"BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL"

“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefit…” (Psalm 103:1, 2). For whatever reason that David had experienced in his life, he was moved to write this beautiful Psalm (Of course, guided by the Holy Spirit). His heart was overflowing with the need of blessing the Lord for all that God had done for him. Should we not possess the same kind of heart as David? Consider all that the Lord has done for us, physically and especially spiritually. All the perfect and good gifts come from God (James 1:18). His Son, Jesus Christ, died for us on Calvary’s cross, so that we could be forgiven by His precious blood (John 3:16; Ephesians 1:7). I want to encourage our brethren who lead our minds in prayers during our worship assemblies to include expressions of praise and gratitude for all that God has done, and is doing for us. It is sad to note there are times when prayers are led wherein brethren fail to express thanks for God’s grace, mercy, love, lovingkindness, and His longsuffering. How can this be? Petitions, supplications and intercessions are expressed; however, there is a great need of our expressions of gratitude! (1 Timothy 2:1; Philippians 4:6) in our prayers. Let us “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name, For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:4, 5).

"BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS"

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.” These are the words of the “Prince of Peace”, Jesus Christ, as found in Matthew 5:9. This beatitude is somewhat different from the rest, such as those who are “poor in spirit”, “those who mourn”, “the meek”, “those who hunger and thirst after righteousness”, and, “the merciful”. The reason being, the expression, “the peacemakers” implies an action on the part of the disciples. It an adjective signifying peace-making. The “peacemaker” is to give “diligence to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesian 4:3). The “peacemaker” has to have “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) in his heart. Paul wrote in Romans 5:1,2: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” We are not only to be ‘peaceful’, we are to be peacemakers. Abraham Lincoln said: “Die when I may, let be said of me that I always pulled up a weed and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.” Today, we need more people who will ‘plant flowers’ and ‘pull up the weeds’; meaning, there is a great need in our world to have more ‘peacemakers’ instead of ‘peace-breakers’! The Lord knows we have too many ‘peace-breakers’ in His church, in our community and in our nation. We live in turbulent times. Everywhere we find hatred, bigotry, prejudice, racism and violence existing, even in own nation. It doesn’t take much skill to cause confusion in a family, in the church or in our society. It isn’t easy, however, to be a peacemaker because you will be most likely criticized from every side. But, the ‘peacemaker’ is one who had rather suffer injury than to inflict injury upon others. He had rather settle difficulties through prayer than through force. This is the first beatitude “which shows blessedness pronounced as alighting upon a person, not in the first for some personal quality, grace or virtue, but his works sake in the interest of others, whether of family, the world or the church” - “For they shall be called sons of God.” The apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3:8-11, that if we love life, we should “seek peace and pursue it”Christians are to “Pursue peace with all people” (Hebrews 12:14). Of course, there is not to be compromise when truth is involved. The question is, Am I am a ‘peacemaker’ or a ‘peace-breaker’? “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.” These are the words of the “Prince of Peace”, Jesus Christ, as found in Matthew 5:9. This beatitude is somewhat different from the rest, such as those who are “poor in spirit”, “those who mourn”, “the meek”, “those who hunger and thirst after righteousness”, and, “the merciful”. The reason being, the expression, “the peacemakers” implies an action on the part of the disciples. It an adjective signifying peace-making. The “peacemaker” is to give “diligence to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesian 4:3). The “peacemaker” has to have “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) in his heart. Paul wrote in Romans 5:1,2: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” We are not only to be ‘peaceful’, we are to be peacemakers. Abraham Lincoln said: “Die when I may, let be said of me that I always pulled up a weed and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.” Today, we need more people who will ‘plant flowers’ and ‘pull up the weeds’; meaning, there is a great need in our world to have more ‘peacemakers’ instead of ‘peacebreakers’! The Lord knows we have too many ‘peacebreakers’ in His church, in our community and in our nation. We live in turbulent times. Everywhere we find hatred, bigotry, prejudice, racism and violence existing, even in own nation. It doesn’t take much skill to cause confusion in a family, in the church or in our society. It isn’t easy, however, to be a peacemaker because you will be most likely criticized from every side. But, the ‘peacemaker’ is one who had rather suffer injury than to inflict injury upon others. He had rather settle difficulties through prayer than through force. This is the first beatitude “which shows blessedness pronounced as alighting upon a person, not in the first for some personal quality, grace or virtue, but his works sake in the interest of others, whether of family, the world or the church” - “For they shall be called sons of God.” The apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3:8-11, that if we love life, we should “seek peace and pursue it”.Christians are to “Pursue peace with all people” (Hebrews 12:14). Of course, there is not to be compromise when truth is involved. The question is, Am I am a ‘peacemaker’ or a ‘peace-breaker’?