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Godly blessings come to you, only in godly ways. And it is why, the prayer of the psalmist, needs to be yours and mine too, to be led forward in His blessed ways, Teach me O Lord, to do your will, for you are my God; May your good Spirit lead me on level ground. [Psalm 143:10] The key to it, lies in the word of God, that comes to you, to speak into your situation, even as it did to Joshua, as he stood at the threshold of entering into the promised land, facing the unknown challenges, that he knew he would have to face. God reminded him then, of the word that He had already spoken to him, and also the right approach to it. [Joshua 1:7-9] For it is not in merely repeating it, but in confessing His word to you, with a right understanding of it in your innermost being that spiritual progress comes about, to see you walk in His will, and His way, to be blessed with what comes in and through Him.
BLESSING – your sins forgiven & curse removed:
The world today has many views concerning what a blessing is, while the true and genuine blessing is what God’s word declares it to be. Blessed is he, whose transgressions are forgiven, declares the psalmist. [Psalm 32:1] And, it is through the Cross, that the blessing of God becomes your portion, for it was there that the Lord Jesus Himself , the sinless Lamb of God, became sin, and became a curse, so that you and I can receive the blessing of Abraham, to receive the promised Holy Spirit by faith. [Galatians 3:13,14] And it is manifested primarily, in the call of God upon your life. And, through the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon you, it is a holy calling, one by which you are privileged to become a part of God’s plan for humanity. And His purpose is made clear, in the everlasting promise, that came to Abraham, as he was called, saying, ‘Surely I will bless you; surely I will multiply you’.
And being of the generation of the faith of Abraham, you have been called and chosen by God too. And, the wonderful truth concerning it is that, you know that you have been called by God, because the one who has called you, is now living inside you. [Acts 2:39] It is the Holy Spirit of God who now attests in you, that you are a child of God. It also emphasizes the need that needs to be in you, to be sensitive to the presence of the Holy Spirit in you continually, to be online with Him at all times, to hear His voice, or His gentle nudge that will guide you and take you forward. He is always there to walk with you and talk with you, along life’s narrow way.
BLESSING – inherited:
You have been called; and it is to inherit a blessing. And one aspect of it is what the gentle Savior has spoken forth. It is to call a particular group of people, those who are weary and burdened. And it well describes the condition that you and I, and in fact the whole world is in today, after going through a year, when all that had been seamlessly running, the normal activities of one and all, suddenly entered into a crisis mode, with a full recovery not yet in sight. How welcome indeed then, is the call of Lord Jesus that speaks to every anxious heart with a wonderful promise and the procedure that when applied in faith and expectation, leads to a fulfilling experience of it.
BLESSING – JESUS gives you true rest:
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke and learn from Me for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. [Matthew 11:28-30] It is the blessing of rest that the Lord offers to you, and invites every troubled and restless heart on earth, to take up the offer. And how powerfully relevant it is for such a time as this, when even the so called solution, the vaccine, comes with a lot of confusion and doubts! You have a God to whom you can go to in prayer, in confident trust and assurance, for He will answer you, to show you through the scriptures, great and hidden things that you do not know. [Jeremiah 33:3] And the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
Prayer and bible reading, need never be a dull routine therefore, but can be a time of basking in the love of God, to hear His voice, through His written word, and as a fruit of it, in quietness and confidence shall be your strength. And it is truly the blessing of God that sees you resting in a world that is becoming increasingly stressful. For, stress can so often affect you physically, to deplete you of all strength and energy, and to become weary and burdened. But when you take the yoke of the Lord, to learn from Him, His blessed rest will be yours.
From stress to rest – in the way of Lord Jesus:
But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, for they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. [Matthew 9:36] Everyone needs compassion, the kindness of the Savior, His mercy and grace. He is the Good Shepherd, who loves the sheep of His flock, with a sacrificial love. He can see beyond what is superficial and visible outside, at what lies in the heart and soul of a person, to know the helplessness beneath it all. For, the multitudes who thronged Him, revealed to His compassionate eyes, how harassed, confused and aimless they were, making them susceptible to wrong thinking that could lead them even more astray. Sadly, when Judas chose to go to the chief priests, to betray the Lord, he was abandoning His protection, to enter into a mere transaction with them, one that soon led to his death.
But, God is compassionate, going beyond being sympathetic, or showing empathy as caring and sensitive people do when you are going through a painful challenge. And when it is a lingering problem that is causing you trouble, people may eventually forget. But, ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears; and I will heal you’, was God’s compassionate response to king Hezekiah’s earnest supplication unto Him, in his time of sickness. [Isaiah 38:1-5] God in His compassion, not only understands your painful situation, He also helps you, by doing something that will lead to resolving the problem, so that it may never arise again in your life.
In compassion – HE mentors you:
It is once again in His unending compassion that He works, though it may not be what you and I expect sometimes – And Jesus when He came out, saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion for them, for they were like sheep not having a shepherd. And so He began to teach them many things. [Mark 6:34] It states your responsibility in experiencing the blessing of God. For, with the same compassion with which He heals you, He desires to mentor you in your life continually, until the very end. And, so He began to teach the multitudes. [vs 34] It is His blessing of rest, even in your life and mine, though we may desire to directly and immediately receive the miracle – So they all ate and were filled. [vs 42]
It was what happened at the feeding of the five thousand, when five loaves and two fishes in the Hand of the Savior, proved to be more than sufficient to miraculously meet the need of a huge multitude. And certainly, He can do the same even in your life today, to solve your problem. But prior to the miracle, to be still, or cease from all fleshly striving, and to know that He is God, is His desire. He is never in a hurry, and He is also never late. But, God gives you a time to learn from Him, and more often than not teaches you to solve the problem that has been troubling you.
If you are in debt financially God can easily wipe away the debt. But He teaches you, that you may avoid falling into the trap in the future. It is similar to what you are as a parent, as you gently begin to train your children to do their own work, so that they may grow in all respects, to one day teach their own children! It is certainly not because your love for them has diminished in any way. It is in your love that you point them, to seek the Heavenly Father in prayer, as soon as they find themselves in a particular need, instead of coming running to you!
More importantly, in whatever manner He chooses to work in your life, or however long it takes, you need never doubt the truth that God wants you to be blessed. And His call to you, when life’s unwelcome challenges make you weary and burdened, to long for an easing of it, is a call to rest, and is the blessing of discipleship. It comes to you through His word, for God never blesses anyone accidentally. Rather it is always incidentally, according to His purpose that can never be thwarted, in line with His promised word to you. There are no random coincidences in God’s agenda! ‘I will keep My eye upon you’, is His promise to you; and it is to counsel you, in the intimacy of eye contact, in a person to person communication that happens as you keep your eyes fixed upon Him, shutting out all other voices, to focus upon hearing from Him through His word.
‘Come to Me, and learn from Me’, is the call of the Lord, that you may turn to Him, letting go of your own human wisdom and strength, to hear from Him, knowing Him to be God, in being still, that He may instill in you, what will bring rest in your soul. And it is His rest, that He gives you, the rest of discipleship. Therefore, He teaches you, and is also standing with you. God never asks you to do something for which He has not given you the strength to accomplish. And you will find your sufficiency and empowering in Him.
HE awakens you:
The Lord God has given me the tongue of disciples, so that I may know to sustain the weary one with a word; He wakens me morning by morning; He wakens my ear to listen as a disciple. [Isaiah 50:4] NASB It is the blessing of God that is discipleship. And it is He who wakens you, makes you alert in the morning, or maybe even while it is still dark, to hear from Him as a disciplined listener. Everyone wants to reach their destiny; and it also true that almost no one wants to have the discipline that it entails!
But there are no shortcuts to God’s blessing on your life, one that leads to your godly destiny. He is the God who can do all things, to remove your problem, as wax melts before the fire, but He wants to teach you, to lead you to learn the path of righteousness, that you may find rest in your soul. Therefore, even as the Father reveals to you, may you be led to know the truth that sets you free. And may you be strengthened in Him, to give up, and let go of anything that is ungodly, and is a hindrance to His grace and rest in your life. The Lord shows the way to it. For, ‘Come to Me, and learn from Me’, is the Lord’s call to you this day, if life has stressed you out, in your work, in your home, in your finances, whatever it may be.
The Sovereign Lord knows it all, to teach you; and learning from Him, you can say, even as Paul has said, ‘Whether in abundance or in want, I know that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’. [Philippians 4:11-13] Your soul can find it’s rest in Christ, to know His power in quietness and trust. Therefore, giving thanks unto the Father, for the promise of His blessing, for His promise of rest, and knowing that He is King over the flood, when the storm waters rise threateningly, may you be strengthened to declare, by His grace and through faith, that, ‘ We who have believed do enter into the rest of God’. [Hebrews 4:3]
In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
