COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS
Suggested Reading: Nehemiah 5-6
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
A fence seperates the men's prayer area from the women's at the Western Wall (or Wailing Wall) in Jerusalem. This wall is part of the retaining wall of the Temple Mount.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verse: Nehemiah 6:3
So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”
This writing may have been a report back to King Artaxerxes in Persia. Not only did it speak of rebuilding the walls, but of the reform of civil society. Nehemiah took measures to repopulate Jerusalem with observant Jews. He enforced the cancellation of debt providing a brand new start for the people. He assisted Ezra in teaching and implementing the Law of Moses. Nehemiah’s determined leadership is captured in our key verse. He considered what he was doing to be “a great work.” We should never minimize the call of God on our lives. Doing God’s will is “a great work.” In spite of attempts to lure Nehemiah away and put fear in his heart, he never gave up! He took leadership and persisted in his efforts. When those who opposed him tried to make him fearful, he refused to be afraid. He feared God (ultimate respect) more than anything man could do to him.
Malachi, preaching while Nehemiah was in leadership, declared, “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His Name.” Malachi 3:16
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, I pray that this blog will have the same results as Malachi’s ministry. Thank You for all who speak to one another, encouraging each other in their responses to the blog, by telephone calls, or in personal conversation, or even in forwarding the blogs to others. I’m asking You, Lord, as did Nehemiah, “Remember me, my God, for good” (Nehemiah 5:19a). Amen!!!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
At first glance it may seem self-centred to ask for God’s blessings for myself, but I’m fully aware that unless I am blessed, I cannot give what I don’t have. The Gospel song says, “Count your blessings; name them one by one. Count your blessings; see what God has done.” I’ve just gone into Google, typed in “Count Your Blessings,” and there was Guy Penrod singing this song on 100 Huntley Street (click here). On the senior’s TV series, “Really Good Medicine,” we had Jimmy Durante singing Irving Berlin’s song written for the “White Christmas” movie, “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep.” I’ve often done that when I’m trying to fall asleep. It works!
Also I have a grandson-in-law who is a police officer. As I was reading of Nehemiah’s plan to work with one hand while holding a sword in the other, I thought of the police motto, “To Serve and Protect.” Come to think of it, I want to do the same.
Yours for God’s goodness to be upon us all,
David
Perhaps once in a while it’s a good thing to take stock of what one has, both physically and spiritually, and give thanks to God for our many splendid blessings. Sometimes it almost seems as if it’s easier to bemoan the fact that we don’t have something, or that someone else has something that we don’t have. But remember, God provides! He will give us exactly what we need, not necessarily what we want. There are great spiritual lessons to be learned in patiently waiting upon the Lord, for His timing is perfect and His blessings abundant. Think on what blessings God has provided and give thanks for His provision in our lives.
Yes, AMEN, I am blessed!!!!
Thank you Lord for your many blessings and provisions in my life. Thank you also for this daily blog. It has been a source of real blessing in my life. Bless all those who follow this blog and bless David Mainse today for obeying Your voice and taking us on this journey. AMEN & AMEN
Have a great day blog-buddies and Blessings to All!!!!
“One Love. One Hope ..,”as Bob Marley sang. Different perspectives add only more colour to the canvass! I too would much rather count blessings than sheep or the many other distractions that cause us to feel imbalance or fearful. Fearing God greater than any adversary, is a wonderful answer to peace. Have a great day, to all!
mom’s funeral this morning…greatest blessing is that she is with Jesus…..Malachi has been one of my very favorite verses…the very best is to start our day meeting with YOU LORD……
God’s peace go with you today Janina and the hope we have in Jesus , in seeing our lived ones again is a blessing.
Oops…loved ones.
May you continue to find deep comfort in all of God’s promises as you as you grieve your loss.
Amen to the above. May our Lords peace and comfort be yours during this difficult time.
Dear Janina
May you feel the Lords embrace as you celebrate your moms reunion with the Heavenly Father finally at Home Amen and Amen .
God Bless You
xxxx Carole.
Janina and family, May the peace of the Lord be with you. “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” (NLT)
Psalm 34:18
Bless you, Janina. We (my sister and I) miss our mom so much but we know she is with the Lord and we would not want to bring her back to this world. May the Lord bless you with joy knowing that Mom.is with Him.
Good morning fellow bloggers and PRAISE GOD from whom all blessings flow!
I was at the cottage for a few days, no Internet, but got caught up yesterday on all my readings.
My family has seen amazing blessings, especially as we have drawn closer to THE LORD in trials of sickness and mental illness for some but to be in THE WORD and staying focused on THE SAVIOUR brings blessings beyond our wonder!! This blog and the encouragement from others, and having the privilege to pray for you has brought great JOY to me personally, and sometimes when I am physically not able to help I CAN PRAY!!! Hallelujah!
Thank you Pastor David….bless you day.
Good morning David! Thank you for your thoughts and personal writings. I have been reading and daily looking forward to this blog since its beginning. Foster and I took a trip with you and Norma Jean, Dale and Paul in 2005 in ‘The Footsteps of Paul’ tour. We are praying that we can go this fall on your next tour. I greatly enjoyed Ron’s blog ab
Cont’d (from previous page)…..
about you. Keep well and God bless you for a lifetime of dedication.
Jeannette Hagan
They say there are two kinds of people in this world- people who see the glass as half empty or the people who see the glass half-full. In my case, before I came to know the Lord- I believed the glass itself as cracked so anything that went inside would escape, so what was the point of trying– that the world had no use for a broken glass. When the Lord came into my life– He not only repaired the glass but made sure the glass was always full- full to overflowing- none of this half empty or half full nonsense– just always full to the brim. Alleluia and Amen.
I thank you Lord for my greatest blessing which is my relationship with you. You have provided many earthly joys which I do not deserve, and for which I am truly greatful. Help me always to remember like Paul to be content in all circumstances for it is easy to murmer and complain like those in the Exodus when things don’t go our way. I love the following song by Matt Redman
Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name
Blessed Be Your name
When I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name
Blessed be Your name
When the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s ‘all as it should be’
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name
Every blessing You pour out
I’ll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
still I will say blessed be the name of the Lord.
What a timely message. Today I woke up fearful about various circumstances in my life, which is never a fun thing to wake up to. I am going to begin a move to a different city, and all the details have just been weighing on me. On top of that, I am adjusting to budgeting new bills and payments that I was not used to before, and so there has been some stress in regards to that. However, this morning I realized an out of the blue blessing from God and it relieved some of my anxieties. Once I recognized my blessing in that, I started thinking about all the other things I was blessed with. I had a delicious banana and peanut butter for breakfast, I am able to read, I am sitting on a comfy couch, I am neither too hot nor too cold, etc… I realized then that today GOD TURNED my fears and anxiety into praise! I don’t mean it to say that God has to give me something in order for me to praise him, although I am thankful for what I received, but I think the blessing he gave me today served as a reminder of something I should have been doing all along! It says in Philippians 4:8 “…whatever is true…honorable…just…pure…lovely…commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” I think that verse points to Christ and what he did on the cross to bridge the chasm between us and God; as a result our sins are forgiven, we are seen as perfect by God because we are seen as sinless, and God accepts us as his own children! Because of this, we can come to him as children and receive blessings although nothing in the world compares to the blessing of being called perfect through Christ! That is definitely true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commenable, excellent, worthy or praise…etc… maybe we can even think about more adjectives throughout the day to give God praise!
“Master, Saviour, Majesty … ” A BIG AMEN!
Great blogs today! We are so blessed to be children of God! My favourite thing in all the world is to sit in a living room setting, fellow shipping for a while, with some brothers and sisters in the Lord, then reading and studying a book of the bible, and participating in the great discussion and insights that we receive together, led by someone with the gift of teaching. My husband and l thought it would be wonderful to just sit under a Palm Tree in the Caribbean and relax, we did this, and were bored to pieces and couldn’t wait to get back to our church. Ha! Ha! Love to you All! We are spiritual millionaires because of Jesus!
Dear Rev. David M . and precious fellow bloggers
So much to be grateful for starting with this daily blog .
Todays discussion of Gods blessings reminded me of the words found in the worship song titled What a difference you ve made in my life sang by Ronnie Mllsap from the cd Count your blessings that you can find on youtube or the crossroad estore.ca
What a difference you ve made in my life
You are my sunshine day and night
What a change you ve made in my heart
You replaced all the broken parts
What a difference you ve made in my life
Have a blessed day everyone.
xxxx Carole.
So thankful for this blog David.M. and fellow bloggers ,. I’m sooo Blessed by
you all keep it up , May God bless you and keep you in His Arms….R….
LORD, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever you had formed the earth and the world. Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God., from PSALM 90: 1, AND, because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I wll deliver him; I will set him on high, because He has known My name. He shall call upon Me and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation. Psalm 91:14-16 “HE IS WITH US”
Dear Janina, What a great attitude you have seeing, the blessing of your mom’s passing to a far better life in heaven. One things for sure, now that she has gone home, she would never want to come back, but will be awaiting the day of re-union when you all get to join her, and best of all, to be with our Heavenly Father and Jesus. Please know, we all care about your loss. May the Holy Spirit comfort you in the days ahead.
the LORD be praised !! Amen!! thank You David:)
wow you fellow bloggers are awesome…..thank you so much for the outpouring of support…I can truly see how the Lord has gently prepared us and worked His beautiful presence as moms time was drawing near and her going to HIM…..family time was absolutely incredible…….
Peace and love to all. Dear Lord please bless and keep all of your presious people in your sight. In Jesus name Amen!
M. 🙂