Blessings

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you, “ says the Lord.”… (Jeremiah 29:11-14a NLT)

GOD wants good things for HIS people. HE wants to bless HIS children. Do you know any earthly fathers who lavish their children with gifts, who want only the best for their children? I’m not talking about just wealthy parents;  I’m talking about a parent who would do anything for their child, because they love them so much. They have so much love for their child, they want to make sure they never experience pain or hurt, they want to protect them from all the bad things in the world, they want to give their child unconditional love…I’d say the majority of parents feel this way about their children. It’s a natural protective emotion, so now that you’ve got this idea of a natural unconditional love for your child, lets multiply that times a zillion; now we have an inkling of GOD’s love for HIS children. "So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give..." (Luke 11:13 NLT).

 “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:33 NLT) Jesus was explaining about how everything we need, we will have, all we have to do is, seek the Kingdom of GOD first, when we put GOD first, everything else falls into place!

 “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full – pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”  (Luke 6:38 NLT ) GOD wants to bless us, HE’s told us how we can be blessed, we just have to receive the blessings HE has for us. Imagine what Jesus was trying to tell us right here, GOD has so much HE wants to give us, it’s going to overflow, and it’s going to be more than anything we’ve ever even imagined!!

People are caught up on never being good enough, and this is true. We can never be good enough, that is why Jesus died on the cross for our sins. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17 NKJV)

Grace is getting something we don’t deserve, and GOD has given us grace in the form of Jesus. HIS selfless sacrifice was the atonement for all of mankind’s sins, we didn’t deserve the gift and we cannot earn it. If you are trying to earn grace to be good enough to deserve blessings and healings then Jesus didn’t need to die on the cross for you. Jesus’ sacrifice was for all mankind, each and every one of us has the free will to accept and receive, or reject. If you are going to accept Jesus as your savior then all you have to do is receive.  Jesus Himself, was the one who said that HE came to save us, not condemn us.  It’s a lie of the enemy that healings and blessings aren’t meant to be ours, people have been deceived into thinking that they can’t be healed or they aren’t good enough to receive anything better than what they can earn themselves. This was never GOD’s plan for us, GOD’s plan for us has always been to bless us, HE’s waiting on us to receive these blessings by faith, just step out and receive your blessings!

GOD gave Moses this blessing to give to His people in Numbers 6:24-26 (NLT), “May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.”  Doesn’t that sound like the kind of blessing a father would give to his children, so here our Heavenly Father is giving a direct blessing for us, and HE is more than capable of fulfilling all of this blessing, after all HE did create the Heavens and the earth!

Every morning, before my day gets hectic and I lose sight of all I’ve been blessed with, I always pray over my sons.  So while praying this morning, I was thinking of how much I love them, and my oldest son being 12, would one day be driving, which caused me to have a bit of fear.  I knew GOD would protect him, but at that moment, I knew that between my son’s free will and the devil, there was a lot of room for ‘something’ to happen. You see, the bad things that come our way in life, they are either: our own doing, someone else doing bad to us (probably with a bit of nudging from the devil), maybe even some bad judgement on someone's part and/or the devil.

GOD doesn’t do bad to HIS children, just like a good earthly father wouldn’t willingly do ‘bad’ to his own children. GOD gave us free will and it belongs to everyone. Once we are saved, we continue to  have free will, to rebel or to follow GOD. So even if our children are protected by GOD, which means that the bad decision they make can lead them outside of GOD’s protection, but that’s not the end, just like after the crucification, three days later, Jesus rose from the grave and is now seated at the right hand of GOD. Anything that the devil can do to us, GOD can then cause to HIS glory (and don’t you know HIS Glory is awesome!) “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28 NLT).  This is the game winning scripture reminder for us, no matter what we do to ourselves, no matter what someone else does to us, no matter what the devil does to try and destroy us, GOD can take that situation and bring GLORY to HIS name through it and then cause BLESSINGS to us.

Have you seen the movie or read the book, ‘Soul Surfer’ by Bethany Hamilton? I’m  going to try and sum up the whole book in just a sentence (although I won’t be able to do it justice)…a young girl growing up in Hawaii who lives for surfing, loses her arm in a shark attack, and is able to overcome this tragedy with her faith and trust in GOD. You know the devil thought he had her good at this point, lost an arm, young girl who hopes to be a professional surfer, not much left she can do now, go feel sorry for herself maybe, never going to be able to further the Kingdom of GOD….ha…so the devil thought!! Bethany is now a professional surfer, inspirational speaker and her experience is a major motion picture and through all of this, she has inspired so many people through their own tragedies and have led multitudes of people to learn about Christ!  GLORY TO GOD!! 

Whatever your situation, whatever you are going through right now, if you believe you are stuck and cannot get out of that rut, put your trust in JESUS. Thank GOD for all that you do have, and cling to these promises from GOD, HE will get you out of the mire and muck you are in now, your job is to receive HIS blessings by faith.