This is the first of a subseries in the Good Life about the
Blessing. We just finished talking about
grace and how to receive and live in it.
Remember that first we need to remember that God must always
be the first priority in our lives for everything to be in order. Family, children, work, ministry, and other
things should come next. What we value
is important to evaluate. We want to be
careful not to value something more than it ought to be valued, or things will
become out of order. We should value our
relationship with God first, then our marriage and children. These should be higher than the value we put
on our golf clubs. We are teaching what
the blessing is, how to enter into it, receive it, enjoy it, and keep it. Genesis 1:28
says that the first thing God does after creating Adam and Eve is to
bless them and then give them an assignment (be fruitful and multiply). In anything we want to experience blessing,
we should be producing fruit and multiplying in those areas. After that, Adam and Eve are told all that belongs
to them. The blessing provides the
resources to complete the assignment.
The blessing is not good stuff given to you just so you can sit and
enjoy (although we are supposed to enjoy it), but its purpose is for us to use
it to work. The word for bless is barak
(used 330 times in the Old Testament and 60 times in genesis, and the Greek equivalent
logio or logia is used in the New Testament about 200 times—total of 510 times
total….compared to the word love, which is used 505 times in the Bible).
In Genesis 26, starting in verse 1, we hear about Isaac in
the time of a severe famine. In verse
12, we see that he planted crops in the middle of the famine and in the same
year reaped a hundred fold. Why did he
reap this harvest? Because he was a good
farmer or great man of God? No, it is
because of God’s blessing in His life. The
blessing is not the stuff, but the means by which you get the stuff. We are to seek the kingdom and the face of
God, not the things He will give us. The
blessing was the way that God blessed the work of Isaac’s hands in order for
him to get the hundred fold return.
First comes blessing, then action, then fruit. Just like when we receive the Word, believe
it, do what we believe, then reap based on what we did based on what we
believe. Then it goes on to say he was
rich and continued to grow in riches until he was wealthy. People envy him and even fill his wells with
dirt. Just because your blessed it does
not mean you won’t have trouble. They
even ask him to leave.
Blessing is defined as the supernatural God-given ability to
draw the resources to obey God, to accomplish your God-given race, and
experience pleasure, enjoying all that God has given you. 1 Timothy 6:17 is a great example of this in
scripture. God gets pleasure out of
seeing us enjoy the things He blesses us with, so that part is very
important. If we are doing it on our own
or the world’s system, there will be trouble that comes along these
things. If we do it God’s way, we will
be able to enjoy it and bring Him pleasure and glory by doing so.
In Genesis 25 we see how Esau did not value the blessing. Jacob valued the blessing. He did not obtain it the way he should
have. In Genesis 32 we see Jacob
wrestling with God (only God has the authority to give blessing), and he
finally understands that the blessing comes from God, not from man. If we step outside of the blessing or try to
accomplish His purpose by our own means, we run into trouble. We have to seek after the blessing and hold
fast in order to receive it.
To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/ and click on
online media. To learn more about Living
Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.
