Has God blessed you today?

by Jack C. Corcoran

 

Has God blessed you today?

If you say yes, can you tell me how He has blessed you?

If you say no, can you tell me why not?

 

When was the last time you can say that you were actually blessed by God?

I can safely and honestly say that I have already been blessed several times today and it is just noon. First of all, I woke up this morning-(that’s blessing #1), then I had a wonderful breakfast, (two), and now God is giving me this message to bring to you all.(that’s three). I can hardly wait to see how the rest of the day goes.

If you are reading this, then I can safely assume that you woke up this morning.(that’s blessing #1 for you); you were blessed this morning because God has given you another day of life. Would you agree?

I can safely say that Almighty God has the power to take your life at any time, even while you are asleep. So, if you awake, you can feel blessed. To me, every day is a blessing. And if you are a true follower of Christ Jesus, you should be able to say the same.

I know that most people wake up every day without as much as a thought of it being a blessing; but I know better. In the past two years I have survived a stroke and cancer so I know how fragile life is, and I know that God could have taken me out with either one of them; but He didn’t. He allowed me to survive and, through it all, He taught me how blessed it is to acquire the habit of reading His word on a daily basis.

Every Christian, born again, true believer, follower of Christ Jesus, should be able to answer the question, have you been blessed today, with a resounding YES! And he/she should be able to tell why/how they were blessed. And I don’t mean the blessing you received several years ago or even several months ago. I’m not discounting them but, if you are living your life according to the Word, you are receiving blessings (almost daily) because God’s word says so. And I’ve already listed the blessings I’ve received this morning.

I just spent the last five minutes listing the blessings that are ours if we are living according to the word of God. Just five minutes, and I have listed at least thirty scriptures that promise blessing. There are many more but that would require me to write a book instead of this short message. Perhaps I will; if God leads me in that direction. But, for now, let’s just go to a few of them.

The largest number of them can be found in the Psalms so let’s start with the very first, Psalm 1:1-2 “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.” And verse 2, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.”

Do you find it a delight to read God’s word? That’s where you will receive the right counsel. Anyone can read the bible but only those who have the Spirit of God can receive good counsel by reading it. “You are controlled by the Spirit of God, if the Spirit of God lives in you.” (Romans 8:9).

Psalm 32:2 and Jeremiah 17:7 both say basically the same but Jeremiah carries it a little further. Jeremiah 17:7 says… “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.”

And look what it says about the man who trusts God. “He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes…it has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Man, you could almost write a book just on this alone.

If you put your absolute trust in God for all things – and I know how difficult that is to do – but, for the one who does, you never have to worry about the problems of the world (when the heat comes); you won’t have to worry about famines (you won’t go hungry). David says in Psalm 37:25 “I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging food.” God’s promises cannot be broken; if they could, what would be the use in believing? And He promises that His children will not go hungry.

Psalm 119 is a favorite of many, including myself, and 119:2 says, “Blessed are they who keep His statutes and seek Him with all their heart.” Keeping His statutes, of course, means obeying the word and you cannot obey what you don’t know. So, we all must stay in the word of God to know what truth is. (Acts17:11).

“And seek Him with all your heart.” Matthew 6:33 tells us to seek His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” What things? All the things I’ve already talked about. Starting in 6:25 of Matthew we are told we won’t need to worry about our life; what we will eat; or even what we will wear; because, if we seek God, all these things will be there for us. It’s His promise. These are blessings.

God promises us over and over and over that He will bless us if we follow Him. So, I will ask you again; do you feel blessed? And if not, why not?

Proverb 28:20 tells us that “A faithful man will be richly blessed.” And Proverb 29:18 says, “Blessed is he who keeps the law.” A faithful person who reads and does what the word says will be blessed. I believe it’s James who tells us to be doers of the word and not just hearers.

Now, I can hear you saying or thinking that the sinners, wicked, arrogant people seemed to be more blessed than us. Yes, that does seem to be the way; but see what Malachi has to say about that.

In chapter 3:15, Malachi says, “But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper and even those who challenge God escape.”  Yes, it does seem that way, doesn’t it? But let’s look down a little further to Chapter 4:1-3.

“Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire says the Lord almighty.” It goes on to say how the arrogant will be sorry for the very day they were born. But you, us, we, who believe, who trust, who obey, will be blessed.

God blesses me every day. Yes, it’s true, I have bad days; more than I would like to admit but, even on those days, if I stop and look around and think about it, I will see the blessing. Sometimes they are so subtle; we might miss them if we don’t stay alert; if we sit around grumbling and enjoying our little pity party.

So, step out of your own way and see what God is doing for you. Lean not on your own understanding but trust in God. (Proverbs 3:5)

Learn to praise God and give a sacrifice of thanksgiving several times a day and you will see your blessings as they come. I thank God for my meals while I’m cooking them. I thank Him again as I sit down at the table. You can do the same; it isn’t difficult. And God will bless you. I tithe my income; you can do the same and God will bless you. Oh boy, I could write a book on this to be sure. God has blessed me in so many ways since I began to tithe (just a few short months ago) if you need to know the truth. Yes, God promises abundant blessings if we will not rob Him of the tithe.

And Praise and thanksgiving. I am closing this with a song of praise that God gave to me just a few months ago. I kneel at my bed every night and sing this song, and many times during the day; especially when things are not going so well; I will start singing this praise to God and before I even finish; the problem is gone. Or, at least, it seems a lot less important.

And this song is another blessing from God. I hope it blesses you. And there again is more blessing. Each time someone reads this and receives a blessing, I will also be blessed. So, please; if you are blessed by reading this or singing the song, please go to the comment section and let me know or send me an email and I will be blessed again. Thank God for His many blessings; I cannot seem to get enough. Praise His Name.

 

 

 

Hal-le-eh- eh-eh-    Hal-le-eh- eh-eh-    Hal-le-eh-lu-ooh-iah,

Glo-oo-oria, Glo-oo-oria, Glory to God in the high-eh-est

I praise you; I praise you, Oh God, my heavenly Father,

I praise you, I praise, now and forever more.

 

Hal-le-eh- eh-eh-    Hal-le-eh- eh-eh-    Hal-le-eh-lu-ooh-iah,

Glo-oo-oria, Glo-oo-oria, Glory to God in the high-eh-est;

I praise you; I praise you, Jesus my blessed redeemer,

I praise you; I praise you, now and forever more.

 

Hal-le-eh- eh-eh-    Hal-le-eh- eh-eh-    Hal-le-eh-lu-ooh-iah,

Glo-oo-oria, Glo-oo-oria, Glory to God in the high-eh-est

Fill me, Spirit; fill me Holy Spirit

Fill me, Spirit, with wisdom from above.

Hal-le-eh- eh-eh-    Hal-le-eh- eh-eh-    Hal-le-eh-lu-u-u-iah.

———————–

 

Glory to God, thank you Jesus. Amen