Pam Padgett - teacher
Psalm 103:2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; ...
The devil tries to bring condemnation for past sins, but the
Holy Spirit reminds me that all of my sins have been paid for, forgiven,
and are not remembered by God. I am able to move forward, not bound to
past sins.
Psalm 103:3 ... who healeth all thy diseases;
disease - weakness, destructive or harmful condition, any departure from health
We face things that weaken or harm us in various ways, including such
things as destructive thoughts from the devil and wrong doctrines which grow up in us and affect us. They harm and weaken us spiritually.
When I have turned to God with thoughts which the devil brings to weaken
or harm me, I have been healed from this harm when given a word which
showed me truth, God's view in the matter. Earlier today I was doing
some work in my yard and started to pray asking God for wisdom in how to
do this. Immediately a thought came telling me it was silly to ask for
wisdom for such an unimportant thing. But the Holy Spirit reminded me
that we're told to acknowledge God in all our ways, and He'll direct
our paths (Prov. 3:6) It pleases God, and keeps me in the right path, each time I turn to God with whatever I'm dealing with. These things
healed me from the thought brought by the devil to keep me from turning
to God.
God has also uprooted false doctrines I had been taught. For example, many
doctrines I was taught as a child in the Catholic church were dealt with by
proving the doctrines by what we are told in the Bible.
Psalm 103:4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; ...
God has turned me from ways that would have brought destruction in some
way. A recent example happened when my mom was in the hospital in
another state and thoughts came that I "should" go there. But other
thoughts which I tried and believe were from the Holy Spirit told me
that everything my parents needed was already being taken care of, and
to go there would be like stepping into an ant hill of fire ants. I was
pulled back from going into a situation that would have been harmful to
me by the word given to me.
Psalm 103:4 ...who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
What lovingkindness and mercy God has given to me in calling
me to be His child and giving me the Holy Spirit to guide me, teach me,
bring to me the word I need in what I'm facing, showing me things to
come. I am never alone, for God is with me. God provides all my needs
and cares for me. And it pleases God for me to turn to Him and depend
on Him to help me.
Psalm 103:5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
God not only provides the physical food that I need, but also spiritual
food ... His Word. His Word strengthens and enables me to go, and to
continue, in His ways.
Many years ago I was shunned by those in a
singles group at the church I attended at the time, but I had no idea
why this was happening. Then a woman told me she had a message from God
for me ... that He knew how I was being treated by those in the
singles group and that I needed to know this was happening because I had
done His will in trying to stop the marriage of a divorced woman in
that group to a man in that group. (I had presented to the man and divorced woman who planned to
marry, and to the woman who was to be the maid of honor, scripture
showing that this marriage would cause the man and divorced woman to commit
adultery ... such as Matthew 5:32)
The message delivered to me was nourishing, refreshing, and strengthening to me to continue to uphold scripture.
Psalm 103:6 The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed (kept under hardship, esp. by unjust exercise of authority).
When I was working, there was a time when the status of a project I was
leading was not being reported honestly to upper management by my
manager and his manager. I did everything I saw to do to have the
truth reported, but to no avail. It was very hard for me to see what
was being done. Then an opportunity opened (I believe by God) for me to
tell the truth directly to the vice president of the company who needed
to know about the project. Those who were responsible for the deceptive
reports could say nothing to defend themselves nor could they deny the truth being
presented.
It is comforting and strengthening to consider benefits God gives to His people and to see those benefits in our lives.