meaning packed into seven words! God protectively encircles us with His devotion, His loyalty, His never-leave-you, His love, His mercy, His compassion. It's like being in the safest place you've ever been, with the kindest, strongest, and most protective person you've ever met. It's that, but more. Wow!


On to Benefit #5, or start from the beginning!

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Benefits (Benefit #3)

Here's that list of benefits from Psalm 103 again:

  1. forgiveness for iniquity
  2. healing for diseases
  3. redemption from "the pit"
  4. being crowned with "steadfast love and mercy"
  5. being satisfied with "good" - specifically good health

God redeems your life from the pit

Redemption is a word with a very small meaning outside of Theological circles these days. You can "redeem" a coupon for thirty cents off a can of peas. You can "redeem" the box tops off your cereal boxes to satisfy whatever promotion the cereal company is running. When I was a kid you could "redeem" glass soda pop bottles and get a few cents back. Or, if you say or do something stupid, you can do something better and so you "redeem yourself" in the eyes of whoever saw you do the stupid thing.

None of these things are exactly the Bible meaning of the word "redeem". In the Bible, to "redeem" someone (because in this verse God is redeeming us!) means to pay the price to get them out of a captive situation. Paying a ransom, Almost like "posting bail" for a prisoner to secure their release from prison, except that once redeemed you don't have to go back to prison. It's more akin to paying off your mortgage, and then you are free from that payment forever! In Bible terms, "redeemed" is a permanent state!

So what is "the pit"? Well, literally... it's, you know, a pit. A hole in the ground. Maybe extend that to something like a dungeon. But this is a very specific "pit" – this pit is the place where people go when they die. It's parallel language to Psalm 49:15 that talks about redemption from "Sheol" which is a Hebrew word for "the underworld". But this doesn't really signify Heaven or Hell as the Christian faith understands them; this is a much more primitive imagery. Many translations render this word as "destruction" which is probably an accurate portrayal of what the Psalmist meant.

Let's put those things together... there are things in the world that want to kill you and me. Even outside of whatever hostile spiritual forces there may be, there are creatures who, if they saw you, would absolutely try to kill you. Then there are things that could accidentally kill you... a car swerves into your lane, something falls on you out of a window, you catch a terminal disease. These things want to destroy you, and the danger exists because sin has been brought into this world. There is a price to pay for sin; that price is destruction. But God constantly pays the ransom cost that it takes to redeem us from the destruction that results from our sin! Your life doesn't have to lead to a place of oblivion. God redeems you!


On to Benefit #4, or start from the beginning!

Friday, February 23, 2024

Benefits (Benefit #2)

Here's that list of benefits from Psalm 103 again:

  1. forgiveness for iniquity
  2. healing for diseases
  3. redemption from "the pit"
  4. being crowned with "steadfast love and mercy"
  5. being satisfied with "good" - specifically good health

God heals all your diseases

Benefit #2 is "who heals all your diseases". I grew up in churches that believe that God can supernaturally heal someone by laying on of hands, prayer, maybe anointing with oil - there are a number of Scriptural mechanisms by which humans express their faith that God will heal someone. But I know that there are a lot of churches that believe instead that God does NOT supernaturally heal people anymore. Those things the Apostles did in the Bible? Those things, members of these church bodies might say, left the world when those Apostles died. I am not here to criticize those people; I'm just acknowledging that the things I was taught in church are not the same things everyone is taught.

But the benefit laid out here is pretty straightforward. I looked up the Hebrew words, and there's not really any ambiguity. "heals" means healing - sometimes it is even translated as "physician". This "diseases" is not common in the Old Testament, but every time it occurs it's talking about a disease in someone's body, usually one that kills them (don't look it up if you are squeamish!) And how about that word in the middle: "all". So God is the physician, you have some kind of illness or illnesses in your body, maybe even terminal ones, and the benefit is that the physician God will heal ALL of your sicknesses!

So here's the big question: Michael, as you were growing up in your church and people were laying hands and praying and anointing with oil people with sicknesses, are ALL of them healed? And my answer has to be: some of them walked away from the prayer time and didn't seem changed at all. Others walked away super excited because they could tell that they were healed! I don't actually know why that is - I have some theories and ideas, and I've heard preachers talk about it. But the benefit is that God heals ALL of your diseases. That's what the Bible says, so I have to believe that it is available!

There is a warning in verse 2 of this chapter: "forget not all his benefits". In my previous blog entry I described how at the end of the year in a lot of businesses, you sign up for benefits. The ones you are offered and refuse, you can't turn around three months later and access - if you didn't sign up at the right time, you don't get them. Also, if you forget you have a benefit - say, you go to the pharmacy but don't give them your insurance card - the benefit does not work for you. You get to pay the price for forgetting that benefit. I suspect this is something like that. You have to know that healing is available and trust God to supply it. I'm by no means an expert on this, and there are instances when things happen and you wonder why someone stayed sick when to all appearances they were believing God for His healing. All I do know is that the benefit is there, and if I get sick, I want to do everything I can to access it!


On to Benefit #3, or start from the beginning!

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Benefits (Benefit #1)

I've got a printed out copy of Psalm 103 that I recently posted on the white board next to where I work. The reason is because it talks about "benefits". A month or two ago, if you work for a company like I work for, you probably got to hear the "benefits" talk. This is the talk about how to sign up for insurance, 401(k), whatever stuff your employer makes available to you. In order to take advantage of that stuff, typically you have to take steps to sign up. Psalm 103:2 says "..forget not all his [God's!] benefits." I was like, wait, God has benefits? This I need to look at! Seems like I might want to sign up!

Here's God's list of benefits from that chapter (no 401(k) plan here, sorry!)

  1. forgiveness for iniquity
  2. healing for diseases
  3. redemption from "the pit"
  4. being crowned with "steadfast love and mercy"
  5. being satisfied with "good" - specifically good health

God forgives all your iniquity

So, "forgiveness" seems pretty self-explanatory (we'll get back to it in a minute), but I'm not sure everyone knows what "iniquity" is. You may think, as I did and I'm sure most people do, that "iniquity" is just a longer word that means "sin", but it's not, not exactly. "Sin" is when you mess up and do something wrong -  you were presented with a situation and you made the wrong choice. "Iniquity", however, is the thing inside of you that caused you to make that choice. The Bible talks about the "flesh" meaning that before we gave our hearts to Jesus, we were messed up and couldn't get to God, and sometimes we still act like that. Think of the sin as the action itself, and the iniquity is the thing that clicked inside and caused the action to be taken. Notice it doesn't say "iniquities" like there are multiple things–it's one "iniquity" that causes the whole problem.

Let's go back to "forgiveness" now. Let's say my wife didn't know it was my special cookie sitting on the counter, and she wanted a cookie so in all innocence she ate it. I found out and got mad, but then I realized it was a mistake and I said, "I forgive you."

That's NOT what this forgiveness is.

This "forgiveness" is more along the lines of pardon for a crime. In fact, in a lot of verses the same word is translated into some variation of the word "pardon". So let's put that together. God doesn't just say "I forgive you" when we sin. God's first benefit is that He has granted us a full pardon for the actual sinful nature which we were born with and to which we sometimes still succumb. He has pardoned all of it! Keep the dental plan, I'll take that benefit, please!


On to Benefit #2!


Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Spiritual Worship

Stepping back a bit from my previous post about Romans 12, I think it's interesting to get some context from the whole chapter.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1–2 (ESV)

What I see here is that Paul is going to give us some instructions on how to live a life fully committed to God, not only in spiritual things but also in the physical realm (so, not just thinking nice thoughts, but actually taking action). He prepares us for a mental paradigm shift, then he goes on in the next few verses to explain that in the body of Christ (meaning, all who has put our faith in Him, not the head and torso and arms and legs and hands and feet he had when he walked on the Earth) has lots of members with different functions to perform, different jobs to hold, and all of them are important.

Then we get to that passage I mentioned last time starting in verse 9. There are 13 verses from there to the end of the chapter, and I noticed something interesting. Out of the 13 verses, I only see two verses that are about doing something solitary. "Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord." (verse 11) "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." (verse 12). The rest of the verses are all about how we treat other people! We love them (9-10), we take care of their needs (13), we bless them, even the mean ones (14), we empathize with them (15), we are friendly even to the ones that are different from us personally (16, 18), and we choose to treat them well even if they treat us badly (17, 19-21). All that stuff in verses 6-8 - prophecy, teaching, exhorting (persuading people), giving lots of money, leadership, all of the things we tend to think are cool important things that we want to do - all of that stuff winds up being secondary to just being able to treat people like Christ treated them.

To come back full circle - this chapter started off telling us how to worship God with our whole selves, even our bodies. We each have gifts and callings, but in the end, it is doing physical acts of service for others that somehow turns around and becomes a spiritual act of worship to God!