The Blessed Life - Part 1

Psalm 1 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.  He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

This last Sunday, Pastor Kyle preached a special sermon on Psalm 1. What exactly is a blessed life? The 1828 Webster’s dictionary defines the word “blessed: as: Happy; prosperous in worldly affairs; enjoying spiritual happiness and the favor of God; enjoying heavenly felicity. A blessed life begins  in the brain. Whatever we are thinking is what shapes what we do. Our thoughts and associated words have unbelievable power. When our thoughts are aligned with God’s thoughts, will and way, we bring them to earth and turn them into actions that are in-line with heaven.

Ezekiel 47:12 “Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.”

What really shapes our lives? Our human tendency is revealed in what we do in our spare time. The Word of God found in Holy Scripture is the key because they are food for our mind and soul. This produces relationship, which is an associated key to blessedness because connections through interpersonal relationships are necessary for us to grow and improve properly. The living water of Christ’s church (the body of Believer’s worldwide) is the key to Christian community. A blessed life is planted by spiritual streams of living water.

John 4:10, 13-14 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

The Follower of Jesus Christ has a river of living water flowing from them, sprung from its source for refreshment of the soul. Without the Spring, the source of this river of living water, we can make everything look right for awhile, but spiritual dehydration happens without the holy Word of God and Christian community relationships.

John 7:37-39 Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive.

Let's continue Pastor Kyle's message on "the Blessed Life" in the next post. 

In Christ, Brian