04/19/2022
Good article entitled "Learning to become Bless-able"
APRIL 18, 2022 BY STEVE JONES (Fellowship Baptist Church leader)
Who wants to be blessed by God? I see that hand.
Jesus claims in John 10:10 that His purpose “is to give life in all its fullness.” Our lives are supposed to be “full” of God’s blessing. So, what does it take to be blessed by God? Why does it seem that some people are blessed by God more than others?
Jesus shares three secrets about receiving God’s blessing in Matthew 6:13b (KJV): “For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.” Note the three words or three keys to unlocking the abundance of God’s blessing in our live:
We must first seek God’s Kingdom. God blesses those who seek His Kingdom and God’s Kingdom is found wherever Jesus is allowed to act as King. When I make Jesus sovereign over my heart, life, agenda, values, priorities, and plans, then God’s will becomes my will and I receive this blessing. When I finally figure out it’s not about God blessing what I do, but God helping me to do what He blesses, then I’ll know His abundant blessing. God blesses whenever I put Him first.
Secondly, Matthew 6:13 talks of depending on God’s power if we’re ever to experience His blessing. We depend on God’s power, not our own, and God blesses. God doesn’t bless self-sufficient, self-reliant people. God blesses those who recognize they need God’s power (help), which takes faith—and Jesus loves to respond to our faith. Paul writes, “Those who have faith are blessed…” (Galatians 3:9, NASB). So, the more I depend on God, the more God blesses.
Lastly, Matthew 6:13 talks of living for God’s glory. All of us need to decide who’s going to get the credit in life—us or God? The Psalmist reminds us that, “He will bless those who fear the Lord, both great and lowly.” (Psalm 115:13 NLT). God blesses those who fear Him and seek to bring Him glory.
So if you want to be blessed by God, you have to become “bless-able” by seeking first His Kingdom, depending on His power, and making sure He gets the credit.
My wife Marilyn and I have moved more times than I care to remember. On six of those occasions we needed to sell and purchase homes. We made money on our first home and it set us up for a false sense of “equity envy”. The next few house sales, we lost money, lost equity. The real estate market didn’t cooperate much in a few of our moves. I remember asking the Lord, “Why?”
I asked, “Lord, what happened to your blessing as we sought to obey your calling?” I remember the Spirit of God telling me after our first equity loss, “Hey dummy, (that’s God’s “pet-name” for me) did you ever think I wanted you and Marilyn in the neighbourhood to serve and share Christ, rather than to increase your equity?”
Tom and Cindy were our new neighbours. We loved them and shared Jesus. We planted the seed and several years after we moved away, we heard that they both came to Christ and were attending a strong evangelical church in London. We lost equity during our move to the Belleville area, but our neighbours came to Christ.
I thought of blaming God for our financial loss, but unknown to Marilyn and “Dummy”, God was making our moves spiritually profitable. God’s blessing is not always clear or obvious, but God promises to bless. Are you looking for God’s blessing? You may not be looking in the right place. Does my obedience obligate God to bless me? Jesus does promise “life to the full” (John 10:10), but is that “fullness” always to be understood as the “fullness of joy” or is there such a thing as the “fullness” found in suffering? So much blessing in life can be found in trials, difficulties, and problems. Can my obedience be a call to sacrifice? Can we view sacrifice as a blessing? Before you answer those questions, think about the Cross.
Trust you had a wonderful Easter this past weekend. God’s blessing is unbelievable.
