2015.03.29_By Faith Be Blessed

The Everlasting Blessing God Commanded

God is He who commands blessings. A great number of people consider blessing as equivalent to material wealth. This does not just apply to unbelievers but even Christians think that way. That is the reason people drift away from God who gives blessings, although they want blessings.

Blessing is in other words spiritual sense, a kind of right that only man’s spirit can claim. God created man and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils so that man became a spiritual being. God said to him, “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen 2:17). Yet Adam ate the fruit, and the word of God thus came to pass. It was not Adam’s flesh but his spirit that died. From that point, Adam was unable to receive what came from God, and his surrounding changed from a garden of abundance to a barren land with thorns and thistles. We can see from this record in the Bible that we first need to have power over the invisible in order to rule over the visible as well.

Material wealth is not everlasting. Even if a person builds large storehouses and stores up his crops and goods to use for many years to come, God would ask him, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” (Luke 12:20). Blessings are not ephemeral things enjoyed only in this world, which cannot be taken to Heaven.

In this world, God gives the sun and rain to both Christians and unbelievers so that anyone can become successful through hard work combined with individual talents and abilities. However the benefits resulting from that can be had only while the person is living in the flesh. On the other hand, the blessing God commanded can only be received into the spirit. God’s eternal blessing and God’s word are inseparable. And receiving the word of God is possible for the spirit, not the flesh. Thus the spirit alone can receive God’s blessing. The word of God commands blessing. When His word comes into our spirit, it becomes spiritual sense. The blessed person hence refers to the one with such spiritual sense.

Jesus said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you” (Luke 17:6). Whoever has spiritual sense can ask for anything within the will of God. And his requests will certainly come to pass. Even if his prayers to God are not fulfilled, a person with spiritual sense would never be dismayed or complain. This is because he knows the will of God would definitely be fulfilled even though he does not get what he wished for.

People who possess blessings are able to rejoice in all circumstances. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:3). Those who face financial hardships become poor in heart also. Even so, they would have every reason to be joyful if they possess God’s commanded blessing. Therefore Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:12). If the rich take pride in the fact that they have a lot of money, how much more should a person who has received God’s blessing?

God’s Name Given as an Inheritance

Of all the blessings God gave us, the most important is God’s name. God gave His name to His Son, and that name is now within us. John 1:12 says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” Receiving that name means we received the right which only the Son of God was entitled to. That is why God answers us when we ask in that name.

God’s name is indeed the blessing we should most cherish. There are many things we need throughout our lives on earth. But before we ask for anything, we first need to ask for God’s name to be hallowed. Jesus said, “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. In this manner, pray: our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name” (Matt 6:7-9). Whoever has God’s name possesses God’s blessedness.

In His prayer Jesus said, “Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name” (Jn 17:11-12). We have come to possess the name of God today because God had a will for us to rely on that name and be prosperous in spirit and flesh. As Jesus said, “But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves” (Jn 17:13), it is a matter of course that one who has that name is filled with God’s joy.

Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Lord had no place to lay His head (Luke 9:58). Nevertheless, He was able to feed thousands of people with five loaves and two fish, and get a coin from the mouth of a fish to pay the temple tax. This is because He is the blessed One. God gave Him as an inheritance a name that is above any other name (Heb 1:4). There is no greater blessing than to receive that name. It is incredible that we have been given name today. The angels never received it and thus could never call God as their father. We received the most precious inheritance from God when Jesus’ name came in us by the Holy Spirit.

Anyone that has the name Jesus should be full of the joy of a child of God. Children of God have the right to do everything that God does; they are heirs to inherit the kingdom of Heaven. Thus such people should always seek the glory of that name, and hallow that name. They must manifest that name to others, knowing that the name God gave as an inheritance is a blessing. They need to have the boldness to use the authority of that name saying, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus, rise up and walk.” By praying in that name and receiving answers, they need to demonstrate how that name is a blessing.

Since God has commanded blessings on us, we need to have the spiritual sense to acknowledge and enjoy that blessing. Without spiritual sense, one cannot work together with God and consequently, whatever he does cannot draw God’s attention. Whenever we receive God’s word, we must do so by the Holy Spirit. When that word enters our soul, it becomes spiritual sense. Only those who have spiritual sense can experience the miraculous signs God promised. In other words, only the blessed person can receive God’s help.

Give Thanks If You are Blessed

There is one thing we should never be neglected if we have received God’s help. And that is thanksgiving. Once, ten lepers came before Jesus to be healed. Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priest. So the lepers went, but they were all healed as they were going to the priest. When one of them returned to Jesus and gave thanks to Him, Jesus asked, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?” Then He declared, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has saved you.” All ten were cleansed, but only one of them expressed His gratitude, and thus was saved (Luke 17:11-19).

Even among new Christians, some appreciate and give thanks for the grace they received. But then there are people who are ungrateful and miserly, when they have much spiritual knowledge and are at a level to teach others. Psalm 136 shows us how we have plenty of reasons to be thankful to God. And particularly verses 5 to 9 say, “Give thanks to Him who made the heavens with skill, to Him who spread out the earth above the waters, to Him who made the great lights, to Him who made the sun to rule by day, and the moon and the stars to rule by night.” What God desires for us in Christ is that we give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thess 5:18).

When a certain leper was cleansed Jesus said “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them” (Matt 8:4). Tithe, monthly offering and Lord’s Day gift are not thanksgiving offerings. Tithe belongs to God, monthly offering is fulfilling one’s vows to God, and the Lord’s Day gift is obeying God’s command. Thanksgiving offering is given to God out of gratitude and of one’s free will. A person is able to willingly give an offering of thanks to God when his heart is filled with thankfulness for God’s help and hence the joy that follows.

Evening arrived while a large crowd was with Jesus in the wilderness. When the disciples asked Jesus to send the crowd away to the nearby villages to buy food, Jesus told them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” However all that the people had were five loaves of bread and two fish. Taking them in His hands, Jesus looked up to Heaven, gave thanks, broke and gave them to the disciples. The number of people that ate that day was five thousand excluding women and children. Before He performed the miracle of the loaves and fish, what Jesus did was to give thanks to God (Matt 14:13-21).

A blessed person must succeed in giving thanks to God. Thanksgiving should not only be with words but expressed through offering (Matt 8:4). We have to give much thanks to God, fiercely and even madly at times, like fighting in a battle. It should not be done grudgingly or under compulsion but knowing the value of the blessing God has given. So many people struggle to be prosperous but fail because they do not acknowledge the blessing they have received. Giving thanks means to secure God’s given blessing as ours.

There are instances where people in difficult times are helped out by others and become successful later on. However some of those people then forget about the favor they were shown. Others feel ashamed that they received help from a certain person. Worse still, some people criticize the person for not doing more to help them. And it is quite upsetting and disappointing for the person to be confronted with such a response. Then how about for God, when He sees that man is ungrateful for the blessing he received through the sacrifice of God’s Son?

We must never reject the blessing God has given. We should not deny the blessing we received just because of the financial hardship we might be facing. If we possess blessings, the fruits may start to appear one year later, or ten years later. Since God has given us Jesus’ name as our inheritance, we must accept it in faith and joyfully give thanks.