“The God who Loves to Bless”
Psalm 128
“Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him.
You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Yes, this will be the blessing for the man who fears the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Zion; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you live to see your children’s children—
peace be on Israel.”
This Scripture has a very special meaning for me. It was 1974 and I was a senior at Nazarene Bible College. I was in the basement of one of the buildings where the print shop was located and I was working on the school paper. I was editor of the “Pikes Peek” and had a deadline to meet so I was busy with that. Then the phone rang and the one of the ladies in the office said that they had just taken my wife to the hospital. I rushed over there as quickly as I could and found out my wife and baby were in danger of dying. I was so worried and scared but my prayers didn’t seem to reach heaven. Late that night, exhausted, I went home – feeling very alone and powerless. As was my habit, before getting into bed, I got my Bible out and began to read. Psalm 128 was my Scripture reading.
Don’t you know the Holy Spirit descended on me as I read His words to me, “You wife will be like a fruitful vine!” Your children will be like olive shoots!” “You will live to see your children’s children!”
I am not one to have shouting spells but I think I came pretty close to it. God gave me the assurance that my wife and baby would be okay – and they were. My faith was tested in the next few weeks as Julie got worse – not better. But my faith held unwaveringly and through a minor miracle of her regular doctor going on vacation, God sent just the right person to make the necessary decisions to save their lives. And my faith was rewarded as God kept His Word to me.
This morning I want to focus on those first two verses.
“Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.”
Through the years I have come to know God better and better and the more I know Him the more I realize just how good He is. In fact, I have found that He alone is good – as Jesus said. More than that I have come to realize that God is a God who loves to bless. He is not far off in the outer reaches of space -uncaring and unfeeling to our pain as some believe. He is always right with us ready and willing to shower us with his blessings.
This morning I want to talk about four areas that I have received God’s blessings and I want you to be blessed in them as well. They are Faith, Finances, Family and Friendships.
Faith is probably the key to all the rest of God blessings. God said,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
You can’t please God without faith. But faith is a choice. Some put their faith in Buddha or Allah or Evolution or themselves or some other thing. Everyone puts their faith in something or someone and thereby they bet – not only their lives - but their eternal destiny that they are correct. I choose to place by faith in Jesus, Creator of Heaven and Earth. I believe that He exists and I believe He will reward me for earnestly seeking Him.
If we want God’s spiritual blessings we need to believe in Him and walk in faith and obedience. The Word says,
“and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” Hebrews 5:9
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish…” John 10:27-28
The key to God’s blessings is Faith in Him expressed through obedience. As a parent, have you ever rewarded disobedience? Probably not. At least I hope not. That reinforces bad behavior. You don’t reward rebellion. If you are not experiencing God’s blessings in your life you need to inspect your relationship for rebellion and/or neglect. Neglect is rebellion, too. We are commanded to seek and love and pursue God. When blessings dry up - do a spiritual inventory. If there is anything between you and God – get rid of it! If there is neglect - renew your love by pursuing the Savior.
Another area I have experienced God’s blessings is financially. You need to understand that I came from a very poor logger’s family. We lived up in the northwoods of Minnesota pretty far even from paved roads. I remember growing up with no indoor plumbing; no electricity; no TV or even radio most of the time. Therefor it is not too hard for me to feel blessed. And I do. I don’t need much to feel prosperous. A home; good running cars; bills paid for and the ability to help.
I have discovered that with all of God’s blessings we have a part in it. I learned some Biblical principles dealing with finances that is necessary for God’s blessings. First, obviously, is tithing. Tithing really is more a matter of faith than money. The question is “do you believe God’s promise or not”. He says,
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” Malachi 3:10
Do you believe God or not? Tithing is really a practical test of your faith. I heard about one preacher who prayed over the offering, “Lord, no matter what we say or do – this is what we really think of you!”
There is a lot of truth to that. Here are some more financial principles.
“The wise has stores of choice food and oil but the foolish devour all he has.” Proverbs 21:20
I like how the ‘Good News’ Version puts it: “Wise people live in wealth and luxury, but stupid people spend their money as fast as they get it.”
In other words if you want God’s blessings you need to control your greed and selfish desires and put a little away. Store a little away regularly. The Bible says, “…he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.” Proverbs 13:11b
Here is another financial principle. “The plans of the diligent lead to profit…” Proverbs 21:5a. Another way of saying plan is ‘budget’. I have found that the tighter money is the more important it is to budget. If you don’t budget you would be surprised how much stress it takes off you and how much peace and confidence it brings. If you want to experience finance blessings – tithe, make a budget and save a little each payday.
The greatest blessing in this life to me is family. I love my family. I love my wife and kids. I love my grandkids and my family in Minnesota and that are scattered all over the world. I love my Church family and in some ways I am closer to some of you than some of my blood family. We are connected spiritually.
Family closeness doesn’t just happen. It takes choices. Listen to a few.
“But if any do not take care of their relatives, especially the members of their own family, they have denied the faith and are worse than an unbeliever.”
1 Timothy 5:8
I don’t know why some people – even Christian people - find it hard to take care of their families. I love it. I don’t enable, but when I can help my family by giving rides, lending money or in whatever way I can – it blesses me. I am thankful God has blessed me so I can bless you. We have a mandate to take care of each other. It is a command to take care of our families. You will be blessed if you do. Here’s another.
“Never forget these commands that I am giving you today. Teach them to your children. Repeat them when you are at home and when you are away, when you are resting and when you are working.” Deuteronomy 6:6-7
We have a command to teach our children and grandchildren the will of God for their lives. You need to take them to Church and Sunday School but also teach them at home. Put them in a Christian school if you can. Teach your kids.
Here’s one more principle that has blessed me.
“Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you.” Ephesians 4:29
This is so important if you want to have God’s blessings on your family. Do not use harmful words. Don’t use words that tear down. Words can literally destroy a life or save one. The words a child hears affect him for the rest of his or her life. When you say something it ought to have the effect of doing good.
There are a multitude of areas that God has blessed me in but let me share just one more that is so important. That is relationships. People find it hard to believe, but at one time I didn’t have one person in the world I could call ‘friend’. I was unlovable because I pushed people away from me. When I came to the Lord by kneeling at my own couch, I thought it would be only Jesus and me the rest of my life – and I was okay with that. My experience with people was that they hurt you or used you. I didn’t need them.
But that is not Christ’s way. We are interconnected. We DO need each other. As I followed Christ, He began to teach me things like forgiveness. In fact He said that He would only forgive me if I would forgive others (Matt 6:15). He taught me the golden rule (Matt 7:12) “Treat others the way I would like to be treated.” I used to say that the Army taught me to kill but Jesus taught me to love. And I do. My life is filled with love. I am blessed.
There is so much more I could share with you but the key is Matthew 6:33. “Seek FIRST the Kingdom of Heaven and all the rest will be given to you as well.” God is so good and He wants to bless you. He wants to fill your life with love and laughter. Seek Him. Follow Him. It is so worth it.
SONG
