Grace and
Blessings
Wisdom is when we can learn
to be content in any situation as well as confidently ask for
breakthroughs in joyless areas in our lives!
Matthew 5:1-10 (NLT)
One
day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside
and sat down. His disciples gathered around him, 2 and he
began to teach them. 3 “God blesses those who are poor
and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
4 God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the
whole
earth. 6 God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,
for they will be satisfied. 7 God blesses those who are
merciful,
for they will be shown mercy. 8 God blesses those whose
hearts
are pure, for they will see God. 9 God blesses those who
work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. 10
God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom
of Heaven is theirs.
1. God
desires to bless us!
Jeremiah 17:5-8 (NLT)
This is
what the Lord says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in
mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from
the Lord. 6 They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with
no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in
an uninhabited salty land. 7 “But blessed are those
who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. 8
They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach
deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or
worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and
they never stop producing fruit.
Proverbs 10:22 (NLT)
The
blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with
it.
Jeremiah 17:6 (NKJV)
For
he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good
comes…
Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NLT)
“But
blessed are those who trust in the Lord
and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. 8 They are
like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into
the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried
by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never
stop producing fruit.
Galatians 3:10 (NKJV)
For
as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is
written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue
in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”
Galatians 3:10 (NIV)
All
who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written:
"Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written
in the Book of the Law."
2.
We come under the curse of the law when
we depend on Jesus for our conversion but thereafter depend on
ourselves for everything else
Galatians 5:4 (NIV)
You
who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ;
you have fallen away from grace.
Interestingly, the rejection of God’s
grace is to fall from grace back into works. Contrary to popular
belief, falling from grace does not mean falling into sin. According
to the Bible, falling from grace is to fall back into works and into
falling back into law, self-effort and religion.
We fall away from grace
not when we sin but when we start depending on our own
self-effort and self-sufficiency
Galatians 3:13-14 (NIV)
Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for
it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."[f] 14He redeemed
us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the
Gentiles
through Christ Jesus
Jesus had to die on the
cross to redeem us from the curse of the law,
not the curse of sin and in order for His blessings to be made
available to us
Matthew 3:16-17 (NIV)
As
soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment
heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and lighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, "This
is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
Ephesians 1:3-6 (NKJV)
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,
just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5
having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself,
according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise
of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in
the Beloved.
3. When we are in Christ, and in
the Beloved, we too become the beloved
– which enables and strengthens us to live bigger lives for Him!