How Much God Wants to Bless You

“The Lord will again take delight in prospering you.” (Deuteronomy 30:9)

God does not bless us begrudgingly. There is a kind of eagerness about the beneficence of God. He does not wait for us to come to him. He seeks us out, because it is his pleasure to do us good. God is not waiting for us; he is pursuing us. That, in fact, is the literal translation of Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life.”

God loves to show mercy. Let me say it again. God loves to show mercy. He is not hesitant or indecisive or tentative in his desires to do good to his people. His anger must be released by a stiff safety lock, but his mercy has a hair trigger. That’s what he meant when he came down on Mount Sinai and said to Moses, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (Exodus 34:6). It’s what he meant when he said in Jeremiah 9:24, “I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

God is never irritable or edgy. His anger never has a short fuse. Instead he is infinitely energetic with absolutely unbounded and unending enthusiasm for the fulfillment of his delights.

This is hard for us to comprehend, because we have to sleep every day just to cope, not to mention thrive. Our emotions go up and down. We get bored and discouraged one day and feel hopeful and excited another.

We are like little geysers that gurgle and sputter and pop erratically. But God is like a great Niagara Falls — you look at 186,000 tons of water crashing over the precipice every minute, and think: Surely this can’t keep going at this force year after year after year. Yet it does.

That’s the way God is about doing us good. He never grows weary of it. It never gets boring to him. The Niagara of his grace has no end.

John Piper 

Are You Working for What’s Already Yours?

PRAY OVER THIS

“And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.” Genesis 25:34

 

PONDER THIS

The birthright was a special blessing that belonged to the firstborn son. It linked everything in Isaac’s family to the blessing God had given to Abraham. God gave a blessing to Abraham. Abraham gave the blessing to Isaac. Isaac was to give the blessing to his son, and so forth. The birthright was to follow on not only through Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob’s sons—the twelve tribes of Israel—but also on to Jesse and David, all the way to Joseph and Mary, and on to Jesus. The birthright was a promise that included provision. It included possessions. It included protection.

Now here’s the ironic thing: According to Genesis 25, the birthright already belonged to Jacob. God said that the older would serve the younger (Genesis 25:23). The second son that came out of the womb would have the birthright. And here’s Jacob trying to connive and get what is already his. So, he said to Esau, “Okay, friend, you want the stew; I want the blessing. We’ll just make a trade. Deal?” And they shook hands and Esau ate the stew and Jacob said, “I’ve put one over on him. I now have the birthright.” But it was already his.

What “birthright” belongs to you if you are a follower of Jesus?

What are some ways you work to earn from God, even though He’s already given you what you need in Jesus?

PRACTICE THIS

Look back at the ways you said you seek to earn favor from God. Make a corresponding list of the ways God has already provided all you need in Jesus.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

What It Means to Bless the Lord

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! (Psalm 103:1)

The psalm begins and ends with the psalmist preaching to his soul to bless the Lord — “Bless the Lord, O my soul” — and preaching to the angels and the hosts of heaven and the works of God’s hands that they should do the same.

Bless the Lord, O you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his word,

obeying the voice of his word!

Bless the Lord, all his hosts,

his ministers, who do his will!

Bless the Lord, all his works,

in all places of his dominion.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

(Psalm 103:20–22)

The psalm is overwhelmingly focused on blessing the Lord. What does it mean to bless the Lord?

It means to speak well of his greatness and goodness — and really mean it from the depths of your soul.

What David is doing in the first and last verses of this psalm, when he says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul,” is saying that authentic speaking about God’s goodness and greatness must come from the soul.

Blessing God with the mouth without the soul would be hypocrisy. Jesus said, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). David knows that danger, and he is preaching to himself. He is telling his soul not to let this happen.

“Come, soul, look at the greatness and goodness of God. Join my mouth, and let us bless the Lord with our whole being. Soul, we are not going to be a hypocrite!”

John Piper 

How Much God Wants to Bless You

“The Lord will again take delight in prospering you.” (Deuteronomy 30:9)

God does not bless us begrudgingly. There is a kind of eagerness about the beneficence of God. He does not wait for us to come to him. He seeks us out, because it is his pleasure to do us good. God is not waiting for us; he is pursuing us. That, in fact, is the literal translation of Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life.”

God loves to show mercy. Let me say it again. God loves to show mercy. He is not hesitant or indecisive or tentative in his desires to do good to his people. His anger must be released by a stiff safety lock, but his mercy has a hair trigger. That’s what he meant when he came down on Mount Sinai and said to Moses, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (Exodus 34:6). It’s what he meant when he said in Jeremiah 9:24, “I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

God is never irritable or edgy. His anger never has a short fuse. Instead he is infinitely energetic with absolutely unbounded and unending enthusiasm for the fulfillment of his delights.

This is hard for us to comprehend, because we have to sleep every day just to cope, not to mention thrive. Our emotions go up and down. We get bored and discouraged one day and feel hopeful and excited another.

We are like little geysers that gurgle and sputter and pop erratically. But God is like a great Niagara Falls — you look at 186,000 tons of water crashing over the precipice every minute, and think: Surely this can’t keep going at this force year after year after year. Yet it does.

That’s the way God is about doing us good. He never grows weary of it. It never gets boring to him. The Niagara of his grace has no end.

John Piper 

Too many blessings to list

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. Psalm 100:4. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Colossians 3:15

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

If worry is the opposite of faith, then giving thanks is the expression of faith—in fact, the highest expression. You say, “I don’t know if I have as much to thank God for as some other people.” The apostle Paul was in a filthy Philippian jail awaiting possible beheading, when he wrote, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

God has blessed you. You may not think so, because you’re measuring blessings by the barometer of health, wealth, and happiness. Sometimes those are blessings, sometimes they’re not. Some people are cursed with wealth. Some don’t know how to use health. And happiness keeps some people from seeking the Lord.

Let me tell you what blessings we have: “Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with benefits…” (Psalm 68:19). God has loaded your wagon. How often? Daily! “It is of the LORD’S mercies we’re not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning…” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Every day you wake up to blessings. Thank Him for simple blessings like good, clean water. Enough food. Shelter. We are so blessed.

ACTION POINT:

I’ve noticed un-thankful people are never happy people. They’re filled with bitterness, fear, negativism, selfishness and self-pity. Refuse to worry, but carry everything to God in prayer. Rejoice in the presence of the Lord, leaning upon His power and provision. Rest in the peace of the Lord. Do everything with thanksgiving.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Is God generous or stingy?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

James 1:5

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

James 1:5 tells us that if we lack wisdom, we are to ask God. Let me tell you what that literally means: If you lack wisdom, ask of the “giving” God. Have you thought of God as the “giving” God?

ACTION POINT:

What does it mean to you that God yearns to pour out His blessing upon you? Do you say to yourself, “Oh goodie—let me see what I can get from God”?

Or does it humble you that the Almighty God who created the air you breathe, the ground you walk upon, and the body you are draped in…this God loves you and wants to bless you? I pray it is the latter, for that is the heart of a child of God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

How Much God Wants to Bless You

“The Lord will again take delight in prospering you.” (Deuteronomy 30:9)

God does not bless us begrudgingly. There is a kind of eagerness about the beneficence of God. He does not wait for us to come to him. He seeks us out, because it is his pleasure to do us good. God is not waiting for us; he is pursuing us. That, in fact, is the literal translation of Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life.”

God loves to show mercy. Let me say it again. God loves to show mercy. He is not hesitant or indecisive or tentative in his desires to do good to his people. His anger must be released by a stiff safety lock, but his mercy has a hair trigger. That’s what he meant when he came down on Mount Sinai and said to Moses, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (Exodus 34:6). It’s what he meant when he said in Jeremiah 9:24, “I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

God is never irritable or edgy. His anger never has a short fuse. Instead he is infinitely energetic with absolutely unbounded and unending enthusiasm for the fulfillment of his delights.

This is hard for us to comprehend, because we have to sleep every day just to cope, not to mention thrive. Our emotions go up and down. We get bored and discouraged one day and feel hopeful and excited another.

We are like little geysers that gurgle and sputter and pop erratically. But God is like a great Niagara Falls — you look at 186,000 tons of water crashing over the precipice every minute, and think: Surely this can’t keep going at this force year after year after year. Yet it does.

That’s the way God is about doing us good. He never grows weary of it. It never gets boring to him. The Niagara of his grace has no end.

John Piper 

The Church God Blesses

What kind of church does God bless?

The church is God's people not the building.

1. A people who oversee with the Power of God.

1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.

2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.

6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. - Acts 2:1-6

The Holy Spirit fell upon the people and they spoke in a language they did not previously know.

This was by the power of God alone!

Has our fire dimmed? 

And the Lord said: "Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,  - Isaiah 29:13

Are we meeting to worship and adore our Lord!

Seek God.

Follow God.

Serve God.

Love God.

There is none like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is great in might.  - Jeremiah 10:6 ESV

Jeremiah 10:6 CSB

[6] LORD, there is no one like you. You are great; your name is great in power.

God send a revival to Your people.

Save the lost.

Show Your Power!

God You alone are great!

Thank you Pastor Kevin!!

What It Means to Bless the Lord

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! (Psalm 103:1)

The psalm begins and ends with the psalmist preaching to his soul to bless the Lord — “Bless the Lord, O my soul” — and preaching to the angels and the hosts of heaven and the works of God’s hands that they should do the same.

Bless the Lord, O you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his word,

obeying the voice of his word!

Bless the Lord, all his hosts,

his ministers, who do his will!

Bless the Lord, all his works,

in all places of his dominion.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

(Psalm 103:20–22)

The psalm is overwhelmingly focused on blessing the Lord. What does it mean to bless the Lord?

It means to speak well of his greatness and goodness — and really mean it from the depths of your soul.

What David is doing in the first and last verses of this psalm, when he says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul,” is saying that authentic speaking about God’s goodness and greatness must come from the soul.

Blessing God with the mouth without the soul would be hypocrisy. Jesus said, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). David knows that danger, and he is preaching to himself. He is telling his soul not to let this happen.

“Come, soul, look at the greatness and goodness of God. Join my mouth, and let us bless the Lord with our whole being. Soul, we are not going to be a hypocrite!”

John Piper 

How Much God Wants to Bless You

The Lord will again take delight in prospering you.” (Deuteronomy 30:9)

God does not bless us begrudgingly. There is a kind of eagerness about the beneficence of God. He does not wait for us to come to him. He seeks us out, because it is his pleasure to do us good. God is not waiting for us; he is pursuing us. That, in fact, is the literal translation of Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life.”

God loves to show mercy. Let me say it again. God loves to show mercy. He is not hesitant or indecisive or tentative in his desires to do good to his people. His anger must be released by a stiff safety lock, but his mercy has a hair trigger. That’s what he meant when he came down on Mount Sinai and said to Moses, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (Exodus 34:6). It’s what he meant when he said in Jeremiah 9:24, “I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

God is never irritable or edgy. His anger never has a short fuse. Instead he is infinitely energetic with absolutely unbounded and unending enthusiasm for the fulfillment of his delights.

This is hard for us to comprehend, because we have to sleep every day just to cope, not to mention thrive. Our emotions go up and down. We get bored and discouraged one day and feel hopeful and excited another.

We are like little geysers that gurgle and sputter and pop erratically. But God is like a great Niagara Falls — you look at 186,000 tons of water crashing over the precipice every minute, and think: Surely this can’t keep going at this force year after year after year. Yet it does.

That’s the way God is about doing us good. He never grows weary of it. It never gets boring to him. The Niagara of his grace has no end.

John Piper 

Shake Off Fear—Embrace Blessing!

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” Ephesians 1:3

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Did you know that fear can cause you to forget things? Now, I’m not talking about forgetting a phone number or someone’s name, though it may cause you to forget things like that. Instead, I’m referring to fear that causes you to forget the blessings, the anointing, the power of God—all these possessions you have because you are saved!

It happened to Timothy, who was mightily gifted and graced by God for the ministry that God had given him.  Yet he forgot this in the midst of fear, and Paul had to remind him (see 2 Timothy 1:6). He had taken his eyes off of God and focused on fear so much that he couldn’t see anything else.

Let me tell you something friend: You are tremendously blessed! If you get your mind distracted by fear, then you will fail to see your blessings in Christ. Fear will blow out every light in your soul, take the blue out of your sky, and the joy out of your life.

ACTION POINT:

Friend, wake up and count your blessings. Rejoice, for you are in Christ!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

God May Use Distress to Expand Your Influence

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that Thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that Thine hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.” 1 Chronicles 4:10

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The story of Jabez is one of a man who wanted his influence to be enlarged. God can stretch you, as well.

If you ask that God enlarge your influence, be aware of this: For the Psalmist, Psalm 4:1 says that God enlarged him when he was “in distress.” You can expect that God may use distressing circumstances to do that in you. And the pain will be worth it all.

When God enlarges you, He does so to fill you with more of Himself. Don’t be satisfied with God’s filling a small place if God wants to fill a larger place.

ACTION POINT:

Are you ready to say, “God I want more. I want You to enlarge my coasts. I don’t want just a blessing. I want a blessing indeed”? We need to pray big prayers to a big God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers