Title: I want to be blessed // 2004.1.4.
Content nt size=4> I want to receive blessings and receive them again
Deuteronomy 28:1-6, Matthew 25:31-40
It is the first Sunday of 2004. I pray that God's grace and abundant blessings be with you and your family and work. Today's text is to bless all the blessings that a person can enjoy in the world, enough to be called a blessing in the Bible. To summarize how wonderful blessings are promised, these words are as follows.
① I will set you above all the peoples of the world; I will make you the head and not the tail; I will make you only above and not below, I will raise you up to be a holy citizen of God, and your enemies will come against you and flee in seven ways. .--God makes God's people prosper and blessed everywhere, and any problem is rather a disaster.
② God will open the storehouses of heaven and bless you in all that you do, and you will be blessed in the city and in the field, and you will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out, the produce of your land and the offspring of animals. blessings will be given to you, and your basket and bowl of bread dough will be blessed.--God grants abundant blessings to God's people by providing them with what they need in any circumstance and wherever they are.
③ The offspring of your body will be blessed.--God especially leads the children of God's people to prosper.
God delights in giving. God wants to see the saints being blessed and rejoicing. You are blessed to see it.
But God is a God of justice. He is not the type of person who unconditionally throws a lucky bag to anyone. According to God's justice, according to God's principles, according to God's word, He gives you blessings. The gracious saints are those who understand this very principle and word of God and live according to the word and principle. God wants to bless those believers with a really joyful heart.
In order to become the saints of Antioch who enjoy God's blessings, we would like to tell you through the Bible what kind of people receive blessings. I pray that this year will be a year of great grace and blessings to all by obeying these words.
First, God blesses those who worship well.
The person that comes to mind when we hear 'blessing' in the Bible is Abraham. What kind of person did Abraham have to be so blessed? What was it about him that made God's heart rejoice, so that God also blessed him generously?
Abraham was always happy to build an altar.
He built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him (Genesis 12:7).
Bethel on the west and Ai on the east, where he built an altar to the LORD (Genesis 12:8).
And he came to the oaks of Mamre, and dwelt there, and there he built an altar to the LORD (Genesis 13:18).
Wherever Abraham moved, there was always building an altar. What is Dan? It is an altar for offering sacrifices to God. Speaking of today, it is an altar of worship. God was pleased with Abraham and blessed him.
God said he is looking for worshipers. Faith is more about worship than anything else. Failure to worship well is not a heart that fears God. It is an attitude that despises God. Therefore, worship should be offered with fear and trembling. It should be offered with the joy of thanksgiving and praise. Praise doesn't necessarily mean singing. It is an attitude that glorifies and exalts God. No matter how much you say praise with your mouth, if your heart does not honor God, it becomes just a resounding hymn. Even if it is loud, even if there is no sound, if it is to glorify God, that is praise.
That is why worship must be offered in spirit and truth. God is looking for people who worship like this. I pray that this year will be a year of worship like this. And I pray that you will become believers who receive the infinite grace of God given to these worshipers.
Second, God blesses those who serve.
Among the parables Jesus himself gave, there is the parable of the sheep and the goats. It is said that the Lord separates the sheep from the goats in the final judgment. Sheep and goats look alike. At a quick glance, you can't tell the difference. When you're in the field, you just leave it alone. But you can't do that forever. The time has come to make a distinction. Then there will be a distinction between sheep and goats. When you look at the words of the parable, an amazing sight takes place. He tells the sheep.
Then the king said to those on his right,
Come, you who are blessed by my Father
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink
When I was a stranger, I welcomed you, and when I was naked, I put on clothes.
When I was sick, I visited you; I came to see you when I was in prison. Matthew 25:34-36
Then the sheep answer. When did we do that? The king answers. As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
Who are the sheep? These are people who have lived a life of service. He said to them, 'They will be blessed by my Father.' And he said, 'Inherit the kingdom prepared for you.'
In short, it is a story of service. Jesus also said
The Son of Man did not come to be served
Rather, to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:45
This year, our church is trying to move forward with a little more service. I hope that each mission and the entire church will mature in that way in serving this community and the people we meet. I hope that the saints will also raise their faith to the next level by showing more service.
We live with so many things. There is a saying that 'the greatest obstacle to happiness is to dream too much'. I'm going to paraphrase this a little bit. 'The biggest obstacle to happiness is excessive greed' Yes. If you let go of greed, you will find happiness. You lose the joy of what you already have because you try to have too much. I do not know the joy of sharing because I am so absorbed in myself that I am grasping.
We are to be disciples of Jesus. Jesus practiced service by giving his all. As disciples of Jesus, we must imitate that life of service. The Lord will fill people like you with peace and joy that cannot be found in the world.
Third, he brings blessings to those who give.
God values those who gladly give to God. How important is money? Don't you risk your life for money? The reason he gives such precious money to God is because he loves God more than money. That is why God values those who give pleasure.
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be. The material we give to God is not simply material, but our heart. Giving my heart to you. Therefore, it is precious to God to give materially with pleasure. God bless such people. When you give, you are blessed. When you give generously, you will be blessed generously. If you have a stingy heart, God also makes you stingy.
During the famine of three and a half years, when the widow of Zarephath had no rain, she gave the last handful of flour and the remaining oil in the oil jar.
In particular, please pay a full tithe. Tithing is a living confession of faith that confesses that God is the source of my life. Tithing is the act of making a clear confession, 'God is my God, I am God's people, and I live by God's grace!' Therefore, when the tithing is clear, the confession must be sincere.
saith the LORD of hosts
Put your whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.
Test me with it and I will open the heaven
Behold, I do not pour out so that there is no place for your blessings. Malachi 3:10
Faith is also a habit. There are good habits and there are bad habits. Worship on Sundays or the life of always rejoicing, giving thanks, and evangelizing should become a habit in our body. A bad habit is when there is no one to teach you, you unwittingly introduce bad things into your body and make you build a house. The devil binds our minds with bad habits, destroying our lives and making us unhappy. So Pascal said, 'Habit is second nature. Habit destroys primary nature'. That's right. Bad habits destroy our good character, character and faith.
In 2004, I pray that we will become believers who will receive abundant blessings from God by cultivating ourselves into good habits. God blesses those who worship well. He gives grace to those who serve. He adds abundant blessings to those who give joy. I pray in the name of the Lord that 2004 will be a year of great blessings from God through such faith.
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