“Blessed”
I have often said that the Word of God is
like a gold mine; if you want the gold, you have to dig for it…Proverbs 2:3-5
says -
3“if you
call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and find the knowledge of God.”
and cry aloud for understanding,
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and find the knowledge of God.”
Well, I have found myself prayerfully
looking for insight and wisdom and the knowledge of God, as I begin to study
what it means to be “Blessed”. Webster defines “blessed” as, “of or enjoying
happiness. Specifically enjoying the bliss of heaven”…It carries the idea of
“that which brings pleasure, contentment, or good fortune.” It is that state of
being we all desire! Who does not want to be blessed? But, when it comes down
to it, we often view “blessings” in the wrong light. We think of blessings as
physical and material in nature. If we have good health, we are blessed; if we
have a good job and there is money in the bank, we are blessed; if we have a
nice home and a nice car, we are blessed; and I truly believe these things are
blessings, But, what happens when we get sick? Did we cease to be blessed? What
about when we drive junk cars and the house is falling apart? Did we lose the
blessings of God? What happens when we lose the job and there is no money and
we can’t pay the bills? Did the Lord stop blessing us? What we fail to remember
is that these (physical and material) blessings are temporary at best. The car
will rust, wear out and die one day; the money will be spent; the home will
decay; and as we age, our health will decline. That’s the problem with
depending on and putting our faith in and shinning the light on material and
physical things. We need to know the real blessings in life, the true blessings
of God, are not these but spiritual blessings that can never be taken away!
Therefore, let me offer what it really means
to be blessed, according to God’s Word.
Let’s begin with Ephesians 1:3-14
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every
spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose
us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and
blameless in his sight.
In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through
Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given
us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins,
in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that
he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the
mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he
purposed in Christ, to be put into effect
when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven
and on earth under Christ.
In him we were also
chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who
works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in
order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the
praise of his glory. And you also were included in
Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your
salvation. When you believed, you were marked
in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the
redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”
Next week we will begin
to mine some nuggets out of this scripture.
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