A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE

A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE

Monday, August 04, 2014

 

The following is written from notes taken and thoughts provoked during Pastor Paul Marine’s Sunday sermon.

 

Psalm [MKJV] 103:1-22 A Psalm of David. Bless Jehovah, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name. …

Deuteronomy [MKJV] 30:19-20  I call Heaven and earth to record today against you. I have set

before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your

seed may live, so that you may love Jehovah your God, and that you may obey His voice, and that you may

cling to Him. For He is your life and the length of your days, so that you may dwell in the land which

Jehovah swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give it to them.

 

  There is a considerable difference between praising and blessing. If we bless we typically also praise. We however can and do at times praise without blessing.

  Praise is words, heartfelt appreciation. It is done verbally and/or written in sentence and/or song.

  Blessing is mental study with therein serious meditation producing decisiveness leading to physical action, the mental commonly being laziest at in implementation. (How often do we even bother to look up His Word verses referred to in devotionals, essays, books?)

  To illustrate distinction: An individual appreciates their rural community and does not hesitate to say so at every opportunity. Another individual appreciates the same community, often says so, but goes beyond praise, studies and qualifies as an EMT so as to serve as an unpaid member of ambulance crew of community VFD (volunteer fire dept).

  Again, we may praise, but without actually blessing in Biblical sense, especially not as does God.

  When God praises, it is when a person or people have blessed Him.

  Another side of this is when we refuse to bless God, we very much live under His general curse brought upon us by Adam refusing to bless God. (Gen.3; Ex.20:1-6; Deut.4:24 [Heb.12:28-29]; Ps.81:9-12; Jn.3:16-18; Jam.4:4-6)

  After Pastor’s sermon I am left with thought “Am I singing better than I’m sojourning?”  EBB4