There is something that every
person has in common: we all want to be blessed. Every person here desires to
be blessed. We want our family to be blessed, finances, health, career,
relationships, our future, etc. We pray and ask the Lord:
•
Bless my family.
•
Bless my
business.
•
Bless this
opportunity.
• Bless my future.
Our hope is that God will bless us. That is a good desire! In fact, I believe that God wants to bless us. James 1:17 says that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights.” However, we have to ask ourselves the question: what does it mean to be blessed? Do we actually understand what being blessed actually means?
MISCONCEPTIONS
The fact is that the world has misconceptions when it comes what it means to be blessed; and even what it looks like. We imagine that if I get the promotion, I’m blessed. If the money is good, I’m blessed. If my family is healthy, I’m blessed. In other words, if everything works out the way I hoped it would, then I am blessed. You see, “blessed” has quietly become another way of saying, “My life is going the way I want it to go.” However, the truth is that those things cannot be our definition of be what it means to be blessed. Here are some misconceptions that are commonly believed about being blessed:
•
Wealth
= Favor
- Many believe that if you have money, a big house, or a
new car then it means that you are more blessed than others.
- If I don’t have a lot of money then it means that I am
not blessed like they are.
• Absence of Hardship
- If you are truly blessed, bad things will pass you by
and life will be smooth.
- The belief is that when God blesses you, He goes
before you to ensure you will have no problems for your life.
• Blessings are Earned by Good Behavior
- If I pray enough, act right, and do all the right
things, then you can guarantee blessings in your life.
- This is more of a transactional thought that becomes more like a reward system that is based merit alone.
What
does it mean to be blessed?
In scripture, you continually find
this phrase:
•
“Bless is the
man…"
•
“Blessed is the
one…”
• “Blessed are those…”
Virtually the Bible never describes what a person possesses materially. Instead, it describes the condition of a person’s life before God.
Blessed (Makarios) = Fortunate; Privileged; Favored
It is a happiness that comes from receiving favor from God. In the New Testament, the word itself carries the meaning of being blessed by God.
Blessed = To live under the goodness and favor of God.
God Gives Blessings
- There are things that we have in our life because God
has given it to us
- They are a blessing because God has placed in our life
- This is what God puts around me.
God Produces Blessings
- As we walk according to His ways, God produces fruit
in our life.
- This is fruit that allows us to be happy regardless of
the circumstances surrounding us.
- This is what God develops within me.
God Promises Blessings
- There are blessings that we have that may not be fully
realized until eternity.
- This is what God has prepared ahead for me.
Material
vs Eternal Blessings
While it is true that God has given us material blessings (what He places around us), the New Testament tends to focus more on spiritual and eternal blessings than anything. These are the blessings that God produces in us and that He promises us in eternity.
Matthew 6:19-20 — “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
1 Peter 1:3-4 — “3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into… an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you.”
While God does want to bless us in order to meet our material needs today, we should not measure His blessings primarily by earthly possessions.
That is a important distinction. Someone with very little materially can be incredibly rich spiritually. And a person with tremendous wealth materially can actually be very poor spiritually.
THREE WAYS WE EXPERIENCE
GOD’S BLESSING
I think God’s blessings can be
broken up in this way:
- Having blessings
- Being blessed
- Walking in His blessings
1.
Having
Blessings
• There are things in our life that are a blessing.
• Our home, car, job, food, clothing, family, health,
a/c, life, etc.
• These things are a blessing because they have been
given to us by God.
• There are many things we have that many other people
do not.
• Much of this is circumstantial blessing (because we
live in America).
• However, having blessings is not the same thing as being
blessed.
• James 1:17
• God gives us good things, but good things are not the
definition of a blessed life.
2.
Being
Blessed
• That is who you are.
• You are blessed because you are a child of God.
• Because you are a born again believer, you have been
blessed by God!
• You are blessed because you possess every spiritual
blessing.
Ephesians 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.”
• Through Christ, you and I have been blessed with every
spiritual blessing.
• Because you possess every spiritual blessing, you have
“access” to every one of them as well.
3.
Walking
in His Blessings
• Although we have access to every spiritual blessing in
the heavenly places, those blessings do not become a reality just because we
want them to.
• In the same way that Norah has access to cookies that
are in the pantry or to the fruit in the fridge, she is not going to enjoy them
unless she goes to the pantry/fridge and gets them out. She can ask me for
permission all day long, but unless she goes to grab them from the pantry, she
won’t be eating any cookies today!
• Similarly, we too have to walk in the blessings that
God has given us.
• They were made available to us through the sacrificial
death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus paid for them, so that we can
walk in them.
• However, many times we expect to have peace without
going to the pantry to pull it off the shelf in order to experience that peace
given to us.
• We expect for God to do His part and our part.
• Sometimes we are asking God to do what He has already
done, while ignoring what He has asked us to do.
• Jesus has already paid for them and God the Father has already made them available on the shelf. All we have to do is walk in them.
Over the next five weeks, we are not going to talk about five ways to be blessed. The fact is that if you are in Christ, you are already blessed! Instead, we are going to explore ways the Word of God teaches us to walk in His blessings.
BLESSED Sermon Series Topics
1.
Delight
in God’s Word
2.
Walk
in Wisdom
3.
Fear
the Lord
4.
Live
Generously
5.
Remain
Faithful Under Trial
TAKEAWAYS
I.
Realize
that you are already blessed in Christ.
• You do not need to try and convince God to bless you.
• If you belong to Jesus, Ephesians 1:3 says that He has
already blessed you with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
II.
Recognize
the blessings you do have.
• It is okay for us to ask God for material blessings.
• However, don’t become so focused on what you are
asking God for that you overlook what He has already given you.
• Make a list of the good things God has placed in your
life and thank Him for them.
III.
Remember
to walk in the blessings God has provided for you.
• God has already done His part.
• Don’t
ask God to do your part as well.
• His Word shows us how to live in the good things He
has made available to us.
• We just have to be obedient and walk in them.
