God’s Blessings

Ephesians 1:18 - 20 “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, (19) And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, (20) Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,”

Oh my, the grace that God has bestowed upon us who believe in Jesus Christ as our Saviour. There are so many blessings in this passage of scripture it would be impossible for me to cover them all in this short article. Beloved, if you have any biblical understanding of Truth, it is a gift from God. If any of us fail to see everything in our life as a blessing of God’s grace, we will miss the true blessing here. God said, “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened….” We all know that our eyes are the instrument by which we see. If we cannot see, then we will not truly understand. We are all ignorant of something until we can see and learn, that is called being enlightened by God. The eyes God is speaking of here are our spiritual eyes which is our inner spirit. When our spirit was dead then we were blinded, God said, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not…” 2 Cor. 4:4 This is because lost people have dead spirits and therefore spiritually, they cannot not see the truth of the scriptures. The words “being enlightened” means - to shed rays, that is, to shine or to be made to see-. God quickened our dead spirits “that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” . His calling is God calling us from darkness to light, from a dead state to a living state and once our “understanding being enlightened” by God we can see the hope that God has given to us. “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe” Just that fact that we are saved is showing the greatness of God’s power, but we are also to see the workings of God in our everyday life. “according to the working of his mighty power,” God, in the salvation of our souls performed many blessing in our life way beyond our salvation. He also fills our life with blessings that He has chosen for each of us as He chose them. God does not work the same in every child, He leads us all in many different directions as He has chosen. And since He has “enlightened our eye of understanding” we are also able to see God’s blessings. And we come to understand that all of them are “according to the working of his mighty power” because we know that all things are only possible through Jesus Christ and the workings and power of God. Our “inheritance” are the blessings of God in our life which are innumerable. The word means - a possession – Strongs, Vines says it means - what the believer will be to God in that age, - as children of the King of kings being His children. “Which he wrought in Christ”, this word “wrought” means - "to be operative, be at work, put forth power." All these blessings from God is possible because the Father raised Jesus from the dead. We owe every blessing to God because of what we have in Jesus Christ. As we saw in God raising the Son of man from the grave we can see how God works all blessings for us, in Christ. What wonderful blessings God has bestowed on us! 

How much does God allow Satan to harm us?

Job 1:9 – 12

Have you ever wondered how much Satan has to do with things in your life? So many Christians do not understand just how much Satan’s able do in their life, but God knows. God is Omniscient which means God knows everything, not a few things, not some things, not most things, but everything. The truth of the matter is Satan can do nothing unless God allows it, in fact no being in existence has any ability at all except that it be given to them for the All-Powerful God. God created every being in existence as He chose what he wants them to be. “Hath not the potter power over the clay…” Rom. 9:21. People have a hard time understanding what God is able to do, but please understand that every creature is exactly what God has created it to be, “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” Therefore, God created Satan to be Satan and to be the evilest creature in existence. Satan, at the time Lucifer was a high-ranking Angel, even an Archangel until He fell. Today we know him as Satan, the archenemy of God and even everyone connected to God. Satan has great powers, and if God allowed him, he could and would kill every Christian on this earth. However, as we saw in the event of Job, he is limited to God’s power. God said to Satan, “And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand...” This means that Satan was able to do as he pleased with everything Job had, but Job himself was not to be overtaken with sickness nor was his life to be taken. Can you imagine what life would be like for you if God was to give Satan that power over you? Satan asked God, “Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?” Job 1:10 The answer was yes God did, just as God has a hedge over all of us. A hedge is like a fence for our protection but also for our restraint in life. Satan also told God about Job, “thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.” Yes, God did bless Job with much and Job knew that God had and this is why when this satanic persecution came upon him, he never cursed God. Job realized a truth very few people understand, and that is God provided him with everything in life and if God took it all, he was still blessed. This is why Job said, “Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” Job 1:21 – 22 This is simply amazing, Job had so much and lost everything, he did not pout, he did not ask God why, he did not curse God, he was not mad at God, he did not blame God, he didn’t even blame Satan, he simply “blessed be the name of the LORD.

As God’s children we must understand that God has a hedge about us and with that hedge we are protected as well as we are restricted by God. We live, move, and have our being by the grace and power of God. Our strength is in the Lord and in our understanding as to exactly what God has ordained for us in this life. Every part of our life from birth to death and beyond is exactly what God has  ordained for us. Paul understood this when he said, “by the grace of God I am what I am” 1 Cor. 15:10 and Jesus understood this throughout His life and even in His death. Job blessed the name of God and Jesus never opened His mouth but suffered as God had ordained. “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” John 6:38.

The truth is, Satan can only harm us as much or as little as God allows him too. As much as he would love to make our life miserable and even kill us all, he cannot. We all need to stop looking for someone to blame for our miseries in life and be like Job, and continually bless the name of God in everything.       

Thank You Lord, “For God hath not appointed us to wrath…”

1 Thessalonians 5:9 - 10 “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, (10) Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.”

Every lost person trusts in something or someone, organized religion, works and good deeds or some other false hope. Every lost soul is trusting in some sort of god, even if they are agnostic. The world is full of gods, saviours, with all sorts of ways to get to their believed heaven. And these lost people have one thing in common, their god is imaginary, their salvation is impossible, and their salvation is dead just as their god is, and they are all going to suffer the wrath of Jehovah The True God.  Jehovah is the God of the bible, the God who saves the sinner from His wrath through His Son Jesus, the seed of the woman, the Saviour of mankind. Jesus is not just man He is also Jehovah’s Son incarnate with Jehovah the Son, the second part of the Trinity. God said in Isaiah 26:4, 5 “Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength: For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.” Our total faith must be in God, and if it is we can indeed be content in this world, but one single wrinkle, one small kink in our armor of faith, and we will never be content. Moses told the Jews in Exo. 14:13  “And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.” The promise was “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD…he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.” The wrath that is too feared is not the people of this world, it is not even Satan and his angels or demons, it is God because He is Omni everything. God’s wrath is a Just and Righteous wrath, and it is painful and dreadful, and it will come to every single lost soul in this world. God promised is in 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” God is not willing that any of His elect souls should perish, and this is His promise to us who are saved or will one day be saved. Again, this is the base of our contentment, trusting in the word of Jehovah God. God is Omni or all-power and there is no power greater than that of God. God is all-knowing; therefore, He knows everything at one time, He never does not see everything because He already knows everything. He already knew that Satan wanted to take Jobs life, therefore God forbid him from doing so. As God’s children we need to understand and believe in God’s promises to us, and one of God’s gracious promises is “God hath not appointed us to wrath”. There is nothing more hurtful to a human soul than that of God’s wrath. The Tribulation period is full of God’s wrath on this lost and dying world. More than ever before, more than the flood because people will suffer much before God kills them and send them to eternal hell. People will see God; Jesus will open the heavens and they will know that Jehovah is God and that He is sending His promised wrath to them. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.” Romans 1:18 And when God is finished all of them will be caught-up to the White-Throne of Jesus and learn of their eternal placement in eternal hell. But to us, to us who God has saved and Jesus has redeemed, to us whom God has promised many things, “God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ”. We are the blessed of all God’s created beings because God hath chosen us not to suffer eternal damnation with the lost and wicked of this world, but to live eternal blessedness with Him and our Saviour sin-free and cleansed as He is. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” 1 John 3:1 

“I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”1 Corinthians 1:4-8

We cannot take God for granted.

1 Timothy 4:14 - 16 "Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. (15) Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. (16) Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee."

The easiest thing for a believer to do is to take God for granted. I was taught as a young minister that the only way to learn of God is to continually study, then when you learn act upon what you learn, and if you do, you will be a good believer. Lot of the time we learn but fail to act and if we do, we are taking God for granted. God said, “Neglect not the gift that is in thee”, now most will rightly argue that God is talking about Ministers here. However, it is not limited to Ministers because all believers have gifts of God given to us. For example, salvation is a gift from God, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. 6:23 Can a Christian neglect their salvation, absolutely we can if we are not being followers of Jesus Christ. Solomon wrote in Ecc. 5:19 “Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.” Our worldly goods are a gift from God, and they also can be abused in an ill manor. If we look at our life properly, we will understand that everything is a gift from God. And if it is a gift from God then it is by God’s grace because He gave it to us. We all, every single believer takes God’s gifts for granted in one way or another and some more than others, even if we know it or not. Let’s look at our gift of salvation because it is the most abused gift of all. God gave us our salvation, it was not earned, it was not bought, it did not just fall out of the sky, God gave it to us. But none of us walk absolute according to God’s word. Sometimes we subconsciously may believe that we are walking rightly but in reality, we are wrong. Let’s face it, we are all wrong about some things because none of us are perfectly aligned with the scriptures. We are only perfect in Jesus Christ because He was perfect. Some may say that if we do not understand then we are not guilty, others will say the word “neglect” means - to be careless of – that is true, but it also means - not regard something -. Just because we do not understand something may be because it goes against the belief we were raised with, or maybe it’s not within our line of thinking. Just because I believe something to be right doesn’t mean I am right, and it is the same with you. The more we learn in God’s word and the more we believe what God says the more right we will be. God said, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 The bottom-line for a believer is to study, not to study a little but a lot. We need to study with much prayer because the Holy Spirit is our teacher. “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26 Our fervent study will show us much, but if we are going to “rightly dividing the word of truth”. It is the Holy Spirit that will teach it to us, this is why we must listen to the scriptures and not give to much savvy to the teacher, who are just men. If it is in the scriptures then it is right, and right over even out thoughts or belief. We cannot simply overlook something scriptural as though it isn’t there, if God said it then it’s there and we need to learn to rightly divide the word of truth. It is our responsibility to learn God’s word and rightly divide the Truth. God has given to every believer gifts, those gifts are given to rightly serve Him without error. God said, “Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them;” If we fail, then we are neglecting God’s gifts.