By GARY ANDREWS
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Sometimes I find it hard to sleep and get up early in the morning because I have something on my mind. Most of these times of insomnia I have a particular subject on my mind and until I get up and talk with the Lord about it, I cannot ease my mind of these thoughts.
My family and I have been thoroughly blessed and I wonder if I have praised God enough for all the blessings He has given me. I once heard a pastor say to his congregation, “What if we wake up in the morning and all we have is what we have thanked or praised God for?”
A Psalm of David tells us, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.” Have you ever thought that the word “Bless” also means “Praise”? Everything we have or ever will have is given to us by the Lord God and many of us never take the time to say “Bless you Lord” or “Praise you Lord” or “Thank You Lord”.
Many will tell you that the Lord had nothing to do with their success and that through hard work and dedication on their part they earned what they have. It is a sad day when anyone would think this, especially a child of the Living God, but there are many people in the world today that will tell you this. It is a sad day that when people believe all of their riches came from within them and what they have done to obtain them. They live it up on earth and never realize that when their time comes to an end what is going to happen to all of their riches. They are certainly not going to take it to the grave with them. These riches are going to someone else to squander and use as they see fit or either to someone that will say “Bless you Lord” and use these riches for the kingdom of God.
In verse two of this Psalm we are told, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” What is your definition of benefits? Again, many of us do not think that all we have is a benefit of the Lord. Where would we be without Him and what would we have if the Lord God had not created us and give us a world to live in? Not only has He given us a world to live in but He has given us a Christian nation to live in. We are the most blessed nation in the world and have riches beyond belief compared to others in this world. To the ones of us that complain about what we don’t have should really stop and thank God for what we do have. There are many people in other countries that don’t have the luxuries that we enjoy and complain about.
The Psalmist started his chapter with “Bless the Lord” and ended his chapter with “Bless the Lord.” In everything we do or say we should bless the Lord’s Holy Character. He is a merciful God, a forgiving God, and a gracious God. If it were not for the grace of God where would any of us be? Whether we are His child or not, each one of us will stand before Him on judgment day and give an account of how we spent our life and what we did for Him. Our God wants to be praised and when our time on earth is done and we go to eternity with Him, this is what we are going to be doing. Why should we praise God; because He is God.
Prayer: Father God, I do praise you in everything. You are the light of the world and I give you all the praise for all you have blessed me with. Thank you for loving a sinner such as I. Amen.
(Suggested daily Bible readings: Sunday – Psalm 103:1-22; Monday – Nehemiah 9:1-6; Tuesday – Revelation 7:9-17; Wednesday – 1 Thessalonians 3:7-13; Thursday – Daniel 2:19-23; Friday -  Psalm 115:1-3; Saturday – Acts 12:21-24.)
Gary Andrews is the author of Encouraging Words: 30-days in God’s Word. To obtain a copy go to his website www.gadevotionals. com.