Blessings: November 21, 2011

TODAYS WORD FOR MONDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2011.

BLESSING

DEFINITION:

Devine favor; a fortunate occurrence; approval; benediction; a short prayer for divine approval.

SCRIPTURE:

Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Galatians 6:9

Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity? Job 2:10.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

When we mention the word blessing to many people they think of the prayer that they say before a meal or the prayer that a minister gives at the end of a service. These are called blessings but we want to look at the word from the perspective of the blessings that God has for us as believers in Him.

We are convinced that God gives us the greatest blessings in our lives when we invest our time, talent or treasures in other people or projects that benefit people. Let us share with you just one example. One of the ministries that we have worked with for years is a ministry called CERT. They recruit doctors, dentists, nurses and other professionals to give a week or two of their time and talent to go on a mission trip to a remote area of our world where the people have no access to medical or dental help.

The President of CERT promises the volunteers hardship and discomfort. He warns them that they will not receive financial help but they have to pay their own expenses. But he does promise them that they will receive one of the greatest blessings that they have ever experienced. A doctor who accepted that challenge (and over 100 do every year) came back from the trip he went on and said, “I never knew that life in a remote third world country could be so bad but the blessings that I received from this trip has driven me to look for ways every day for me to share my talents, treasures and time into the life of someone that needs help.”

Take the Apostle Paul’s encouragement that we wrote in the verse above from Galatians to do good to all and do not grow weary. In the verse above from Job we are asked the question about receiving good (blessings) from God. Sometimes we feel a little guilty when God blesses us so abundantly when others have so little. As Job asked his wife (above verse) if they should accept good (blessings) from God and not accept adversity?

When things are going well in our life most believers are happy to acknowledge God as the source of their blessings. Often, however, when trouble comes their faith wavers and they blame God. Satan uses difficult times in life to cause us to doubt God. Job and his wife suffered great disappointments but Jobs faith never wavered. The principle here is for us to be grateful for the blessings that God gives us and to be strong in our faith in both the good times and the bad times in our life.

The Apostle Paul tells us how he learned to rejoice in plenty and in want (Philippians 4:10-13). God has an interest in teaching us to be content both in blessings and in losses. The message for us today is to know that we are at our best when we serve others and we are to accept what God gives us in all circumstances.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse this week is found in Romans 8:14.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

PRAYER:

It is our prayer today that You would make our family a channel of blessing to others as we reach out to serve those that need a special touch from You. May we be grateful for every blessing that You send our way and through these blessings always praise Your name.