Proverbs 11:24-27
'There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; And there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat: And he that watereth shall be watered also himself. He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: But blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it. He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: But he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him. '
"Scattered Blessings"
Blessings: We all know what they are and what they mean to us.
It’s when you pull up to the supermarket and there's a spot right up front screaming your name: Pull in here!!! Thank you Lord for a parking space!!!
It’s hearing the laughter of your friends after you nailed a punchline: Thank you Lord for blessings!
It’s that perfect day that is stress free and productive: God thank you for blessings!
It is forgiveness from another person, even forgiveness for yourself.
It is a surprise you were not expecting, but it happened anyway: It was Just thinking about you, and just because kind of blessings!
It’s a warm feeling of happiness that radiates from your heart.
It is a hug from someone you love.
It’s fitting into your jeans at the end of summer.
It’s protection during a storm.
A smile from a friend
Dinner with plenty of food.
Waking up the next morning, refreshed and full of energy.
It could be different things to different people.
So many things that are too numerous to mention.
And these kinds of blessings are all too easy to overlook, ignore, and take for granted.
And yet, without these blessings: Our life would be gray and void of any real colorful bliss.
Dorthy said of the land of OZ - “There's no place like home.”
Yet where she came from: Home was a dreary grayscale black and white canvas of Kansas on a boring farm.
Listen, she had been translated to a technicolor dream world with a talking lion, scarecrow, and tin man, flying monkeys, mystery, wonder, excitement and adventure… Yet with all the exciting things to do she wanted to go back home?
If I were to re-write the story today, I would have suggested she just stayed there…
We have a similar story about the children of Israel leaving the bondage of Egyptian slavery to follow God on a yellow brick road journey through the red sea, onto the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey!
Yet we find the entire congregation of the children of Israel in Exodus 16:2 - 'murmuring and complaining against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:'
What was the reason for their complaint?
In Verse 3 They said, 'Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.'
They were missing out on the deliverance and blessings of God all because they were hungry: God proved his faithfulness by providing them with manna - A bread from heaven!
In Numbers 11:4 'The multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? In Verse 5 - They said “We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:
They can remember what they ate freely, but they never really were free… They were afflicted and given the leftovers the Egyptians didn’t want.
They were slaves in bondage and abused by taskmasters.
The enemy would like to get your focus bent on what you don’t have, that you forget what you do have “BLESSINGS!”
In Verse 6 - They said “But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes!”
What God had done for Israel by providing manna from heaven was providing for them “Scattered Blessings!”
Look what this manna was in Verse 7 - It reads - The manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium. Verse 8 - And the people went about, and gathered it , and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. Verse 9 - And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.'
Can I tell you that God has the fresh oil of his anointing and blessings scattered all around you!!!
And if we are not careful we are too busy seeing the problems in the world and what’s going wrong, that we forget what God has done to provide for us, to bless us, to anoint us, and keep us safe!
We can do just like the Israelites and forget the suffering He has saved us from when he delivered us from the world and the bondage of sin all because we don’t see the scattered blessings all around us!
You can find the blessings of God scattered all around your life: If you would only open up your eyes, change your perspective, and take a closer look.
Proverbs 11:24 - Reads - 'There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; And there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.'
When you understand the principle of the way God blesses you:
You won’t withhold your ability to bless others.
See what happens with scattered blessings is you are the one that is reaping what you sowed!
Scattered blessings happen because you are the one that is scattering it all over your life!!!
Listen: If you really want to be blessed by God, You must understand that you reap what you sow…
If you don’t scatter blessings: There won't be any blessings for you to reap.
Listen to Verse 25 - The liberal soul shall be made fat: And he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
Blessings happen when you make a conscious effort to do good and bless others:
When you do this all that you will see around you are the scattered blessings more numerous to even count!
It’s very easy to complain about what everyone else is or not doing in our world today: Negativity happens when your too busy looking at what people are or not doing:
When your focus is continually on what is not happening.
What people are not doing, or what they don’t do well when they do it.
What is bad about your job
Your coworkers
Your spouse, family, home, your life…
Then all you have is scattered curses!
But it’s really hard to focus on what isn’t good in your life when you're too busy doing good things to notice!
If you want scattered blessings: Get so consumed with doing good things, blessing others, living a productive full live by giving your time, energy and devotion to changing things for the better!!!
“If you live your life like that then all you will see are accomplishments all around you!”
When you look around you: They will be the scattered blessings of your accomplishments in the LORD!
Ecclesiastes 9:10 - Reads - 'Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might!'
Listen: Stop complaining about what people are not doing around you:
Find something to do, and do it with all your heart!
Romans 12:21 - Reads - 'Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.'
You want to be an overcomer tonight from all the evil and negativity around you… Then find something good to do, find some scattered blessings to gather around you!
Stop complaining about what people don’t do in the church:
You do something in the church!
You find a ministry!
You get a burden for souls!
You give yourself to God:
“When you do: You will find the scattered blessings of God all around you!”
Proverbs 11:26 - Reads - 'He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: But blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.
People that withhold their giving: Find only scattered curses…
But people that give liberally when it is in their power to do it will find the blessings in life coming back to them every time…
Listen: It is the law of the harvest!
GOD LOVETH A CHEERFUL GIVER!
Oh that we would truly find the blessing of giving:
Listen to Verse 27 - It said - He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: But he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him.'
Diligently seeking good is about finding good in others, and finding good things to do for them…
It procureth favour!
That means: You will find acceptance, goodwill, and God will be pleased with you!
But if all you seek today is negativity, complaints, and murmurings then the scattered mischief is all you will reap in your life.
Listen: Cain gave of the ground.
Abel gave of his flock.
They both gave their offering to the Lord from what they had to give:
Abel's offering was accepted and he had the favor and blessing of God
But Cain had no favor and no blessings and was wroth!
It wasn’t the offering they gave that decided favor: It was how they gave!
In Genesis 4:6 - God asked Cain - Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
In Verse 7 - God told Cain - If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?
Cain if you just looked for the blessing in giving…
If you only sought the good that's all around you!
The scattered blessings of God!
Then you would be accepted and highly favored!
Continued God said - “And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.”
Friend there are scattered blessings all around your life that if you would just open up your eyes you would see them:
I'd like to CLOSE with this last thought:
James 1:17 - Reads - 'Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.'
If you can imagine with me an image of blessings being like roses.
What is your first thought about roses…
Do you see an entire bundle of them being given to you in a bouquet?
How often are we looking for blessings to appear to us just like a bouquet of roses right before us, when often the roses are scattered along our path.
One in the front of our yard.
Two at the neighbors house.
Another on the way to our job or school.
Rarely will you ever find a dozen sitting together in a vase on the way to your house… Yet we want a dozen packaged neatly with a bow every time and forget to notice the scattered ones on the daily path we take.
We expect big blessings and big surprises all the while we are not noticing any of the blessings strewn along our path because all we can focus on is what we expect.
I want to encourage someone tonight with this thought:
“Stop looking for the pre-packaged bouquets in life and start enjoying the scattered roses along your path”.
When you do: You’ll find enough roses to make more bouquets than you can ever imagine.
Disclaimer: Some of the thoughts and ideas shared in this sermon are inspired by other people who have discussed the same topics on blogs, books, sermon central, the internet, and many other various commentaries. Not all of the dialogue in this sermon are the sole property of Michael Bierdeman - "There is nothing new under the sun". It is shared for the promotion of God's kingdom and that his work may flourish in our world today.
