Are they from God the Creator, or the god of this world system, Lucifer? You may be surprised!!
Before you get all bent out of shape reading this writing, get a semblance of what the words “bless” and “blessing” mean here.
This topic will draw much ire from the religious community as it is directed at the religious community. My statements will probably result in much…, well let’s just say it factually, hatred and feelings of self-righteousness out of said religious community. I am sure that will include family and friends and they will distance themselves from me even more. However, truth is truth and I will quote three (3) of my favorite scriptures below. I can handle the hate, John 15:18 “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.” Can you handle the truth?
Galatians 4:16 “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?”
John 8:32 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
John 8:36 “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
Are you fornicating? Are you getting drunk or just having a few? Are you cussing every other word? Are you listening to rock and roll and other worldly music? Are you watching perverted TV shows and movies out of the pits of hell? Do you love the worldly pleasures and embrace them? Do you party hardy? Do you do these things and other ungodly activities like gossiping, go to church and call yourself a Christian thinking you’re being blessed by God?
Are you involved in one of the good ole boys clubs, like the Masons, Shriners, Knights Templar, Knights of Columbus, Elks lodge and the like? Well honey, you best think again and reevaluate your relationship with God and your salvation!!
If all is hunky dory in your life and Satan is NOT fighting you every step of the way, then you are in HIS camp and that is where your blessings are coming from.
Deuteronomy 11:26-29 “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.”
In the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy verses 1-14, God lets his people, (not the heathens who worship false gods) know how to receive a blessing and what is required of them. Its too long to post here so get your Bible and read chapter 28 in its entirety.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.”
Go read the next 12 verses to see how you will be blessed.
Now…, if you do not obey Gods Word and rebel, then curses will come on you.
Deuteronomy 28:15-20 ‘But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.”
Again, go read the next 48 verses and if you’re rebelling or out of the will of God, it should shock you back into reality! You say, “I see some who are going to church and live in sin and they are blessed”. No, not by the God of the Bible they are not!!
Most will argue that the Old Testament laws do not apply to us today, and that is true. While we do not keep the laws as a means to be justified before God, we still need to obey the moral laws, i.e., the Ten Commandments. Matthew 5:17 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” There is one (1) exception and that is the keeping of the Sabbath day , which is Saturday in Judaism. The Sabbath was a day of rest, and now that Jesus has fulfilled all of the old law, we “rest” in him and what he did on the Cross for us. Everyday is a Sabbath, a day of rest in Christ. (see that info here)
Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
I find it amusing when I see someone on social media (or anywhere else for that matter) write “feeling blessed”, “I am blessed”, “I just got blessed”, or some other combination of words that describe a euphoric feeling of a blessing that they think….., is coming from God.
The same ones who are writing or saying it, are the most foul mouthed, perverted, and nasty people I know. I assure you I know what a foul mouthed, perverted, and nasty person is, because I used to be one, and if you ask my wife she will gladly confirm it!
They get slobbering drunk, post pictures of themselves in short skirts with copious amounts of cleavage showing, cuss each other out, use racist language, and then make posts for prayer and expect the vending machine god they serve to bless them! These are what I call the religious lost, meaning they think they know of God with head knowledge, but are far from him. Jesus describes these types of people when he addressed the Scribes and Pharisees in Matthew chapter 15.
Matthew 15:8 “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.”
So if these people’s hearts are far from God, who are they calling on….., and who is supposedly blessing them, or giving them that euphoric feeling???? The god of this world system, Satan!!
Do these words resonate with you? Do you see yourself being described here? The Apostle Paul writing to Timothy in the 2nd epistle says it this way:
2nd Timothy 3:1-7 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Most people can recognize these behaviors in others but will not see these same things in themselves. How do I know that? Until the Lord chastised me, I was just as blind. He took my religious blinders off, and I saw myself in the light of truth. Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see. Praise God!!
What does it mean to be blessed and what are the results of being blessed?
The majority of people believe that if you having money, a big house, a fancy car, the latest fashions, gold and silver hanging everywhere on their body, is evidence that they are blessed by God. Wrong. Simply not so. In fact it is just the opposite. The acquisition of things does NOT mean you are blessed, at least not blessed by the one and only TRUE GOD of the Bible. Yes, there are those God the Father chooses to prosper financially. They are privileged to be vessels He uses to move money through because they can be trusted. Things do not represent you’re blessed, and in fact, you can have next to nothing and be a thousand (1000) times more blessed the richest person on the planet.
Proverbs 15:16 “Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.”
George Beverly Shea’s classic song “I’d rather have Jesus” spells it all out, and it should be the anthem of every Christian. If you make it the anthem of your heart and truly “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33) It may not be in the way you think, or in the way you want, but he will bless you.
Psalm 37:25 “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”
I can attest to Psalm 37:25 as I have been living on faith for over 20 years! I can only trust him to supply what my family needs. Can you say the same?
I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold;
I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands;
I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand
Refrain:
Than to be the king of a vast domain
Or be held in sin’s dread sway;
I’d rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today.
I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause;
I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame;
I’d rather be true to His holy name
He’s fairer than lilies of rarest bloom;
He’s sweeter than honey from out the comb;
He’s all that my hungering spirit needs;
I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead
The Bible instructs the believer, those who claim to be Christians, not be like the rest of the world. If you are truly Born Again, you will not want to do the ungodly things that you did before, and you will not go to the places and do things that a Christian should not do! You will NOT be like the religious lost described above.
2nd Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
2nd Corinthians 6:17 “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,”
Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Alas, most only give lip-service to being a Christian. There are those who claim to be Christian and can’t discern what they should not be doing or condoning. They do not follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, who should be always in control. That is, if they are truly Born Again. However, they are carnally minded and still have on blinders.
Romans 8:5-8 “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”
The problem is most do not know the difference between good and evil. They have no discernment. Why? Because spiritual things are spiritually discerned and they are not walking by the Spirit. What most shrug off as being insignificant, God sees them as an abomination… Iniquity.
Isaiah 5:20 “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
All throughout the Bible, Old and New Testaments, we find conditions that must be met in order for God’s blessing to flow. Though the conditions are many, the main theme is to obey God. In essence, do what he tells you to do. The only way you can accomplish this is through knowledge of his word and a hunger to seek after His ways. If not, we are no better than the ungodly, those religious lost, who go about their daily lives seeking the things of the world and the desires of their own hearts. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.
If that is you then the entirety of the words that follow, you need to take to heart because your very soul, your salvation could be in question. You need to examine who you’re really serving, and where your heart really lies. Are you’re Blessing’s coming from the God of Heaven…., or are they coming from the god of this world system, the ruler of darkness, Satan?
Psalms 7:11 “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.”
Psalms 1:1 “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”
Proverbs 8:34-36 “Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.”
Jeremiah 17:7 “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.”
James 1:12 “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”
Matthew 6:24 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
You MUST be Saved meaning Born Again to receive the blessings from God. Your church can’t save you. Your denomination can’t save you. Praying to false gods can’t save you. And certainly, religion can’t save you. Only Faith in Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross of Calvary can save you.
John 3:1-3 “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”