“BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE”
Introduction
I welcome you
into year 2015 – “Blessed Beyond Measure” (BBM). The year God has specially
ordained to embarrass his children with blessing that cannot be measured,
contained, restricted, limitless and unending in Jesus name. wait for it – how you
will know is this – u shall do little and harvest much, sweat-less blessings
indeed.
Divine blessing
certainly is not well understood. Often, the Old Testament Israelite had a
mistaken concept of God’s blessings. The Israelites of Jesus’ day also held a
distorted view of divine blessings. This is one of the reasons Jesus’ teaching
and His offer of the kingdom was rejected. Jesus simply did not fit the mold of
Jewish expectations. His blessings were not the kind they wanted.
So it is today.
Few understand the blessings of God as they should. The same errors which
plagued the Israelites and Christians of old are popular in evangelical
Christianity today. If we would understand what in the world God is doing in
these days, we must understand what the Bible teaches about divine blessing.
God’s plan is purposed to bring glory to Himself and blessing to us. If we do
not understand God’s temporal blessings, and His eternal blessings, we will not
understand the plan of God.
As we come to the
study of divine blessing in our series, we begin by considering God’s promised
blessings in the Old Testament. Next we will look at our Lord’s teaching on
blessing before turning to the rest of the New Testament to study divine
blessing.
The
Importance of
Blessings in God’s Perfect Plan
Blessings in God’s Perfect Plan
The primary goal
of God’s perfect plan is to demonstrate the glory of God. A secondary goal is
to accomplish the good of those who love God: “And we know that God causes
all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are
called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
The ultimate good
is that which manifests God’s glory. For the Christian, “good” includes
the blessing of all those who are the called in Jesus Christ. The promised
blessings of the Bible are the good which God has purposed and promised. The
Christian life should be lived out in the light of the superiority of God’s
promised blessings in comparison to the “blessings” an ungodly world holds out
to us (Hebrews 11:24-26). As we study the promised blessings of God,
my hope is that the present pleasures of this life will fade in the light of
the glory awaiting us.
Blessings
in the Old Testament
When Adam and Eve
disobeyed the command of God and sinned in the Garden of Eden, sin entered the
human race. Along with sin came the curse. Eve was cursed with pain in
child-bearing and with the dominion of her husband over her. Adam was cursed
with hard labor, providing for his family by the sweat of his brow. Both were
cursed with death by being banned from the Garden and the tree of life.
The blessing of God directly relates to two
matters: (1) the overcoming of God’s curse, and (2) the cursing of Satan which
promises his condemnation and destruction.
The Abrahamic covenant takes up the promise of blessing:
Now the Lord said
to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your
father’s house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great
nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing;
and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).
God promised to
bless Abraham and his offspring. He also promised Abraham that he would become
a blessing to all who would bless him. What an amazing promise--a promise which
will surely be fulfilled! But just what has God promised to do for Abraham? How
will Abraham be blessed, and how will he become a blessing to others? By
tracing the fulfillment of this promise through the Scriptures we will better
understand God’s blessings. We shall see what they are, what they are not, and
when they will be fulfilled.
God’s promise to
Abraham included a “land” and a “seed.” Abraham’s seed was to
begin with a son. This child was not merely an adopted “heir,” but
Abraham’s own son (Genesis 15:1-6). He was not only to be the son of Abraham
but of Sarah as well (Genesis 17:15-21).
The first recorded promise of Abraham’s son was made when Abraham was
seventy-five years old (Genesis 12:4).98
Yet the child was not born to Abraham and Sarah until he was one-hundred years
old (Genesis 21:5). Abraham had a twenty-five year wait for the
blessing of a son.
God’s promise to
Abraham was not merely the promise of a son. He also promised to make him a “great
nation” (Genesis 12:2; 15:5;
17:5-6). The son was
just the beginning. Abraham was one-hundred and sixty years old when Jacob and
Esau were born. The “great nation” was still one seed, Jacob. It was not
in Abraham’s lifetime that the promise of a great nation was fulfilled.
God also promised
Abraham a great land that his “seed” would possess. This was the land of
Canaan (Genesis 12:5-7;
13:14-15) whose
boundaries were more fully defined in Genesis 15:18-21.
At the time of Sarah’s death, the land of Canaan was possessed by the
Canaanites (Genesis 12:6) and Abraham did not own any part of the
promised land. Abraham had to buy a small parcel of ground for a burial site
for his family (Genesis 23:1-20). In his lifetime, Abraham would not possess
the land of Canaan.
And God said to
Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that
is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.
But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve; and afterward they will
come out with many possessions. And as for you, you shall go to your fathers in
peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation
they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete (Genesis 15:13-16).
From later
history, we know that because of Joseph’s ill-treatment by his brothers, he was
enslaved in Egypt. As a result, Jacob and his family moved to Egypt where they
became a great nation. The land of Canaan was not to be possessed until
Abraham’s offspring had been oppressed and enslaved for four hundred years.
Nearly six hundred years passed from the promise of possessing this land to the
time his “seed” actually acquired the land. God was in no hurry to
fulfill His promised blessings.
God’s blessings
took time to fulfill, and the process of fulfillment involved suffering and
adversity. Abraham’s life had its own trials. He suffered because of his
deception concerning Sarah. He suffered because of his impatience in acquiring
a son through Hagar. Abraham’s life was not one of uninterrupted bliss, yet he
was blessed of God in every way (Genesis 24:1).
The promise of
blessing passed from Abraham to Isaac (Genesis 26:24)
to Jacob (Genesis 27:27-29;
28:12-15). One would not
have chosen Abraham’s life to illustrate blessing. He struggled with Esau from
the womb until the day he left Canaan. He and his mother struggled with Isaac
and Esau. Jacob struggled with Laban (see Genesis 31:42).
Jacob saw much strife in his family and suffered much over the loss of Joseph
and then Benjamin. In summing up his life before Pharaoh, Jacob gave an account
not of unceasing bliss but of much affliction:
So Jacob said to
Pharaoh, “The years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty; few and
unpleasant have been the years of my life, nor have they attained the years that
my fathers lived during the days of their sojourning” (Genesis 47:9).
Joseph, one of
the Bible’s great heroes and a son of Jacob, suffered a great deal in his early
life. Later Judah and his brothers suffered much over their ill-treatment of
Joseph (see Genesis 37-45). The Israelites were greatly blessed in
number while they sojourned in Egypt (Exodus 1:5-7).
Their numerical growth concerned the Egyptians and brought about a time of
great persecution and affliction. Foolishly, they sought to keep the Israelites
subject to them as slaves and to keep them from leaving their land (Exodus 1:8-22).
The trials and
afflictions of the Israelites did not end with their exodus from Egypt. Their
journey to the promised land held many trials. These trials came from the hand
of the God who had promised to bless them:
And you shall
remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness
these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in
your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And He humbled you
and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did
your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by
bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the
Lord. Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these
forty years. Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was
disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. Therefore, you shall keep
the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him (Deuteronomy 8:2-6).
God’s earthly
blessings were dependent upon Israel’s obedience to His Law. If His people
forsook the Law, then earthly cursings were promised:
See, I have set
before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; in that I
command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep
His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and
multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are
entering to possess it. But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but
are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today
that you shall surely perish. You shall not prolong your days in the land where
you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. I call heaven and earth to
witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the
blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your
descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding
fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may
live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, to give them (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).
God’s national
blessings and cursings were conditional. If a nation repented of its sin and
turned to God, its threatened judgment could be averted. If a nation turned
from God, its promised blessings would be taken away:
At one moment I
might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull
down, or to destroy it; if that nation against which I have spoken turns
from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it.
Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom
to build up or to plant it; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying
My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to
bless it” (Jeremiah 18:7-10).
Many were the
times in Israel’s history when God brought calamity upon His people due to
their sins, yet the nation Israel never seemed to learn her lesson (see Psalm 78). At other times, Israel’s suffering was not
due to her unbelief and rebellion. These were much more perplexing times as we
see from the agony of this psalmist:
Thou art my King,
O God; Command victories for Jacob. Through Thee we will push back our
adversaries; Through Thy name we will trample down those who rise up against
us. For I will not trust in my bow, Nor will my sword save me. But Thou hast
saved us from our adversaries, And Thou hast put to shame those who hate us. In
God we have boasted all day long, And we will give thanks to Thy name forever.
Selah. Yet Thou hast rejected us and brought us to dishonor, And dost
not go out with our armies. Thou dost cause us to turn back from the adversary;
And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves. Thou dost give us as
sheep to be eaten, And hast scattered us among the nations. Thou dost sell Thy
people cheaply, And hast not profited by their sale. Thou dost make us a
reproach to our neighbors, A scoffing and a derision to those around us. Thou
dost make us a byword among the nations, A laughingstock among the peoples. All
day long my dishonor is before me, And my humiliation has overwhelmed me,
Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles, Because of the presence
of the enemy and the avenger. All this has come upon us, but we have not
forgotten Thee, And we have not dealt falsely with Thy covenant. Our heart has
not turned back, And our steps have not deviated from Thy way, Yet Thou hast
crushed us in a place of jackals, And covered us with the shadow of death. If
we had forgotten the name of our God, Or extended our hands to a strange god;
Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart. But for Thy
sake we are killed all day long; We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
Arouse Thyself, why dost Thou sleep, O Lord? Awake, do not reject us forever.
Why dost Thou hide Thy face, And forget our affliction and our oppression? For
our soul has sunk down into the dust; Our body cleaves to the earth. Rise up,
be our help, And redeem us for the sake of Thy lovingkindness (Psalm 44:4-26).
While the Old
Testament records many instances in which Israel suffered for their sins, texts
like this one in Psalm 44 indicate there are times when God’s people
suffer innocently, “for His sake” (see verse 22). Such suffering serves
as a test of our faith and obedience as we see from Job’s experiences.
Precisely at times like these, God’s people find their perspectives changing
and discover God’s presence as their true source of blessing:
Surely God is
good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart! But as for me, my feet came
close to stumbling; My steps had almost slipped. For I was envious of the
arrogant, As I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pains in
their death; And their body is fat. They are not in trouble as other
men; Nor are they plagued like mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace; The
garment of violence covers them. Their eye bulges from fatness; The
imaginations of their heart run riot. They mock, and wickedly speak of
oppression; They speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the
heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth. Therefore his people
return to this place; And waters of abundance are drunk by them. And they say,
“How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?” Behold, these
are the wicked; And always at ease, they have increased in wealth.
Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure, And washed my hands in innocence; For
I have been stricken all day long, And chastened every morning. If I had said,
“I will speak thus,” Behold, I should have betrayed the generation of Thy
children. When I pondered to understand this, It was troublesome in my sight
Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end. Surely Thou
dost set them in slippery places; Thou dost cast them down to destruction. How
they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!
Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, Thou wilt despise their
form. When my heart was embittered, And I was pierced within, Then I was
senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before Thee. Nevertheless I
am continually with Thee; Thou hast taken hold of my right hand. With Thy
counsel Thou wilt guide me, And afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in
heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh
and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion
forever. For, behold, those who are far from Thee will perish; Thou hast
destroyed all those who are unfaithful to Thee. But as for me, the nearness of
God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, That I may tell of all Thy works
(Psalm 73:1-28).
At times like
these, the Word of God becomes much more precious and meaningful:
I know, O Lord,
that Thy judgments are righteous, And that in faithfulness Thou hast afflicted
me (Psalm 119:75).
In the Old
Testament we find that while the righteous were those who believed God’s
promise of blessing, they were also those who suffered innocently.100
David suffered for his sins (Psalm 32),
but he also suffered innocently for the Lord’s sake (see Psalm 22). In the early days of David’s life, he was
misunderstood and chided by his brothers (1 Samuel 17:20-30).
After David was anointed as Israel’s future king, and Saul’s replacement, David
spent his days fleeing for his life from Saul who was bent on killing him (1 Samuel 18-31).
All of the
prophets of Israel were resisted, rejected, and persecuted because they spoke
to men for God:
And the Lord, the
God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers,
because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; but they
continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His
prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was
no remedy (2 Chronicles
36:15-16).101
The prophets
suffered themselves and also spoke of the Messiah to come as the One who would
suffer for the sins of men (Isaiah 52:13--53:12).
Somehow, in God’s perfect plan and according to God’s promises, God’s blessings
would not come apart from suffering. The blessings of God are not inconsistent
with suffering.
Perhaps the most
puzzling passage in the Old Testament concerning God’s blessings comes from the
Book of Proverbs:
I believe this
text provides the key to understanding God’s blessings, especially their
relationship to suffering and adversity. The full and final blessing of God is
not accompanied with sorrow. Thus, the blessings of the Old Testament are
partial and provisional. Only with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ does
permanent blessing come into clear focus.
Blessings
in the New Testament
When our Lord
presented Himself as Israel’s Messiah, He taught a great deal about the
blessings of God. His teaching was radically different from that of the Jewish
religious leaders of His day. His teaching was different not as the result of a
change in God’s plan, but due to the Jew’s misconceptions concerning God’s
promised blessings. Judaism’s errors concerning divine blessings can be summed
up in these statements.
(1) The Jews
thought of God’s blessings primarily in terms of the here and now, while God’s
Word speaks of the fulfillment of His promised blessings in terms of the
future.
(2) The Jews
thought of God’s blessings in primarily physical and material terms and not in
spiritual terms.
(3) The Jews
thought of God’s blessings in terms of material prosperity and His cursings in
terms of material adversity and physical affliction. Since the Mosaic covenant spelled out God’s
blessings and cursings in this way in Leviticus 26
and Deuteronomy 28-30, this is not difficult to understand.
(4) The Jews of
Jesus’ day thought of God’s blessings not in terms of grace but in terms of
works.
(5) The Jews of
our Lord’s time believed suffering was incompatible with God’s blessings. When Jesus began to teach His disciples
concerning His coming rejection, suffering, and death in Jerusalem, even His
disciples reacted. Peter rebuked our Lord for speaking of His own suffering
(see Matthew 16:21-22).
(6) The Jews
concluded those who prospered were pious (spiritual, righteous), while those
who suffered were sinners.
(7) The majority
of the Jews in Jesus’ day concluded that Jesus could not be the promised
Messiah because He failed to meet their expectations and desires.
A review of
Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God and about the blessings of God
explains why His teaching was found unacceptable by the Jews. One can imagine
how shocked men were to hear Jesus teach about God’s blessing and cursing
precisely opposite from their own view:
And turning His gaze
on His disciples, He began to say, Blessed are you who are poor, for
yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be
satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you
when men hate you, and ostracize you, and cast insults at you, and spurn your
name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day, and leap for
joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for in the same way their
fathers used to treat the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you are
receiving your comfort in full. Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall
be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you
when all men speak well of you, for in the same way their fathers used to treat
the false prophets. But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to
those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you”
Luke 6:20-28).
Jesus turned the
teaching of the Jews upside-down. He called those “blessed” whom the
Jews regarded as accursed. Jesus called “blessed” those who were poor,
hungry, and sorrowful. The accursed were those who were rich, well-fed, and
happy. All of this made no sense to the Jews.
The adversity of those
whom Jesus called “blessed” made them discontent with this world,
causing them to look ahead to the promised blessings of the kingdom of God.
Paul later put it this way:
But we have this
treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be
of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but
not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the
life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are
constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of
Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but
life in you. But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written,
“I BELIEVED, THEREFORE I SPOKE,” we also believe, therefore also we speak;
knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and
will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the grace
which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to
abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our
outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For
momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far
beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at
the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but
the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:7-18).
To those who
equated wealth and ease with piety and the blessing of God, the story of the
rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)
was shocking and disturbing. Death turned earthly, external appearances
upside-down. The rich man spent eternity in hell while Lazarus spent eternity
enjoying the blessings God promised in Abraham.
Jesus’ teaching
concerning His own suffering and death took His disciples by surprise:
From that time
Jesus Christ began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and
suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be
killed, and be raised up on the third day. And Peter took Him aside and began
to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.”
But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling
block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save
his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it.
For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his
soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is
going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then
recompense every man according to his deeds” (Matthew 16:21-27).
How could it be
that the blessed Son of God could suffer? Peter rejected the thought out of
hand. But Peter was wrong for supposing that God’s blessings were incompatible
with suffering. Our Lord’s suffering and sacrificial death were God’s means of
blessing us:
“It is you who
are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with your
fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth
shall be blessed.’ “For you first, God raised up His Servant, and sent Him to
bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways” (Acts 3:25-26).
For what does the
Scripture say? “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS
RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor,
but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who
justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness, just as David
also speaks of the blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness
apart from works: “BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN,
AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL
NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT” (Romans 4:3-8).
It is in
Christ, the “seed” of Abraham, that we are blessed. It is by
“blessing” Him that we enjoy God’s blessings, rather than the curse of sin. Christ
is the source of all our blessings; indeed, He is the blessing:
Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless
before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ
to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the
glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we
have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according
to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and
insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind
intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to
the fulness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in
Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth. In Him also we have
obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who
works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the
first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also,
after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-- having
also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is
given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s
own possession, to the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:3-14).
Peter, who once
rejected the idea of suffering, later has much to say about suffering in his
epistles. Just as our Lord suffered because of His identification
with sinful men, so God has purposed that we who trust in Him should
suffer because of our identification with Him. As God’s suffering
brought blessing to us, so our suffering is viewed as a blessing for us and a
potential blessing for others. Suffering is both a blessing, and a
means of blessing, when it is suffering for Christ’s sake:
For you have been
called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an
example for you to follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21).
To sum up, let
all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit;
not returning evil for evil, or insult for insult, but giving a blessing
instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a
blessing (1 Peter 3:8-9).
And who is there
to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should
suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their
intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your
hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give
an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and
keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those
who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better,
if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than
for doing what is wrong (1 Peter 3:13-17).
If you are
reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory
and of God rests upon you. By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or
thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a
Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God (1 Peter 4:14-16).
God not only
accomplished our salvation by the means of Christ’s suffering, but He uses
suffering to draw men to Himself (Luke 6:20-23).
Suffering is also a blessing because it is a part of God’s process of
sanctification. Through suffering we are blessed in many ways:
And not only
this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings
about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character,
hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out
within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 5:3-5).
Consider it all
joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing
of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect
result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of
you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and
without reproach, and it will be given to him (James 1:2-5).
While not a
pleasant experience in itself, suffering can be the source of comfort and
assurance. When we struggle with sin and the flesh (Romans 7), we know it is because we have become a new
creation in Christ. We now loathe that which we once loved. We now desire that
which we once found offensive and repulsive. We seek to obey God when we used
to delight in disobedience. Satan, once our master, has now become our enemy.
Living in the
midst of a fallen world itself suffering from the curse of sin (Romans 8:18-25) results in a suffering of soul for the
Christian. Like Lot, we find our righteous souls vexed by sin (2 Peter 2:7-8). There is a sense in which our suffering
bears testimony to the end of sin’s dominion in our lives (1 Peter 4:1).
Suffering at the
hand of a gracious God is a comfort, for our chastening evidences that we are
God’s sons:
For consider Him
who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not
grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding
blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation
which is addressed to you as sons, “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE
DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM
THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” It
is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what
son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without
discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate
children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us,
and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of
spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to
them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. All
discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those
who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of
righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that
are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that {the limb} which is
lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed (Hebrews 12:3-13).
Perhaps best of
all, our suffering for Christ’s sake deepens our love for our Lord and our
fellowship with Him:
More than that, I
count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ
Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them
but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not
having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is
through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the
basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the
fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may
attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained
it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay
hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:8-12).
The
Difference Between
Temporal and Eternal Blessings
Temporal and Eternal Blessings
God’s temporal
blessings are not inconsistent with suffering. In fact, suffering can be a
blessing in the hand of God. If we are a child of God, we know His eternal plan
allows only those things into our lives which result in our ultimate and eternal
good:
And we know that
God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those
who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
But what of God’s
eternal blessings? These blessings fit the definition laid down in Proverbs 10:22:
It is the
blessing of the Lord that makes rich, And He adds no sorrow to it.
These blessings
are not fulfilled in this life, but in the next. They are not experienced in
time, but in eternity. These are the blessings our Lord Himself brings to pass
in His second coming. They are based upon His sacrifice at Calvary but are
realized in His coming to judge the earth:
And I saw a new
heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away,
and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her
husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the
tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall
be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, and He shall wipe away
every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death;
there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first
things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am
making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and
true.” And He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of
the water of life without cost. “He who overcomes shall inherit these things,
and I will be his God and he will be My son. “But for the cowardly and
unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and
idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with
fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:1-8).
And he showed me
a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God
and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river
was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit
every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb
shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His
face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall no
longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp
nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they
shall reign forever and ever (Revelation 22:1-5).
Conclusion
The Book of
Hebrews brings the Old Testament faith into focus and clearly describes the
nature of the blessings God promised and for which believers waited in faith.
The Hebrews were Christians who came out of Judaism by faith in Jesus Christ.
Their identification with Jesus Christ had brought on them the reproach of
Christ and the opposition and persecution of unbelieving Jews. Things were bad
and about to get worse. Some toyed with the thought of turning back into
Judaism to escape persecution. The temporal “blessings” of Judaism were
tempting in the light of the affliction they faced as Christians. The unnamed
author of this epistle reminds these Christians of their Old Testament roots.
He points them to the true blessings which are in Christ.
The complete and
final fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham is yet to occur. It is the
blessing to which Abraham and every other Old Testament saint looked forward.
They understood that the blessings God promised were not material, but
spiritual, and that they were not temporal, but eternal. They knew these
blessings would not come in life, but after death and resurrection:
All these died in
faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed
them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles
on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking
a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country
from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it
is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not
ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them (Hebrews 11:13-16).
Unlike many
Israelites in the Old Testament, and most of the Jews of Jesus’ day, Abraham
looked for a better blessing. He looked for a heavenly city, a city which God
would prepare. I believe this is the dwelling of which our Lord Jesus spoke
just before His death:
“Let not your
heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are
many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also”
(John 14:1-3).
It is that New
Jerusalem which comes down from heaven at our Lord’s return (Revelation 21:1-2). It is the blessing which comes from faith
in Jesus Christ and not from human effort or achievement.
Unfortunately,
many Christians today hold to the same basic errors held by the Jews of Jesus’
day. They think of God’s blessings primarily in terms of that which is physical
and material.102
They believe that because Christ has come, every promised blessing can be ours,
now, if we but believe and ask for them in faith. All too much like Job’s
friends, they equate present affliction with sin, and they see it as a curse.
They would do well to give more thought to the blessings of God as defined in
Scripture. They would do especially well to give careful thought to this text
in Hebrews:
And what more
shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson,
Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered
kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the
mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword,
from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to
flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were
tortured, not accepting their release, in order that they might obtain a better
resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains
and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted,
they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in
goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the
world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes
in the ground.
And all these,
having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they
should not be made perfect (Hebrews 11:32-40).
Our text speaks
only of Old Testament saints. “All,” as the writer informs us in verse
39, “gained approval through their faith.” “All,” as he also
reminds us, “did not receive what was promised” (verse 39, see also Hebrews 11:13). All of those referred to were people who
obtained God’s approval through their faith in God’s promise. Not one of them
received the promised blessing. The reason, we are told, is that God wanted
them to enter into blessings with us, at the same time. They have been waiting
for us to join them in entering into God’s promised blessings.
The point I wish
to underscore here are the two very different categories of saints. The
difference between these two categories is not that one group has faith while
the other does not. It is not that one group is more spiritual than the other.
The difference is that one group seems to succeed on the basis of faith while
the other group suffers by faith.
The first
group--those who succeeded by faith--are
described in verses 32-35a. By faith, these saints conquered kingdoms,
performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises,103
shut the mouths of lions, received their dead back to life, and so on. How were
these saints so successful? They were blessed by God, through faith.
The second
group--those who suffered and endured by faith--are described in the last half of verse 35
through verse 38. These saints also had faith, but their faith resulted in
perseverance rather than in success or prosperity. These are the very ones who
would be chided today for their lack of faith. Like Job, they would be badgered
by their “friends” to find the sin in their life, and confess it so they could
be blessed.
From the
Scriptures, we have seen that suffering is neither incompatible with faith nor inconsistent
with God’s blessings. The suffering of some saints should be no more
troublesome to us than the success of some saints, or even the success of some
sinners. Only in eternity will the full blessings of God be poured out on God’s
people. It is also only in eternity that the curse of God will be fully poured
out on sinners.
Because all of
God’s blessings are a gift of His grace, through the work of Jesus Christ, we
have no basis for demanding His blessings. Neither do we have basis for
complaint if and when He withholds His blessings. They are His to give; they
are also His to withhold. This is the profession of Job:
And he said,
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord
gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).
Let this
profession be ours as well.
The simple fact
is that our prayers betray us. Our prayers reveal an understanding of God’s
blessings virtually identical with the mistaken view of the Jews in Jesus’ day.
When affliction and adversity comes into our life, we conclude that suffering
is incompatible with blessing. We begin to make decisions and to pursue a
course of action which takes away the pain. Those honest enough to admit it reason
something like this: “God wants to bless me. That means He wants me to be
happy. I am not happy. This is not a blessing. I must do whatever it takes to
be happy, even if that involves disobedience to God’s revealed Word.”
Most of us are
not quite this honest in our thinking, nor quite so bold in our rebellion
against God and His Word. Yet our prayers betray us. When affliction comes into
our life, we do not pray for God’s grace, nor do we ask God for wisdom,
patience, or endurance. We ask God to take away the pain and the circumstance.
When we suffer, we do not ask God for the mind of Christ, or the ministry of
the Holy Spirit, we ask God to bless us by giving us a life free from the pain
and sorrow we are currently experiencing. And in so doing, we actually miss the
blessing God has for us in affliction. If suffering is meant to result in our
spiritual growth, in a deeper level of commitment, and in greater intimacy and
communion with our Lord, we must accept suffering as a part of God’s good and
perfect plan for our lives, one purposed to result in our good, in a blessing
for us. Whether God in His goodness enables us to succeed, or whether His grace
enables us to endure our suffering, let us realize that God is able to make use
of suffering to produce blessings.
We must therefore
live by faith. We must live by faith trusting God to fulfill His promises, even
when our eyes tell us the opposite is happening now. As Asaph protested
centuries ago in Psalm 73, the wicked may prosper, and the righteous
may suffer. We must view such “blessing” and “suffering” as temporary and not
eternal. We must see that in the midst of our suffering, we are drawn nearer to
God, and recognize this as true blessing.
God’s blessing is not only the gift of those
things which are good and desirable but the removal of the curse. First and foremost, God’s
blessing involves the forgiveness of our sins, the defeat and destruction of
Satan, the passing away of that which is old and corrupted by sin, and the
creation of that which is holy and acceptable.
God’s blessings
are the fulfillment of His promise and the conclusion of a process which
includes suffering and sorrow. Only God can make something good
from that which seems evil at the moment. If you have not trusted in God’s
promise of blessing in Jesus Christ, then you are under the curse of sin. Trust
in Him, and you will be blessed. Your blessings in this life will
be mixed with sorrow. Your blessings in eternity will not.
As I conclude
this lesson, let me share a quotation by Harold Stigers in his commentary of
the Book of Genesis:
“God designs
certain tests and trials in regard to earthly things so that we may see that
our inheritance resides in God Himself--in our finding them nothing without
Him, and Him everything even without them.”104
For
Further Study and Meditation
Principles
Pertaining to Divine Blessing
(1) God’s
blessing refers to His purpose, pronouncement, and process of bringing about a
person’s good.
(2) God’s curse
is the process of bringing about man’s deserved retribution of divine judgment.
(3) God’s
blessing is opposed to cursing. His blessing is the reversal of the curse (see Genesis 12:1-3; Leviticus 26;
Deuteronomy 28).
(4) God has the
right to bless or to curse men (see Romans 9:19-21).
He blesses men out of His grace and curses out of His holiness.
(5) God is able
to bless men because He has borne their curse in Christ, and thus His holiness
is maintained in His grace (see Romans 3:24-26).
(7) Divine
blessing is based upon divine grace and not human merit or effort. God not only
graciously blesses men, He also graciously delays the curse so that men might
be saved (see Romans 9:22-24).
(8) Divine
cursing or condemnation is based upon an individual’s decision and works. Men
are not only condemned because they are destined to destruction, but because
they deserve it and have decided for it (see Genesis 12:1-3;
Deuteronomy 28; John 3:18;
Revelation 16:5-6).
(9) Blessing or
cursing are not necessarily evident in the means God employs to produce His
desired goal. Cursing may be accomplished by what appears to be God’s blessing.
Blessing may be accomplished by what appears to be God’s cursing. The story of
the rich man and Lazarus underscore this principle (see Luke 16:19-31).
(10) Blessing and
cursing have present manifestations, but they are not fully manifested until
the second coming of Christ. Blessing and cursing are both temporal and
eternal, the temporal being partial and mixed with sorrow, while the eternal is
full and complete. Temporal blessings are experienced by sinners, living in a
sin-cursed world. Eternal blessings are experienced by saints who have been
transformed into the image of Christ, whose mortal bodies are left behind and
who live in a new world free of sin, of Satan, and of the curse (see 1 Corinthians 15:35-58; 1 John 3:2;
Revelation 21 and 22).
(11) Ultimately,
blessing or cursing are the result of one’s response to God’s provision of
forgiveness and righteousness in Jesus Christ, the promised “seed of
Abraham” (see Genesis 12:1-3;
15:1-6; John 3:18; 14:6; 1 John 5:12).
(12) God’s
temporal blessing is neither synonymous with prosperity nor incompatible with
suffering.
(13) Adversity
and suffering is not synonymous with sin and cursing.
(14) God blesses
all men physically and materially in this life out of His common grace. He
blesses only Christians spiritually and eternally.
(15) Since divine
blessing is based upon the sovereign grace of God, we cannot demand it, and we
dare not protest when God’s dealings with us do not appear to be a blessing.
(16) One of the
blessings God gave Abraham and his “seed” (which includes us as
believers) is that of being a blessing to others. When God promised Abraham
that his “seed” was to be a blessing to all nations, this was a part of
Abraham’s blessing. In God’s economy, serving others is a privilege and not a
curse. Our Lord Himself took upon Himself the task of serving.
(17) The
blessings our Lord accomplished on the cross of Calvary will not all be poured
out on men in this life. Full and unhindered blessing can only take place in
heaven, when Satan is bound, sin and death defeated, and the things corrupted
by sin (including our bodies and this world) made new.
(18) Christians
will suffer--and not just for sin. When Christians suffer for Christ’s sake, it
is a blessing.
(19) God’s
promised blessings do not assure us we will escape the wrath of men toward God,
but only that we will escape the wrath of God toward men.
(20) If God’s
blessing cannot be equated with prosperity and ease, neither can it be said
that His blessing is automatically associated with asceticism (denying
ourselves of earthly pleasures). Put simply, God’s blessing does not mean that
we are free to indulge in every sensual pleasure, but neither does it mean that
we must deny every earthly pleasure. God’s blessing is found in trusting and
obeying God and in the resulting enjoyment (blessing) of His presence and
fellowship.
Questions
to Stimulate
Further Study and Meditation
Further Study and Meditation
(1) What is
blessing? How is it related to cursing? What is the basis for blessing and
cursing?
Divine blessing
refers to God’s purpose to bring about the good of an individual or nation, His
proclamation of this purpose by His promise, and a program of bringing about
this blessing which includes suffering and adversity.
God’s blessing is
the overturning and removal of the curse due to sin. In Christ, God bore the
curse of sin and death and provided for us eternal life in its place.
God’s blessing is
not based upon human merit or works, but upon His grace. We can never, in and
of ourselves, be worthy of divine blessings. In Christ, we receive every
blessing because He is worthy (see Ephesians 1;
Revelation 5:9-14). Humanly speaking, men are blessed or cursed
on the basis of their response to Abraham’s “seed,” Jesus Christ (Genesis 12:3; Psalm 24:3-6; 32:1-2; 84:4-5; 89:14-18; John 3:16-18; 14:6;
Acts 3:26; Romans 4:6-8;
Galatians 3:9, 13-16; 1 John 5:11-12).
Obedience, stemming from gratitude, faith, love, and hope, which is empowered
by God’s Spirit, brings the temporal blessings of God, while disobedience
brings a curse (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28;
Psalm 106:3; 112:1; 119:1-2; Proverbs 8:32;
Isaiah 44:3; Daniel 12:12;
John 13:17; James 1:12;
Revelation 14;13).
(2) In what ways
does God bless all men? In what ways does God bless only Christians?
God’s “common
grace” is extended to all men, without distinction. God gives rain and sunshine
to men, and in His grace He delays judgment, giving opportunity for repentance.
This is to be the pattern for the Christians’ dealings with others, including
our enemies (Matthew 6:44-48; Acts 14:15-17; 17:30-31).
God blesses the
Christian by bearing our curse in the person of Jesus Christ. He blesses the
Christian temporally by His presence, by producing our growth and maturity, and
by creating a hunger for the full and final blessings of heaven.
(3) What is the
relationship between blessing, faith, and obedience?
God’s blessings
are based upon His grace and not our works. His blessings are offered in the
form of a promise, and this promise must be believed by faith (see Genesis 15:1-6). Our faith in God and in His promise will
result in the obedience of faith (Genesis 17:9-14;
Romans 4:9-24; Hebrews 11:13-31;
James 2:14-26). Faith and obedience are both necessary
because each calls upon us to act, not on the basis of what we see, but on the
basis of what He has said.
(4) What, if any,
are the differences between temporal and eternal blessings?
Temporal
blessings are those blessings which God bestows upon sinful men, living in a
fallen world, flowing from His grace. Temporal blessings are incomplete and
never without a measure of sorrow and suffering. (Marriage and children are
both a blessing, but neither is without its trials and suffering.) Temporal
blessings are not to be measured so much in terms of material prosperity,
physical health, or the absence of pain, as in the enjoyment of God’s presence.
Eternal blessings are full and complete, the enjoyment of physical and material
prosperity, the full manifestation of God’s goodness and glory, and the absence
of sin, Satan, death, and the curse.
(5) What errors
concerning divine blessing can we see in the Jews of old and also in Christians
of today? How do you explain these errors? Why are they wrong?
The Jews of old
and many Christians and others today think of God’s blessings in terms of the
immediate enjoyment of physical and material pleasures and the absence of pain.
They suppose prosperity is one’s reward for being spiritual and that suffering
is the consequence of sin. To be spiritual they say is the assurance of earthly
pleasures; to be sinful is to bring upon oneself pain and suffering. To have
enough faith is to have the means to move God into blessing us as we think
best, they say. God’s blessings are not sovereignly bestowed in the way He
chooses but are mechanically obtained by doing the right things. This false
view of blessing justifies one’s expectations of no pain and all pleasure in
this life. The true view of temporal blessing seeks the enjoyment of God’s
presence whether in pain or pleasure.
(6) How can a
clear understanding of divine blessings help us to better understand God’s
eternal plan, especially as it relates to man?
The plan of God
is to bring about His own glory and the Christian’s good (or blessing). That
plan incorporates “all things” (Romans 8:28),
which includes pain, suffering, and sorrow. When we understand the difference
between God’s temporal blessings and His eternal blessings, we learn to expect
suffering and trials as a part of His plan, and as a part of His program to
bring about eternal blessing for us. While we should not seek suffering in this
life, we should expect it, recognizing it as a part of the plan of a loving God
who is bringing about our good and His glory.
(7) How do the
temporal “blessings” and “cursings” which God promised the nation Israel relate
to the life and experience of the Christian today?
God chose Israel
as the object of His blessings. His desire was to demonstrate His blessings to
all men so that men from every nation would seek blessing in Him. Those who
identified with Israel and Israel’s God would also be blessed, as God told
Abraham (Genesis 12:2-3).
As Israel trusted
in God and obeyed His Law by faith, God poured out the blessings promised in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28.
When Israel turned from God, the promised cursings came. But in addition to the
deserved suffering of Israel, many godly Israelites suffered. They suffered for
God’s sake and not for their own sins (Psalm 44:22).
With the coming
of Christ, the blessings of God are more spiritual than material, and they come
to those who appear not to be blessed as men would appraise blessing (see Luke 6:20-23). Our blessings are “in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). In our identification with Christ, we enter
into His rejection and persecution by men, and in so doing are blessed by a
closer walk with Him, a deeper fellowship with Him, and a growing hunger for
heaven and the full blessings of God (see 2 Corinthians 4
and 5; Philippians 3:10; 1 Peter 2-4).
Scripture
Texts
Genesis 12:1-3;
15:1-6, 13-20;
17:15-21; 26:24; 27:27-29; 28:12-15; 47:9
Exodus 1:5-22
Deuteronomy 8:2-6; 28; 30:15-20
2 Chronicles 36:15-16
Job 1 and 2
Psalm 22; 24:3-6; 44; 73; 78; 94:12; 119:67, 71, 75, 92
Proverbs 10:22
Jeremiah 18:7-10
Zechariah 8:13; 14:11
Matthew 16:21-27
Luke 6:20-28; 16:19-31
John 14:1-3
Acts 3:25-26
Romans 4:3-8; 5:3-5; 8:18-25, 28; 12:14
2 Corinthians 4:7-18
Galatians 3
Ephesians 1:3-14
Philippians 3:8-12
Hebrews 11 and 12
James 1:2-5
1 Peter 2:21; 3:8-9, 13-17; 4:1, 14-16
2 Peter 2:7-8
Revelation 21 and 22
Exodus 1:5-22
Deuteronomy 8:2-6; 28; 30:15-20
2 Chronicles 36:15-16
Job 1 and 2
Psalm 22; 24:3-6; 44; 73; 78; 94:12; 119:67, 71, 75, 92
Proverbs 10:22
Jeremiah 18:7-10
Zechariah 8:13; 14:11
Matthew 16:21-27
Luke 6:20-28; 16:19-31
John 14:1-3
Acts 3:25-26
Romans 4:3-8; 5:3-5; 8:18-25, 28; 12:14
2 Corinthians 4:7-18
Galatians 3
Ephesians 1:3-14
Philippians 3:8-12
Hebrews 11 and 12
James 1:2-5
1 Peter 2:21; 3:8-9, 13-17; 4:1, 14-16
2 Peter 2:7-8
Revelation 21 and 22
i would love to hear from you, read from you and share your
thoughts on your expectations regarding the blessings you are expecting God to bless
you beyond measure in year 2015? Contact me on my email – michaelonabanjo@yahoo.co.uk
or my facebook
Say with me!!!!!!!!!!
IN 2015 – I AM
BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE
I AM CONNECTED TO THE TREASURE
THEREFORE, I AM DESTINED FOR THE
TOP.
SEE YOU AT THE TOP
Your friend,
Pastor Mike
