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Introduction
Tonight, I would like to share with you something that has been on my heart for the last few weeks concerning the blessings of God.
It has occured to me that many people don’t know how to be blessed.
Furthermore, we have concluded that there are some that are not even aware of what it means to be blessed.
Now, we don’t have time to go over the individual strategies you must embrace to be blessed.
However, I do want to present to you the approach one may used to develop the strategies that will lead them to all of God’s blessings for them.
This is God’s will for all His people.
He desires and has created it to be that we would live in His providential blessings.
I must say before proceeding—now is the time to be a Bible student.
It is so important that we obtain and cultivate an understanding of Scripture that allows us to not only read the word, but experience it.
Now, I have developed the following arguments for the approach that I feel should be used to gain the blessings of God:
God does not change (Malachi 3:6)
God’s Word does not change
What God requires from us does not change.
Since God does not change and His Word does not change and what He requires from us does not change, then this means we must approach the Scriptures in a way that reflects the consistency of God’s nature and behavior.
Now, our traditional reading of Scripture has taught us to read the Bible as two books: one book is made of the Old Testament and the second is made of the New Testament.
However, if Scripture declares the consistency of God, we should investigate and view the nature and behavior of God in a way that respects His nature.
Therefore, I suggest the only way to study Scripture in a way that makes His blessings available to us is by studying the entirety of Scripture to determine the principles that lead the life God has intended for His people.
This means, we must study both the old and new testament to determine the overall message the Holy Spirit provides about how God intervenes and interacts with mankind.
We know this approach to Scripture is reliable, because of the passage we considered earlier.
Hebrews 4 uses an example for the Old Testament passages to convey a modern point.
Now, before we investigate our passage for this evening, we must understand there is a difference between blessings and reward.
The reward is heaven (Matthew 5:12, Matthew 6:1, Luke 6:23)
The word μισθός in the references above should not be mistaken for the word ἀποδίδωμι.
ἀποδίδωμι is the action God renders based on human participation.
However, μισθός is the very essence of the reward itself and Jesus teaches it is in heaven.
It is a way of saying one is giving the act of receiving, but in heaven is the actual thing that one receives (verb vs. noun).
The blessings are those things that can be inherited on earth.
The Hebrew word for blessings as in Deuteronomy 28:2 means prosperity and life.
It is a vow or an oath that results in prosperity.
This means, God will make promises to you that will lead to your prosperity and life (see John 10:10).
Furthermore, there are two ways to receive blessings
By faithful obedience to God’s Word
By supernatural providence.
Most people live on one end of two spectrums.
They either live to be blessed or they live to get the reward.
This is to say, they live to go to heaven or they live to get all of heaven on earth.
Tonight, I want us to develop the approach to Scripture that will allow us to live to receive the blessings as we make our way to heaven, which is the reward.
Now the reward is like a carnival cruise.
My wife and I reached 9 years of marriage yesterday, and we went to dinner to celebrate.
As we sat at dinner we begin to think about what we will be doing to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary.
So, we decided we would travel out of the country and take a cruise.
What we discovered as we were searching for destinations is that there are options to get what is called an “all-inclusive” trip, which includes all of the amenities.
This is how heaven must be.
It is a place with many experiences.
For the reward is singular, but the heaven is filled with experiences and amenities, because of the plurality of fortunes granted to those who inherit it.
So tonight, we will focus on the blessings that are afforded to us and how they might be gained.
We will look at specific examples and principles within Scripture that convey the consistent nature of God and His participation in the affairs of man.
We will also see the two ways in which a person might gain the blessings of God.
Hebrews 4:12-13 Explanation
Now, before we begin our study, we must establish the fact that God has always intended for His people to be blessed.
God never intended for His people to live in want or lack.
Rather, He established the proper means by which we can take advantage of His power to have everything we need.
It has always been God’s principle that we obtain the providential blessings of God as we faithfully obey His Word/ commandments (Genesis 2:15-17, 3:20-24).
Now, Hebrews 4:12-13 is rooted in this principle and a context that uses the Old Testament as an example for how one should live in the modern day.
This is common in Scripture.
The Old Testament is the blueprint for the living in the New Testament/ New Covenant era.
In this passage the writer uses the example of Israel’s failure to enter the Promised Land because of their lack of faith (Hebrews 4:1-3, 5).
That is, God prepared blessings for those who did not enter the Promised Land before the foundation of the world.
Yet, they did not receive it, because of their disobedience (Hebrews 4:6).
The writer’s admonishment to the church is to hear the Lord’s voice, which is the Word of God (Hebrews 4:7, c.f. Hebrews 4:12-13).
By hearing the Word of the God, we are able to enter “another” rest, so we won’t fall into disobedience.
We should not be mistaken to think that rest means no work at all.
Rather, it means to obediently work in response to what God has designed and intended; to not work in accordance to our own plan and ideas (see Hebrews 4:11).
The word κατάπαυσις means a change of state from activity or work to cessation from work that robs us from any feeling of refreshing or tranquility; the absence of tension and worry.
In other words death is working with worry and tension.
Rest is doing the will of God in refreshment and tranquility.
The only way to live in the rest of God is through the obedience of His Word.
Now, what is His Word?
How can we know it?
God’s Word is the thing He has spoken throughout all of Scripture.
We know that we are no longer under the law, but yet all of Scripture remains relevant to the believer.
All of Scripture is the λόγος or logic of God for living in this creation.
Even more, He has these qualities:
Quick (vs.
12)- alive; without beginning of days, always existing
Powerful (vs.
12)- productive/ producing an intended result
Piercing/ Sharp (vs.
12)- divider/ separater
Discerner (vs.
12)- critical, able to evaluate and judge as one who is in the court of law
As we look at these characteristics, the Word is able to discern our intentions and our deepest secrets.
So, when we apply Him to our lives, we get the exact results He intended because He knows so much about us.
In other words, this is not a magic trick!
These are principles for a life given by God.
Therefore, our goal is to activate the Word of God for in our lives as we learn the principles that are given.
This year, our lives will improve substantially if we activate the Word of God.
The goal is to improve our spiritual life, health, finances, families, and overall state of being.
So, let us consider the biblical approach for understanding how to be blessed in 2023.
Two Ways to Be Blessed in 2023
Now, it has been established that there are two ways to be blessed:
By faithful obedience to God’s Word
By supernatural providence.
Faithful Obedience to God’s Word
Exodus 15:22-26 “22 Then Moses led Israel on from the Red Sea, and they went out to the Wilderness of Shur.
They journeyed for three days in the wilderness without finding water.
23 They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter—that is why it was named Marah.
24 The people grumbled to Moses, “What are we going to drink?” 25 So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree.
When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable.
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