Blessed to Bless

"Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you His covenant and His lovingkindness which He swore to your forefathers. He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no male or female barren among you or among your cattle. The Lord will remove from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will lay them on all who hate you." -Deuteronomy 7.12-15

The section heading for this passage in, and the ones following it, is "Promises of God". In reading this is sounds good, and it would be very easy to take this as Prosperity Gospel. But this is not saying do this, this, and this, and then God will bless you with what you want. Remember, God blesses us so that we can in turn bless others. Blessed to be a blessing, that's how this works.

Here God is sharing the results of living as His holy people. If we live faithfully and obediently before God, then God will keep us in His lovingkindness. He will bless and multiply us, again so that we can bless others. Our children, the work of our hands, and all that we do, will be blessed if we remain faithful to God. God says that those who live under His covenant will be blessed above all peoples, so that they can bless all peoples. God blesses those who live faithfully and obediently to Him so that they can bless others.

Men, are you living in a way that invites God's blessing? Are you living as a blessing to others? God desires to bless those who are faithful to Him, out of His lovingkindness, so that they may in turn bless others with His loveingkindess.

Let us live in a way that can receive the blessings of God, and let us in turn bless others.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Blessed in the Wilderness

"For the LORD your God has blessed you in all that you have done; He has known your wanderings through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing." -Deuteronomy 2.7

Moses is recalling parts of the journey that has brought the people to this point. Here he reminds the people how God always took care of them. Even in the wilderness they have been blessed and lacked for nothing. That is how God works.

Right now in my life I would say that I'm in the wilderness. I am not doing what I am passionate about to the degree God has called me to, but I truly believe He is leading me to the "Promised Land" of ministry. But for now I'm left to work and provide for my family however I can, and do ministry with the little spare time I have left. But in this time I have seen God bless me and make me lack for nothing.

Right now the job I am work in is a truly a blessing of God. I work Monday to Friday, no weekends. I don't pay for health care or put anything into retirement, my company takes care of it all. On top of that the give very generous year end bonuses that should have us out of school debt sometime in the next five years. And perhaps the biggest blessing, they are paying for my Master's degrees 100%, books included. God is providing for our immediate needs, taking care of some long term things, and allowing me to get prepared for the Promised Land, all while I'm I the wilderness.

That is my God. It is a journey to get to the Promised Land, but God is with us every step of the way blessing is with His provisions and preparations. He blesses us even in the wilderness because He is good.

Men, maybe you find yourself in a similar place. You are wandering in the wilderness and nothing seems to be going right. God is there, He has never left you, and He wants to bless you. It may not be a blessing of everything your heart desires, but He will take care of all your needs. If you follow Him, trust Him, you will lack for nothing.

Let us look for the blessings of the wilderness.

(About two years ago I wrote more on the idea of blessings of the wilderness on my other blog. If you are interested in reading some more about what the wilderness can provide follow the link at the bottom to my blog, "Give me words" and do a search for "Blessings of the Wilderness".)

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor