BlenCouragesU

Benefits.God

Hey family!

As 2012 goes out and 2013 comes in, while in prayer, The Lord put in my spirit that He doesn’t wait until a new year comes to bless His children. In fact, David praised God as he listed the benefits God gives in Psalm 103:1-18.

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 benefits:

Who forgives all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases,

Who redeems your life from destruction,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.

He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever.

He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.

As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear [reverence] Him;

As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.

For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.

But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,

and His righteousness to children’s children, to such as keep His covenant,

And to those who remember His commandments to do them.

AMEN!!!

How about THAT?! In addition to salvation, those who obey God get these benefits, too! I don’t know about you, but that’s enough to excite and bring me to a another level of gratefulness, not only Easter, Christmas or New Year’s Eve, but EVERYDAY! “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, even the God of our salvation” (Psalm 68:19).

As we bring in 2013, keep these in mind and heart as you go through the year as a reminder of that even in these uncertain times, we can count on God’s unfailing love, mercy, salvation and benefits.

May God bless you with His best blessings this coming year and always!

Love,

Blen

Pic from: http://www.hqmc.marines.mil/hrom/NewEmployees/WelcomeAboard/HowOnboardingWorks/Phase1BeforeYouArrive/YourBenefits.aspx

p.s. I have seen some ads appear on my site without my permission. I’ll be checking into how to remove them. Thanks!

31 Dec 201216 Dec 2015

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So many wonderful things….

Please read on!🎄

BCU

Hey family!

I am interrupting the salt series in the spirit of Christmas! I thought I’d re-share a written excerpt from a scene in a play that the youth of Meriden Bible Way (Meriden, CT) wrote and put on for Christmas a few years ago. This was the “sermon” part of the play. Enjoy!

“You see church, some folk saw Jesus, just as a prophet or teacher
Abba, Rabbi, and a good preacher.

But got the that really know His Holy pages, we know:
To the geologist He is the Rock of Ages.
To the Doctor, He is the Great Physician
To the Carpenter, He is the Master Builder.
And any foundation, needs a Chief Cornerstone.
A Lawyer, you never need one, cause we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous—HALLELUJAH!
To the Astronomer, He is the Bright and Morning Star,
To the Botanist, He is the…

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22 Dec 201219 Dec 2015

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Seasoned saints: The importance of salt in your life–Part 2

Hey family!

I trust God blessed you all with a wonderful Thanksgiving! Mine was fantastic, filling and went by fast! 🙀

Last post, I started on a “salt series” that talked about salt production and how vital it is to our natural body and in the body of Christ on a spiritual level. This time around, lets see what the Word is on salt.

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men (Matthew 5:13).

One of the earliest mentions of salt is in Leviticus 2. That chapter outlines detailed instructions on how sacrifices had to be prepared to be given to the priests and then offered to God. In verses 4-6, you’ll see God was very specific about the flour, oil—and even if the grain sacrifice was made pan versus a frying pan. (Side note: note how you just couldn’t bring God a sacrifice any ol’ way. That’s important for us to think about when we bring Him our sacrifice of praise, worship, time, money..anything we have for Him). Looking at the verses 11-12, God specifies the “seasonings” on the offering–that there should be no leaven or honey, but:

“Every offering you shall season with salt. You shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt” (Leviticus 2:13).

Okay, Blen, so what does that mean? I am glad you asked! Salt was just not a food enhancer or monetary trade items like we learned last time, it was also used as a covenant symbol.

History mentions that people used salt as a sign of binding loyalty and a symbol of alliance. In fact, in Europe and parts of the Middle East, salt and bread are offered to guests as a sign of friendship (hence the phrase “we have salt between us”). Additionally, treaties and truces were formalized using salt. Each person would take a lick of salt (similar to shaking hands) to “seal the deal”.

Salt was also used to heal a rift between parties as well. If there was a disagreement between folks, you would invite the person into your home to share a dish of salt. Each of you would lick your finger, dip it in the salt and then eat the salt together. Peculiar as this may sound, when a promise was seasoned with salt, it was so serious, that people would rather die than break that promise! Let’s examine another Scripture on the Covenant of salt.

2 Chronicles 13 tells of a war between Israel (King Jeroboam) and Judah (King Abijah). Jeroboam had the bigger army and was pretty sure he could take Abijah down. King Abijah reminded Jeriboam of God’s promise.

“Should you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, by a covenant of salt? Now look, God Himself is with us as our head, and His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!” Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah” (2 Chronicles 13:5,12,15 NKJV). Yessss–God ALWAYS keeps His word and Judah triumphed!!!!!!

Are you connecting the dots, Family? Isn’t it wonderful to see how God shows us how He keeps promises with something as simple, yet as powerful as salt? How about the promises we make? 🙊Are they “salt-worthy”? Solomon warns us think before we vow:

Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few (Ecclesiastes 5:2 NKJV).

I cannot speak for you all, but if someone promises they will do something and they don’t follow through, I am so disappointed! Because the Lord has made me more mindful about keeping my word, He reminds me to say “with God’s help I will”…or, “if nothing changes, I plan to”, or “Lord will, I’ll…” Keeping that last verse in mind, it really helps us to rely on our perfect God to help us keep our word. Also, if we something does happen, it’s a good idea to circle back to the person quickly and fulfill your promise as soon as possible.

Bottom line: If you can’t season your promise with salt, it really best not to promise at all. I heard a cartoon character say, a broken promise cannot be easily put back together. How true.

I’ll leave you to meditate on this post, as we prepare for the next salt installment, that will talk more about why we need (more) salt in our natural and spiritual lives.

I pray you all were blessed by what you have read! Thanks and God bless you for stopping by!

Love,

Blen

29 Nov 201219 Dec 2015

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Seasoned saints–The importance of salt in your life

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men” (Matthew 5:13).

Hey family,

The Lord blessed me teach on salt at church and I thought I’d share (in a condensed version) what He gave me with all of you in a blog series. In Matthew 5:13, Jesus compared His disciples to salt. Why salt? Let’s start by taking a look at salt history of salt and why we need it in our natural bodies and in The Body of Christ.

Salt comes from the ocean, and the salt water is usually channeled into smaller, shallow pools of water. The wind and sun evaporate the water and as the salt crystallizes, it is, in some cases, hand-harvested by sauniers. This labor-intensive process can sometimes take up to five years to complete!

Salt comes from the Latin world salarium, which means payment in salt and where our word “salary” comes from. History tells us salt was a precious, expensive, highly valued item of trade and sometime used for monetary exchange. In fact, some sources say Roman soldiers were even paid in salt! When salt was your payment, you were living LARGE! 😃 Now that you have some background, let’s take a look at why we need salt.

Salt gets a bad rap in part, because our diets have changed to include more processed, fatty and preserved food that has lots of table salt. Table salt isn’t bad-bad, just not as good as natural sea salt is. Pure sea salt has minerals like sulphate, magnesium, calcium, potassium, bicarbonate, bromide, borate, strontium, and fluoride–the body needs these to function. While table salt originally comes from sea salt, in its processing, those minerals are stripped away and iodine added in. (Side note–I suggest getting the sea salt and eat more fish and veggies for iodine). 😉

Pure salt is needed in your body because it:

Prevents muscle cramps
Provides essential nutrients
Enhances nutrient absorption

Regulates
–Blood pressure (in conjunction with water)
–Blood sugar
–Sleep

So salt regulates your body, helps you function and keeps a lot of the “bad” out. This is just a fraction of what this needed nutrient does. Now look at the spiritual need for salt.

Salt regulates the body of Christ by keeping the bad out:

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like, which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21).

It also keeps us functioning by keeping the good in like peace, love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, temperance, faith and meekness (Galatians 5:22). With the salt Jesus gives you on the inside, it shows up on the outside!

As a needed spiritual nutrient, Jesus commanded that we “have salt in yourselves and peace with one another” (Mark 9:50). In our next installment, we’ll take a look at what that means and why salt is vital in friendships and covenants. Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading and be blessed!

Blen

http://www.himalayancrystalsalt.com/salt-history.html

13 Nov 201219 Dec 2015

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Ready to go??

Are we really, really for the rapture..or prepared to leave Earth to be with the Lord without reservation? As a Holy-Ghost filled, baptized in Jesus name believer in Christ, I often speak to God throughout the day. I kinda figured that with His grace, I’ll be able to breathe a prayer as needed before I get out of here.

A while ago, I was training a class when I heard a SUPER LOUD crash and the lights went out. Because the crash came so suddenly and loudly, it took me about 15 seconds to collect myself. For that short time, I didn’t even have the presence of mind to pray, and I “know better”! So what happens if you are saved, in the middle of letting someone “have it” who wronged you and the Lord comes? Will you have time to breathe a prayer of forgiveness? What if you are not saved according to Acts 2:38-39, and today is your appointed time to die? How do you know if you’ll have time to repent, be baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost?

My point? Saved folks: we need to stay prayed up, and ask the Lord to forgive us for any sin we asking forgiveness for whatever sin we have committed willfully– not practicing, mind you, I mean a slip or unknowingly. (For the extra-holy among us, I John 1:8 says if we say we don’t sin, the truth is not in us). We also should practice living according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as opposed to how people may treat us. Know that the energy we spend retaliating, worrying about things God asks us not to do can be better spent focusing on what we can do–praying and fasting in faith and trusting that all things work together for them love him and who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). If our focus is there, we’ll be in a much better position to be ready whenever He comes for us.

If you don’t know Jesus, now is a good time to get give your life to Him. Look at all the earthquakes, strange weather patterns, famine, heartache, increases in murders, suicides and the like. The Bible tells us this is just the beginning of sorrows. What more are you waiting to do? Isn’t the partying getting old? Drinking, smoking, doing drugs, being with a different person nightly tiresome? Why keep self-medicating to numb the pain of the past and fill your brokenness? Jesus is THE only one who can fix what’s broken. Being saved is NOT a life doomed to just church and Bible study (albeit important and needful fundamentals). Christ came that you might have life and that more abundantly (John 10:10). I am not speaking of pure prosperity, rather the peace of knowing a Savior who loves and is with you on your worst day (we do have those sometimes), He supplies your needs, the desires of your heart, according to His will and guarantees you a place in Heaven. Doesn’t that sound good? It’s yours for the asking no matter WHAT you have done– big or small! So just:

Repent— acknowledge you are a sinner (we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God Romans 3:23) and let the Lord know how sorry you are about your sins.

Be baptized in Jesus name Acts 4:12 says there is no other name under heaven where you can be saved. Your sins will be washed away! This act symbolizes your old self “dying” and you becoming a new creature.

The Holy Ghost will come : This baptism of the Spirit is where Jesus fills you with the Holy Spirit. The initial sign of this speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives you utterance. It happened in Acts 2 and STILL happens today. The Holy Spirit is ESSENTIAL in order to live according to God’s plan. This is the Keeper.

I won’t lie and promise that you will never be sad, lonely, heartbroken, or face trouble in your Christian walk. What God does promise is that He will take us through our trials and we will become stronger in Him for it, trust Him more and be able to encourage others as well. Am I right, saved readers?

I truly hope that this post has blessed you today. I share God’s heart in that He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). Come on over to the “won side” with Jesus. Saved folks, let’s keep our spiritual house in order at all times and practice walking the peace God promises us in Philippians 4:6, shall we? Unsaved readers, its not too late–take advantage of God’s offer today!

Be blessed today and always!