Count Your Blessings
by Sharon W. Betters
Today’s Treasure
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God
Hebrews 12:1-2
Dear Friends,
This week we start our “What She Said Part 5” series. Over the next five weeks, you will meet women whose writings and messages have moved me in such a way that my response has been, “What she said!” I’m eager for you to be encouraged by their messages as well.
Many years ago, I opened the back door to welcome our dear friend into our home. She was not much older than me and grief ravaged her face. Tears rolled the instant she saw me. For an instant, I feared my newly widowed friend would never recover from the sudden loss of her beloved husband. I finished preparing dinner as she and Chuck talked quietly about grief, the Lord’s promises, and how to face each day when her purpose for life seemed gone. A year later, she continued to deeply grieve, unable to even put away his clothes. Is there hope for such a devastating event?
This week we welcome back Patsy Kuipers as our first guest writer for this “What She Said Part 5” series, who declares there is such a hope. She speaks from a place of experience, after her thirty-nine year old husband, Ray, died suddenly from a heart attack, leaving her alone with two young daughters to raise.
One of Ray’s favorite pastimes was gardening and after his death, Patsy discovered beautiful evidence of his work throughout their yard. Their yard became a sanctuary for private grief and a place to watch new life pushing through the damp earth. Throughout this week’s devotional, Patsy beautifully shares her pathway of experiencing God’s tender love and provision for her daughters and her.
MARKINC Ministries produces Daily Treasure. Our vision is to offer help and hope that turns hearts toward Jesus. One way we do that is by introducing people further along in life’s journey who have experienced devastating events yet call back, “God is sovereign and you can trust Him.” Our Help & Hope podcast regularly offers guidance, wisdom, and encouragement from people broken by this world, who declare the Lord is redeeming their pain through His presence and love.
That’s why I’m so eager to share Patsy’s writing with you. She paints beautiful scenes with her words that will slow down your racing heart and encourage you to rest in our precious Lord.
Treasured by Him,
Sharon
LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
Our family attended a small Orthodox Presbyterian Church when I was a young child. My mother and grandmother were charter members. Sunday night services were considered “informal” and included a hymn sing where we could call out our requests. My best friend and I always picked the most upbeat hymns, typically never sung in the more formal morning worship service. An often repeated request was Count Your Blessings. As we prepare for this week’s devotionals, where Patsy will share the blessings she is experiencing, find a quiet place with a pen and journal in hand. Count your blessings, record them one by one, and it might surprise you what the Lord has done!
Count Your Blessings
Jonathan Oatman 1897
When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.
So, amid the conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be disheartened, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey's end.
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
As we wrap up the Valley of Tears series, it is so appropriate to end with the incredible promise that “each one appears before God in Zion”. No matter how hard the journey, the Lord promises every one of His children will arrive Home. No matter the dangers, no matter how close we come to dying spiritually, the Lord will keep us safe. We will not “die” but step from this earth into heaven where we will live eternally. How many times have you heard, “Well, I hope I’m good enough when I stand at the Pearly Gates. I’ve tried to be a good person. Hopefully, my goodwill outweighs my bad.” Perhaps deep in your heart, you are afraid the Lord will reject you because you messed up or you will have sinned just before you died and didn’t have a chance to repent.
I understand feeling such fear. Though I was a “good church girl”, totally immersed in church life, I lived my teen years fearful I wasn’t really God’s child. I had asked Jesus into my heart as a child and then just in case it didn’t “take”, asked Him again and again. My lack of assurance of salvation impacted many decisions I made and they weren’t good. Finally, a staff member of Crusade for Christ (now Cru) showed me 1 John 5:13:
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
She asked, “God says if you believe in Jesus, you can KNOW you have eternal life. You say you have asked Jesus to forgive your sins and save you, what is keeping you from trusting He did what He promised?”
I suddenly realized that to doubt God’s action, that He forgave me and claimed for His own, was calling Him a liar. By faith, I needed to trust His Word and let go of the need for a dramatic emotional before and after story.
Since that moment so many years ago, I have gained great comfort from numerous Scriptures that promise the Lord will never let me go. If you are struggling with assurance of your salvation, rather than try to convince you with my words, allow God’s Word to move your heart toward trusting Him with your soul, just as it did for me. Hear the Word of the Lord.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
John 3:16 KJV
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:1 KJV
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies….For what shall separate us….
Romans 8:31-39 KJV
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 1:13-14 NASB
so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 6:18-20 NASB
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB
Hate evil, you who love the Lord, Who preserves the souls of His godly ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 97:10 NASB
Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Hebrews 7:25 NASB
And if this is not enough, hear the Words of Jesus:
And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
John 6:39 NIV
…I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
John 10:28-29 NASB
If you are still not sure you are a child of God, please contact me and give me the privilege of sharing the Gospel with you, just as a young woman shared it with me so many years ago. May my story be a puddle of grace for you as you travel toward Heaven.
Tomorrow we begin our summer What She Said series. Our first guest writer is Patsy Kuipers. Patsy returns to Daily Treasure and writes through the grid of loss and joy. Please share Daily Treasure with friends who will be encouraged by the messages designed to help turn our hearts toward Jesus.
Sharon W. Betters is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, pastor’s wife, and cofounder of MARKINC Ministries, where she is the Director of Resource Development. Sharon is the author of several books, including Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace. She is the co-host of the Help & Hope podcast and writes Daily Treasure, an online devotional.
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Contact Sharon with comments or questions at dailytreasure@markinc.org.