I woke up one morning and just started to praise the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus.  A part of it was a song of thanksgiving.  Another part was a declaration, praising Him of how good He is.  And another part was just being in His silent embrace with my thoughts focused on the One Who is worthy to be worshiped.

In the midst of this wonderful time with Him, He simply whispered in my heart, “Forget NOT all My benefits.”

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 NKJV)

In truth, as we put in remembrance the great and wonderful things that our God has done in our lives, no amount of journal pages can contain it.  Job 5:9 NLT says, “He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles.”  I challenge you, try to jot them all down if you can do it.  We simply can’t!  They are far too numerous to even notice every single one of them.

Every breath that we take is one and we are not even conscious of it.  How we are fearfully and wonderfully made is already beyond comprehension and it is just the beginning for us.  How much more when Holy Spirit illumines every part of our lives that He has touched, is touching and will be touching that bring change at all times.  His goodness is simply incomprehensible.

I believe the greatest benefit that we have that will forever linger in our hearts is the gospel, the good news of PEACE, the total reconciliation that we have with our Daddy God, saving us from being fatherless to being sons and daughters, powerfully made possible by His great love for us by sending Jesus to the cross to pay for all our iniquities. It was the power of His love that graced Him to endure everything He went through for the JOY that was set before Him, seeing you and I back into the loving arms of our Heavenly Father.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,  (Psalm 103:3 NKJV)

Iniquity is an offense to God’s holiness that is punishable.  It is lawlessness, unrighteousness or sin.  But God Who is rich in mercy, amazingly gracious and abounding in love showers compassion on all His creation.  All His wrath and punishment was exhausted in the body of Jesus Christ when He Who knew no sin became sin that we may become the righteousness of God IN CHRIST at the cross.  He took the sin of the world, paid it all and left us with nothing but His love, mercy and grace.

“He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:9-12 NKJV)

To top it all, He not only forgives our iniquities but HE FORGETS them.  Oh yes, He does. Hebrews 8:12 says, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.”  We may say … ohhh that’s too good to be true!  It’s unbelievable that HE no longer remembers them!  Oh well, He is God and we are not!  He is able!  So, why wrestle? JUST BELIEVE!  He speaks the TRUTH and He never lies.  “God is not a man, so He does not lie. He is not human, so He does not change His mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?” (Number 23:19 NLT)  

Another powerful benefit is that “He heals ALL our diseases.” (Psalm 103:3 NKJV)  We may wonder if He did, why are there sickness and diseases all around us?  Well, we still live in a fallen world.  Jesus said, “I have told you all this so that you may have PEACE IN ME. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NLT)  Only IN HIM will we find healing and wholeness for He paid it all 2000 years ago.

“But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And BY HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED.”  (Isaiah 53:5 NKJV)

When Jesus said, “IT IS FINISHED!”, it means He PAID IN FULL and PAYMENT REMITTED!  When we received Him and His finished work, we are no longer our own. We belong to Him.  We are His and  He opened once again the garden’s gate for us to enjoy walking and talking with Him in a cool of the day.  When He paid it in full that means we no longer have to pay it again instead we enjoy the benefits of what He has paid for.

I remembered one time when I was driving to church and at the side walk I saw street children collecting empty bottles for them to sell and get money to buy food.  Then they headed to a small bakeshop, bought bread and shared it among themselves.  I stopped and sat down with them and bought them some more bread.  I shared with them Jesus and simply explained to them … “if I bought and paid for this bread and gave it to you, are you still going to pay it?”  All of them answered, “no more!”  “Isn’t it that all you need to do is receive it and enjoy eating?”  They chorused, “yes!”  I told them, that’s what Jesus did for us.  He came, paid for our sin, that we may HAVE and ENJOY life. All we need to do is believe! Then, we prayed.  It may be a short and sweet time but I knew in my heart that God just started something new in their lives.

To benefit from everything that He has paid for, it takes one to believe first and foremost that God is God, He is good and He is alive!  It takes one to believe and receive the GIFT of GOD, given to all mankind that whosoever believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.  It takes one to believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household (Acts 16:31).

Salvation is not just escaping hell but it is living a life of wholeness, a nothing-broken, nothing-missing, nothing-lacking life.  It is a healthy, prosperous, good life that is graced by the presence and power of Holy Spirit Who is our ever present help in time of need.  It is a life of forever personally experiencing His love in ways so deep, so high, so long and so wide that strengthens and refreshes us at all times. It is a life of continuous encounter with the One Who loves us most. It is a life in abundance, to the full, till it overflows.

All of us have unique encounters with His goodness and a lot more to discover and unravel each moment in our lives.  To be loved, to be cared for, to be provided for, to be led, to be healed, to be accepted, to be protected, to be blessed, to be favored, to be looked after, to be celebrated, to be sought after, etc, are His benefits like a feast that He laid before us for us to personally experience and enjoy.  The Bible has a countless more  that are still yet to be spotlighted by Holy Spirit for us to recognize them.  Our human sight and intellect can only go so far and left on our own we can never comprehend what He has prepared and prearranged for us and not just that, He has infinite and various ways as well of revealing them to each one of us accordingly.

Remember His benefits that He has done in the past.  Enjoy the ones that He is currently revealing and doing.  And expect much more in the days to come.  It takes forever to know Him, therefore it takes forever to be walking in His benefits.  When we remember He benefits, it is but inevitable to BLESS HIM!  Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

Blessed be the Lord,
Who DAILY loads us with BENEFITS,
The God of our salvation!  (Psalm 68:19 NKJV)