Tag: Blessings

Lent 2023 | Day 14: The Gospel’s Blessing

The easiest way of thinking about the Gospel’s ultimate blessing is to recognize that we have been received, through a spiritual adoption, into the family of God.

As we continue our reflection on the Gospel, it would be inaccurate and a little disingenuous to not acknowledge that there are blessings as a result of believing the Good News. At the same time, it would be inaccurate to make the blessings of faith the reason for calling people to a relationship with God. The blessings are the byproduct of the relationship. They should not be the catalyst for it.

Today we will look a the Gospel’s Blessing. In particular, we will consider the ultimate expression of that blessing in our lives. The easiest way of thinking about the Gospel’s ultimate blessing is to recognize that we have been received, through a spiritual adoption, into the family of God.

Due to this adoption, we have all been given an eternal inheritance. It is an inheritance of eternal life. It is promise of eternal fellowship with God. This inheritance will be shared by all how have placed their truth in the work of Jesus on the cross.

What’s more, this inheritance has been guaranteed by the power of God. The protector of this inheritance is God himself, in the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

Paul in his letter to the Ephesians gives some of the most encouraging reminders in the New Testament about our promised inheritance. The work of God to safeguard what he has promised is not inconsequential. It is an essential reason by which we can have confidence in what the Gospel Promises. Let’s look at what Pauls said to the Ephesians.

13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:13-14 NKJV

A little later on in the same letter, Paul offers a warning against grieving the Holy Spirit. Against grieving the one who is constantly protecting what Jesus purchased with his own blood on the cross. What makes this statement remarkable is that, in offering the caution, he couches the warning within the promise of inheritance we have.

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Ephesians 4:30 NKJV

We have been saved through faith in the Gospel and we have been sealed by the Spirit of God as a way of protecting what God is doing in our lives.

This truly is one of the most glorious blessings. That we have an inheritance from God and that God will make sure that it will never be wasted or lost.

Lent 2022 | Day 15: Rested

Over the last several years I’ve had conversations with my friend, Pastor Drew Anderson, about what it means to participate in Sabbath.

Too often this conversation becomes about taking time off or going on vacation. And while this may be a part of what it means to take Sabbath, this is not the primary emphasis for this idea.

I have been struck by the fact that too many in the Western church do not understand what it means to take Sabbath. And I say that including myself into that group. We have become so accustomed to filling every moment with activity. The idea of stillness bothers us. So much so that we can spend hours endlessly scrolling through social media feeds or news aggregators.

But what actually does it mean to take Sabbath? It’s an important question. One we must do better to answer for ourselves. So I will attempt to offer my thoughts on this topic today.

I think the primary focus of Sabbath should not be inactivity or mindless stillness. I think the primary focus of Sabbath should be a purposeful and intentional attentiveness to God. This can include an increased awareness of those things which God has blessed us with. But the idea is not to become enthralled are entangled with what’s around us. The goal should be to look at our surroundings, to consider God’s presence, and then to rejoice in those things.

One way of thinking about it can be of having a holy detachment from the world so we can see what we have around us as the gifts from God that they are.

The primary focus of Sabbath should be a purposeful and intentional attentiveness to God.

This is not always easy. The circumstances of life can cloud our ability to do this. But I think that should give us more reason to try. To try and take the time necessary to consider what God has been doing in our lives. To give thanks to God just because he is God.

Being rested is not merely about getting enough sleep. Being rested is a spiritual state where we are not restless. We are not constantly burdened by the stressors of life.

I’m not saying we act as if nothing is wrong. I’m saying we cultivate a mindset that in the midst of all that is happening we will take time to spend with God. This is something we must do consciously. We have to make time for it. In much the same way God made time for it in the creation story. God declared the day of Sabbath and commanded that we must participate in it. This is not an incidental command because God had grown tired of creating. This was an act of Revelation for our sake.

Therefore, when we fail to take heed of this admonition, we do so to our own detriment.

I would encourage you to find some time tomorrow to rest with God. For many, it is impractical to do it all day. But it would be wise for us to begin with a set time dedicated to being with God. As we do this we will begin to experience a sense of greater peace. Not necessarily because all life’s problems of going away. We will find an abiding peace within us because we know, in a new way, how faithful God has been to us. And when we have a renewed appreciation for God’s goodness, we can look forward knowing God will continue to be good regardless of what happens on life’s road.

Series Page

Lent 2022 | Day 9: Bless

The word bless is one we don’t use very much in our culture or in the church anymore. One of the reasons is we no longer have a clear understanding of its purpose. The idea of blessing is often attributed to what happens before a meal or after someone sneezes. But this is a radical diminishing of the purpose of the blessing.

When the Bible speaks about blessing it is calling us to be aware of a relationship. The relationship that is supposed to exist between God and his people. God desires to bless us because of who we become when we enter into a relationship with them. The promise of the gospel is that when we trust in Christ we are adopted into the family of God. And as a result of this God takes ownership and responsibility to care for us. In this care, we experience the kind of love that awakens us to the beauty and majesty of God himself.

The reality of our relationship with God is most clearly seen when we find ourselves feeling distant from him. When we sin or when we find ourselves falling short of what we desire to be we project those feelings onto God. But God is not hindered by our emotional fluctuations or our physical failures. As a matter of fact, what we do or get wrong does not affect God’s consistent character.

As we walk this life with God and with others we experience blessing when we are able to live out the fullness of what God has been putting within us. What I imagine this means is that when we embrace the transformation the gospel initiates, we no longer become conscious of what needs to be fixed. Rather we live out our lives in as normal a way as we can. In the same way that many of us have no consciousness of our breathing until we think about it, the Christian life can be just as normal. Where we’re living our lives embodying the fullness of the gospel’s promises without giving them much thought.

God is not hindered by our emotional fluctuations or our physical failures. As a matter of fact, what we do or get wrong does not affect God’s consistent character.

Spiritual maturity is evidenced by this instinctive living out of the gospel’s imperatives. When we are able to do what we believe in, in an almost instinctive manner, we have moved into a deeper understanding of the faith. Not because we have some academic proficiency but because we have internalized the fullness of God’s grace.

This is what it means to be blessed. Where there is this mindfulness of what is good and true. We were able to enjoy the simple and often times mundane realities of life. Where we can identify those moments where God’s grace punctuates the seemingly ordinary and makes it something more. It is in this transformed thinking that we see all that could be even when it is not realized in our lives.

In many ways, this is the hope of Easter morning. That what was only a potential hope has become a reality that is undeniable in our lives. But we’re not there yet. There is still some time before we can revel in the fullness of God’s glorious grace as celebrated on resurrection Sunday.

For now, we continue our journey through the season of Lent. Considering what is yet to come in the light of where we are. It can be challenging to pause and look and see what is happening to us and around us. But if we don’t take the time to reflect and consider what God is trying to do even now, we may very well end up missing how God is shaping us in the process of this journey.

Worshiping God when suffering IS a part of His plan.

I was reading this morning in 1 Peter and came across these two verses.

“For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.” (1 Peter 3:17, ESV)

“Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” (1 Peter 4:19, ESV)

Peter seems to imply that there my be times when suffering IS included in God’s plan for us. Not only does this sound wrong, there are many within the Christian community that teach and believe that this would never happen. But, they do this in contradiction to what the Bible plainly says. This is an inconvenient truth. We have to deal with the reality of what God says in His word, rather than trying to make it say something that it does not.

While there may be times in our lives were we live in fear that suffering may come into our lives, we should remember that God is fully aware of all that is taking place around us. There is nothing that escapes God’s observing eyes. If we believe in God’s love; if we believe in God’s grace; if we believe that God will work all things out for our good, then we have be careful not to make every experience of suffering into a time to complain and gripe and doubt God’s plan. If and when we suffer, we must make sure that we suffer justly. The fact that we do not suffer more is the true miracle if God’s love.

The question that took shape this afternoon was this:

Can I worship God if the suffering I
endure IS because of something in God’s plan which
God has chosen not to reveal to me?

When we think about what is happening around us it can be so easy to lose sight of the greatness and grandness of God. But, suffering has a way of adjusting our focus. If suffering happens outside of God’s will then we have no reason to fear. God will see us through. So, what do we do when we are confronted with the possibility, and according the Peter, the actuality that suffering is a part of God’s plans? Will we retreat from what the Bible says, or will we allow God to shape our view of the world? Because suffering has such a powerful effect on us, we are confronted with the varied array of assumptions that we may have made about how God works in the world. Assumptions that must be changed if we are going to live in obedience to God and His Word.

The challenge that Peter sets before us is this: when we find ourselves suffering from the concussion that suffering inflicts on our lives and heart, will we be able to “entrust their souls to a faithful Creator?” A faithful Creator. God’s faithfulness toward us should never be called into question. As pilgrims on the journey of faith, we need to trust that God’s view of the events and circumstances of history are controlled and guarded against sabotage by His sovereign reign.

I came across this song some months ago and I found that it captures, in a powerful way, what Peter is communicating here in his letter.

You can hear Laura Story tell the story behind the song here.

Related articles

Thank God For “Unhappy” Blessings

You did not misread the title. Before I tell you what an unhappy blessing, I want to brag on a couple of the young ladies in my youth group. They led us in bible study during last night’s youth meeting and their subject was “Blessings.” They talked about the things that they were thankful to God for and the reasons that they saw these events, moments and situations as blessings. The other members participated and it was interesting to hear what they had to say.

They then turned the conversation to those events, moments and situations that do not feel like blessings when they are happening, but because of them we are drawn closer to God. They talked about how they struggled with what to call this and finally settled on the phrase “unhappy blessing.” Continue reading “Thank God For “Unhappy” Blessings”

Exit mobile version
%%footer%%