Sharing is Caring

The God Who Bestows Great Blessings         “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).     There is likely no one who would refuse the blessings bestowed by God.   Even the Israelites, who received abundant material and spiritual blessings from God, rejoiced greatly after receiving these great blessings.   However, the issue lies in what happens after receiving blessings.   Without a mature character that can discern how to enjoy received blessings properly, one may end up wasting life, selfishly indulging in the blessings given by God, as happened with the Israelites.   So, how can one possess a mature character that knows how to enjoy blessings?   It should come from a heart that is guided by God's commandments rather than being led by the blessings.   Like the Israelites, disregarding God's laws...

  God who desires to give blessings     [Acts 3:17-26]     1 Chronicles 4:9-10 says: "Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, 'Because I bore him in pain.' Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, 'Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!'   And God granted what he asked."   Pastor Bruce Wilkinson commented on the prayer "Oh that you would bless me" in his book "The Prayer of Jabez," saying: ‘When we make wanting God's blessing the only thing that satisfies our soul, we are in a position to know 'the fullness of joy in His presence,' as the psalmist says.   Everything else we may desire becomes a way of seeking His blessing in those areas of our life.   What we want more than anything else is for God's glory to fall on us, in us, through us, ...

We should fear in receiving material blessings           “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me’” (Deuteronomy 8:17).                         It seems that those who believe in our Lord Jesus greatly delight in receiving material blessings.   When we constantly seek after blessings and wealth, it appears that we are serving both God and material possessions at the same time (Mt. 6:24).   This is not pure faith; it is rather a form of syncretism.   We should serve God if it is God and serve material possessions if it is material possessions.   However, we find ourselves serving both God and material possessions.   Perhaps we may not even realize that we are serving God for the sake of material gain.   This idolization of material wealth ultimately enslaves us, ...

How should we enjoy the blessings  we receive?     “They captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.   But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they put your law behind their backs. They killed your prophets, who had admonished them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies.” (Nehemiah 9:25-26)     During the first week of this month, during the Friday and Saturday prayer meeting, I consecutively praised God with the hymn "When Upon Life’s Billows.”   I particularly focused on verses 1 and 2, emphasizing that when faced with the storms of life, and when burdened by worldly anxieties, we should count the blessings that the Lord has granted us.   I shared that I have come to reali...

  The God who bestows great blessings   [Nehemiah 9:22-26]   It is said that in 1999, in the UK, a 72-year-old grandmother named Angie Clens, who lived alone, bought a lottery ticket.   However, she won a whopping £200,000.   Concerned about Clens' weak heart and the possibility of heart failure, the lottery company visited Reverend Ames, whom the grandmother attended at the Anglican church, and explained the situation.     Reverend Ames cautiously asked the grandmother, ‘How do you think you would feel if you won the lottery?’   The grandmother replied, ‘Oh, Reverend, whom am I …   It wouldn't happen.’ The Reverend said, ‘No...   but still.’   After a moment of thought, the grandmother said, ‘Well then, Reverend Ames, you take it all.’   As soon as Reverend Ames heard this, he died of heart failure.   In the end, the grandmother received all the money...   It is said that she gave half of it to the family of...