Psalm 128 Fear God and be blessed

Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
Who walk in his ways…

O Lord, thank You for this happy psalm. Thank You for reminding me that fearing You and reverencing You and obeying You are blessings! So please let me enjoy the blessing of knowing You! May I never grow too busy to lose that delight in enjoying time alone with You.

Thank You for these words from the Message: “You worked hard and deserve all you’ve got coming. Enjoy the blessing. Revel in the goodness…Stand in awe of God’s Yes. Oh how he blesses the one who fears God!” (vv.2, 4)

They make me want to dance and shout!

I am in awe of Your ‘Yes’. Yes! You’ve given me gifts and allowed me to exercise them and see fruit. You know, Lord, that in times past, I’ve despaired of seeing fruit. Often that was because I was defining ‘fruit’ in human terms of physical numbers, things my human eyes could see.

But after thirty-five years of ministry, the fruit that has come from staying attached to You, the Vine, comes back, beautiful and abundant.

These past weeks, You’ve let us enjoy much fruit through time with friends from right next door as well as all over Europe and beyond. Some share a meal, others spend a few nights in the guest room that Paul built years ago, and many others are connected to us via Skype or Zoom or What’s App. Just yesterday at a church picnic, we were able to encourage a French couple who had recently discovered our little church. What joy to hear their sweet testimony of Your work in their lives.

Here’s the thing I have learned over these many years: You have specific fruit for each of Your children to bear. And it comes first through paying attention to You, loving You, obeying You.

Our pastoral care ministry calls for us to listen well, care deeply, pray effectively, and occasionally offer counsel and advice. Doing this behind the scenes, month after month and year after year. Then occasionally You pull back the curtain of time to give us a brief glimpse of lives that are touched, seeds that are sown, hope that is given.

And we are blessed. We revel.

In my writing, fruit comes through long, long hours of solitude as I create a story with one ear to my characters’ voices and the other attuned to You. It takes a long time to see the final fruit of this ministry. But how sweet when it comes, through readers’ letters, yes, but also when I sit in silence with You, dear Lord, and hear Your pleasure as I offer the creativity You put into my DNA back to You for You to do as You will.

YOU.

Lord, may we continue to be fruitful and multiply in our pastoral care and writing ministries for Your glory. What joy! To get to live a life that honors You and spreads Your love and bears fruit.

Merci!

How has the Lord has blessed you and produced fruit through your life as you’ve simply loved and obeyed Him?