Many passages in the Psalms tell us we should "bless God." How can a person bless God?
God rules the universe supreme! He owns everything that exists. Yet each of us can bless God and bring Him pleasure, delight and joy. How? If we examine the context of the passages that instruct us to bless God, we find exactly what this term means. Notice Psalm 34:1: "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth." To bless God, therefore, means to praise Him. But why do we praise God? Just because He tells us to? No. The true, wholehearted praise God desires is the praise of sincere thankfulness and appreciation for all the blessings He first gives us: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits" (Psalm 103:2). The awesomeness of God is worthy of continual praise: "I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable" (Psalm 145:1-3). Psalm 96 shows us that God is also blessed in song and worship, and by declaring His salvation to all the world. Psalm 100:4 shows that we bless God by coming before Him in worship, praise and thanksgiving. This attitude of reverence, fear and respect for God and the laws He has given carries over into our daily lives as we obey Him and become living sacrifices for Him (Romans 12:1). God wants us to be living witnesses to others around us of the true way of abundant Christian living (Matthew 5:16). In this way we set an example and bear fruit, which glorifies God (John 15:8). Jesus said there is great joy in heaven over every sinner who, being called by God and seeing the good example of true Christians, repents and begins on the way to salvation and membership in God's own Family (Luke 15:10). God created humankind to ultimately become His children (Revelation 21:7). The greatest blessing we can give God is to fulfill our purpose in life — yield to God, overcome and qualify for salvation — become a child of God!
What is the biblical name for God's Church?
The Bible gives the true name of God's Church in 12 different places. In five passages where the true name of the Church appears, the entire Body of Christ — the Church as a whole — is indicated. Thus when speaking of the entire Church, including all its individual members on earth, the name is "the Church of God." Here are these five passages: 1) Acts 20:28 — the elders were admonished to "shepherd the church of God." 2) I Corinthians 10:32: "Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God." 3) I Corinthians 11:22: "Or do you despise the church of God ...?" 4) I Corinthians 15:9 — Paul wrote, " I persecuted the church of God." 5) Galatians 1:13 — here Paul repeats the statement he made to the Corinthians: "I persecuted the church of God." Nowhere is the true Church called after the name of some man or doctrine. Where one specific local congregation is mentioned, the true Church is called "the Church of God," often in connection with the place where the congregation was located. Here are four more passages: 6) I Corinthians 1:2: "The church of God which is at Corinth." 7) II Corinthians 1:1: "The church of God which is at Corinth." 8) I Timothy 3:5 — in speaking of a local elder in a local congregation, Paul wrote Timothy, "For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?" 9) I Timothy 3:15: "I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God." In speaking of the local congregations collectively — not as one general Body, but as the total of all local congregations — the Bible name is "the churches of God." Here are the final three verses: 10) I Corinthians 11:16: "We have no such custom, nor do the churches of God." 11) I Thessalonians 2:14: "For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus." 12) II Thessalonians 1:4: "So that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God." These verses prove the name of the true Church. Denominations not bearing this name could not be God's true Church. And of all the churches that do bear the name, only one could be the true Church of God — that one that obeys all the commandments of God and maintains the faith delivered once for all time. All others are counterfeit, even though some know about the true name. Since Christ is the Head of the Church, Paul also called the various congregations "the churches of Christ" (Romans 16:16). But the actual name is "the Church of God." It is kept in the name of the Father (John 17:11). For more information on where God's true Church is today, read our free booklet Where Is the True Church?
Copyright © 2024 Herbert W Armstrong Library