Therefore his people return to this place; And waters of abundance are drunk by them. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Let that sink in. We will be shown mercy: They shall receive mercy (Matthew 5:7). To belong to Christ is to belong to God as our Father and to be heirs of all that God owns that is, everything. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. The Israelites were greatly blessed in number while they sojourned in Egypt (Exodus 1:5-7). The Lord your God will bless your work and everything you touch. Deuteronomy 15:10 (NCV), Blessed is the man who trusts in you. Psalm 84:12 (NIV), If the place of worship is too far from your home for you to carry there the tithe of the produce that the Lord has blessed you with, then do this: Sell your produce and take the money with you to the one place of worship. Deuteronomy 14:24-25 (TEV), Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord. Psalm 89:15 (NIV), Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right. Psalm 106:3 (NIV), Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways. Psalm 128:1 (NIV), Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the Lord delivers him in times of trouble. If suffering is meant to result in our spiritual growth, in a deeper level of commitment, and in greater intimacy and communion with our Lord, we must accept suffering as a part of Gods good and perfect plan for our lives, one purposed to result in our good, in a blessing for us. They are not in trouble as other men; Nor are they plagued like mankind. J Gods promise to Abraham included a land and a seed. Abrahams seed was to begin with a son. 11:23-26). And as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. James 1:2-5 Salem Media Group. Thats the New Testament pattern: sacrificial generosity and service now; spectacular blessing later at the resurrection. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3). And he said to his disciples, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 100 When I speak of innocent suffering here, we must all understand that no mortal is ever innocent, save in the blood of Jesus Christ. Divine blessing in the Bible is always physical and spiritual because it is fixed upon the reality of the fullness of life in the presence of God. Christians often find their third tithe years to be abundant with all types of blessings and invaluable lessons learned. The first group--those who succeeded by faith--are described in verses 32-35a. V In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of Gods own possession, to the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:3-14). But first, let me lay down a principle that has helped me grasp why there is such a preponderance of earthly blessings promised in the Old Testament like the inheritance of land (Psalm 37:22), deliverance from our enemies (Psalm 41:1), fruitfulness in our families and in our fields (Genesis 17:20; 48:34) while in the New Testament, there are very few earthly blessings promised, but rather afflictions are promised, with the material, physical blessings largely postponed until the resurrection. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? How do you explain these errors? Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! In My Fathers house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. Romans 4:3-8; 5:3-5; 8:18-25, 28; 12:14 (1 Kings 10:1, 45). Enter into the joy of your master.. For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. Eternal blessings are experienced by saints who have been transformed into the image of Christ, whose mortal bodies are left behind and who live in a new world free of sin, of Satan, and of the curse (see 1 Corinthians 15:35-58; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 21 and 22). Peter rejected the thought out of hand. Peter rebuked our Lord for speaking of His own suffering (see Matthew 16:21-22). Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Q And the failure to recognize this distinction between Gods plan for Israel in the Old Testament and Gods plan for the church in the New Testament has caused a lot of people to put way too much emphasis on earthly blessings today. Humanly speaking, men are blessed or cursed on the basis of their response to Abrahams seed, Jesus Christ (Genesis 12:3; Psalm 24:3-6; 32:1-2; 84:4-5; 89:14-18; John 3:16-18; 14:6; Acts 3:26; Romans 4:6-8; Galatians 3:9, 13-16; 1 John 5:11-12). How Daniels Prophecy of 70 Weeks Connects to the End Times. Psalm 22; 24:3-6; 44; 73; 78; 94:12; 119:67, 71, 75, 92 Blessing may be accomplished by what appears to be Gods cursing. Men are not only condemned because they are destined to destruction, but because they deserve it and have decided for it (see Genesis 12:1-3; Deuteronomy 28; John 3:18; Revelation 16:5-6). For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Through Thee we will push back our adversaries; Through Thy name we will trample down those who rise up against us. For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds (Matthew 16:21-27). 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, just as He chose us in Him . 2 Peter 2:7-8 Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him (Deuteronomy 8:2-6). God blesses the Christian by bearing our curse in the person of Jesus Christ. It was not in Abrahams lifetime that the promise of a great nation was fulfilled. The unnamed author of this epistle reminds these Christians of their Old Testament roots. T Perhaps best of all, our suffering for Christs sake deepens our love for our Lord and our fellowship with Him: More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. On the other hand, Jesus said, Blessed are the poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3). But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. There are no places to do pilgrimages in Christianity. He suffered because of his impatience in acquiring a son through Hagar. (19) Gods promised blessings do not assure us we will escape the wrath of men toward God, but only that we will escape the wrath of God toward men. Abraham may not have left Haran immediately which would mean that Abraham was younger when the promise of a son was first given to him. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Paul says, The world is yours. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Jesus turned the teaching of the Jews upside-down. Give, and it will be given to you. One would not have chosen Abrahams life to illustrate blessing. Their journey to the promised land held many trials. P 102 This is not to say they do not believe in spiritual and eternal blessings, but only that their emphasis is on present material prosperity. Our prayers reveal an understanding of Gods blessings virtually identical with the mistaken view of the Jews in Jesus day. All day long my dishonor is before me, And my humiliation has overwhelmed me, Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles, Because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger. For all things are for your sakes, that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. The same errors which plagued the Israelites and Christians of old are popular in evangelical Christianity today. 4:4,5). A review of Jesus teaching about the kingdom of God and about the blessings of God explains why His teaching was found unacceptable by the Jews. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Genesis 12:1-3; 15:1-6, 13-20; 17:15-21; 26:24; 27:27-29; 28:12-15; 47:9 In Gods economy, serving others is a privilege and not a curse. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. Neither do we have basis for complaint if and when He withholds His blessings.