Sermon Central
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Count Your Blessings
Contributed by Jim Cheal on Mar 5, 2003 (message contributor)
Summary: From Eph1:3 that we have received every spritual blessing. emphasis on the fact that we have already received the blessings. No matter the circumstances the answer is in those blessings the price has been paid.
COUNTING YOUR BLESSINGS.
How many times have you heard people say ‘you had better count your blessings’. Normally after some sort of so could ‘bad luck’ and your feeling sorry for yourself. What they really mean is don’t focus on what’s gone wrong but be thankful for what you have. We would count our blessings as our cars, houses, health, job and anything that is classed as good in the terms of gain.
As believers it is impossible to count your blessings, God wants to bless us abundantly. Eph 1:3 says ‘Blessed be the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.’
All of the Lord Jesus Christ is mine at conversion.
Q, How do I tap into these blessing’s if they are mine to have?
The bible gives many examples of this Josh 1:3.
(Give background)
‘Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.’
God was saying to Joshua, go and take possession. All this land is yours. I have given it to you. Go in and by faith claim it as your own.
God has given* every believer every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I got all of Christ when I trusted him as my savior.
Q, Am I drawing upon my heavenly resources for my daily life?
Q, Do I focus on my self-centered condition, or upon my eternal position in Christ?
For many Christians’ life is one of struggle. The Devil has, fed lie after lie that Gods will for us is to live a life of humble povity. The more trodden down we are then the better Christian we are being. What kind of life is that for a child of the King, it’s no life
Jesus said in John 10:10 ‘I have come that you may have life and life that more abundantly’.
Just as many people have won the lottory and gone over night in to millionares, yes they may have great wealth, but the sudden wealth has the adverse affect on peoples lives and many I’m sure have had a rude awakening.
The bible tells us that when we ask Jesus into our lives the Holy Spirit comes and lives in us. The Holy Spirits job is to daily deliver us from our sinful nature and transform us into the likeness of Christ. This is a steady day be day process. As we grow in the knowledge of Christ and as the Holy Spirit causes us to focus on Jesus. The ultimate aim of the Holy Spirit is to present us to the Father complete in Christ.
Paul says in 2COR 3:18 ‘We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.’
As we look into the word of God, the Holy Spirit removes the veils of unbelief, and selfishness, and the eyes of our understanding are enlightened. We are gradually being transformed into the image of Christ.
The more we gaze into his face the more we see the holiness of God, His devine Love for us, His joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fruitfulness, gentleness, self control etc.
God has provided everything we need to live a success and glorious Christian life as we allow the Holy Spirit to work in and out of us.
God’s promised land for us is immeasurably rich. You are immensely rich in Christ.
You have hidden treasures in Christ ready for you to use.
‘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..’
There is no need to go about in spiritual poverty. Why should we have a fear that we can not be what God wants us to be? We have riches untold. We are spiritual billionaires because Christ indwells our hearts through His Spirit.
We dead in our trespasses and sins before we asked Jesus into our lives and were made unbelievably rich by God’s grace. Eph 2:4-7 ‘But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
From the moment you are saved, you have possessed the Holy Spirit. You have boundless spiritual resources in Him who has made His home in your heart. Its all available to us now. How sad to think that He as made little difference in the daily lives of many believers, not because they have never received the Holy Spirit, but because they have not realized they have Him living within them.
