THE ONLY SOURCE OF OUR BLESSINGS

THE SOURCE OF OUR BLESSINGS

By M.G. Bueno

Issaquah Falls, Washington

Pro 10:22  The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. 


I want to make a very important statement, that the source of rewards and blessings for our Life comes from the one and only, God.  And that the blessings of God come in the form of rewards or gifts whether spiritual, physical, or material.  And a person receives blessings or rewards from God only because of one reason, God is pleased with his life.  We cannot expect the blessings and rewards of God upon our life when we do not even serve God or please God according to His terms.  Many people want the blessings and rewards of God according to their own terms, but not in God’s terms.  People want the many benefits of God, yet they don’t even do what God wants them to do. 

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him:  for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

The blessings and rewards of God is connected to our faith.  And faith is not something that we do only at the moment we wanted a blessing from God.  Faith is when God shows you what to do, and then you do it, because that’s what pleases God.  We must remember the benefits of God’s rewards and blessings only come when we do what is pleasing to God.  The question is this, Is that thing that you do pleasing to God?  Has your life been a sweet savor to the nostrils of God?  If not then, you cannot expect his blessings to come upon your life.  But if you do what God had showed you to do, that’s when God is pleased, then, the blessings will begin to be poured out upon your life.  I’m not talking about what anyone had showed you to do, but I’m talking about what God had showed you that you need to do for him in your life.  What God has put in your heart to do is what matters and not what anyone told you to do.  And if you do that which God had showed you to do, then it’s like opening a treasure box of God’s blessings, it’s like opening doors of apportunities of God’s blessings for you to receive.      

Mat 6:31  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 

Mat 6:32  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 

Now there is an earthly or worldly system of getting what we need for ourselves, but there’s also a Godly or heavenly system of acquiring what we need and desire, and enjoy.  In the earthly system, people acquire things by focusing to getting what they thought they need, or what they want for themselves.  And the results become so obvious, people begin to become greedy, and selfish and covetous.  Because they themselves is in control of what they can hoard for themselves, and gather for themselves, and not God.  And self when left to itself not coupled with any good moral principles from the scriptures is a disaster.  And people in the earthly system become rich for themselves and by themselves, but God is not responsible for them being rich.  In the gospel Luke is a story of a rich man who had amassed great wealth to the point where he didn’t know where to store the riches that he had accumulated for himself. 

Luk 12:18  And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 

Luk 12:19  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 

Luk 12:20  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 

Luk 12:21  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. 

In these verses, God himself said to the rich man, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.  This tells us that God was not responsible of the wealth which he had amassed to a very great degree.  Just because a person is rich doesn’t always tell us that God was responsible for them being rich, because here God tells the rich man that he is fool for gathering this great wealth for himself.  And indeed he gathered it only for himself and for himself only, because it says in the following verse.  

Luk 12:21  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

The man gathered and kept his many riches only for himself.  And that itself is a lesson for everyone of us, that being selfish is not a good attitude or habbit to make in our lives.  And the Bible said that he was not rich toward God.  

What matters above all else is to be rich toward God.  You may not be rich in this world, but if you are rich toward God, that’s all that counts.  But woe unto you if you be rich in this world but not rich toward God.  Our bank account in this world may be overflowing but what about our heavenly account with God?  Is it full, or zero balance; is it with sufficient funds or insufficient funds? The bible said in,

Mat 6:19  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 

Mat 6:20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 

Mat 6:21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 

And in the following verse in LUKE 12:22 Jesus keeps reminding us again and again.  

Luk 12:22  And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. 

Jesus is saying, don’t even think or worry about the things that you need in this life, because it will be given to you by God, just like the rest of his creation such as the birds in the air and even the grass on the fields.  

And then Jesus tells us what we should "think and worry" about.  He said in,


Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 

And then he keeps reminding us again again in, 

Mat 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. 

What is it that God wants us to do according to the heavenly system of acquiring his blessings?  God wants us to focus on the most important things, and the right things.  God wants us to put our worries and thoughts upon obtaining his Kingdom and his righteousness.  And God’s point is, He is the one who is responsible for making us rich, he is the one who will do the adding and giving of his benefits as we seek and serve him.  And all that God is asking is for, is for you to seek and serve him, and walk uprightly before him.  And it’s God’s job to do the adding and the blessing and rewarding and the the giving of our needs, and that’s if we do not stop seeking and serving and walking uprightly before him.  

And so we find that the blessings comes according to his terms, his will and his word, and his purpose and not by our own terms.  And there’s a reason for it.  God doesn’t want us to become covetous and greedy and hoarders for ourselves just like the rich man in the bible who’s riches did not come from God, which ended up in a mess to where his soul was required by God.  His soul was put in jeopardy for being not rich toward God.

1Ti 6:9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 

1Ti 6:10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 

1Ti 6:11  But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 

Jas 4:3  Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 

There are people who are lovers of money, that’s all they think about, and worry about, about the next dollar that they could get by hook or by crook.  When Jesus said take no thought of your everyday need, he’s not talking about not having a job or just be lazy or just do nothing to feed yourself and your family.  Because the bible has commanded for everyman to work with his own hands.  And the bible also said, that a man who does not provide for his own is worst than an infidel, someone who has denied the faith, a pagan, an apostate, a heretic.  And that If any would not work neither shall he eat.   

I remember, when I got laid off twice, it would have been easy for me to worry and wring my hands and think "how am I going to do this?".  But my wife and I didn’t do that, because our faith tells us that God will take care of us no matter what happens.  And not only that, there was a time when the car needed a new transmission, we didn’t lose sleep about it, Why?  Because we believe in the promises of God in his word.  Yes, we did what we could do to pay the bills, but we didn’t lose sight of our faith in God that he is able to make everything right.  And God did it according to his word as we believe in him and his word.

Because it says in Psa 84:  no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. 

So what God is saying is, just keep seeking and believing in me, and don’t worry about the blessings, just keep serving me, and the blessings will come and will be added to you.

Do you remember your job, when all that you’re concern about was to have that job and get paid for the job, and do that and nothing else.  Especially because it was at a time when they were laying off people left and right.  And so you did the best that you can to keep that job, but most of all, you made sure that the bossman is pleased with your job.  And if the bossman tells you that your job needs improvement, there was no reason for you to argue with the bossman.  And so, you work that job to live! and had high hopes to get a raised someday.  And there’s one thing you didn’t do, you didn't ask or tell your bossman to give you a raise.  And there were people who keep bugging their bosses to give them a pay raise, and guess what?  they didn’t get what they asked for;  when really all they had to do was do a real good job, and that will make the bossman smile, and make his heart tender.  We don’t have to worry about the bossman giving us a raise or even giving us a promotion, all we have to do is do a good job, and make the bossman feel proud.  All that we need to do is focus on the job, and do what the boss tells us to do and do it, in the best way we can.

Isn’t it the same way with God? that if you just do what God had shown you or tell you to do that God will add the blessings.  And people sometimes complain when they don’t get a raise from the bossman, when they’ve been doing a sorry job, go to the bathroom a lot, missing a lot of work time, and having too much down time, when there’s a lot of things to do if you just look for it.  And people blame God, God where is my blessing, where’s my raise, where’s my promotion?  Did not God tell Cain  also in,


 Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? 


Because Cain did not like the fact that God did not honor his sacrfice with fire from heaven as He did to Abel's sacrifice.  But Cain knew exactly what to do, but he didn't do it.  Cain knew what he ought to have sacrificed before God.  And the blessings of God, as long as keep on seeking him, and serving him, and walking uprightly before him, the blessings of God will come.  And they come as opportunities.  And they come at the time when you’re not even seeking for it, or worrying about it.  They come in the form of open doors of opportunities that God just drops in your way for you to take.  Yes open doors! perhaps a job that is offered you, or available for you to fill, that pays a great sum of money.  And if it’s in the form of great riches or finances, that means that God is trusting you, that you cannot become greedy and selfish and end up forgetting God because of it, and God will make sure that he will be glorified for it for blessing you.  

And sometimes we think that we are the provider but in actuality, God has always been our provider since the very beginning, so that before he created man, everything that man needed was already created for him.  God first made man’s resources before he created him.  And when man sinned against God, God provided the right sacrifice for man to be delivered from his sin.  And the ultimate sacrifice and blessing for us is His Son Jesus Christ, for us to be saved from sin and from the torment of hell and the lake of fire.  And that all we have to do is come to him and submit ourselves to him and believe him.  For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.