How do you respond to God’s blessings? We want Him to bless us and rightly so, He blesses us. He gives His promises so we know that blessings are on their way. One of things we ought to do as children of faith is prepare ourselves to respond to His blessings in a right way. The faith and intimacy we display toward Him when in need must also be practiced after receiving His blessings. It is one of the hardest things to do. Because, blessings are a time of joy, relaxation and forgetting what was in the past. Satan often tries to use these conditions to dither our relationship with God. Our blessings too can sometimes handicap our faithfulness to Him, if we are not alert. It is one of the reasons God sets a time to bless us. In that time He teaches that we should revere Him at all times. He makes us learn how to dodge the fiery arrows of Satan.
The following words remind us that we have a part to do after receiving God’s blessings. “Speak to the sons of Israel and
say to them, ‘When you enter the land where you are to live, which I am giving you’” (Num. 15:2). We all have promises of God concerning His blessings; some have been fulfilled. The key to continue in them lies in what we do after receiving them. Because, once we receive them God wants us to be responsible, continue with Him and bring Him glory by all that He has given us. If we fail to understand and do the things we must do, there is no reason why we shouldn’t suffer heartaches as Israel. Once the Lord God promises His blessings they will surely come. He has seen our affliction, need and desire. And so, He is determined to deliver us through His blessings.
Many believers do not progress through God’s blessings, since they are careless to continue with Him in those blessings. They either misuse them, abuse or in the long run do not value them. One of the outcomes of not valuing them is seen in form of divorce, separation and frustrated relationships; the outcomes of misuse or abuse include financial crisis, unfaithful children, etc. We can lose any of His blessings, if we are not alert to be faithful to Him. But, by being faithful to Him we can realize more blessings being added to the existing ones. To be thankful to Him and praise Him for all His blessings is the beginning of displaying our faithfulness to Him. And they can lead to other things.
- Fear of God. These are the words of King Jehoshaphat to the judges he appointed in the cities of Judah after he was shown mercy by the Lord for misusing His blessings. “Now then let the fear of the LORD be upon you; be very careful what you do, for the LORD our God will have no part in unrighteousness or partiality or the taking of a bribe” (2 Chron. 19:7). One common error to appear in us if we are not careful is losing the fear of the Lord. Satan incites us to become forgetful and exploits it to turn us against the Lord. The fear we must have toward Him here is not reverential, but of facing His anger. He trains us for it before blessing us and our part is remembering to hold on to it. Then, we indeed become very careful with all our behavior and endeavors. We do not discredit His blessings or bring them shame. And, a glorious benefit is endowed on us.
- “Then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity and every good course” (Prov. 2:9). The Lord increasingly gives us the spirit of discernment. Everything we do will only bring Him glory and honor. He uses us in ways which we never thought; He appoints works that we did not know. Men will see the God of heaven and earth in us.
- Seeking God’s thoughts. Satan always tries to impose his mind on us when we are blessed by God. He wants us to waste His grace and kindness. Many times believers stay faithful until they receive His blessings, but then do not exhibit the same faithfulness in the exercise of those blessings. Their works do not fully reflect His presence with them; neither do they bring Him complete glory. They use blessings by mixing them with the ways of the world. Again, some are so excited by His blessings that they forget to seek His guidance to handle them. They let their mind do the talking. It is for these reasons that Israel failed as a blessed nation before Him. So the prophet said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘So you think, house of Israel, for I know your thoughts’” (Ezek. 11:5). However, seeking His thoughts makes us aware of His wisdom to know all things and keeps us from being a failure.
By doing the things we ought to do after receiving His blessings, we can look forward to the amazing things He will further do in our life. We will glorify God in the continual receiving of His promises. For we never miss the substance of…
- God’s power. “Jesus said to him, ‘You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN’” (Matt. 26:64). As long as Christ sits at the Father’s right hand and He will do so until He comes on the clouds, He avails God’s power to us. By His power we exercise His blessings and add many more to them. His power is so full of truth and righteousness that His blessings bring joy and honor and nothing will be impossible for us.
- God’s protection. We may suffer for Him in acquiring His blessings, because we strive and are determined to fulfill His will. But He will always acquit us of accusations; He will save us from the enemies. The Adversary and his hordes will not be able to destroy us. His Word stands as strength for us. “For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, ‘NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN’” (John 19:36).
- We will always be what we are. “And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise” (Gal. 4:28). Children of promise are special people. They are specially treated by God. They receive special things from Him. Their inheritance is from God and it remains intact. Because we have the promise of abundant life in Christ and of the good things to come along with the joy of heaven, we do not have to wonder regarding anything or our future. God has taken care of it; He has already planned it to be special. So, enjoy your blessings in Him and look forward to even more.