Developing The Ability to Bless
October 28, 2012 Chester FBC, Chester, IL Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
A Very few of us know how the inner workings of a combustible engine or a TV, but our lack of understanding doesn’t prevent us from driving cars or watching TV.
1 We may not understand the technicalities of the scriptural teachings on blessings, but is more important to practice blessing than understand blessing.
a 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Tim 3:7 (KJV)
b “Knowledge of the truth” is learning from the experiences we have through life.
aa Learn by doing.
bb IL. You don’t learn to swim on-line.
2 Although we don’t know the inner workings of a combustible engine/television, we do know how to start our car/turn on our T.V..
a If something is wrong, we tend to know that as well.
b Blessings, although we don’t understand all the minutia surrounding a eulogy, we can learn five simple laws and follow them.
aa Laws are principles written into the fabric of life that yield rewards for those who obey them/consequences for those who do not obey them.
bb Drive safely, obey laws (safety citation, lower insurance premiums, clean driving record, no fines).
cc Fail to obey the laws (ticketed, higher premiums, lose privilege)
B We live in a world of cause & effect.
1 If you want a certain effect (something good to happen), then find out & carry out the cause or causes that will bring about the effect.
a IL. It doesn’t take a youngster long to discover that if you put a quarter into a machine, a toy/candy is dispensed.
aa Take even shorter for them to learn grandparents are more likely to say “yes” for more quarters.
bb We learn early on what gets results/works; what doesn’t work.
b For blessing to be released in our lives/hearts, to release blessing in others we must know theses five laws. (Not four, six . . . five).
aa The law of the heart.
bb The law of developed sensitivity
cc The law of deliberate repetition and regularity
dd The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
ee The law of understanding who we are.
2 Pray
I The Law of the Heart
A Australian F.W. Boreham called the heart the “home of the echo.”
1 Meaning what we send out from us comes back to us.
a If we are negative (critical, glass half-empty, bitter, cynical) we tend to see others through the lens of our hearts.
aa If our heart is programed to be negative, we will see the negative in others.
bb If our heart is full of good/positive, we will see the good/positive in others.
b Much of what we see in others is due to what is already in us. (Projection)
2 IL. Older man whose grandchildren had rubbed parmesian cheese into his mustache while he was asleep. Upon awaking he complained of smelling something like dirty feet.
a He went room to room looking for the source of the stink.
aa After failing to find the source he concluded, “I think the whole world stinks!”
bb What we send out from us comes back to us.
B If we see the wrong/negative in others rather than good/positive, the condition of our hearts need to change.
1 If we don’t change, we will never be able to see the good in others consistently, naturally, and spontaneously call attention to it.
a Paul told a young Timothy our goal is to love from a pure heart!
But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 1 Tim 1:5 (NASB)
b While we cannot change our hearts ourselves, we can be changed!
aa God wants us to cooperate with Him as He works in us!
bb He delights in transforming hearts/renewing minds (Rom. 12.2).
2 And do not be conformed to this world , but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 (NASB)
2 The renewing of our minds is God reprogramming them with the purity of truth.
a Jesus could look at a group of uneducated and rough Galilean fishermen and saw not what they were but what they could become. (Potential)
aa He could call them “the salt of the earth” & “light of the world.”
bb Before some of us can salt/light we need a spiritual bath.
b We need our hearts reprogrammed— garbage out, truth in.
aa Only Christ can do this through His cleansing blood.
bb When we concentrate on getting/keeping a renewed heart, our heart becomes pure.
II The Law of Developed Sensitivity
A I’m amazed (and somewhat aggravated) that Pam can block out everything in a room and grade papers. (Boys are louder than a monster truck race, tv blaring, ipods beeping, phone ringing, etc.)
1 Her explanation is she is a teacher & has become desensitized to the noise.
a God has put within us the ability to develop a sensitivity or insensitivity to anything or anyone.
aa Band Teacher can point out which saxophone is out of tune when the whole band is playing.
bb Coon hunters can tell their dog by its bark a mile away (what their dog is chasing, even if their dog is running with many other barking dogs)
b IL. Grew up 75 yards from a twin set of train tracks. They came by so often I didn’t hear/feel the train as they pass.
2 A few years ago a college student was at the house he identified 25 different kinds of crickets around my back porch. (Nerd!)
a I had never heard a single cricket, or at least not consciously.
aa Every time he heard a cricket he commented on it.
bb I think of them as a nuisance so I ignore them; he noticed each one of them.
b This is the law of sensitivity in action!
B If we become aware of something & express an awareness in a positive way, we will become more aware/conscious of that thing in the future.
1 If we ignore something, don’t give an outward expression . . . we’ll soon not notice that thing at all in the future.
a We can either become very aware/conscious or very unaware/unconscious of anything or anyone.
b Maybe you have spent years noticing the negative in people and then commenting about it.
aa We can develop a positive outlook now through Christ.
bb Rough at first but can be learned, practiced, and a normal part of who we are.
2 Like anything else, we must exercise/develop this outlook.
a Consciously look for the positive quality in others . . . consistently.
b You practice finding the good things in people/situations, after a while, it will become a habit/natural.
c As we train ourselves to notice the positive things in others and comment on them, we become increasingly conscious of these qualities.
III The Law of Deliberate Repetition & Regularity
A What we use, we keep & develop; what we do not use, we lose.
1 Exercise (Physical & mental)
a We tell our loved ones we love them (& why we love them) because we want them to never doubt our affection.
b When things are repeated regularly, the empower both the one repeating them and one who hears them.
aa Virginia miners “I knew my dad loved me.”
bb What a testimony!
2 When we give blessings to others on a regular basis it will become our habit, nature to see & call attention to the good in another.
a To the person receiving the blessing it acts as a constant positive reinforcement of their value/worth as a person.
b You tell somebody something enough . . . they begin to believe it.
c In Jamaica, some women make their living breaking big rocks into small ones to be used on roads.
aa Use a small hammer, hit the big rock over and over again until the rocks splits in two. (Halves, quarters until they are of usable size.)
bb Every time that hammer hit the rock, it changed the rock.
cc If we consistently pour blessing on someone it will eventually transform a person.
B Life is made up of processes and events.
1 Processes are those things we do on a regular basis; events are those things that happen once in a while.
a Events are fun (anniversaries, birthday) but our lives are not to be build upon events.
aa Don’t celebrate anniversaries/birthdays everyday.
bb They add color, exciting but our lives are build in the process.
b It’s the long haul, process that is more important than the special events.
aa Celebration of a wedding but the next time we’ll celebrate with them is when they hit 10 or 20 year anniversary.
bb Work, sweat, tears between now and then; hold their tongues, refrain from speaking their mind, etc.
2 Blessings are not an event but a process.
a The people we are seeking to bless may be hidden behind a wall of bad self-image.
aa Must keep on blessing, speaking greatness.
bb Vary your words, more impactful. (Same words grow mechanical)
b Actions repeated become habits (good or bad.)
aa The ideas become reinforced by repetition and then dominate our lives, whether they are right or wrong.
bb Repeated eulogies will build the positive self-image of an individual.
3 Midwestern boy becomes a sailor.
IV The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.
A The more we surrender to the Holy Spirit, we will increasingly see things/people as God does.
1 We’ll develop a desire to bless others.
a He’ll reveal to us what is to come & how best to speak this into people’s lives.
b Jesus always seemed to the potential in people (Peter & John)
2 God’s Spirit will always be building up or edifying rather than tearing down.
a If we allow our thinking to be renewed by the Spirit of God, we will naturally be speaking blessing into people.
b Spirit-filled living leads to you being a blessing looking for oppurtunity to be a blessing to others.
B The Spirit has come to counsel/convict/change/teach us so we look more like Christ..
1 We’ll be aware of people like we never have before.
2 Instead of catching people doing wrong, look for how they are doing things right.
V The Law of Understanding Who We Are
A I believe the main reason we don’t naturally/spontaneously bless other people is that we don’t realize how blessed we are as the children of God.
1 We are blessed and then some, but we need to really know this not only in our heads but also in our hearts.
a Until we really believe we are blessed we will consistiantly fall short in blessing others.
b The blessed cannot help but bless others!
2 You are special in the eyes of God.
a 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3:16-17 (NASB)
aa First part we know, but often forget v.17.
bb The purpose of God’s Word is to make us “adequate, equipped for every good work.”
b God’s Word has a purpose that we are to receive & experience.
aa Read it, believe it if it is every going to make a difference in our lives.
bb 2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. Heb 4:2 (NASB)
B What the devil says about you is not what God says about you!
1 If we are ever going to bless people we must start believing we are loved & valuable to God!
2 When we know how blessed we are now in Jesus, in spite of our past, we are able to see the good in others and call attention to it.
Conclusion:
Notice to Sermon Central Users:
My name is Mike Fogerson, and I pastor a Southern Baptist Church in Chester, Illinois. I have been a long-time user of Sermon Central and truly appreciate its content and contributors. Some of the best sermons I’ve ever preached have been reworked material from this website. As you use the material from my sermon bank, understand that it is work that has been done from not just myself, but from hundreds of other pastors as well. If you see part of your message, or a bunch of your message with my name on it and this upsets you, please email me and I will quickly respond and cite you as the main source. My intent is not to claim someone’s work as my own. I am disclaiming up front that I use the resources from Sermon Central and appreciate the tool. I simply want all those who use my work to know that some of these messages were inspired by the Holy Spirit working through other pastors. Because I do use the messages of other pastors I waive all claims of originality or origin of creativity for the messages posted under my messages. I pray God blesses your preaching ministry for the glory of His Kingdom.
Respectfully,
Mike Fogerson
