Thrown off my routine today. Needed to drive out early.
Came back, and for some reason I went ahead and left the car parked outside so I could do some working with the dogs in the garage.
Nothing too fancy in my head, but boy, did my body feel it. I stretched, followed by the following: 20 jacks, 10 5-pump burpees and knee raises, 20 jacks, 10 4-pump burpees and reverse lunges, 20 jacks, 10 Navy SEALs, 20 jacks, 10 3-pump burpees and squats, 20 jacks, 10 2-pump burpees and 1-pump burpees, 20 jacks, 10 triple skyfalls, 20 jacks.
Immediately followed that up with 20 minutes on the heavy bag… and let me tell you, I am pretty tired right now. It’s a good kind of tired, though. You come to me today, asking me what do I have to show for myself? Well, I’d say, sweat.
But let’s keep riding off of this high, and let’s do some meditating and reflection on the Word.
Thank You, Father, for the reading of Your Word.
Psalm 32
Blessed Are the Forgiven
A MASKIL OF DAVID.
1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
We’re so quick to say we’re blessed, we’re so quick to seek blessings. And there’s nothing wrong with that – it’s just that the body of Christ has an opportunity to understand and appreciate that it is forgiveness which is both a precursor of blessings, and is itself a blessing superior to other blessings.
I mean, sure, I am aware of the fact that Jesus did all sorts of miracles to bless individuals and families during His time with us in this world… but one of the first things, if not THE very first thing I believe He did for humanity as a whole was to lay His life down, presenting His body and blood as a sacrifice, that whoever believes in Him would receive forgiveness…. and it is by this forgiveness that our sins have been covered, our transgressions have been taken away, our iniquity has no longer been counted against us; it is because we have been forgiven that we have been reconciled to our Creator, much so that we can call Him our Father; and it is in His presence that we lavish in His everlasting love, with Him we have peace beyond human understanding, vindication, fullness of joy unspeakable, and so on, and so forth.
You see how it all started with Jesus, and it all started with our forgiveness? When we receive forgiveness through Christ and His finished work, we count ourselves blessed, indeed.
3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
In the silence, and in the moments when we are tormented; During those times when we find ourselves weak, we would do well to remind ourselves of our forgiveness, first and foremost.
It seems the moment we forget, or, in this case, the moment we keep silent of our redemption and our forgiveness, it’s as if life would start to drain out of us.
Forgiveness, then, is not just the start of our blessings, but it is critical to our keeping on.
5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.
7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah
I’m not about to tell anyone that, since Christ already forgave us, we shouldn’t be confessing our sins to Him. I believe that confession is beneficial just as much as prayer is, in that it’s as much for us – rather, it’s actually more for our benefit. In our confession, and in our prayer, we aren’t convincing God to do anything – He’s already blessed us, from the timeless realities. The confession of our mouth is for more of our being – our mind, our body, our soul, and everything else involving us – to conform to this reality.
In our prayer and in our confession we are thanking God for His will being done on earth as it has already been done in heaven… and the rest of our being continues to flow with the move of His Spirit.
I know this may sound all ridiculous but all I’m saying here is that we aren’t doing what we do to be blessed, and so that God would forgive us. No, we’re alive and blessed, knowing that we have already been forgiven and brought into right standing with God.
Not us working for God, but because God blessed us, so we move.
And, see, it’s really not about our choice of words or the volume of our voice, more than it is about our response to His forgiveness upon us, which leads to our rescue, our preservation, and, actually, God’s Words spoken to us, as we are surrounded with shouts of deliverance.
And speaking of God’s Words spoken to us:
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.
Lest we forget, prayer is us taking part in a conversation with the Most High, and not just us sending messages to the Father. We pray and we confess, we give thanks, and we receive instruction; Or, it also goes the other way around: We’re taught in the way we should go, we’re counselled with His eye upon us, and we do not make like horses or mules that need to be beaten into line – no, we pray, we confess, and we give thanks.
And, through it all, may we never forget that it is the forgiveness that we received through Jesus Christ that was the precursor, or rather the cause and reason for us being able to stay in constant communication and exchange with no less than the Creator as our Father.
10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.
Folks, I’m not sure what any of us are going through right now, but we’d do well to call out to the Lord, and to trust Him in all of our ways.
There’s nothing to lose when we acknowledge Him; in fact, we have everything to gain when we give Christ and His finished work even the smallest of consideration.
11 Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Now I’m pretty stuck here – Am I to circle back to Proverbs 1, or shall I keep going with Ecclesiastes, or maybe another part of the Bible?
…Proverbs 4, it is. But I’m not about to share something online. What I received today, I’m going to meditate on even more, and I’m going to keep it personal.
I pray that the Lord continues to bless us all, as we keep going through this week.
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