Bless the Lord, oh my soul...

I was watching Jesse Duplantis on TBN tonight and just wanted to share a few tidbits of his sermon. For those that don't know, Jesse is an evangelist from Louisiana [feel free to check out his website for more information and/or video clips]. Okay, so his scripture was Psalm 103:1-4. His first point was, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and ALL that is within me! Not only our soul, but our mind and body and actions....ALL that is within me! Many times we give God certain aspects of our life....but we have to give Him everything! We must be crucified with Christ; and crucify our flesh daily!

Verse 2 reminds us to "forget not all his benefits." God doesn't like for us to suffer, but sometimes it is necessary for Him to get through to us. But as Jesse so gracefully puts it, "if you're going through hell, DON'T STOP!! KEEP GOING!" I absolutely love this quote. It is so important for us to keep going when everything seems to be crumbling down around us. There is a brighter side just ahead if we'll just keep going. Verses 3 and 4 of Psalm 103 further reminds us of God's goodness: forgiveness, healing, redepmtion, love, and mercy. But the key is that we must FIRST, and foremost, BLESS THE LORD!!!