The word “Selah” here means, “Think about this!” That is exactly what we want to do, think about what the Psalmist said. EVERY DAY GOD LOADS US DOWN WITH HIS BLESSINGS! I mean every day!
WHY DOES GOD DO THIS? Everything He does has a reason! God loads us down with His blessings for two reasons:
(1) Because He loves us!
(2) Because He wants us to RECEIVE HIS BLESSING AND THEN BE A BLESSING!
As we make our way through life, we want to receive the blessings of God in our life, but also we want to be a blessing to others.
Illus: There is a song that we sing, by George S. Schuler, called, “MAKE ME A BLESSING!” The chorus to that great song goes like this: “Make me a blessing, Make me a blessing, Out of my life may Jesus shine; Make me a blessing, O Savior, I pray, make me a blessing To someone today.”
When it comes to blessings, we sing another song that tells us to, COUNT OUR MANY BLESSINGS AND NAME THEM ONE BY ONE.
Every day, He loads us down with His blessings! We are a blessed people!
Illus: Someone said:
• If you woke up this morning with more health than illness...you are more blessed than the six million who will not survive this week.
• If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation...you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
• If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death...you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.
• If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead, and a place to sleep...you are richer than 75% of this world.
• If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace...you are among the top 8% of the worlds wealthy.
The problem we have when it comes to blessings is that what we have in mind is different than what God has in mind!
Illus: A minister was addressing a group of men. He took a large piece of paper and made a black dot in the center of it with a marking pen. Then he held the paper up before the group and asked them what they saw.
• One person quickly replied, “I see a black dot in the center of the page.”
• The preacher replied. “What else do you see?”
• Complete silence prevailed. “Don’t you see anything other than the black dot?”
• A chorus of “no’s” came from the audience. “I’m really surprised.”
• The speaker then commented, “You have completely overlooked the most important thing of all — the sheet of paper the black dot is on.”
Like the sheet of paper, the good things God has blessed us with are far more important than those things that capture our attention.
I want to say again, most of us, as we work our way through life, truly want God to bless us and to be a blessing! What does it mean to be a blessing? To be a blessing we must -
I. RECOGNIZE WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED
God wants to bless us so we can bless others! But you can not be a blessing to others until you recognize that you have been blessed with something you have to give.
Illus: If I had five dollars in my pocket but did not know I had five dollars, I could not help someone who was starving for a meal. It is only when I recognize that I have something to give that I have something to share!
We Americans are a blessed people, because while some nations are trying to put up fences to keep the people in, we have to put up fences to keep them out.
The world, in which we live, RECOGNIZES we in America are a blessed people. And one of their greatest desires would be to come and live in this great land in which we are blessed to live.
WHY HAS GOD SO BLESSED US? God wants to BLESS US so we can BLESS OTHERS!
I know people have different ideas about the Iraq war. Some are for it and others are against it. I respect those who are against it, but I sincerely believe they are wrong.
I have a feeling that if some that are living today were living in the Old Testament times, they would have been against it when God sent Israel off to war.
No one in their right mind enjoys war, but wars are a necessity at times. For example, the Amlekites were very evil and God blessed Israel with the military power to go in and completely destroy them.
Throughout the scriptures, we see where God used one nation to destroy another nation for their wickedness.
I am a firm believer that God used America to bring down the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein. He had KILLED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT IRAQUIS and no nation would stop him.
But God blessed a nation called America and made us a super power that has the strongest military power on the face of the earth. We went into Iraq and completely removed this evil dictator and his two evil sons in twenty-four hours.
God did not bless us with this power for us to sit back and gloat. To whom much is given, much is required.
God blessed us so we can bless others! And those Muslims that live there can not help but acknowledge that the God we serve makes us different from other nations that allowed people to be brutally killed under this brutal dictator.
Knowing the suffering of these innocent people in Iraq and having been blessed with the military power to stop it, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SHAMEFUL HAD WE NOT INVADED IRAQ!
Illus: That would be like in June of 2008, when it was on national news that an elderly man in his late seventies walked out in front of a car, and the car struck him and knocked him up into the air. NO ONE WOULD STOP TO HELP HIM.
• People on the sidewalk walked by and looked at him lying in the street.
• People in their cars drove by and looked at him.
• One man on a motorcycle pulled up and made a circle around him and would not help him.
These are some sick selfish people! This was shameful!
God blessed us so we can help others, and shame on us if we do not help them!
Illus: Several decades before this, in New York, a girl was being raped. She called out for help and assistance, and over twenty people heard her cry and did not do one thing. They selfishly did not want to get involved!
God has blessed this nation to be a super power. But He did not bless us to be a super power so we can sit back and brag.
For example,
• Communist China threatens Taiwan with destruction. Thank God He has blessed us to be a super power, and we send the word to communist China, that if they mess with Taiwan they have to mess with us. The only reason Taiwan is still there today is because of the power God has blessed this nation with.
• Israel sits over there being threatened that it will be driven into the sea. But we have sent a strong message to those Muslim countries, that if they touch Israel they have to deal with us. Israel exists today because God blessed America to be a super power.
He blessed us to be a super power so we can be a blessing to other nations. But some want God to bless them, and when He does, they want to sit back and selfishly use their blessing on themselves!
When many pray, “God bless me”, they have the wrong thing in mind. Some will PRAY, “God bless me with wealth!” Why do they want God to bless them with wealth?
• So they will never have to work again
• So they will never want for anything again
• So people will look at them and admire them for the riches God has blessed them with
Look at those things. Did you know that every one of those things goes against the scriptures?
When someone prays this kind of prayer for riches, they are praying for the wrong reason.
• So they will never have to work again. God’s Word teaches us we are to WORK SIX and rest one. And we are praying for wealth so we will not have to work. A lot of folks have something against working; but not God!
• So they will never want for anything again. If we never have any need for anything, we would never need to trust God for anything.
• So people will look at them and admire them for the riches God has blessed them with. This would be a life of pride, and they would not be thankful for the wealth God has blessed them with.
No wonder God doesn’t answer the prayers of many that pray for His blessings. If He blessed them the way they wanted Him to bless them, He would have to violate many of the scriptures.
In this television age, TV preachers are preaching what people want to hear.
Illus: One television preacher erroneously stated that we can best represent the Lord if …
• We drive a brand new Cadillac
• We wear expensive clothing
• We live in a luxurious home
• We wear a Rolex watch
Listen, many of the devil’s crowd has these things and I can assure you they are not a blessing to anyone. They live their lives selfishly for themselves.
Listen, you can be a blessing . . .
• Driving around in an old beat up car
• Wearing clothing that came from the Salvation Army
• Live in a one-room shack
• Not even having a watch
Before a person can be a blessing, they have got to recognize they have already been blessed, and as a result of that, they can be a blessing to others because they have something to share.
Before you can be a blessing, you have got to RECOGNIZE that GOD HAS BLESSED YOU and NOW HE WANTS YOU TO BLESS OTHERS!
God can use you with the things He has blessed you with already.
Illus: Someone wrote, “Be Encouraged” (Author Unknown) The next time you feel like God can’t use you, just remember...
• Noah was a drunk
• Abraham was too old
• Isaac was a daydreamer
• Jacob was a liar
• Leah was ugly
• Joseph was abused
• Moses had a stuttering problem
• Gideon was afraid
• Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
• Rahab was a prostitute
• Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
• David had an affair and was a murderer
• Elijah was suicidal
• Isaiah preached naked
• Jonah ran from God
• Naomi was a widow
• Job went bankrupt
• John the Baptist ate locusts
• Peter denied Christ
• The Disciples fell asleep while praying
• Martha worried about everything
• Mary Magdalene was, well you know
• The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
• Zacchaeus was too small
• Paul was too religious
• Timothy had an ulcer
• Lazarus was dead
God has taken all kinds of people and used them to be a blessing. But God can never use anyone to be a blessing until they recognize the blessing God has given them. To be a blessing, we must recognize we have been blessed!
To be a blessing we must RECOGNIZE WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED and -
II. WANT TO BE A BLESSING
We read about the great men God used to be a blessing, like Moody, Spurgeon, Sunday, Whitfied, and Truett.
Why were they such a blessing? Because they desired to be a blessing! People are not just born a blessing; GOD MAKES THEM A BLESSING. He takes what He puts within them and they in return give it to someone else.
Illus: During the Berlin conflict with Russia, a group of Russians gathered up garbage, placed it in a dump truck, backed the truck up to the wall and dumped it onto the American side. The Americans saw it and were furious and felt like doing the same, but instead they filled a truck with good canned baby food and dumped it on their side with a sign on top saying, "One will give what one has to give."
Men are not just born being a blessing. God creates them. The more God gives us the more we have to give!
Many have cut God off, and God has cut them off from His blessings! Look what the prophet Haggai had to say to the people of God. They were allowed to go back and rebuild their homes and the temple of God. But when they got back, all their time, resources and energy was used on themselves. God was upset with these people, and told the prophet to tell them He was upset and could not bless them until they quit living a selfish life and put Him first.
Look at Haggai 1:2-11, we read, “Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD'S house should be built. Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD. Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.”
God made it clear that He can not bless a bunch of selfish people. He had blessed them and all they could think about was self.
God wanted to know, "Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins?"
Illus: D.L. Moody attended a prayer meeting where some affluent people were praying for a special financial need of $5,000.00. They were praying, “God, bless us. Send the money in.”
D. L. Moody had all he could take. He stopped the prayer meeting and told them, “God is not going to answer this prayer to send the money!” He said, “He already has. Get off your knees and write the checks!”
God will give you the strength, a healthy body and open doors, but to be a blessing you have to step through those doors.
Conclusion:
There have been many that have lived on earth since creation. Some have been a washout from the time they were born, but other have turned to God and sincerely cried out, “Make me a blessing,” and God did just that.
Illus: One such man was John Wesley. He could have wasted his life, but he set up a motto for his life that goes like this:
“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as you can!”
God wants to load us down with His blessings, but if He can not trust you to take those blessings and bless others with them, why should He trust you with more blessings!
To be a blessing, we must . . .
I. RECOGNIZE WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED
II. WANT TO BE A BLESSING
