THE LIVING WORD: VALUABLE GEMS TO HELP YOU THRIVE IN THE NEW YEAR
(1-2025) by Carol Scheitlin
It’s never too late in this life to start NEW, and take healthy steps to learn more about God’s work, His Word, His blessings, and His grace to help you thrive amidst life’s challenges.
This is Carol Scheitlin of New Life Expressions. There are so many wonderful principles and promises found in the Bible. This month we’ll take a look at a few verses from Psalm 103 and consider the blessings of the Lord, the blessings of reading God’s Word, and the blessings of the saving work of our Savior. We will see how our relationship with our merciful Lord can help us thrive as we take NEW STEPS of faith during this new year.
Let’s see how God speaks to us through His Word…
From God’s Word:
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” (Psalm 103:1-8, esv)
Here are just a few quick points from Psalm 103:1-8 that I pray will be a blessing to you.
To “bless the Lord” is to love Him, thank Him, acknowledge His goodness. His Spirit guides us in all truth. We can praise, honor, and bless the Lord with our faith, with our soul, with His Spirit living within us, when we’ve trusted in our Savior.
Let’s think about “all His benefits”. What 5 things come first to your mind as you remember God’s benefits? It’s helpful to reflect upon God’s goodness, and remember how God has helped us, saved us, comforted us, restored us, and given us our very breath to live.
In verses 1-8 we see some blessings that David declares in this Psalm, and we learn more about the character of God:
• God forgives
• God heals
• God redeems us from the pit
• God crowns us with His steadfast love and mercy
• God satisfies us with good
• God works righteousness and justice
• God is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love
One of the biggest benefits is mentioned in verse 3a which mentions the blessing of God’s forgiveness. God is a God of relationship, willing to forgive as a loving Heavenly Father, when we come to Him. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” David, who became King in Israel, knew of God’s great forgiveness personally in his own life.
Verse 3b tells us that God is Healer. He restores, He heals. He has healed the worst of our diseases (our sin) through Messiah’s sacrificial love and work on the cross. He is able to heal physical bodies. He can heal deep hurts. He can heal brokenness, and heal those in the depths of depression. As it says in verse 4, God “redeems your life from the pit”. What is the “pit” in your life? God can lift you up out of that pit. He can raise you up from even the muddiest of pits. He can save, cleanse, clarify, make new, and revive. What is your need today? God can handle it.
Verses 4 and 5 speak of God’s great love for you, His mercy and goodness. He gives us good things because He is good. He can even take things that others meant for evil, and work them for GOOD in our lives, for His higher purposes – as He did in the life of Joseph in the Old Testament. (Genesis 50:20)
For those who may be oppressed or anxious, verse 6 of the Psalm tells that God works righteousness and justice. You can trust God’s many promises found in the Bible, that He will work righteousness and bring justice in situations that seem so wrong, unjust, unfair. God cares about the all details that trouble your heart.
Certainly, God is “merciful, gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love”, as verse 8 proclaims.
THE VALUE OF READING SCRIPTURES:
Looking through the Psalms is just one example of how we can learn more and more about God’s love and mercies by reading His Word, the Bible.
All of God’s Words are spirit and life. God’s Words are life-giving, applicable and beneficial for all generations. They are timeless and eternal - always powerful to address your past or current situations. Whatever you are facing today, His Words are good for instructing, providing direction, learning and growing.
There are always benefits you can glean from God’s Word - new aspects revealed about His grace and compassion – like a precious gem with many facets.
At times when reading, one verse may really stand out to us. We may think, “That’s an area I really need help with”. Another verse may stir our hearts to give thanks to God. Another verse may bring some specific situation or person to mind. Why not use those moments to pray? You can communicate with the Savior Who loves you. Pour out your thoughts to Him directly. Allow Him to speak to you through His Word.
I encourage you to take the challenge this year to read more of the Living Word, the Bible. Both the Old and New Testament reveal how God truly abounds in compassion towards us.
The ultimate demonstration of God’s compassion and love for us came through the work of our Messiah Jesus.
It’s amazing to see from the first book of the Bible (Genesis), beginning with Moses and all of the prophets - throughout all the Scriptures - it all speaks of JESUS.
The more you read the Bible, the more you realize these wonderful truths.
There are so many gems, so many valuable truths that can bring life, renewal and hope now for us, AND give us the assurance of our eternal destiny. Yes, God’s Word shows us that we can have eternal life in Heaven - forever with our loving and righteous God -because of the saving work of Jesus.
THE SAVING WORK OF MESSIAH JESUS:
Throughout the Bible, we see the contrast of God’s perfect holiness and our tendency as humans to sin. We all sin and fall short of God’s perfect holiness. But God made the way for us to draw close to Him – through Jesus.
The saving work of Jesus came at a great price – for Him. Jesus suffered greatly and painfully, and willingly, bearing our sins, He died, and then resurrected victoriously - to bring life – for us. God loved us so much that He paid our sin’s penalty. He saved us from the penalty that we deserved.
Isaiah 53, in the Old Testament, explains more of the details about Messiah’s saving work on the cross. Isaiah, inspired by God, wrote these prophetic words about Jesus approximately 700 years before Jesus was even born! The prophecy was fulfilled when Messiah Jesus came to earth as the suffering servant to pay the price for our sins.
The whole chapter of Isaiah 53 is a fascinating must-read chapter, but here are just a few verses that capture the essence of Jesus’ finished work of redemption:
“But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)
“…By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.“ (Isaiah 53:11b)
“..And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:12b)
Only Jesus fulfills the whole of Isaiah 53 exactly, and He fulfills each of the hundreds of other detailed Bible prophecies found in the Old and New Testament concerning the Messiah.
Left to ourselves, we are spiritually bankrupt. We are unable to save ourselves. We are all sinners, in need of a Savior. God calls us to follow Him, to allow His Spirit to guide us through His Word, and to realize the riches of His grace through the finished work of Jesus Christ.
The Bible says, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
What actions might God be leading you to take to strengthen your spiritual walk this year, to keep you running strong in the midst of trying times, to help you thrive in the Lord’s grace, and learn more of His blessings and love?
Why not take time to pray, ask God, and see what next steps He would want you to take.
YOUR STEP OF FAITH THIS YEAR
Ask the Lord to reveal the Truth. Ask Him to reveal more of Himself to you.
Maybe you need to reaffirm your faith, or commit to reading the Bible daily, or maybe you’d like to remember “all His benefits” (as Psalm 103 says) and give Him thanks daily. Or perhaps your step of faith is to commit your life to Him for the very first time. Call on the Lord. He can lead you on His good path. Life may not always be easy, but He is your Strength and Comforter, and He will be with you every step of the way.
It’s not too late, as long as you have breath, to take new steps, to commit your life to Jesus, to read Scriptures daily, to embrace His steadfast love, and to learn more about our holy, righteous, gracious, merciful, and compassionate God.
“You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.” (Psalm 86:5)
Call on Jesus today.
Thanks for visiting. Visit this website next time for a message entitled: "Holding Fast”.
Want to know more about a relationship with God?
If your identity is not found in Jesus - If you don’t know Jesus, you can know Him! A few quick things to help you get started:
• Pick up the Holy Bible and start reading! (The Gospel of John in the New Testament is a great place to start!).
• Click HERE to find out about God’s FREE Gift of Salvation.
• Get connected to a solid church where the Bible is taught. Book by book, verse by verse teaching, is a great way to gain rich understanding!
• Turn from darkness and the bondage of sin, and trust Messiah Jesus to give you life and make you NEW in Him!
Carol Scheitlin is director of New Life Expressions, writer, author, and blogger. She has served short term on various missions around the world, long term in engineering and manufacturing businesses, and for many years directed a worldwide outreach. She loves encouraging people to see Messiah Jesus throughout the Scriptures – and to know God’s awesome, perfect and sacrificial love. Only through HIM can we know this deep love, and have real hope, victory - and New Life!
Carol has written 12 books, being published over time. The first two books, "Let the House of Aaron Say", and "I Will Bless Those Who Bless You" are currently available on Amazon. Book #3 will soon be available in the upcoming months.
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