Have you ever forgotten something? We all have times when we forget.
The help of a notebook and a pencil has been one of the better memory
aids that any of can have! Some of us have a shorter attention span than
others and we need the extra help from time to time from our spouse and
our friends.
When it comes to remembering the good things which God has done for
us it seems we need extra encouragement because we have an enemy who
is always distracting us and attempting to rob our memory of the goodness
of the Lord!! Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy! In the light of
that thought, I want to remind us all of the blessings of the Lord.
Eph 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
Having just finished preaching on the Book of Ephesians, we are familiar
with this verse. But what does it mean? What is a blessing? The dictionary
says it is to confer favor, happiness, or prosperity upon another. So
we can agree with the dictionary and say that we are “Blessed and highly
favored!”
The first blessing which God spoke over mankind is found in the book
of Genesis.
Gen 1:28
28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and
multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of
the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that
moves on the earth."
God has placed His blessing upon us for having families … our marriages,
our children and our grandchildren! The greatest riches we can ever have
on earth is to live in a loving relationship with your family. That love
is something more than anything money can buy! God wanted us to enjoy
good relationships within our families. Solomon said …
Eccl 9:9
9 Live happily with the woman you love through all the days of life that
God has given you in this world. The wife God gives you is your reward
for all your earthly toil.
That blessing goes both ways! The husband God has given is your reward
as well. Turn and tell the person sitting next to you that it “is God
who gives blessings to our family!”
Along with the blessing of having a family, God gave us the blessing
of provision. God for us to Be fruitful … and have dominion … Inherent
in God’s design is that we would be fruitful in providing for our families
as we take dominion over the created things of this world. Throughout
the Bible there are numerous stories of God’s provision for His people:
Job and Abraham were wealthy.
Noah inherited the whole earth!
The Israelites had food and water in the desert and their clothing and
shoes didn’t wear out! And when the nation of Israel came to the Promised
Land, Moses said to them:
Deut 6:10
10 … the LORD your God (is bringing) you into the land to give you large
and beautiful cities which you did not build,
11 houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out
wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did
not plant …
God brought them into a land flowing with milk and honey! It was His
desire that His people would be blessed and highly favored! It was His
idea! God had made a covenant with Abraham, the Patriarch of Israel,
that He would bless Abraham’s descendents!
Gen 17:6-7
6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you,
and kings shall come from you.
7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants
after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God
to you and your descendants after you.
It wasn’t an accident that the Jews obtained a land flowing with milk
and honey! God was preparing a people for Himself, a nation of people
in covenant with God, kings would come from this nation, and most of
all the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords would be born of the Seed
of Abraham! The Bible says “In Abraham all the earth shall be blessed.”
I believe God desires for His people in every generation to have their
needs met and for their families to be blessed and highly favored! We
need to remember that regardless of the economy around us … God is our
provider! The greatest blessing Israel had … and that we have … is the
everlasting covenant we have with God! He is God to us and we are His
people! That covers all the bases!
When Moses brought Israel to the land of promise He set a choice before
them of obeying God or disobeying God. Their decision to obey brought
promises which God provided for them …
Deut 28:2-14
2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because
you obey the voice of the LORD your God:
3 "Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in
the country.
4 "Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your
ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and
the offspring of your flocks.
5 "Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
6 "Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you
be when you go out.
7 "The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated
before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before
you seven ways.
8 "The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses
and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land
which the LORD your God is giving you.
9 "The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just
as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your
God and walk in His ways.
10 Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the
name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you.
11 And the LORD will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your
body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground,
in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.
12 The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give
the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your
hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
13 And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be
above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD
your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.
14 So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command
you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve
them.
A commitment was required of Israel to obey God … and then to “inhabit the
land.” There were enemies which had to be conquered! Their blessings required
labor! The Lord still will commands blessings on those who set their hands
to work and to follow Him! It is God’s design to bless you! You are blessed
and highly favored by God because of His covenant!
This is not a commitment by God to make all Christians wealthy … but
to make all Christians blessed! Some Christians have no desire to be
married, to have children, or to increase their abilities in any way
… and God allows them that choice. But for those who want a loving home,
children who are a blessing, work that is rewarding … as God!
James 1:5-6
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally
and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But let him ask in faith …
Your family relationships, the ability to grow in love for one another,
and the ability to obtain income are part of what is found in your relationship
to Jesus Christ. Obviously that is not all that is found in Christ …
but these are found here. It is God’s design that you have blessings!
When we aren’t receiving blessings we should ask for wisdom! Let God
show us what we need to change in our lives, in our thinking, in our
habits, in our prayers, in our associations, in our goals, in our attitudes,
etc. David prayed, “Lord, see if there be any wicked (foolish) way in
me.” We can also pray this for ourselves!
When Joshua was approaching the battle of Jericho, he discovered a
tremendously large volume of wisdom:
Josh 5:13-15
13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he
lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with
His sword
drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, "Are
You for us or for our adversaries?"
14 So He said, "No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I
have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped,
and said to Him, "What does my Lord say to His servant?"
15 Then the Commander of the LORD's army said to Joshua, "Take
your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy." And
Joshua did so.
This was Jesus revealed in the Old Testament! Joshua apparently didn’t
know who He was at first, and asked if He was for them or for their adversaries.
Listen carefully to the Lord’s reply. “No … I’m neither for you nor against
you … I’m here to do the will of God.” Joshua had the good sense to respond,
“Tell me the wisdom of God.” After
When Joshua responded in faith, then Jesus outlined the battle plan.
March around the walls for seven day, and on the seventh day march around
seven times, then shout and blow the trumpets and the wall will fall
down. It was a plan for victory! And it worked!
This is the key of having the evidence of God’s blessings and His favor
upon your life. When we ask for God’s wisdom, when we honor that wisdom
in obedience, and we are willing to step into faith… we are blessed!
We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
place in Christ Jesus … but we have to obtain them for ourselves by asking
in faith for His promises and His wisdom … then by living in faith by
obeying what He has said to do! If you know that He called you to walk
around Jericho for seven days … then you had better start walking!
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