claiming the blessings

Have you ever witnessed a miracle?
Or had a prayer answered
in such an overwhelming way
that God took your breath away?

For that is reason to celebrate!
That is cause to remember!

And when reading through
the Psalms, specifically 113-118,
in order to better understand them
it would help to know that these
were written for just such a reason;
that these are part of the Hallel...
or Psalms of Praise.

These Psalms were sung in series
as a remembrance of Passover...
​The miracle of God,
in which He saved all the firstborn
of Israel who were living as slaves in Egypt

Sometimes I just read about this "story"
or see the events unfold in a movie,
like it was no big deal...
because it wasn't MY miracle,

But this to be certain, was...
a miracle of God like proportions.

Moses was sent by God
to free the children of Israel.
Plagues were tumbling upon Egypt,
one after another, after another
to show God's power,
to prove Pharoah's hard heart.
With this, the final curse
of death to all first born children.

But just before Pharaoh
released the Israelites from slavery
letting them leave with Moses,
they were instructed
to place the blood of a lamb
over their door post, in order that
when the Angel of Death passed over
their loved one, their first born,
would be spared...
saved from sure death
by the God who loved them,
the God who saw their bondage,
the God who longed to free them.
If only they would humble their hearts,
​trust and obey Him.

All the firstborn of Egypt died that night.
But none of the firstborn of Israel.
God had shown them a miracle.

And God had instructed
the children of Israel each year
to celebrate this remembrance...
to remember His hand if deliverance.

With that in mind...
and now with proper context,
when we read, these verses
​they make so much more sense.

O Israel, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.

The Lord has been mindful of us;
He will bless us;
He will bless the house of Israel;
He will bless the house of Aaron.
He will bless those who fear the Lord,
Both small and great.
Psalm 115:9-13 NKJV

But let us please understand,
that the Lord does not want us to ignore
verses written only to Israel and
the house of Aaron...
to be read at Passover.

Often when we see these names of old
we tend to disregard the verses, as if
they no longer prove true for us today.

And that is truly nonsense.
First of all, God's word is eternal,
living and active... and it never changes.
He wrote it through people long ago
with even the very intention
tgat you and I would read it now,
in this present day, in this needy hour.

And what may of us do not realize
is that we are heirs to these truths.
These promises belong to us...
YES, even us, even today.

It certainly speaks of the house of Aaron,
for he was the elder brother of Moses.
He would have been the first born...
the one who should have died,
the one who was passed over,
the life that was spared.

And he also was the first priest...
the lineage from whom all future priests
of Israel had to be born.
The intercessor between God and man
until Jesus became our Hope,
our Savior, the perfect sacrifice.
He shed the blood of the Lamb
which covers us, and saves us
from that eternal death

So we get to claim these promises,
as I said before...
because we are heirs also.
Even though you and I may not be
related to Aaron by legal lineage.
We are related by the grace of God...
by the acceptance of His sacrifice for us.

For you are all sons (and daughters)
of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
And if you are Christ’s,
then you are Abraham’s seed,
and heirs according to the promise.
Galatians 3:26, 29

Which means, that anytime
we see a promise in the Old Testament
with the name Abraham, Isaac, Jacob...
or even Israel, we can insert our name as well.
Because these promises our for us as well!

We must not neglect the remembrance
of our MIRACLE, our PASSOVER,
our Savioir, Who by grace loved us
enough to adopt us into this family.

So this I get to take with me today...
O WAGNER's, trust in the Lord;
He is YOUR help and YOUR shield.
O house of LISA, trust in the Lord;
He is YOUR help and YOUR shield.
You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;
He is YOUR help and YOUR shield.

The Lord has been mindful of YOU;
He will bless YOU;
He will bless the house of WAGNER;
He will bless the house of LISA.
He will bless those who fear the Lord,
Both small and great.
Psalm 115:9-13 (personalized)

And all of us, in Christ can do the same!
And do I believe God is upset
that I have altered...
that I have changed His word
by inserting my name?

Absolutely not.
For I have taken it as my own.
I have loved His word
as written on my heart!
And I am not ashamed of it.

People may accuse me
of not using my brain...
of disengaging the gray matter
that God has given me
to rely so heavily on this faith.

And for them, I have only prayers.
For they have yet to find
the immeasurable and unsurpassed
grace, favor and kindness
that abounds.
Their MIRACLE is still to come
in trusting the Word of God.

The Lord is mindful of me.
So I will ever be mindful of Him.
I WILL remember the PASSOVER!
I WILL celebrate this MIRACLE!
I WILL receive these BLESSINGS!
I will never be ashamed!

Word of God
train me, today...
to receive every blessing
You offer in scripture,
to be brave enough
​to claim it aloud and proud!