“How To Receive God’s Blessings” – II
INTRODUCTION: A couple of weeks ago, we began a new series on “How To Receive God’s Blessings”. Last time, we looked at Psalm 1, where David gave us a description of the person who is “blessed” by God.
EVERYBODY WANTS God to bless them … AMEN? NOBODY WANTS God to WITHHOLD His blessings … OR … to WITHDRAW His blessings.
The book of Psalms BEGINS with the word “blessed”. NOW, we will continue in the book of Psalms to see how David shows us, throughout the Psalms, how to receive all the blessings that God has for us. It would be UNFAIR for me to just tell you that God WANTS to bless you … without showing you how to RECEIVE God’s blessings. Let’s travel through the Psalms tonight and see “How To Receive God’s Blessings”.
1.- TRUST HIM – Psalm 2:12
Think of someone that you DON’T trust. Does a person come to mind? WHY CAN’T you trust them? Maybe they have proven themselves UNTRUSTWORTHY in the past. Maybe they have BETRAYED your trust. Maybe they have TAKEN ADVANTAGE of your trust.
Is there anyone you can trust implicitly? You have no problem bearing your innermost feelings or thoughts. You know they will keep a confidence. You can depend on them for anything and everything. They are always there for you. They will never let you down. Does someone come to mind?
NOW … think about GOD. He’s always there for you … on your side … wanting what’s BEST for you. He will never betray you, or let you down. You can TRUST Him.
“Kiss the Son”. Who do you kiss? Usually, it’s people you like! Would you have a hard time kissing someone you didn’t trust? In Bible times, a kiss meant something a little different than it means today, in our culture. A “kiss” meant ‘acceptance’. Jesus (the “Son”) wants you to “kiss” Him. If you don’t, you will make Him ANGRY. AND … you don’t want Jesus ANGRY at you … you want Him to BLESS you … AMEN?
How can you make Jesus ANGRY? Jesus went to the cross and suffered unthinkable anguish, pain & suffering for you. He suffered for YOUR sins. He took YOUR punishment on the cruel cross. To reject that … to walk away from it … to refuse it … to spit upon what Jesus did for you … will make Him angry. If you did for someone what Jesus did for you … AND … they spit in your face … wouldn’t it make YOU angry?
What’s going to happen to those who don’t TRUST Jesus … who don’t “kiss” Him … who don’t “accept” what He did for them? “perish”
Can you think of a famous “kiss” in the Bible? The Jewish leaders came to Judas to betray Jesus. Judas said that he would identify Jesus by a “kiss” … a sign of ACCEPTANCE. When Judas “kissed” Jesus, LISTEN to what Jesus said - Matthew 26:49-50 – “And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. [50] And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.”
“Hail, Master” – Kind of sounds like ACCEPTANCE, doesn’t it. NOW … NOTICE what Jesus called Judas … “friend”. Jesus was telling Judas – “You have kissed Me. Now, you are free to repent and trust Me. You are free to turn your kiss of BETRAYAL into a kiss of ACCEPTANCE.” Judas didn’t … AND … he “perished from the way”.
Do you want to be BLESSED by God? Of course you do! Then “kiss” Him … ACCEPT Him … develop a close and personal relationship with Him. Don’t betray Him, like Judas did.
How to receive God’s blessing …
2.- ASK FORGIVENESS – Psalm 32:1-2
Do we have any sinners here tonight? Anyone who has lived a perfect life? Do you know anyone who has? I’m reminded of a story about the time a preacher asked his congregation if anyone knew a perfect man. An elderly man, who had married a widow only a year before, raised his hand. To the surprise of the Pastor, he asked him who he was. The man replied, “My wife’s first husband!”
You will be “blessed” by God, if you go to Him, and ask His forgiveness. You can’t become a child of God without asking Him for forgiveness. Jesus died to pay for your sins, AND … when you trust Him, “the Lord imputeth not iniquity”.
You can’t maintain fellowship with Him, unless you continue to keep the slate clean. Remember 1 John 1:9? - “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” NOW, our sins were FORGIVEN by Jesus on the cross. BUT, FELLOWSHIP is maintained by a continual confession of our sins.
Look what happened in David’s life when he failed to come to God with his sins. 32:3. I like the way the New Living Translation puts it – “When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable, and I groaned all day long.”
David continues in 32:4. His strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.
THEN … David confessed his sin to God. Look what happened in 32:5. “Selah” means ‘pause & reflect’. David is so emotional that he had to stop and shout out a few “hallelujahs” before he could go on.
David then tells us what such confession of sin, and the experience of forgiveness will do for you – 32:11 – “So rejoice in the LORD and be glad, all you who obey Him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!” (NLT)
Do you want God to “bless” you? Of course you do! Then maintain fellowship with Him by bringing your sins to Him in confession.
3.- MAKE HIM LORD – Psalm 33:12
We looked at this verse this morning in the 4th of July message “Keeping America Great”. God will bless America if we will put Him first. What makes up a nation? People … 33:12b. The same applies to you and me.
Do you want God to bless America? Of course you do! Do you want God to bless YOU? Of course you do! THEN … you must make Him the Lord of your life … submit to His authority over your life … live for Him … honor Him as your Lord and Master.
I’ve mention this before, and I will mention it again. I have a hard time with those who are more than willing to make Jesus their Savior, but aren’t willing to make Jesus their Lord. I doubt the salvation of those who come to Jesus and say “Jesus save me … but I don’t want to live for You. I don’t want to obey You. I don’t want You to interfere with or change my life. I don’t want to submit to your control. I don’t want to serve You. I don’t want You to be my LORD.” If all you want is a Jesus who will give you a “fire escape” from Hell … BUT … you don’t want Him as your Lord … then you’d better come o Him again.
Listen to what Jesus said in Luke 6:46 – “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23 – ribbon.
The only way to receive God’s blessings is to make Him your LORD … the LORD of your life. Will you fail Him at times? You bet’cha! Will you always live like a devoted servant? Hardly. BUT … if that’s not the desire of your heart, then I have to doubt your salvation.
God will “bless” those who make Him their LORD. To those who only want to escape Hell by repeating a prayer, they had better fall to their knees, repent of their sins, and trust Him as their Lord and Savior. Have you ever noticed how many times Jesus is referred to in the Bible as the “Lord Jesus Christ”?
• Acts 16:31 – “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
• Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
• Romans 10:9 – “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
• Romans 10:13 – “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Do you see the reoccurring theme here? How does God bless you? Make Him the LORD of your life.
Somebody once said that when there’s “Lordship”, all of the other “ships” will follow: discipleship, fellowship, stewardship, relationships
4.- BE BENEVOLENT – Psalm 41:1
This verse reminds me of what Jesus said in Luke 6:38 – “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”
Acts 20:35 – “I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
King Solomon makes mention of this –
• Proverbs 11:25 – “The generous man will be prosperous, And he who waters will himself be watered.”
• Proverbs 22:9 – “He who is generous will be blessed, For he gives some of his food to the poor.”
Paul talks about this in 2 Cor. 9:6-7 – “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. [7] Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
“God loves a cheerful giver”. NOW … who do you suppose God will “bless”? Those whom He loves … those who are “givers”.
To whom are we to give? TRUE … we are to give to those in need. BUT … we need to be selective, don’t we? Here are some verses to consider –
• Galatians 6:10 – “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”
• Romans 12:13 – “Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.”
We LIKE these verses. Give to fellow Christians … to those we like … to good people. NOW … maybe some verses we don’t like as much –
• Proverbs 25:21 – “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:”
• Matthew 5:42 – “Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.”
• Matthew 5:44 – “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”
It’s easy to give to those we like … not so easy to give to those we don’t like … who don’t deserve it … who can’t and won’t bless us in return.
NOW … I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be good stewards of God’s money. God has blessed you, so that you could help others (Eph. 4:28). We need to pray about how we spend God’s money. BUT … we shouldn’t withhold it just because there’s nothing in it for us.
Look at Psalm 41:1 again. NOW, listen to Eccles. 11:1 – “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.” God will “bless” you when you are used as His instrument to bless the poor. Look for opportunities that God gives you. Be sensitive to the needs of others. AND … God will “bless” you.
5.- ATTEND GOD’S HOUSE – Psalm 65:4
Listen to this translation (NLT) – “What joy for those You choose to bring near, those who live in your holy courts. What joy awaits us inside Your holy Temple.”
Of course we all know Hebrews 10:25 – “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is;”
THEN … one of my favorite verses as a Pastor - Psalm 122:1 – “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.” Are you GLAD when Sunday comes … when you can come to church? There’s only 1 thing more miserable, than to be in a church where you’re miserable. And that is, to be the Pastor of a church where you’re miserable!
I’ve never had that miserable experience. BUT … I’ve known some Pastors who’ve been there. Maybe they stayed too long. Maybe there are some people in the church that’s giving them fits … in constant opposition to their ministry. Maybe their ministry is over, and it’s time to move on … AND … that’s God’s way of getting them out. Maybe … maybe … maybe …
If we ENJOY coming to God’s house … if we ENJOY being with God’s people … if we ENJOY worshipping God … God will BLESS you. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, if you don’t ENJOY where you go to church … find another church. If the problem’s with the church, you will be happier somewhere else. BUT … if the problem is YOU … THEN … you’ll be miserable there too!
Turn to Acts 2:41-47.
2:41 – NOTICE that they “gladly” received the word. They couldn’t wait for the preacher to get up and preach. May their tribe increase! Not only that, they were sorry when the sermon was over. Do I hear an “Amen”? What happened when they “gladly” received the Word? They baptized 3000 people!
There are several reason why we don’t see this today. Harriet tells me that if I could preach like Peter, more people would “gladly” listen to me! BUT, I think there’s another reason. The gospel message that Peter preached was NEW to them. What happened on the Day of Pentecost was NEW to them. Being indwelt by the Holy Spirit was NEW to them. AND … do you know what? They got excited!
Maybe that’s one of the problems today. We don’t get excited enough over the Word of God … over the work, teaching and indwelling of the Holy Spirit … over what God can, and wants, to do in our lives. We have become so SATURATED with the Word of God that we ignore it. We don’t get excited about it anymore. You can buy a Bible in the grocery store. You can hear sermons 24 hours a day on radio & TV. You can fill your house with good Christian books and magazines.
How do you make somebody sick of something … so they won’t want it anymore? You SATURATE them with it. Remember when Wendy’s had a salad bar (I haven’t seen one in years)? I LOVED Wendy’s salad bar. About 20 years ago, I went to a convention in Dallas, Texas. My hotel was only 2 blocks away from a Wendy’s. Being short on money, I decided to eat at Wendy’s every day. After 5 days of Wendy’s salad bar … GUESS WHAT? … I was sick of Wendy’s salad bar. I pray every day, “Lord, please don’t give me too much chocolate!”
Yes, you can be so SATURATED with even GOOD things, that you don’t want them any more. That’s what Satan has done in our world today. He has taken away our appetite for God, and His Word. He has made it so available, that we don’t even desire it. A church on every corner. A Bible in every store. “Give me something NEW!” AND … Satan has lots of new and exciting things for you to do!
This was all NEW to them. They couldn’t get enough of God’s Word. NOTICE 2:42 … They “continued” in these things. They just couldn’t get enough! NOTICE 2:46 … They “continued daily” in these things “with gladness”. What was the result? 2:47
They were BLESSED by God! WHY? BECAUSE … they were in God’s house … with God’s people … worshipping God … with “gladness” in their heart. Do you want God to BLESS you? Of course you do! THEN … come to God’s house EXPECTING a blessing. Come to God’s house to BE a blessing. Come to God’s house to worship Him … to praise Him … to serve Him. Come to God’s house EXCITED! AND … I guarantee you … God will BLESS you for it.
CONCLUSION:
We’re not through yet. We’ve got 6 more “blessings” from David in the Psalms. We will look at them next time.
God wants to bless you so much, that He gives you step-by-step instructions in His Word. All we have to do, is follow them:
1.- Trust Him … and He’s so trust-worthy!
2.- Ask Forgiveness … and you can start with a clean slate, and enjoy His fellowship.
3.- Make Him Lord … and enjoy Him leading your life into full blessing.
4.- Be Benevolent … and God will reward you openly.
5.- Attend God’s House … get EXCITED … and you will be glad you came … and you can’t wait to come back.
Isn’t God wonderful? Let’s thank Him for His blessings right now.
STAND - PRAYER
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“How To Receive God’s Blessings” – II
INTRODUCTION: Everybody wants God to bless them.
1.- TRUST HIM – Psalm 2:12
- God always wants what’s BEST for you … trust Him.
- “kiss the Son” – a “kiss” meant ‘acceptance’.
- To those who don’t accept Jesus … they will “perish”.
- Judas kissed Jesus – Mt. 26:49-50 – Jesus called him “friend”.
2.- ASK FORGIVENESS – Psalm 32:1-2
- God will bless you with salvation if you ask for forgiveness.
- You maintain fellowship by asking for forgiveness – 1 John 1:9
- David failed to come to God with his sins – Psalm 32:3-5
- When he came to God for forgiveness … 32:11
3.- MAKE HIM LORD – Psalm 33:12
- To receive God’s blessing, make Him your Lord.
- There’s more to salvation than just a “fire escape” from Hell.
- Trust Jesus as your Lord – Lk. 6:46, Mt. 7:21-23
- Jesus is referred to as “Lord” – Acts 16:31, Romans 6:23, Romans 10:9, 10:13
- When there’s “Lordship”, the other “ships” will follow.
4.- BE BENEVOLENT – Psalm 41:1
- Jesus emphasized this – Luke 6:38, Acts 20:35
- King Solomon mentions this – Proverbs 11:25, 22:9
- Paul talks about this – 2 Corinthians 9:6-7
- Some easy people to give to – Galatians 6:10, Romans 12:13
- Some hard people to give to – Proverbs 25:21, Mt. 5:42, 44
- God blessed you, to help others – Ephesians 4:28
- God will bless you when you bless others – Eccles. 11:1
5.- ATTEND GOD’S HOUSE – Psalm 65:4
- Some favorite verses – Hebrews 10:25, Psalm 122:1
- Do you ENJOY coming to God’s house?
- See the results of “gladly” receiving the Word – Acts 2:41-47
- Being saturated with the Word, we have lost our excitement.
- Come to God’s house EXPECTING a blessing … BE a blessing.
CONCLUSION: God instructs us on how to receive His blessings.
- Be sure to thank Him for His blessings.
