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"PURE AND PRECIOUS PROMISES" "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!" (Psalm 139:17)Did you ever wonder what God thinks when He lovingly looks at those who belong to Him? Well, the Psalmist reveals exactly what our Lord's thoughts are about us. He says they are "precious." I read where that word precious is found some 76 times in 72 verses in the Scriptures.Neither space nor time permits me to list all 76 them, so allow me to give you 6 of my favorites, which God deems precious that have meant so much to me down thru the years. (Caps on the word PRECIOUS will be mine for emphasis.)1~ Concerning our Home-going one day, Psalm 116:15 says, "PRECIOUS in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints."2~ When we consider the blessings that Godly wisdom and understanding brings, we find in Proverbs 3:15, "She is more PRECIOUS than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her."3~ As we think about our everyday labor and how it provides for the needs of our loved ones, Proverbs 12:27 tells us, "The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is PRECIOUS."4~ When we turn to the New Testament, we hear Peter proclaim that tremendous price which was paid by our Saviour for our redemption from sin with those words, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the PRECIOUS blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:" (1 Peter 1:18-19)5~ Peter goes on and tells us in one word what Jesus means to each of us who know and trust Him, "Unto you therefore which believe he is PRECIOUS: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner," (1 Peter 2:7)6~ Finally, Peter again says in 2 Peter 1:4 concerning God's promises to us, "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and PRECIOUS promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." (The word promise is plural in that verse, not singular which means all of His promises are precious, not just some of them.)We know our God sees our death as PRECIOUS, our understanding and application of Spiritual Truth as PRECIOUS, our labor as PRECIOUS, the price Jesus paid with His blood for our redemption as PRECIOUS, His Beloved Son we believe in as PRECIOUS, and each and every promise He made to us as PRECIOUS. Therefore, it's no wonder we hear the Psalmist cry loud and clear, "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me."And friends, the Psalmist doesn't stop there with the first part of that verse I started with when I made this post. For he goes on to declare the unknown number of precious thoughts God has for us with those words, "O God! how great is the sum of them!"