I Have Been Blessed!

If you’ve read here for a while you know how much I love the lyrics written by Fanny Crosby. One of my favorites is Redeemed.

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child, and forever I am.

I also love Katherine Hankey’s story telling:

I love to tell the story Of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory, Of Jesus and his love.
I love to tell the story, Because I know its true;
It satisfies my longings As nothing else would do.
I love to tell the story, 'Twill be my theme in glory
To tell the old, old story Of Jesus and His love.

And I’m blessed to know that the story continues to be told today. These lyrics, from C. T. Townsend, are also Redeemed:

Seems like all I could see was the struggle
Haunted by ghosts that lived in my past
Bound up in shackles of all my failures
Wondering how long is this gonna last
Then You look at this prisoner and say to me
“Son, stop fighting a fight that's already been won”

Then comes the chorus:

I am redeemed
You set me free
So I'll shake off theses heavy chains
And wipe away every stain
Now I'm not who I used to be
I am redeemed
I am redeemed

With my feelings being expressed, I sing these songs unto the Lord, as have many others:

Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel. (Judges 5:3 KJV)

Sing unto the LORD, all the earth; shew forth from day to day his salvation. (1 Chronicles 16:23 KJV)

I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me. (Psalms 13:6 KJV)

Which brings us to the title, I Have Been Blessed, also by C. T. Townsend, for I truly am blessed. Just this past week my husband and I received a gift. We had wanted this item for some time, but it simply did not fit into our budget.  We had not even asked the Lord for it, since the impact to our lives would be minor – and there are so many other prayers we think take precedent.

We have prayers for loved ones to come to know Christ’s love, God’s planned redemption designed from creation, that encompasses all who believe in Him. That’s all laid out in John 3:16-19, a condensed version of the Bible’s message. That, by God’s grace, is the greatest blessing.

However, He sees to our needs, thus we receive blessings daily – and this song speaks of them:

When He walks among us, all that He does,
All of His mercy and all of His love.
If the pen of a writer could write every day
even this world could never contain just how I've been blessed
The warmth in the winter, the flowers in spring,
the laughter of summer, and the changing of leaves.
Food on my table, a good place to sleep,
clothes on my back and shoes on my feet.
Oh, I have been blessed. 

Arms that will raise, a voice that can talk,
hands that can touch and legs that can walk.
Ears that can listen and eyes that can see,
oh, I've got to praise Him as long as I breathe.
'Cause I have been blessed

There’s more to the song – just as there is much more to the Bible than a single passage. However, the message remains the same. When walking with God, I have been redeemed and blessed beyond measure.

Please, walk with Him for a way – a way to live being blessed – and we can share together.