God's Promises... (3)

You want to be blessed...

This morning, I would like to continue to look at promises that God has made.

2 Corinthians 1:20 NLT

For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.

I want to take a little time and look at Abram or as most of us know him as Abraham. The purpose of the Bible isn’t just to read stories about history, it’s to look at how God worked in the lives of people in history and be encouraged that God still wants to work in our lives today.

Abraham is known as a great man of faith. He was a friend of God.

Humour me for a minute, and imagine being raised all of your life in a certain area. You had built up a business. You had a home and property to run your animals, (Abraham was involved in 21st century BC. agriculture. I’d have to say that his farming practices were a little different than ours today.) and one day you hear an audible voice that changes the course of the rest of your life.

It would take some convincing for a lot of people to think that they were not going crazy to leave everything that you knew for something that you had never seen.

There was no Google Earth to zoom in on the land where Abraham was going to go. He couldn’t hop on a plan and go and look at the area, and yet, his faith was credited to him as righteousness.

Let’s read Genesis 12:1-9

Genesis 12:1–9 NLT

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him. After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord. Then Abram continued traveling south by stages toward the Negev.

Dead - In - Shell

I grew up in a home where there were lots of sayings, and some of them have stuck and others not so much, but as a child when I’d hear a saying that I didn’t know what it meant, I’d ask, “What do you mean?

“that person is running around like a chicken with its head cut off.”

“Don’t be like a dog in the manger.”

“A stitch in time saves nine.”

“Silence is golden.”

“A change is as good as a rest.”

“Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.”

“They are driving their pigs to a poor market.”

“Don’t put your eggs all in one basket.”

My dad used to say that a person was

Dead in the shell

I often wondered what that saying meant. I knew that he would say that it was about a person that wasn’t very ambitious or just couldn’t make a decision. They just couldn’t pull the trigger so to speak.

Dead - In - Shell means that the embryo of a bird dies while it is still in the shell. Maybe a mother hen hasn’t properly incubated the eggs and the developing chicks don’t survive.

Let’s stop for a moment and take a moment to think. I want you to take a moment and think back to a dream that you had of what you wanted to become. Maybe you have a dream even now, of something that you would like to do, or a place that you would like to go, and you just haven’t done it yet. Sometimes we call it a “Bucket list” item.

Maybe God has been speaking to your heart about a ministry or a person that He wants you to share Christ with and you are too afraid to take the next step.

Abram stepped out in faith

Let’s use Abram as an example. In this passage, its says that he’s 75 years-old. Most of us don’t have huge plans to move somewhere else to start a new life at the age of 75, but when God spoke to Abram, he to a step of faith.

Abram hadn’t grown up in the church. He didn’t have a Bible that he read so he knew the Scripture, but when God spoke to him, he listened.

How far did Abram and his family travel?

I don’t have a definitive answer but it was between 1300 to 2100 Kilometers. This journey took time, but it included everything that he had.

Abram needed to make a clean break in his life to follow the Lord. He couldn’t put a few containers on a train or load all of his possessions on transports or airplanes, but he got up and left his country.

What can we learn from this?

We too need to leave our past behind us to follow Christ.

Philippians 3:12–14 NLT

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

If Abram had been content to stay in ur of the Chaldees, he would have never become what God wanted him to become, so it is with us. If we are content to stay in the same place that we were before we came to faith in Christ, we will not become the people God wants us to be.

Paul said that he counted all things rubbish that he might gain Christ. He had a great heritage. He had performed at high standards according to his religious sect, and yet he hadn’t pleased God.

Who you are, your value is not based on what you do or whose family you were born into, it has been settled at the cross.

What was God’s promise?

Genesis 12:2–3 NLT

I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

God promised Abram if he obeyed that his descendants would become a great nation. He promised to bless him and to make him famous.

Over 4000 years later, we still know who Abraham was.

The Apostle Paul said that we too share the same blessing.

Galatians 3:8–9 NLT

What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

3 John 2 NKJV

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

If we think that we can please God by everything that we have done, we nullify the grace of God and we are not under the blessing.

As you walk with God will bless you. I’m not here to promise you a rose garden, but God has promised to bless us.

Matthew 6:33 NKJV

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

The devil uses worry as one of his sharpest arrows. He wants us to get our eyes off of God and focused on our problems. My God is bigger than all of my problems.

Philippians 4:19 NLT

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

God has promised to bless us so that we can bless others.

He said to Abram,

Genesis 12:2 NLT

I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.

Literally God said, “Be a blessing.”

We have lost the plot if we think that when God has blessed us that it is all for us. We can be blessed with time, with money, with talents, and the list can go on and on, but it is so that we can be a blessing.

Money is not the root of all evil.

1 Timothy 6:10 NLT

For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

Let’s keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Let’s not be tempted to fix our eyes on the things we possess, if we do, they will possess us.

How can we be a blessing?

This answer is going to be different for each of us. God didn’t use a human cookie cutter when He made us, so He will use us as He sees fit.

Let’s be open to what the Spirit is saying to us? Sometimes we feel guilted into doing something for the Lord. The Holy Spirit leads, He doesn’t push.

Yes, we need volunteers in the church. We need those willing to serve, and many have grown weary and tired, we can even begrudge going to church for fear that we might be asked to give something or do something.

My only request of you this morning is that you ask God to give you wisdom to know where He wants to you to serve and then serve cheerfully.

Getting burned...

Have you ever felt like you got burned or taken advantage of when God asked you to do something.

The results aren’t up to you. I’m going to say this again, “The results aren’t up to you.”

Sometimes we set unrealistic expectations and when we don’t achieve them, we say to ourselves, “I’ll never do that again.”

Matthew 25:31–40 NLT

“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

When you are a blessing, you are not just blessing an individual, you are blessing the Lord.

Luke 6:38 NIV

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Proverbs 19:17 NLT

If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord— and he will repay you!

Jesus has given us everything, and He has blessed us with everything that we need for life and for godliness.

He has given us salvation. He has blessed us with great riches. He given us our health, and even our breath itself.

He has promised to bless us, and He has called us to be a blessing.

To close,

Romans 12:9–21 NLT

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

This week ask God to show how to be a blessing.

Let’s pray!