God's Blessings

There are a lot of ifs in the Bible. There is also the law of reaping and sowing.


Galatians 5:7-8, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that he shall also reap. For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."


1 Kings 21:29, "Seest though how Ahab humbleth hiimself before me? I will not bring evil in his days: but in his sons days will I bring evil upon his house."

Matthew 5:5, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."


Psalm 119:2, "Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart."

Jerimiah 3 has a wonderful command and promise to those who will obey.

Psalm 67:11, "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy."

Duet 4:40, "Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with they children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth.."

John 14:15,21 "If ye love me, keep my commandments. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and I will love him, and manifest myself to him."

Prov 8:17, "I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me."

 

Revelation 22:12,
"Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done."

1 Corinthians 3:10-15,"each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work.
14 If any man's work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward.
15 If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire."


Matthew 16:24-27, " Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
25 "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it.
26 "For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
27 "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."

Revelation 3:7-10
7 "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write...
8 "I know your deeds... you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name...
10 "Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

 

If you mean physical blessings--like health and an abundance of material things, then I would say maybe, and then again, maybe not. We are not assured that our obedience will bring us good stuff. Some of the most obedient suffer the most in this life. In fact, Paul calls suffering for Christ's name a GIFT!

Read Psalm 73. David looked around and saw that the wicked were doing a lot better than he was. "Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure." He saw no temporal reward for being righteous.

The conclusion he draws is this: The wicked get what they deserve in the end, and the righteous get what they ought to be desiring most--God himself, who upholds them in the trials of this life, and will be their reward in heaven.

 

If we have to earn anything from God theres no such thing as grace. Any blessing we recieve is not based on us, but who God is. If grrace is free you can't earn it.

 

I can't help think of the blessing of the Word sown in the heart and the fruit of that being an ultimate blessing.

The word is sown, then tries to take root.

But there are things that can prevent, hinder, hide or steal it. But there is hope. The seed that is planted in good ground can take deep root and can produce a plant that bears much fruit. A plant that produces much good fruit glorifies the Father.

At one time or another my heart (soil) has been in every kind of condition. Hard, rocky, weak and unfruitful. But I give thanks to the gardner of my heart who is working to create better ground in me. He is more faithful than I am when it comes to tending the garden.

What I guess I am saying is that I think blessings are given freely and not earned, but I can miss them or not see them if I am not looking for them. To be blessed and not know it or be un-thankful for a blessing is a sad condition for me to be in.

Something as simple as this: Blessed are they who believe but have not yet seen. I've never seen the kind of miracles that the early Christians saw. Yet I believe and continue to believe and I hope and continue to hope. Why is that?

It's this that makes me want to be more thankful to God. Even for the littlest of things. Any thing that tries to interfere with that is not good for me.

It is my hope that by hiding his word in my heart, keeping his sayings and commandments, I will no longer miss observing what he freely gives me. Whether a little or a lot, it comes from God himself and that amazes me to no end.

I think it is all there, I just need clear and focused vision and a good heart to see it all.

Therefore I strive more and more to find the Kingdom and others who are like minded. I trust in his faithfulness too.

Dave.

 

I do believe God loves the righteous and will reward that. He also disciplines us to remove sin. Both take place in a believer's life.

All of God's blessing are because of His grace.

 

We don't earn anything from God. Everything we receive is because of His grace. Even the good works that we do come as a result of His work within us--His re-creating us in Christ Jesus so that we do the good works that he prepared beforehand for us to do.

But there are certainly blessings that come to us as a result of that God-worked obedience--a closer relationship with God himself being the greatest blessing.

 

Matthew 6:32
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

 

Matthew 5:1
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

 

You've been hanging around with the Apostle Paul lately haven't you Dr. Bob?

That's a good thing.

I like it.

Dave.