Blessed beyond Miracles 3

Introduction

I don’t know one Christian who doesn’t want to live a blessed life. However, sadly a majority of Christians are not genuinely living the life of blessing God desires for them. Living a life of blessing is not about being money focused. A wise man once said, “Money never made a man rich” and this saying is so true! Instead, living a life of blessing is about being God focused.

Would you consider that God wants you radically and outrageously blessed?

Reflect on the following Old and New Testament scriptures that demonstrate the blessing of God:

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

John 10:10 “I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

Exodus 14:14 “The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

Romans 8:31 “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Deuteronomy 28:13 “And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath.”

Luke 1:37 “For with God nothing will be impossible.”

Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

The Word of God makes it abundantly clear that God wants you blessed! So, what does it mean to live a life of blessing?

It is doing what God has called you to do, being who God has called you to be, and having what God has called you to have. Let me repeat that statement again. Living a life of blessing is doing what God has called you to do, being who God has called you to be, and having what God has called you to have!

You Speak Curses, You Get Curses

“The fig tree which you cursed has withered away.” Mark 11:21

Words are the key to this world and the universe itself.

Consider for a moment that there was no universe until God created it. How did God create the universe?

Genesis 1:3 has the answer and it states, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” God used words to create this world and everything in it. How did Jesus stop the winds and waves from harming or possibly killing the disciples?

Matthew 8:26 states, “Then he (Jesus) arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.”

How do people get saved ?

The Bible says in Romans 10:9, “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Wow! God used words to create the universe. Jesus used words to perform ministry and protect people. We use words through faith to become believers.

The Bible says in Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Understanding the power of our words is so vital for every believer!

There is power when we read God’s Word, agree with what it says, and speak it over our lives. In Matthew 4, the devil comes to tempt Jesus. Every time the devil spoke tempting words, Jesus responded in Matthew 4:4, 4:7, and 4:10 with a simple phrase, “It is written.” When tempted, Jesus himself quoted the Word of God to the devil. Speaking the Word was the way that Jesus dealt with temptation. It worked for him and it will also work for us! So please hear my heart, we aren’t supposed to stand on our fleshly desires, we are supposed to stand on the Word of God that is taken in context.

Watch the Way You Talk About Yourself

Your identity doesn’t come from your education, bank account, title/position, or outer appearance. The only way you can have peace with who you are is when your identity comes from God. God says in Romans 8:37, “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” The word conqueror means to be a champion. God is saying you are a champion. You might not feel or look like one, but if God says you are a champion, then you are one!

If you make a statement such as,

“I can’t do it”, then more than likely you won’t be able to do it.

If you say, “I won’t win”, then you probably won’t win.

If you declare to others, “I won’t graduate”, then there is a high possibility you won’t graduate.

There is power in your words.

The Bible even teaches that we are saved by our confession, or words we declare with our mouth. Look at Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

The words we speak are so powerful! Perhaps you have been your own worst enemy without even realizing it. What words are you declaring over your life? What words are you declaring over your future? What words are you declaring over your relationships? We can only speak two types of messages over our lives. We can speak life, or we can speak death.

Elephant

How could the trainers contain these massive beasts as they traveled throughout the country from week to week? Basically, when a circus elephant was born, the trainer would place a small metal cuff around the baby elephant’s rear leg. Then, a small rope or chain was attached to the cuff, and that rope/chain would be connected to a tent stake that was driven into the ground. When the baby elephant grew in size and weighed thousands of pounds, the circus trainers could still contain the elephant the exact same way as when they were babies. How could a cuff and rope/chain that was merely attached to a tent stake contain this enormous elephant? Basically, it was all the elephant understood! The truth is that the fully-grown elephant had the power to pull out one hundred tent stakes from the ground! However, since all the elephant knew was bondage, when it became fully grown and powerful, the elephant still stayed in bondage.

That story of the elephant is a picture of a born-again Christian who struggles to strip off their former nature and ways of thinking. When you receive Christ as Lord, you have God’s power to walk in freedom.

Galatians 5:1 says, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”

You are free! But, in order to have freedom, you have to agree with God’s Word and walk in the freedom he has given you. It is time for you to start pulling some tent stakes out of the ground!

Start to speak life!

Speak life over your job!

Speak life over your marriage!

Speak life over your finances!

Speak life over your family!

It doesn’t take any spiritual courage or character to speak death about all the negative and painful

You Speak Blessings, You Get Blessings

“But believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” Mark 11:23

In Mark 11:23, Jesus gives us an incredible promise when he says, “But believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” Wow! What an amazing and miraculous promise this is from Jesus! Notice that what we say is directly tied into what we receive. Also, there are no limits on this promise! If you begin to speak blessings, it will change your world. People love to be around positive people, yet find it draining to be around those who are negative.

You can’t have a positive life and speak with a negative mouth. Not only will others enjoy being around us when we speak blessings, but when we speak affirmative words of faith, we are forming a supernatural partnership with God! When was the last time you spoke faith and blessings over a situation that seemed hopeless?

Speaking blessings is contagious. Just like when one person begins to complain, others start complaining. The same can be true when one person starts to speak blessings, others jump in and begin to build each other up with encouraging words. It just takes one man or woman to change the entire atmosphere at a job, school, church, or home with the positive words they choose to speak.

Begin to Believe Your Life Can Be Great

Genesis 1:27 NASB95

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Do you know how the devil puts people in Bondage?

By making people believe in a life,

Bible says, truth shall set you free

So if truth can set you free than believing a lie put you in a bondage.

However we have the power to believe in and speak the word of God. When you believe and speak the scripture you stop the devil in his tracks.

The devil can’t harm you; all he can do is give you suggestions. Bondage starts when we take him up on those suggestions.

Let me share a story with you about an escape artist from many years ago who had performed numerous dramatic escapes. One day, the local police department contacted him about a jail cell they believed he could not break out of. This challenge was all the escape artist needed because it motivated him to prove the police wrong.

The next day he went to the police station where they escorted him into the jail cell, and then slammed the door shut behind him. Once in the cell, he attempted to pick the lock, but that didn’t work. He then tried to take the hinges off the doors but that also failed. He made attempts to squeeze through the bars, but his efforts were unsuccessful. Finally, in frustration, he slammed his head against the cell door and said, “I give up.” When his head knocked into the door, it suddenly opened. The police put him in a cell that had never been locked in the first place. This story is a representation of how many of us can be as believers. We live as though we are locked in a prison cell, but the truth is the door is actually unlocked.

As a son or daughter of God, Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave so you could come out of prisons of anxiety, fear, and guilt. You are free!

Speak the Word of God over your life!

Begin to believe your life can be great! Know in your heart that God wants to use you to change the world. Embrace the reality that you have a supernatural, divine purpose on the inside of you just waiting to come out. There will always be wonder-working power active in your life when you simply agree with what God says about you. Don’t agree with what the devil or your own flesh says about you. Agree with what God declares about you.

Begin to Introduce a New You When you begin to meditate on and speak the written Word of God over your life, things will begin to shift.

You will walk in more power.

You will walk in more authority.

And you will walk in more of God’s blessing.

At this point, God may be calling you to introduce a new you. Perhaps God is calling you to be a new leader. Maybe he has called you to be a new and improved spouse.

Or possibly, God might be pulling at your heartstrings to start some new ministry for his kingdom.

Whatever God is speaking to you about oftentimes when you get exposed to the blessings of God in a radical way, God will desire for you to introduce a new you.

After the battle with Goliath, a little shepherd boy named David was introduced as a great warrior.

After spending time in jail and then being released by Pharaoh, a lowly prisoner named Joseph was introduced as second-in-command over his entire nation.

After denying Jesus publicly but then encountering the power of the Holy Spirit, the deserter named Peter was introduced as the head of the church.

God wants to introduce a new you!

Don’t worry about what others think! You can’t encounter God in a radical way and not be changed.

Jesus did not die for you to be a better person. Jesus died so the dead would be made alive again. When you start believing and then speaking the truth of God, the areas of your life where God wants to do something new will start to bubble up on the inside of you.

Do not give in to worry. As a believer you have the choice and the power to say no to worry.

Consider John 14:1, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Jesus is saying here that you have the power to determine if your heart will be troubled or not.

When we speak God’s life-giving words over our lives, his power gets rooted into our hearts and lives.

Consider this truth:

what you yield to, you will be full of.

When you yield to bitterness, you will be full of bitterness.

When you yield to anger, you will be full of anger.

But also, when you yield to joy, you will be full of joy.

When you yield to the power of God, you will be filled with God’s power.

When you yield to the peace of God you will be filled with God’s peace.

Today, I challenge you to pursue God’s dreams for your life, get God’s blessings and walk in them! God wants to bless your life.

You can’t have a positive life and a negative outlook. Read and meditate on the promises in God’s Word and then declare those scriptures over your life establishing boundaries of blessing. Declaring the Word over your life is like having a supernatural GPS that keeps you on the righteous path of God!

Reflect on Mark 11:23 one more time, “But believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” Use your words as weapons to defeat the enemy and his attacks against your life. Speak blessings!

Remember what you focus on , you empower, whose voice are you going to empower.

Philippians 4.4,8 4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Colossians 3.1-4 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.