God's Blessings Are Chasing You

 

“Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.  All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God:

“Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.

 Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.

“Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

 “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out...."

Deuteronomy 28:1-6 

God promises His blessing will chase us and come upon us and overtake us.  

God's blessings are chasing us!   

How about that! 

Who You Were, Who You Are Now

 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Ephesians 2:1-10 

Think about this.  God took us as His own not because we were good, but because He is merciful.

And, His mercy is so great that we are now worthy to be seated in heavenly places with Jesus in the ages to come.

We belong to God and He to us.   

 

Your Work Has A Purpose

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:58

Our work as Christians has purpose.  We may think that because we do not see the results we want, that we should give it up and do something different.  But that is not the way God works, whether you are preaching from the pulpit or in the street or handing out food to the needy or visiting the sick, your work furthers the spread of the Gospel and touches the lives of those who are outside of God's grace.  

It is not always those to whom we minister who come to know Jesus, but sometimes it is people who see our work that come to understand that Christianity is ministering to all people out of love for all people.   

And, as a result come to know Jesus.

So, do not grow discourage in your ministry - be steadfast and immovable. 

Bumps In The Road

 

Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!

Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

2 Corinthians 12:7-9

It is hard to believe that these words were written by the Apostle Paul, who was a Rock Star of the Faith. Paul wrote most of the New Testament. He spoke with great authority to Christians regarding the teachings of Jesus and the application of the Word of God to everyday life.

Yet, here he is, Paul the Apostle, confessing that he has an affliction which is so big that it humbles him. Some theologians’ think Paul may have lost his eyesight, others think that he had a difficult wife, but no one knows for sure what the affliction was. We do know it interfered with his daily life and his ministry.

Paul’s affliction made him feel like less of a Rock Star of the Faith and more like a regular person. It humbled him.

We too may have afflictions which interfere with our Christian ministry to others. We may have a bad marriage or bad kids or a bad financial situation or a physical ailment or limitation. No matter what the circumstance is that humbles us, we still are filled with the power of God.

 

Our Eyes Are On You

 

"...We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You."

2 Chronicles 20:12

The Israelites had a lot of trouble.  They were continuously attacked and harassed by their enemies.  They were a people adrift.  This was the prayer of the Jehoshaphat when they were being attacked.  

Life can throw many difficult situations at us and sometimes we do not know what to do.  When this happens, we can pray this prayer and know that God hears us and will direct us to the right thing to do.   

When we don't know what to do, God is with us preparing the way for us.  

Who Will Separate Us From The Love Of Christ?

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or peril, or sword? But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35, 37-39.

If there is a Bible verse which gives us the courage to say “so what” when things go wrong, this is it. Great or small, there is nothing in life that can remove us from the love of God. The Bible is full of stories of people who made mistakes, who God loved and redeemed. From Moses who argued with God that he could not lead the people of Israel to the promised land (Exodus 3-4) to the Apostle Paul who held the coats of the men who stoned Stephen (Acts 8:54-60) God has revealed His unchanging and uncompromising love. His desire is for us to declare Jesus to be Lord, Master and Savior of our lives, and to bask in His unconditional love.

Hallelujah!

 

Thankful

Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name! 

Psalm 100:4

Sometimes we think we have nothing to be thankful for and it is at those times we need to thank God for the hard times.  When we are lacking or feel unloved we are still blessed by God's unfailing love for us.  We know that when things are at there worst, God is at His best.   

No matter what, we can trust God that He has a plan and that it will work for our good.  

And, even more, we can be thankful that God sent His Son, Jesus to redeem us and that God calls us His own.   

Raise your hand to heaven, and thank God for all He does for you every day.