Author Archives: John Lashuay

Knowing God—Forget none of HIS Benefits

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How well do you know HIM?  How well do you want to know HIM?

“And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” (John 17:3)

“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,” (2 Peter 1:2)

Knowing God is one of our greatest privileges.  As we gain a greater understanding of Him it will transform our lives.  Only then will we be able to worship and serve Him Biblically.  Let us “know the TRUTH” and let the TRUTH set us free to live for Christ, like Christ.

In Psalm 103 David shares with us some precious truths about our great God which gives us many reasons to “bless the LORD.”

“Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name.” (Psalm 103:1)

How can a Christian bless God? It starts in knowing who God is and in turn responding to that knowledge.  Our response must be yielding our will to His will.  As we yield, we are submitting to His authority.  We are saying He is right and we will obey Him wholeheartedly or with “all that is within [us].”  In obedience, we are living out our worship to Him.  We are giving value to His way and therefore making Him THE priority.  This is “blessing the LORD.”

“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:” (Psalm 103:2)

We are a blessing to God as we make a concerted effort to keep Him and His works in the forefront of our minds. When the Word of God is on the forefront of our minds it will produce right living.

Right thinking produces right living.

“Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” (Psalm 119:11)

The word “forget” carries the idea of the memory softening over a period of time.  This happens when we stop making an effort to keep in our mind the truth of God.  It takes no effort to “forget” God’s truth but it takes much diligence in being in God’s Word and meditating upon it to remember these truths.  David challenges us to forget NONE of the ways of God—we are to remember ALL the “benefits” of God.

Notice also that they are “benefits.”  Everything about God is beneficial.  To those who walk in the ways of wickedness, God acts mercifully in bringing into their lives difficulties designed to help them by getting their attention in order turn from their wicked ways and turn to God.  This is a loving and merciful act of God.  Unfortunately these acts of God are often refused and God in turn responds by giving them what they want—a life without Him.

To those who walk in righteousness God mercifully brings difficulties into our lives in order to get our attention and draw us closer to Him. The “benefits” of God are of such infinite proportions that our finite minds cannot  fully comprehend.  The Word of God is filled with His “benefits.” Let us diligently seek to always be reminded of God’s “benefits” so as to not forget them and in turn live lives that “bless the LORD.”

Take a moment and read the remainder of the Psalm and consider the unparalleled greatness of God.

“Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth  all thy diseases;” (Psalm 103:3)

God “forgives & heals”—God forgives our “iniquities” or our sins which alleviates the guilt brought on by sin. The forgiveness of sin opens the door to fellowship with God.  Without forgiveness of sin there is no reconciliation, there can be no spiritual healing, there can be no peace.

“Who redeemeth [delivers] thy life from destruction; Who crowneth [blesses] thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies [compassions]: (Psalm 103:4)

God “redeems & blesses”—Spiritual death is the consequence of sin and through Christ’s blood we have been “redeemed” or delivered from spiritual death as well as eternal death.  Christ as our great Substitute paid our penalty of death in our place.  This alone is a tremendous blessing. We are incapable of comprehending the magnitude of the spiritual blessings that we have been blessed with.  The Lord, by His grace and mercy, has blessed His children with such compassion in withholding from us deserved punishment.

“Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalm 103:5)

God “satisfies”—Dr. Jim Berg speaks of God being “more than enough.”  He is “more than enough” for every situation in life—He is all that we need. Consider why we are often dissatisfied. The reality is that when we have God we have everything that we need. We must learn to rest in Him and let Him be ALL that we need.

“ The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.” (Psalm 103:6)

God is “righteous”—His righteousness is clearly seen in how He deals with all of mankind.  He always does what is right—ALWAYS!

“He made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel.” (Psalm 103:7)

 God “makes Himself known”—The Bible tells us, “The heavens declare the glories of God” (Psalm 19:1).  God, through Creation and through His precious Word has made Himself known to us.  He has told us everything we need to know about Him—this is the transforming knowledge of God.  When we know God, personally, we are then transformed as we are changed into the image of His Son.

“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” (Psalm 103:8)

God is “merciful”—Consider the punishment that God withholds from those whom He forgives.

God is “gracious”—Consider the undeserved, unearned, unmerited favor of God as He pours out His abounding grace upon us.

“And God is able to make ALL grace [divine help] abound [in excess] toward you; that ye, ALWAYS having ALL sufficiency [being satisfied] in ALL things, may abound to EVERY good work:” (2 Corinthians 9:8)

How great is the God that you and I get to worship?  Let us be diligent in “recalling to mind” His greatness and His gracious actions toward us and in turn “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name.”

“This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope [confidence]. 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. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him.” (Lamentations 3:21-25)

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)

The Most Precious Truth

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When you think of “Precious Truths” which is the greatest of them all?  For me the answer is simply God’s love.

Consider this…without the love of God, would He have sent His Son to pay our penalty of sin? Without the love of God could we enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ? Without the love of God could we have hope of eternal life?

It is the love of God which sent Christ to the manger.  It is the love of God which sent Christ to the cross.  It is the love of God which gives the gift of eternal life.

“For God SO loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son [Jesus], that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

It shows us that God loves us enough that He would send His beloved Son into this lost world in order to reconcile us to Himself through His Son’s death.

The Bible tells us that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23). We are also told that our sin separates us from God as we earn the penalty of death (Romans 6:23).

“But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened [made us alive] us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (Ephesians 2:4-5)

This is an amazing reality…this is amazing love! “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:…” (1 John 3:1)

I picture the apostle John writing these words and saying, “Wow! This is amazing! God loves me so much that He made a way possible for me to become His child!”  It still shook John to the very core, even at the end of his life, as he considered what his Savior did for him.

In the Gospel of John the apostle is only mentioned as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”  This title was what he wanted to be remembered by because of the precious truth that it displayed. What title do you and I want to be called? What do we want to be known for?

The Bible further explains how God’s love was displayed in Christ’s death.

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation [the atoning sacrifice] for our sins.” (1 John 4:9-10)

God “manifested” or displayed His love to us by sending His Son into this world to pay the penalty for our sin.  God poured out His just and divine wrath upon His beloved Son in the place of all of us sinners.

“But God [demonstrated] His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8)

Christ said to us in His actions, “I love you this much” as He willingly spread out His arms upon the cross and died in our place.

One of the ways the Bible defines love is found in John 15:13 where it says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Christ Jesus laid down His life for us.  He sacrificed His own life so that we could have a relationship with the Father as our Father.  In John 17, Christ prays “for them also which shall be believe on Me” (v. 20).  His desire was for us to have the same relationship that He has with the Father.  He says, “That they [those who believe] all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us:…” (v. 21) He goes on to say in verse 23 that He desires that we would be loved by the Father just as He is loved by the Father.  This self-sacrificing love was expressed upon the cross—it was done so that we could live—truly live.

As I consider the extent of the love of God I realize that these words only begin to scratch the surface, if even that.  I pray that as you read these words that you would stop and meditate upon God’s love. What does it mean for you?

The apostle Paul’s prayer was “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which [transcends] knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19)

This prayer of Paul is for his audience to “know the love of Christ” which transcends human understanding. Knowing the “love of God” brings change. To be “filled” is to be controlled. Being “filled with the fullness of God” is to be controlled by God as He transforms us into the image of His Son. This speaks of becoming more like Jesus Christ. Knowing the “love of Christ” leads to the likeness of Christ. The more we rest in God’s love the more we are changed by it.

Do you know the love of God? Have you entered into this wonderful relationship with God by placing your faith and trust in Him alone for salvation?

The Bible clearly says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13) “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

I close with words from a favorite hymn of mine called, “The Love of God.”  Consider the third verse and chorus…

“Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made, were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love of God above, would drain the ocean dry.  Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.

O love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure the saints’ and angels’ song.”  – (hymn by Fred­er­ick Leh­man, lyr­ics are based on the Jew­ish poem Haddamut)