THE BLESSING BENEFITS

Good Morning After Sunday. That's how it works in this world. After Sunday.. comes Monday. Yesterday we took time to worship God...study the Word...sing the songs...dance the dances...and partake in the Table of the Lord...aka COMMUNION.

Once again...I was able to preside over the table...and reflect on what this time with the elements means in relation to the cross and this life that we live in the NOW. The cross in the past reaches forward to our now.

"I (you) HAVE BEEN (in the past) crucified WITH CHRIST (died)...and it is no longer I who live...BUT Christ LIVES IN ME...and the life which I NOW (2008) live...in the flesh (my body)....I live by FAITH (in the D.B.R.)...in the Son of God (Jesus)...who loved me...and delivered Himself up for me." (Galatians 2:20)

"If then you HAVE BEEN (in the past) raised up WITH CHRIST...keep seeking (not a one time event)...the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God...SET your mind (a mindset) on the things above...not on the things that are on earth...for you have died (Galatians 2:20)...and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:1-3)

The reason the table of communion has any validity in 2008....is because of what Jesus did when he was 33 years old...around 2000 years ago.

Last time we looked at Isaiah 54 to get a thumbnail sketch of what HE went through for us...so that we would not have to. Today (and what we looked at yesterday)...was HOW WE CAN BLESS GOD. Of course...we are blessed...by what He did....BUT...the question is... HOW do YOU bless GOD?

To be BLESSED means to be fortunate, well off...HAPPY. This is from the word (makrios) and is found in what we call the BEATITUDES found in Matthew chapter 5. NOTE: The beatitudes...BE the ATTITUDE we should BE having.

In Psalm 103...we David tunes up his psaltery...and encourages his SOUL (his mind, his free will, his emotions, the totality of who he is at the seat of his emotions)...he encourages his SOUL...to BLESS THE LORD...and to BLESS HIS HOLY NAME. He is singing about NOT the Lord BLESSING him (although the Lord does)...but BLESSING THE LORD.

In Psalm 103...the word BLESS means...to knell as an act of adoration, to praise, to salute, to thank. It is a verb...an action word. A primary way to bless the Lord...and blessing His holy name...is to FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS. We praise...salute...and thank the Lord for WHAT HE HAS DONE (which happens to be GREAT THINGS). We are called TO REMEMBER...not forget...what He has done.

This is where COMMUNION comes into play. As we come to the TABLE OF REMEMBRANCE...we begin to reflect, ruminate, remember the benefits that BLESS US...and then we begin to BLESS Him...because of the benefits that BLESSES US.

Here are some of the BENEFITS mentioned...and how the D.B.R...DEATH, BURIAL, RESURRECTION...NOTHING MORE NOTHING LESS...reflects the BLESSING BENEFITS.

1. Who PARDONS (forgives, pardons,spares) ALL your INIQUITIES (perversity, evil, sin)

2. Who HEALS (mends, cures, repairs) ALL your DISEASES (malady, sickness, diseases)

3. Who REDEEMS (be the next of kin, to buy back a relatives property, ransom, purchase, deliver) your LIFE ( alive, fresh, strong, a living thing) from the PIT (a trap, destruction, corruption, ditch, grave)

4. Who CROWNS (to encircle for attack or protection) you with LOVINGKINDNESS (piety, beauty, favor, good deed) and COMPASSION/TENDER MERCIES (compassion, the womb as cherishing the fetus, tender love)

5. Who SATISFIES (to sate, to fill to satisfaction, have enough, have enough) your YEARS/DESIRES/MOUTH (a sense of trappings, finery, an outfit) with GOOD (beautiful, best, bountiful, cheerful, at ease, prosperity, sweet ) THINGS

6. SO that your YOUTH (childhood, juvenility) is RENEWED (renew, rebuild, to be new, repair) like the EAGLES (to lacerate)

These are not the only benefits. You can read the rest of Psalm 103 for the total package...BUT...just these alone...are enough to approach the TABLE OF COMMUNION with a FRESH EXPECTANCY...and BLESS THE LORD by NOT FORGETTING...but REMEMBERING His BENEFITS.

BLESS THE LORD OH MY SOUL AND ALL THAT IS WITHIN ME BLESS HIS HOLY NAME...BLESS THE LORD OH MY SOUL AND FORGET NO...NOT...ONE...OF HIS BENEFITS.

You don't have to wait until the next time your church as communion....start REMEMBERING now.

Love and Blessed Kisses
Rodney "Ruminating On The Benefits" Boyd

DO THIS

Good morning...evening...mid-day friends and neighbors. There is a common link among Christians know as COMMUNION. It is known as communion, The Lord's Supper, Eucharist, The Table, The Lord's Table, The Cup and the Wine and many other names. It is taken by some daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly. The elements run the gamut of wine and wafers...Welches grape juice and little tiny squares of cracker to loaves of bread and wine. One of the most moving communion services was in my living room with hotdog buns and Orange Crush. Some view it as symbolic obedience while others view it as the bread and wine turning into the actual body and blood of Christ (transubstantiation).

I have the honor of presiding over the table this month as Smyrna Assembly. The table is a time of remembrance of the Death, the Burial, and ultimately the Resurrection of Jesus...who became the propitiation (substitute and satisfaction) in our place. Isaiah 53 paints a prophetic portrait of what we are remembering. There are 5 areas listed that were dealt with on the cross:

1. griefs/sicknesses
2. sorrows/pains
3. transgressions/going beyond known limits
4. iniquities/lawless rebellion
5. unrest/no peace or wholeness

These 5 things were dealt with 2000 years ago...and the cause and effect reaches through the space-time continuum into 2008. When we take the bread and wine...we remember what HE DID for us on the cross. Here's what He did...so we would not have to:

1. griefs/sickness: He bore them
2. sorrows/pains: He carried them
3. transgressions: He was pierced/wounded for them
4. iniquities: He was crushed
5. unrest/no peace He was chastened for our well being

Isaiah reveals how all of this took place in Isaiah 53:5:

BY HIS STRIPES/SCOURGING....WE ARE HEALED.

I spend so much time trying to do what already was done. I am constantly bearing, carrying, wounding, crushing, chastening myself in an attempt at SELF-ATONEMENT...when what I need to do is REMEMBER what HE HAS ALREADY DONE...and accept by FAITH what satisfies God (propitiation/substitute/satisfaction: I John 1:6-10; I John 2:1,2)

The communion table points to the D and the B...but the RESURRECTION is what makes it have any worth at all. Without the RESURRECTION OF JESUS...all you have is another historical martyr. Because He lives...we live.

Love and Blessed Communion
Rodney "Pass The Bread and Wine" Boyd