Blessed To Bless

Blessed to Bless … By Patrick A. Harvin, 10/16/96 Scriptures To Note: Deuteronomy 8:10-20 Focusing on your blessings Philippians 3:12-14 The Ultimate Prize Focusing On Your Blessings Read: Deuteronomy 8:10-20 God is an awesome God. God is an all knowing God. God is an all powerful God. His word says in Psalm 50:10 that “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.” We serve a mighty God. We serve the only true God. He blesses each of us abundantly whether we realize it or not. When our eyes open up in the morning, we’re blessed. When we place our feet on the floor as we get out of our beds, we’re blessed. When we can walk into the house of the Lord, we are blessed. Yes, even when we are in the midst of performing our jobs, we’re blessed. Do you realize how truly blessed you are? Better yet, can you even begin to explain why God, whom we have so often let down, continues to poor out His blessings on to us? Even though we can never do enough to deserve God’s blessings, He does so anyway. But, there is a dangerous tendency that man has. This tendency has led to the falling of many a people over time. The tendency is to stop focusing on God so that we can focus on our blessings. Now, you may ask, what do I mean by this. Turn with me in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 8:10-15. The NIV translation of the scripture reads…… 10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and 13 when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Moses was speaking to Israel. He was warning them about this same tendency: the tendency to stop focusing on God so that we can focus on our blessings. He spoke of how God had brought the people from a mighty long way. But, they were brought from this mighty long way for a reason. Have you ever been in a situation where you were in need of a blessing and you just knew how it was suppose to happen. You may have been in need of a financial blessing. But, when you prayed about it, you told God: “Lord, I need You to bless me with a bonus on my job by next week so that I can pay my car note by the end of next week.” But God did not see fit to bless you in that way. Instead, God sent a friend to you that just gave you the money you needed. And yet, you got mad. Why, because God didn’t bless you the way you wanted Him to. But, did you ever stop to think that not only did He bless you financially, He also blessed you in another way. Did you ever stop to think that God desired to work in your friend’s life at the same time. That money was intended to be a blessing for both of you. The reason that I brought this example to you how we often lose our focus by focusing on our blessings instead of focusing on God. If we had been focusing on God, you would have trusted Him enough to say: “Lord, I praise You for this blessing and I know that You blessed me in this manner for a reason.” You could say this because you were focusing on God instead of your blessings. Verses 15-16 state: 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. In the 16th verse, Moses talks about manna. Webster’s dictionary defines manna as: “1. The food miraculously provided for the Israelites in the wilderness during their flight from Egypt. 2. Spiritual nourishment of divine origin. 3. Something of value that a person receives unexpectedly.” The Bible tells us that God gave them manna to eat in the desert. But, it goes on to tell them why when it says: “…to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.” God blesses us the way He does for a reason. When your friend gave you that money, God may have used Him to “…test you so that in the end it might go well with you.” Who are we to place requirements and criteria on how God blesses us? When He blesses us, He is just building our testimony so that we can be of a blessing to everyone that we encounter. For, truly if we are the body of Christ and Christ lives within each of us, we ought to be a blessing to those that we encounter. Are you a blessing? We are to be a blessing but we are not to focus on our blessings. If God has blessed you with a relationship or a companion, you should praise God and not your companion. Too many of us meet an awesome person and forget who put that person in our life. We even boast about our companions to others: “My girl got it go’in on… she is fine, always on time, and at my every need at the drop of a dime.” Yes, we glorify our companion instead of glorifying God. We may even go as far as to say that: “she’s with me because I got it go’in on.” Yes, you may have it go’in on. But, where are you going? Are you, in the words of Traimaine Hawkins, “Going Up A Yonder”? Moses spoke of this self-praise in verses 17-19: “17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.” Now, the danger to this tendency of man to focus on his blessings instead of focusing on God is that this tendency will doom us. Now God is a merciful God. If He was not, He would not have sent Jesus to die for our sins so that we could have eternal life. But, the Bible tells us that this same God that today is our Savior will one day be our Judge. We are doomed to destruction if we lose our focus. Look at verses 19-20: “19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods, and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.” Are you obeying God. When you are blessed, do you praise God for the blessing no matter what form it came in? Do you have your focus totally on God? Blessed to Bless… God has given you all of your blessings for a reason. If you are focusing on God, you know that it was not because you were such a good child that He gave them to you. He gave them to you for a reason. When a teacher goes to school, she goes for a reason. When a doctor goes to the hospital, he goes for a reason. When the mailman goes to work, he goes for a reason. And yes, when the pastor goes to the church, he goes for a reason. But saints, do you realize that all of these people should have the same reason for going where they are going? The minister should be a blessing to God’s people. The teacher should take the gift of teaching with her and be a blessing to her students. Look at Romans 12:6-7: “6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us… 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach… What are your blessings? How are you using them? We so often, when God blesses us, forget this simple fact: GOD BLESSED US FOR A REASON. That means all of us. He gave some of us the ability to sing. One of the greatest tragedies is to meet someone that has a annointed voice but does not walk in the annointing. All of us can think of at least three singers that have “Made It” in the eyes of the world that are not using their annointed voices to uplift the name of Jesus. Are you one of them? We can sing R&B and whatever else all week long but can’t even open our mouths to sing the morning hymn on Sunday. He gave some of us the ability to lead but we are still criticizing the leadership as a follower. We say things like: “I can’t believe that they did that. Someone needs to do something about all that mess”. Well saints, have you ever stopped to think that the somebody may be you? God has blessed some of us with the ability to minister to people. But, instead, you sit around talking about how everyone always comes to you with their problems instead of allowing God to use you to help solve them. God blesses us to bless. He seeks to use each of us. But, we have to make the decision whether or not we will allow Him to do so. You see, we are blessed to bless. We are to be soldiers for Christ. We are to be on the front lines for the Lord. Why? Because the General in charge has never lost a soldier. The General in charge has never lost a battle. The General in charge has never made a bad decision. The General in charge is never missing in action. The General in charge always has reinforcements. The General in charge never let’s His guard down. Psalm 121:4 says: “Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” Yes, I want to be a soldier for Jesus for I know that when the war is over, I want that everlasting “R&R”. I want that peace that “passeth all understanding”. Saints, it’s time to put up or shut up. It’s time to be a soldier for the Lord. Take that training, take those talents, and take those gifts and be a soldier for Jesus. I want to close with Philippians 3:12-14: “12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Amen © 2000 It’s Time Ministries. All rights reserved. It’s Time Ministries, P.O. Box 8102 Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.A.