From head to toe

O my soul, bless God. From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name! O my soul, bless God, don’t forget a single blessing! These are the opening words to Psalm 103 - a song of celebration and remembrance. I recall a trip my BFF and I took where we parked in a large parking structure. Painted on the walls was the simple word "Remember" - a reminder to remember your parking space location! Now, that is ingenious in my estimation. How many of us park in those large structures and remember we are somewhere down one of those aisles on the third floor, but is it the level going up, or the one going down? In this day of cell phones and instant photos, I snap a quick picture of the car space number (if it has one) and the pillar identifier. This gives me a reference point to actually find my way back again. There are a lot of things to 'remember' in life, but there are just some things we should spend a little more time 'remembering' and 'celebrating' a little more frequently than we do.

He forgives your sins—every one. He heals your diseases—every one. He redeems you from hell—saves your life! He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown. He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal. He renews your youth—you’re always young in his presence. (Psalm 103:3-5)

The forgiveness of sins - every one of them, big and small - is pretty much a miracle in my book. I don't know how a holy God, in all of his grace and love decided to make a way for a fallen world to find restoration in relationship with him, but I am so glad he prepared the way! Jesus is the way, just in case you didn't know, and there is no other way. We try to find a whole lot of ways to 'atone' for our sins, thinking some are too small for God to be bothered with, so we create some method of absolution that we hope will work. What we need to hear loud and clear is that ALL sin needs his forgiveness, not just the big stuff. All sin is forgiven through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus. When we ask Jesus to take control of our lives, we are also asking him to forgive us for sins past, present, and even those we will commit in the future. What? Christians sin? Yup, and we will still need his forgiveness until we breathe our last.

Disease holds no rule over our lives, but we get sick, don't we? If God heals us from your diseases, every one, then how come some people don't seem to get well from their disease? You know this is an age-old question, don't you? I don't understand why God heals someone here on this earth, and others as they enter into heaven. I do believe he heals ALL our diseases - in his way, in his timing, and in his power. I cannot second-guess what he says - I can simply believe it as truth. He redeems us from hell, not because we didn't deserve hell, but because his love redeems. His love reaches out - he doesn't give up on us. He is our Savior - healer and redeemer - not once, but over and over again. God is always looking over our lives with an eye on eternity - knowing full-well what he has prepared for us as we enter into our final rest in him. Trust him with what happens today as much as you plan to trust him with what happens into eternity!

A crown awaits - a paradise crown. Garbs of goodness to adorn our weary bodies. No need for that 'super-enhanced' beauty cream any longer - for his life within creates a youth that is never able to be stolen from us. Adornment is outward, but deep within there is the presence of God and that 'crowns' us with an inward adornment that we could never accomplish on our own. If you have ever seen a person so comfortable in themselves, just free to be themselves and able to allow Christ to shine through in all the beauty that comes from the depth of that relationship they celebrate with him, you likely have seen a little bit of that inner and outer adornment only God is capable of producing. God doesn't leave his kids naked and shamed. He covers us with a much more majestic adornment than we'd ever be able to find or make on our own. From head to toe - we are adorned, made whole, completely at peace and rest in him. Just sayin!