Give praise to the Lord, O my soul; let everything in me give praise to His holy name.
Give praise to the Lord, O my soul; let not all His blessings go from your memory.
He has forgiveness for all your sins; He takes away all your diseases;
He keeps back your life from destruction, crowning you with mercy and grace.
He makes your mouth full of good things, so that your strength is made new again like the eagle’s.
Psalms 103:1-5

These verses are so full of promises.  God loves us so very much.  He is merciful and quick to forgive us.  All God requires of us is to love Him and put Him first in our lives.  Before Abraham knew who God was…God loved him. Before Moses knew who God was…God loved him.  How much more does God love us?  (I would imagine much more!)

For those who are suffering, who are hurting, when no end seems to be there—know that God sees and will give you a renewed strength.

And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow,
and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage in which thou wast made to serve.
Isaiah 14:3

Who doesn’t know of someone that these words would minister to?  There will come a time of rejoicing.  A time when looking back at what was in the past will seem like a forever time ago.

Verse 5 of Psalm 103 refers to the eagle’s yearly removal of its feathers to allow new growth, therefore giving the illusion of youthful vigor.  How many times do we want to remove our troubles, our fears, our chains that bind us to earthly worries?  When we cast them onto God, we can rest assured that He will take care of them.  When we give Him our worries we should not be quick to take them back and take them on again. If our spouse or child is not doing what they should, it is for us only to live a life that is as free of sin as we can.  We will not be perfect.  In our human-ness we will fail but, with God’s grace and mercy, we will be shown how to live.

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Father, we humbly come before You and ask for direction.  We do not know how important our words or actions can be until it is sometimes too late.  We thank You for Your forgiveness.  We thank You for the ability to start again.  We pray for the courage to speak words that will build up, not tear down.  Help us to know when to be silent, and when to be so on fire for You that nothing or no one can stop us.  Help us be bold and courageous for You.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!