28 Aug 5 Reasons To Bless God At All Times

As long as we live we will face adversity and troubles. The enemy is always going to and fro the whole earth, looking to hurt, afflict, and/or destroy believers. The world we live in is full of pain, wars, sadness, depression, and all other forms of evil. Sometimes we see and hear of them from afar but sometimes they happen to us or those we love…
The enemy’s goal is to cause believers to lose their faith in God. He is not interested in our money, health, and other physical and material things. What he wants is our souls, he wants to bring people to the point where they lose their hope, faith and trust in God, he want men to deny and denounce God. This has been his goal from the beginning, to separate man from God.
But no matter what we face in life we must remember God’s goodness. Even in the midst of raging storms, our God is good. There are so many things to be grateful to God for.

I Am Not Without Challenges

If you are reading this in a time of intense adversity don’t stop reading… don’t get angry and think, ‘She is just writing stuff she knows nothing about what I am going through.’
Believe me, I have had very tough times too… health issues, death of loved ones, miscarriage, poverty, false accusations… to mention a few. But that does not mean God is not good, or that He is not good to me. 

When we face adversity it is because of God we are still alive. Click To Tweet

And three things can happen… He will bring us out, give us the grace to bear it, or take us home to be with Him. We win whichever way. But we must discover His promise, in His word, concerning the situation, and hold on to it because He will not break His covenant. 

Remember the three Hebrew boys who faced death but refused to give in to fear?
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so , our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Daniel 3:16-18 

The enemy was after their souls, he wanted them to be eternally separated from God, he wanted them in hell with him. His desires have not changed at all…
But they refused, they were sure God would deliver them but made it clear that in case for God’s best known reasons, He decides to let them burn… they would rather burn in that fire that will last few moments than burn forever in hell with the devil.

David is another man who faced so many adverse situations but he always praised and blessed God.

• His father did not really reckon with him when Prophet Samuel asked for his father’s sons.
• Saul, the king sought to kill him.
• Absalom his son wanted his throne and life.
• Absalom slept with his wives in public.
• His son raped his daughter and countless other adversities…

But going over the book of Psalm will cause us to see that David praised God at all times, whether the times were good or bad.
I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm 34:1
Like David we can bless the Lord at all times and keep His praise on our lips.

Looking at some verses of Psalm 103 will help us know how and why we can and should do this.
[1] 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 forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; [4] Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; [5] Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s. [10] He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. [12] As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
For the purpose of this article I picked some of the verses. I know it is a familiar Psalm but in case you are not very familiar with it, you can read the whole chapter.

5 Reasons To Bless The Lord

We can bless the Lord at all times if we always think of the benefits He gives us daily. For me, each time the enemy wants to keep me thinking on challenges I face… I shift my focus to God and His goodness. I think of the things He has done for me, the victories He has given me in the past, and then I can give Him thanks knowing He is able to give me victory over the present situation. Let’s look at some of these benefits recorded by King David.

1. God forgives our iniquities. verse 3a

This is the greatest benefits of all. That we are forgiven and free of sin and it’s consequences is something to continually thank God for. We are no more slaves to sin, we are no more condemned, we no more hell bound. Hallelujah!
He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:10 & 12
These verses are so liberating!

If God had dealt with you and I according to our sins… we wouldn’t be here. Instead of giving us what we deserved, He put our sins so far away from us that even He does not remember them anymore.

This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Hebrews 10:16-17
Remember that God is Omniscient, He knows all things, but He chooses to forget our sin because of His great love and mercy. Isn’t this something to shout about?

Jesus said it is something to shout about!
Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. Luke 10:20 

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Psalm 32:1

As believers, no matter the challenges we face, knowing that our eternity is secured should give us joy and hope and reasons to always be grateful and thankful. The Bible says we are blessed because we are forgiven. 

2. God heals all our diseases. Verse 3b

Now you might be thinking, ‘but I have been sick for this long and I have not been healed’.
When I have a lingering attack on my health, I would usually declare God’s promises of healing and health over my body and then turn around and start thanking God for healing me of headaches, stomach pains, cuts and bruises, appendicitis and all other diseases He has healed me of. I have seen people with cancer praise God as if they have no health issues… the key here is to thank him for all the diseases He has ever healed you of, even if there is one lingering.

I had headaches and stomach aches that could have killed me as a child, but God healed me and brought me to this point and I would always thank Him for these.
Many many years ago when the doctors found tuberculosis in my blood I still thanked God, knowing that at that time in my home country it was considered a deadly and often terminal disease, I thanked Him for the many other times He healed me. If He healed me of one, then He will heal me of all.

3. God redeems our lives from destruction. Verse 4a

This not only refers to the car crashes He has saved us from or the near death experiences we have had. Like I wrote earlier, the enemy cares less about the destruction of our bodies, he is after our souls. 

The enemy is more interested in our souls than he is about our bodies or wealth. Click To Tweet

We ought to thank God that we are still alive and breathing but much more, because we have been redeemed from eternal damnation and destruction.

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1

4. God crowns our lives with His loving kindness and tender mercies. Verse 4b

God’s loving kindness and mercy are the reasons we are still here.
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:21-23 

In the face of adversity, when remember that God’s mercy and love is the reason we are not consumed. This should spur us into thanksgiving because we have hope since we are alive and not consumed.

5. God satisfies our mouths with good things. Verse 5

Again, while I believe God seeks to satisfy us with food for our bodies, it is not just the physical food we eat that renews our youth, it is the spiritual food that does. It is the word of God that gives life…

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4

The Bible said that all things, including you and I are sustained by God’s word. Hebrews 1:3

We are renewed both spiritually and physically by God’s Spirit via His word. So it is a blessing that God gives us His word, we ought to be grateful and thankful to Him for this.
We have reasons to thank God at all times no matter what we face. Especially reading the book of Psalm and reflecting on our lives we will see God’s hand, His help, His victories and His blessings.

When we bless God in spite of our circumstances we give Him room to intervene in our present situation.

Let us like David bless the Lord at all times and put His praise on our lips.

Will you give Him thanks in spite of the challenge you face?
Will you remember the past victories He has won for you?

Copyright© Ugochi Oritsejolomisan 2017

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