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Thursday, March 24, 2016

Flying with Thursday's Word by Brenda Smith

 
 
WORD:  BLESSED
 
DEFINED:  To be blessed is to be “made holy” or consecrated (dedicated to a divine purpose).
SCRIPTURE: 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)
 

Azrul Aziz

Whenever we hear the word “bless” in our holy conversations it is as something a Christian does not have, but must acquire and it is usually focused on a person’s flesh. We will use the words “increase,” exceedingly” and “abundantly” to describe our blessings. This sounds very good to the average person. We read passages like (Deuteronomy 28:1-14) There you will read God saying you will be blessed in the city and in the country. Your offspring and your kneading bowl will be blessed. You will be blessed coming and going. Your enemies will be defeated. The people of the world will be afraid of you. You will abound in prosperity. The work of your hands will be blessed. You will be the head and not the tail. This sounds incredible.
 
But, as I said earlier, these are blessings of the flesh that we don’t yet have and the only way to receive these blessings is also listed. “All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God (Deuteronomy 28:2).” God will bless you, “if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways (Deuteronomy 28:9).” All of these blessings will be yours, “if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully, and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today (Deuteronomy 28:13-14).” All God desires from you in order to receive all of these blessings is your complete and total, 100 percent obedience to all that He commands. Prayerfully, we will soon learn that the true meaning of being “blessed” is having Jesus Christ!!
 
If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your savior then you already have every spiritual blessing. Therefore, if you are looking for blessings of the flesh, you are missing out on what the Lord has freely given you in favor of trying to get something less satisfying and impossible to attain. Two of the spiritual blessings you have are that God, “has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy In His sight, without blemish and free from accusation (Colossians 1:22)” and you “have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus once for all (Hebrews 10:10).” Just like the definition of blessed mentioned, you are holy and consecrated simply by your faith in Jesus Christ. This has been given to you as an inheritance of your faith not as a reward for your obedience. There are consequences to disobedience as stated in the rest of the chapter. God wants you to be enthusiastic about your life.  What you truly need is already been given.  You don’t need a full “basket,” you need a full “spirit.” That only comes by faith.
 
Brenda Smith