Skip to main content

The Benefits of Grace

Psalms 103:1-5 – “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.”

            One of the first questions an applicant will ask a prospective employer is “what are the benefits to the employee?”  Do you have insurance coverage?  What are the retirement benefits?  In the study of scripture you learn there are many benefits available to the believer through the grace of God.

            The word “benefit” is defined as “something advantageous or good; an advantage.”[i]  Psalms 103:1-5 lists the following benefits:
  • Forgiveness of all iniquities – verse 3
  • Healing of all our diseases – verse 3
  • Redeems our lives from destruction – verse 4
  • Crowns us with lovingkindness and tender mercies – verse 4
  • Satisfies our mouths with good things – verse 5
  • Renews our youth like the eagle – verse 5

When the Apostle Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians he makes this statement about the Gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:7, “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.”  The New English Translation reads, “To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the benefit of all.” 

There are numerous benefits available to those who love and live for the Lord.  We have a covenant with God.  He is a faithful God and keeps His word.  Hebrews 8:6 reveals, this covenant is a better covenant built on better promises. Our benefits are a result of His covenant promises.

God longs to bless His children.  In John 10:10 one of the benefits available to the believer is abundant life.  We serve a good God.  James 1:17 reads, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” 

We will be recipients of these benefits as we walk in the light as we allow Him to guide us by His Spirit.  The Psalmist wrote in Psalms 16:11, “you will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.” 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rebuilding the Broken Altar of Prayer

In Matthew 21: 12-13 , “ Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” Jesus made this declaration, “My house shall be called a house of prayer!”  I believe that God is calling us back to the altar of prayer.  For several weeks the Lord has dealt with me about rebuilding the broken altar of prayer in our personal and corporate lives.  If we are going to see spiritual breakthrough in our churches and communities then we must rebuild and return to the altar of prayer. Wayman Rogers writes, “The ministry of prayer is the most important of all ministries in the church.  Prayer creates the atmosphere and binds the powers of darkness so the gospel of Jesus can go forward and the church can prosper....
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shout of a King is Among Them

Numbers 23:21 - “He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. The Lord his God  is  with him, And the shout of a King  is  among them.” In this passage of Scripture, the king of Moab had hired the prophet Balaam to speak a curse over the children of Israel.   He saw Israel as a threat to his kingdom.   Numbers 22:2-3 – “Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel.” When the enemy sees the people of God rising up in faith, he becomes very concerned and moves to keep us from fulfilling our assignment.   We learn in Numbers, Balaam could only speak what the Lord gave him to speak.   Instead of a curse he speaks a blessing. The enemy seeks our destruction, but God!   Listen to the conversation between God and Satan in ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Fifth Month - Av - The Month to Hear

--> The Fifth Month – Av The Month to Hear For a number of years I have been studying and praying for insight into how the Lord moves and works in time. We learn in 1 Chronicles 12:32 that the Sons of Issachar had an understanding of the times and knew what Israel ought to do.  They were masters of the Hebrew calendar.   In Exodus 12:2 the Lord established the Hebrew calendar. “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.” The Hebrew calendar begins at Passover in the month of Nissan.  This calendar was God ordained and introduced in the Bible.   To better understand how God moves in times you can study the Hebrew calendar and the patterns that have been established in the Word of God.  Our Gregorian calendar is on a different time cycle than the Word of God. The Bible refers to the month of Av as the fifth month counting from Passover.  It corresponds to the months of ...
Post a Comment
Read more