0910e AGC
8th March 2009
1. There are three things that I have been meditation on lately.
• The things that God has done for us.
• The things that God is doing now.
• What we need to do ourselves to walk in the benefits of the above.
Add to this the fact that many of us for much of the time we are not experiencing the benefits of what God has done and is wanting to do.
Title: “Walking in “The Blessing”
2. 1st we know that without faith we can’t receive from God.
Faith pleases God.
Hebrews 11:6 (New King James Version)
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
We need to believe. that He is
Meaning - That he is who he says he is
i. Believe his nature is love
ii. His intentions are to bless us
iii. That he is a rewarder
iv. The blessing belongs to us
We need faith in God- and more; we need faith towards God
• We are looking towards him
• We have an expectation of good – hope
• We see him as
o our source
o the one who loves us
o the one who sent his son to save us
o the one who sent his son to give us the blessing
• Our part is to diligently seek Him
3. We need to do something: diligently seek Him
Jer 29:10 For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
His promise is that if we seek we will find. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the LORD
Note that we need to diligently seek Him and search for Him with all your heart
He also promises a future and a hope and confirms that he is positive in his attitude towards us with thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you.
Finally he promises to listen when we call.
Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you
Again we are to do something. Seek!
4. And then not worry.
Mat 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Can you see that worry is the enemy of faith towards God? If we worry then we are not seeking, we are not in faith, we are not going to inherit the promises.
Heb 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Patience says, “Don’t worry, God will do it. I am trusting God”
5. There is another factor. Obedience. Because obedience says “I am trusting God”
Blessings on Obedience
Deuteronomy 28
1 “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:
We are not saying “I will do it MY Way” what we are saying is. “I will do it his way.
I will do it right. I will find out his will and I will follow his instructions and directions.” Then his promise is that these all these blessings shall come upon -- and overtake us. Why are some of us not walking the blessing? Why are not the rest of us walking in the blessing all of the time?
If we are going our own way or doing our own thing we are probably being disobedient. So we cannot expect, our hope is in vain, the promises are passing us bye.
WE can find instruction in the Word just as we can find promises. They go together. The instructions are wisdom on how to live, think and react.
6. Some times we see the instructions are to do nothing and let God do what he is planning to do
There is a place for wisdom and insight. What God has done already doesn’t need to be asked for. What God is doing now may need us to sit still and not get in the way by striving to do it ourselves nor to panic, worry, get anxious and get out of faith.
There is an example when the Israelites were trapped between the red sea and the pursuing Egyptian army.
Exodus 14:13-14 (New King James Version)
13 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. 14 The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”
• Do nothing, stand firm in faith and see what God is doing or is about to do.
• Sometimes we don’t see what God is about to do.
• It is only in hindsight that we see his plans and purposes.
It takes faith to do nothing, standing in hope – the confident expectation of good. Just Wait on the LORD.
Psalm 27:14 Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!
This is the wait of faith towards God. It comes when we know that God has done it according to his promises. We stay established; knowing that the blessing is on us. We decide to stay in God’s will and plan and see his purposes fulfilled.
Why not say the whole of Psalm 27. Make it a prayer of confession. Read it every day for a month. Make it your confession
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.
4 One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to inquire in His temple.
5 For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.
6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”
9 Do not hide Your face from me;
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
10 When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the LORD will take care of me.
11 Teach me Your way, O LORD,
And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
12 Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living.
14 Wait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD!
