Blessed God

"We realize that law is not enacted for the righteous, but for the lawless and rebellious.......and for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching that agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted."  -1 Timothy 1:9-11

From Lilias Trotter's Diary:  "29 September 1904 - The thistles here are a commentary to me on that wonderful title of 1 Timothy 1:11 - 'The Blissful God.'  It is as if now that not a flower is left on the barren ground, His gladness and His beauty must pour itself out on something still, so He takes the thistles and glorifies them."

One of the definitions of "blissful" is "providing great joy."  Lilias found great joy in trusting God and pointed to the thistle as an example of how God continues to find ways to gladden our hearts even in the winter times of our lives.  In trying to "unwrap" Paul's letter to Timothy I found Matthew Henry's commentary to be helpful:  "Unless we are made righteous by faith in Christ, really repenting and forsaking sin, we are yet under the curse of the law, even according to the gospel of the blessed God, and are unfit to share the holy happiness of heaven."  This is the whole point of the Gospel--to show us that under the law we are prisoners of sin, but in Christ we are freed to enjoy great joy because God wants to "pour out His gladness and His Beauty" upon us.

I am grateful to be a recipient of God's magnanimous heart.