The Responsibility Of Blessings

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

Blessings are not miracles. Miracles are temporary, just for you, and can occur in unbelief. Blessings keep us out of crisis, 2. Blessings are abundance for you. 3. Blessings are abundance so you can be a blessing. 4. Blessings require responsibility. 5. Blessings are eternal.

Pick up your Bible and read along as we go through these Scriptures.

Deut. 7: 9 Covenant God with those who love Him and keep His commandments.

Matthew 22:37-40 Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind.

Ezekiel 36:26-27: New heart, new spirit.

John 15:12 Love one another as He has loved us.

When you are born again you have God’s Spirit dwelling in you and you have a desire to follow His commandments. It is the New Covenant God promised and fulfilled. He not only gave us a way for salvation, but a way to walk in it - the infilling and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is the doorway to the walk. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is the power of the walk. Walking in love toward each other is the key.

In today’s society we are a “gimme gimme” generation. A really good example of this is the lottery. You put in a dollar and hope you win a million. Many Christians look at God’s blessings in the same way. They give a little of the control of their life, their time, their talents, and their money and expect God to give back in abundance. It doesn’t work that way. Too many times we center on what we want and not what God desire’s from us.

Total devotion and love, our worship and trust. Complete fellowship with Him.

As believers we are joint heirs and as joint heirs we have promises from God he is legally, covenant bound to honor. A covenant is a legal agreement. It is a 2 party agreement. Each party has to keep his part of the agreement. Too many times believers want God to keep all of his part and they only keep a small part of theirs. That’s not how it works.

God is faithful- He keeps Covenant as we saw in Deut 7. His Covenant with us is the most sacred form of agreement there is. God will keep his end. You have to keep yours. The key to everything is God’s love!

John 3:16 For God so loved the World. God loved us so much He gave that whosoever believed!

Salvation required an action.. You had to accept his gift of love in faith unto salvation and eternal life. It is the same with all the Blessings.

Psalms 1:1

walks not, delights in, meditates then prospers.

Proverbs3:5-7

He won’t direct your path if you lean on your own understanding.

One of the major ways we love and worship God is with our tithes and offerings.

Under the Old Covenant the tithes were used for 3 main purposes. To support the Levites, for the upkeep of the temple and to help the poor. Let’s talk about this in light of the New Covenant. Let’s first look at stewardship. A steward is a business manager in today’s terms, He manages the money and property of another.

Luke 12:42 We are stewards of what God has given us.

We are to be faithful stewards of all God has given us.

Our time - are you giving time to God?

Our family - Are you leading them in the paths of righteousness?

Our Home - Is it a Godly home?

Our talent - are you using the gift God has given you to further the Gospel?

Our money - Do you render unto God what is God’s.

Tithing is one of our responsibilities in this covenant agreement. It carries many blessing but also many responsibilities. We don’t give in a legalistic manner, out of duty or obligation. This is not a cheerful giver. We give because we love Him and want to acknowledge His love, generosity and Covenant agreement with him. We worship with our tithes and offerings.

It is not a “gimme gimme”. God will fulfill His part as we fulfill our part. Not when, but as! It is an obedient mutual exchange of love and blessing. We bless, adore and worship Him and He Loves and blesses us! It is a give, give situation. Not a give and take situation, with God giving and us taking. We are to love God - no matter what!

Mal.3:3 Return to God, don’t rob God, pay tithes and the doors of heave will be opened. Jesus told us to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. God’s part is the tenth, it was Decided way before Moses, when Abraham paid the tenth to Melchizedek. I don’t believe that part has changed. Paul tells us to decide in our heart what to give and give it cheerfully. All this leads back to fulfilling God’s commandment to love Him and each other. When you walk in love, trust God to be faithful in keeping his covenant, you don’t have to worry so much about the return.