The Blessing of Purpose

…because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. Ephesians 1:11 NLT

As another year comes to an end, many of us begin to look back over the months and days of our lives. Often, we begin pondering our purpose.
Why are we in the place we are in? Are we making a difference with our life? What has been accomplished in the nearly 365 days we have just lived?

If you are pondering such thoughts, or asking God such questions, I want to encourage you that each moment you have spent this year was not in vain.
…for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13 NKJV

As a believer in Christ, God has a plan and purpose for you—one that is good–one that He will bring to fruition in His time.
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. Jeremaih 29:11 NKJV

Psalm 138:8 ESV says: “The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;” Therefore, you can be sure that He is always at work day and night to bring about what is needed in your life to fulfill His purpose for you.

Perhaps your circumstances were not as you thought they should be this year. Perhaps you suffered setbacks, adverse situations, or delays.
Perhaps you encountered obstacles that you had a hard time overcoming or perhaps you were slowed down from moving forward because of some difficulties.
Just trust and believe that God was with you through it all and know that He is working all things out to accomplish His purpose in your life.
Know that nothing can stop the plan and purpose He has for you.

So, as you look back over this year, I encourage you to pause and praise Him for what He has done, is doing, and will still do for you.

For we [believers] are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 NKJV

The Blessing of Peace

Colossians 3:15 says: “…let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.”

What comes to mind when you hear the word “peace”?
Serenity, quiet, calm, freedom from disturbances, no problems?
Yes, peace can be all that, but it can also be much more.
In fact, the Peace that Jesus gives us believers, can be found in chaos.
His Peace is not dependent on outer circumstances, for it dwells within us.

A good example of this would be in some events that unfolded in my life recently.

I was awakened early one morning by a text message from my bank. It said my account was over-drawn.
My half-awake mind tried to process the validity of this as I got up to find my checkbook.
Not being an early morning person, my day already had the tendency to be off to a bad start.
Then, my grand-daughter, who was spending a few days with me, woke up and said “Happy Friday the 13th!”
Now, I am not superstitious, but under the circumstances I was a little bit tempted to be swayed towards negativity.
In looking over my checkbook, I could not find any reason that my account should be overdrawn, but because I and grand-daughter had
a busy day planned, I decided to just deposit some money from my savings into the account and deal with going in to talk with the bank
on another day.
After an un-eventful breakfast we drove to the ATM where I planned to withdraw some money from my savings.
The ATM had a sign “Out of Order”.
Going inside, I told the teller, and she said since I have e-banking only, I would have to drive around and use the drive up ATM because
if she processed my transaction she would have to charge me a fee.
Trying to keep my cool, I left and proceeded to the drive-up ATM, which of course, had two cars ahead of me.
Then it started to pour rain, on what was supposed to be a bright warm sunny day.
What did I do? Did I lose my temper? Did I let frustration overcome me? Did I get discouraged and blame it on “Friday the 13th”?
No! Because something inside of me said “enough is enough” I was not going to let the enemy steal my joy and destroy my peace.
Right then, I prayed out loud—“In the name of Jesus Christ, I will not be tormented! I will not be oppressed! In Jesus’ name I have peace!”

As I claimed the day for Jesus, a peace came over me and the enemy retreated. Instead of just going to deposit the money in the supposedly overdrawn account I decided to take the time to go inside the bank and talk with them. I prayed for God’s favor.
I ended up being greeted by a very pleasant young lady banker who reviewed my account and finding no errors, credited the overdraft fee back into my account and got everything all straightened out for me very easily.

When I went outside the rain had stopped and the sun was shining. My grand-daughter said “Well, I guess that prayer worked!”

That gave me an opportunity to witness to her about faith, belief and the peace that believers have in Jesus. It is not just about saying a prayer “that works” but living a life where we are in constant communication with the One in whom we believe—receiving His peace as we abide in Him.
Do things always work out easily or with out problems? No, but Jesus’ peace can be felt in the midst of the chaos  or problem, for His peace does not depend on circumstances.
In John 16:33 Jesus said: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  2 Timothy 1:2 NKJV

The Blessing of His Riches

Last month I remember reading in the news about the discovery of a rare blue diamond in a mine in South Africa. It was the size of an acorn and was worth millions of dollars.  Previously, other rare diamonds had been found in that same mine which were also very valuable.  
I am sure the company that owes the mine is very pleased to have found such riches.

Many people would love to have found such monetary wealth, however, as we have often seen, money and/or material possessions are not something that automatically brings happiness, for many people with such wealth are not happy.
Money is necessary in this life to purchase the things we need, however, many people who “have it all”, money and material wise, often say their life is empty or unfulfilled. 
So what good are riches if they don’t bring happiness ? 

There are riches that do offer happiness. 
They are God’s spiritual blessings in Christ.
As believers, we have many riches in Christ, in fact, scripture tells us that we have “exceeding riches” ! (Ephesians 2:7)
Riches are not just defined as monetary, they can be large amounts of possessions, but not necessarily material possessions.
Riches are also good things that are available to use.  Scripture tells us that “every good and perfect gift comes from abpve” (James 1:17)
Therefore, believers have been given many good and perfect gifts, treasures and riches from God, our heavenly Father.
Some of them are the redemption we have through Christ’s shed blood, the forgiveness of sins, the riches of God’s grace and mercy. 
They are the blessings of God’s kindness and favor towards us, the peace we have in Christ, and the wisdom, power, and might of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.

God has richly blessed us everything we need daily to live successfully in this world.  We are rich in Him.  We need nothing more.

So let’s think upon this and stop looking to the world or our flesh for our supply.  Let’s begin using the riches God has provided us with. Let’s begin digging deep in His word where we will find golden nuggets of truth that will be even more valuable than any blue diamond ever could be. Let’s walk in the many blessings we have been given and we will soon discover how rich we really are!

Blessed by Blessings

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ… Ephesians 1:3

A few days ago I was blessed by a friend with a gift of home-grown apples.  The apples were beautiful to look at and since I love that fruit I rejoiced at receiving them.
Once I got home, however, I had the choice to use them or just let them sit there in the bag looking and smelling delicious. 
Responsibility comes with the receipt of a gift, for a gift is of no use unless it is used. 
I thought about this as I took those apples out of the bag, washed and peeled them, chopped them and prepared them to be put into a pie.  Using this wonderful gift entailed work, but, the end result offered a blessing that I could enjoy and share with others–
a yummy home-made apple pie!

Believers, God has blessed us with so many spiritual blessings in Christ!  Are we using them? 
It behooves us to think upon all that we have received to see if we are using what we have been given and if so, are we also sharing it with others?

Let’s not let one day go by that we neglect to seek out and use a spiritual blessing that we have been given, for gifts are meant to be used, and as they are, they bring joy to us as well as to others.

The Blessing of Knowledge

Someone just posted a picture of a set of World Book Encyclopedias on Facebook asking if anyone remembered them.
I remembered them, but only as something I had wished to own and never did, as my parents could not afford to purchase those
wonderful books of knowledge. However, I do remember using them, for I had access to them through the school library or on visits to our local city library. And as much as I appreciated being able to use them that way, owning a set of my own would have been so much better.
I remember thinking as a child how wonderful it would be to have my own set sitting on a bookshelf at home available for me to pull out and use anytime I wanted to. I thought having access to all that knowledge would be such a a blessing!

Now, as a believer in Christ, I am rejoicing that I am blessed with Knowledge that is all my own.
In Christ, God has given me the knowledge to know Him and His truth. This knowledge is within me.
I do not have to go to anyone else or go anywhere else to receive it, for His Holy Spirit reveals His truth, wisdom and knowledge to me daily.

Voltaire said  All men are born with a nose and ten fingers, but no one was born with a knowledge of God.

God said,  in Christ are found all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3)  therefore, if man wants knowledge of God he needs Christ, for it is in Him that man finds the knowledge of God.

Knowledge is one of the 54 Spiritual Blessings in Christ that believers receive.
Knowledge is such a wonderful blessing for with it the mystery of God’s will is revealed to us.
With knowledge God’s word becomes clear to us, our minds are no longer darkened to the truth, we have the ability to know God’s plan and purpose for our lives daily.

Let’s rejoice and give thanks daily that in Christ, we have been blessed with Knowledge!