Bless and Be Blessed

"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." Psalm 103:1-5

Giving thanks to the Lord for His Goodness every day and especially on this Thanksgiving weekend. Thanking Him for confirming through His Word what He had already spoken to my spirit. What a Gift, Blessing and Reward, to all believers who take God at His Word as we seek Him and read His Word! There was now no doubt as to how I was supposed to proceed. The enemy will try to use fear, fear of rejection, guilt, etc., to have us in situations he know we have no business being in, which will only serve his sick purposes. It does take "pluck", a whole lot of faith and running the risk of further rejection, to resist the temptation of giving in, saying yes to something or someone God is clearly steering us away from. Someone who clearly does not have our best interest at heart (check out "the fruit" (Galatians 5) and who is so likely to wound us, again, and again, in the worst of ways. God is faithful and will see us through no matter what. In His faithfulness, he cautions us to "guard our heart" (Proverbs 4:23). This is not flippant but serious life giving advice. So much rides on diligently protecting our heart and emotions, such as our sanity, sense of wellbeing, self-esteem and more. The enemy of our soul is too well aware of how our failure in this area will keep God's plans for our lives from being fulfilled. Being where you are celebrated is so much more preferable to finding yourself where you are merely tolerated, serving some kind of purpose to those who request your presence but have no plan, to love and embrace you the way God intended you be loved and embraced when He created you in His image. While we pray for those who hurt us (“do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44) and invite them into a surrendered life and freeing relationship with Christ, we are not responsible for their “bad behavior”. Our responsibility is to be who God created us to be, with Him at the helm of our lives. Free to think and decide, with Christ as our Guide. It does take work such as prayer, fasting, Thanksgiving, as we take the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, to get to a point where we can stand firm and let go of negative familiar and familial patterns to keep abusers from abusing us, emotionally and otherwise. We are far from helpless but must keep Christ in continuous focus to remember what He has made available to us, namely God, Himself/The Word/The Holy Spirit and countless heavenly hosts. It is so powerful to know that God is the same, yesterday, today and forever and because we can take Him at His Word, we can fully trust Him when He says, "With men "this" is impossible, but with God ALL things are possible.”(Matthew 19:26). We (you/I) are worthy of trustworthy and safe relationships. Being related to someone does not obligate you to be at their mercy and have them "Lord it over you, unless they're your elderly parent! We were created to glorify God, not man! May God bless you and encourage you as you persevere in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and "count "it" (whatever the "it" may be!) all joy...knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance…" (James 1)