“How To Receive God’s Blessings” – III
INTRODUCTION: We CONTINUE in our series. Last time, we traveled through the Psalms and found 5 ways that God will “bless” you:
1.- If You TRUST Him - Psalm 2:12 – “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”
2.- If You ASK HIS FORGIVENESS - Psalm 32:1-2 – “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. [2] Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.”
3.- If You MAKE HIM YOUR LORD - Psalm 33:12 – “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord: and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”
4.- If You Are BENEVOLENT - Psalm 41:1 – “Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.”
5.- If You ATTEND GOD’S HOUSE - Psalm 65:4 – “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.”
Let’s CONTINUE through the Psalms, and see the CONDITIONS for God’s blessings.
1.- LOOK TO GOD FOR STRENGTH – Ps. 84:5
God won’t BLESS you … IF … you look to find your strength in yourself. WHY? BECAUSE … you don’t have it. If you expect to live for Christ, you have to look to His strength.
ACTUALLY, your weaknesses, are your greatest strength! HOW? As long as you THINK you’re strong, you won’t ever ask for help. As long as you think you can do it yourself, you won’t look to anyone else. BUT … when you see your weakness, you will turn to the Lord. SOMETIMES, that’s why God has to put us flat on our backs … to make us turn to Him. We’ve come to the end of our rope. Who do you think we’ll find at the other end? The Lord Jesus!
TURN to 2 Cor. 12:7-10, and listen to the Apostle Paul. NOW … look at 13:4 to see where Paul’s strength came from.
When the writer of Hebrews talked about the “Heroes of the Faith”, he not only talked about their STRENGTHS, but also about their WEAKNESSES. Hebrews 11:32-34 – ribbon.
2 Cor. 3:5 – “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;”
SOMETIMES, we look inside and try to tap into that “inner strength”. We promise ourselves that we’ll try harder …reform … never do it again … do better next time. What usually happens? If we look to ourselves … our own “inner strength” … we’re going to FAIL … AGAIN! BUT … if we look within ourselves to the strength of God who lives within us … we will find His strength to be all-sufficient.
God will BLESS you, when you rely on Him … not on yourself. That’s how He receives the glory! When you can say, “I did it my way!” … THEN … you get the glory. BUT … when you can say, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me” … THEN … He gets the glory.
The Bible is filled with Scriptures that show us the way to His BLESSINGS, is through His strength, not our own. 1 Cor. 1:26-31 – all turn.
HOW DO YOU GET GOD TO BLESS YOU? Look to Him for your strength!
2.- APPRECIATE HIS DISCIPLINE – Ps. 94:12
ACTUALLY, it’s a GOOD THING for a CHRISTIAN to be chastened by the Lord. Sounds a little STRANGE, doesn’t it? TURN to Hebrews 12:5-8. Chastening by God, PROVES that we are His child. Who spanked you when you were a child? Your father … or somebody else’s father? My father wouldn’t have allowed anybody else to spank me (unless it was the Principal!). He told me that if I got a spanking at school, I would get another one when I got home!
When my father paddled me, it PROVED that he was my dad. Nobody else had this right … except HIM … and whoever he gave that right to (teacher or Principal).
Did I LIKE getting paddled? NO WAY! Look at Hebrews 12:11. Listen to how the NLT puts it – “No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening – it is painful! But afterward there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”
Am I a better person because my father disciplined me? You betcha! Did I appreciate it at the time? Not on your life! BUT … my life has been BLESSED because my father disciplined me.
LISTEN to what Jesus said to the church at Laodicea - Rev. 3:19 – “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” My father disciplined me … BECAUSE … he loved me.
Have you ever been around children who haven’t been disciplined? Do you like to be around them? Why don’t their parents discipline them? BECAUSE … they love THEMSELVES, more than they love their children. It’s EASIER on THEM, to not take the time, or the effort, or the motivation to properly discipline their children. It’s EASIER to ignore it … or overlook it … or appease a child. If you LOVE your children … for their own sake … you will discipline them. Your children will be BLESSED, because you disciplined them.
What happens when you are disciplined? You learn that what you’re doing is WRONG. It kind of sticks in your mind, doesn’t it? You might even REPENT of your evil deeds. BUT … if you’re allowed to CONTINUE in them, it will only get worse.
APPRECIATE the discipline of the Lord. It’s better to learn from discipline EARLY … THAN … to wait until God has to really teach you a lesson the hard way.
HOW DO YOU GET GOD TO BLESS YOU? Appreciate it when He has to discipline you. Don’t hold it against Him. Learn from it. You will be a better person because of it.
3.- DO WHAT’S RIGHT – Ps. 106:3
“keep judgment” – 1 translation puts it “deal justly with others, and always do what is right” … “treat others fairly”. This goes along with the previous point. When we do what’s right, we won’t have to be chastened of the Lord.
USUALLY, the problem isn’t KNOWING right from wrong. The problem is DOING what we KNOW is RIGHT… AND … NOT DOING what we know is WRONG.
If you want God to BLESS you … do what’s right. If you don’t, God will have to BLESS you … by DISCIPLINING you.
4.- FEAR THE LORD – Ps. 128:1, 112:1
It all goes back to the DISCIPLINE, CHASTISEMENT of the Lord, doesn’t it? I had a healthy respect for my father. The idea here is NOT … to be AFRAID of God. The idea is to have a reverence and respect for God.
I FEARED disobeying my father. I FEARED disappointing him. I FEARED not having his approval. I FEARED shaming him. I also FEARED what would happen if I did any of these things! BUT … I was never AFRAID of him.
If you don’t reverence, respect, and worship God, you won’t be BLESSED by God. I found out that I got more BLESSINGS from my father, when I treated him the way I ought to. When I rebelled against his authority in my life, my life was more miserable than it ought to have been. Life was happier (“blessed”) when our relationship was good.
The LOST are told to “fear God” in a DIFFERENT way. Matthew 10:28 – “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The LOST would do well to FEAR the judgment of God … an eternity in the Lake of Fire.
Romans 3:18 – “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” BUT, the second they open their eyes in Hell, there will be FEAR in their eyes.
BUT … for the Child of God … we don’t have this “fear”. Jesus took our punishment on Himself … He paid the price for our sins on the cross. We have no “fear” of judgment … BECAUSE … Jesus was judged in our place. Romans 8:15 – “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”
As Christians, we have something else to “fear”. The “fear” of disappointing Jesus, when we see Him face-to-face. LISTEN to these verses:
Philip. 2:12 – “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
2 Cor. 11:3 – “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
Ephes. 5:21 – “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.”
1 Peter 1:17 – “And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:”
NOW … LISTEN to 1 John 4:18 – “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear:” The stronger your love for the Lord, the less fear you will have when you meet Him in Heaven. Love Him with all your heart … AND … you won’t have to “fear” that you’ve disappointed Him, when you get to Heaven.
HOW DO YOU GET GOD TO BLESS YOU? Have a respect and reverence for God … “fear Him”.
5.- OBEY GOD’S WORD – Ps. 119:1
We’re back to the chastisement of God again, aren’t we? DISOBEY Him … and be chastised. OBEY Him … and be BLESSED. REMEMBER Psalm 1:1-2?
HOW DO YOU GET GOD TO BLESS YOU? Do what He tells you. How do you know what He tells you? Read His Word. It’s all here … in the Bible. It’s your instruction book, on HOW TO RECEIVE GOD’S BLESSINGS.
6.- SEEK GOD – Ps. 119:2
NOTICE, “whole heart”. God doesn’t like “half-hearted” love, devotion, service, works. Rev. 3:15-16 – “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. [16] So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”
Jesus wants a “whole heart”. How would you like it if your spouse told you, “I love you, with ALL my heart!” OR … How would you like it, if they told you, “I love you, with HALF my heart! BUT … HALF my heart belongs to another!” It wouldn’t set too well with you, would it? You wouldn’t want your wife or husband to be kissing you, and be thinking about another man or woman … would you?
Think how Jesus feels! Jesus wants you to seek Him with your “whole heart”. LISTEN to what James said in James 1:8 – “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” What happens when you’re driving down the highway, and your mind is on other things … OR … you’re daydreaming … AND … not your driving? Being “double-minded” can be dangerous! Would you want your Doctor to be thinking about his golf game, while he’s performing surgery on you?
LISTEN to what Jesus had to say about “half-heartedness” in Luke 16:13 – “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” You can’t seek God … AND … seek the things of the world at the same time. One of them will always win out.
Like never before, our world is blasting us with so many things at the same time. We have so much going on. Our plates are full. We are so busy. It seems like we are running in 3 directions at the same time. Ps. 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” If we want God to BLESS us, we need to seek Him with our “whole heart”. We need to “be still” … AND … make Him our PRIORITY. We need to FOCUS on God … AND … we will find the cares, problems, and anxieties of the world become dimmer, as He comes sharply into focus.
God BLESSES those, who SEEK Him … and LOVE Him … with their “whole heart”.
CONCLUSION: How do you receive God’s blessings?
1.- Look To God For Strength … which will happen when you realize your weakness without Him.
2.- Appreciate His Discipline … because it will bring you to repentance, and make you a better Christian.
3.- Do What’s Right … DOING what you KNOW is right.
4.- Fear The Lord … by having a respect and reverence for His Lordship.
5.- Obey God’s Word … DO what He tells you in His Word.
6.- Seek God … with ALL your heart.
God spells it out, doesn’t He? He WANTS to BLESS you. He doesn’t want you to miss out on ANY of His BLESSINGS. ENJOY your relationship with the Lord!
STAND - PRAYER
OUTLINE FOR HANDOUT:
“How To Receive God’s Blessings” – III
INTRODUCTION: We continue searching the Psalms:
1.- LOOK TO GOD FOR STRENGTH – Psalm 84:5
- Your weaknesses are your greatest strength … when you see your weakness, you will turn to the Lord for strength.
- Paul’s example - 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, 13:4
- The “Hero’s of Faith” example – Hebrews 11:32-34.
- Our sufficiency is of God – 2 Corinthians 3:5
- God BLESSES you when you rely on Him, not yourself –
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
2.- APPRECIATE HIS DISCIPLINE – Psalm 94:12
- It’s GOOD to be chastened by God – Hebrews 12:5-8
- Chastening proves we are a child of God.
- Chastening by God isn’t pleasant – Hebrews 12:11
- Chastening by God proves He loves you – Revelation 3:19
- You learn what’s right & wrong from discipline.
3.- DO WHAT’S RIGHT – Psalm 106:3
- “keep judgment” = ‘treat others fairly’.
- The problem isn’t KNOWING what’s right, but DOING it.
4.- FEAR THE LORD – Psalm 128:1, 112:1
- “fear God” means to have a reverence and respect for Him.
- You are BLESSED when you’ve a right relationship with Him.
- The LOST are to “fear” God in a different way – Mt. 10:28
- Romans 3:18 – There will be “fear” when they see God.
- Romans 8:15 – Christians have no need to fear judgment.
- We need to fear disappointing Jesus – Philippians 2:12,
2 Corinthians 11:3, Ephesians 5:21, 1 Peter 1:17.
- There is no fear in love – 1 John 4:18.
5.- OBEY GOD’S WORD – Psalm 119:1
- Remember Psalm 1:1-2.
- The Bible is God’s instruction book for obedience.
6.- SEEK GOD – Psalm 119:2
- “whole heart” – God doesn’t like ‘half-hearted’ children – Revelation 3:15-16.
- Seek Jesus with your “whole heart” – James 1:8.
- You can’t serve 2 masters – Luke 16:13.
- In our busy culture, seek God – Psalm 46:10.
CONCLUSION: God WANTS to bless you … don’t miss any!
