AN ABUNDANCE OF BLESSINGS

Proclamation:

"A faithful man shall abound in blessings, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished." Proverbs 28:20

Explanation:

These are the words of King Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, (2 Chronicles 1:7-12 and 1 Kings 4:29-34) which were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God to warn the young people, and all of the other people of God, regarding the dangers of  being greedy, stingy, and concerned only with getting rich.  Solomon told the people that the man who lives by The Word of God will have and abundance of blessings.  Those who live only to get rich and are only concerned with their prosperity will suffer.

Application:

We all want to be blessed.  Even though we have already been blessed, and we are currently being blessed, we want even more blessings.  When we pray, additional blessings are usually what we are praying for.  However, there are some things that we can do in order to receive more blessings from The Lord.  Being faithful to God and His Word will bring us an abundance of blessings.  When we live by The Word of God we will be blessed abundantly. (Proverbs 28:14)  Those who are only concerned with getting rich will be punished. (Proverbs 28:22)  The love of money is the root of all evil. (1 Timothy 6:10)  Some blessings are the product of honest labor and the adherence to the promises that we made to God when we prayed.  We should ask God for His help and for Him to give us the strength and courage of our convictions.  We all need His help in order to be faithful.  Because in the end, we all want to hear Jesus say: "Well done, good and faithful servant ..." (Matthew 25:21 and 23)

GOD BLESSES US DAILY

Proclamation:

"Praise be to The Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens."  Psalms 68:19  (NIV) 
"Blessed be The Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even The God of our salvation."  (KJV)  

"Blessed be The Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God of our salvation."  ((NAS)
"Blessed be The Lord, Who bears our burdens and carries us day by day, even The God Who is our salvation."  (Amplified Bible)

Explanation:

The human writer King David clearly praises God, our Savior, in this psalm.  It is also clear that he is praising God for blessing us.  All agree that The Lord God bless each of us daily.  However, the Bible experts do not agree on the exact nature of those blessings.  The benefits which God provides we are overloaded with and are too numerous to count. (Matthew Henry)  God bears us up and protects us from our enemies. (C John Collins)   God daily provides, supports, and upholds us. (Finnis Dake)  The benefit that God provides is protection for His people.  (Thomas Nelson)  Different explanations by different Bible experts but all of them are good for us.

Application:
 Regardless of which version of The Bible we read, or which Bible expert we believe, it is clear that God blesses us and helps us, even if we do not understand all of the blessings that we receive.  I believe that we are blessed daily in more ways than we know, and more often than we realize.  Each heart beat and each breath is a blessing.  We take so many of our bodily function blessings for granted.  We are blessed with things and people in our lives, some to help us and some to teach us.  Each gift and act of kindness we receive is a blessing.  Blessings can also take the form of protection from dangers, seen and unseen.  We are also blessed with joy and peace of mind by the blessing which He bestows upon our children, family members, and loved ones.  Just know that as a believer God has blessed us in the past, God is blessing us right now, and God will bless us in the future. 

BLESSING AFTER BLESSING

Proclamation:

"From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another."  John 1:16 (NIV)

Explanation:

The Apostle John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, who wrote the gospel which bears his name so that man would believe that Jesus, is The Christ, The Son of God.  In this verse, John clearly stated that because of the grace of God, we have all been blessed and we have all received not just one blessing but blessings after blessings.

Application:

We all want to be blessed.  Even though we have already been blessed and we are currently being blessed, we want even more blessings.  That is usually what we pray for when we pray.  We have all been blessed with more blessings than we can count.  God has blessed us all over and over again.  We take most of our blessings for granted, and yet we ask Him for more.  Thank God that the fullness of His grace is "super-abundant" and never ending.  All that we have and all that we are, we have received from Him.  God has blessed us through the fullness of His grace from the breath of life (Genesis 2:7), and with every good and perfect gift (Psalms 84:11 & James 1:17), all that we eat and drink (Ecclesiastes 3:13), with a reasonable portion of health and strength, wealth and possessions (Ecclesiastes 5:19), in addition to salvation (Ephesians 2:8), and the gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23).  God has blessed us with so much that we have to be thankful for, including the gift of His Son, (John 3:16), who hung, bled, died, and rose from the grave so that we could be saved from the penalty of our sins.  "A faithful man shall abound in blessings ..." (Proverbs 28:20)  We all need His help to be faithful.  Because in the end, we all want to be blessed to hear Jesus say: "Well done, good and faithful servant ..." (Matthew 25:21 & 23)

To Whom Much Is Given Much Will Be Required

"That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows.  But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows.  From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."  Luke 12:47-48 (NIV)

Luke, the physician and a travelling companion of the Apostle Paul, records this parable which Jesus spoke to His disciples and to the crowd which had gathered.  He first told them, "You also must be ready, because The Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him." (Luke 12:40)  Then Jesus told them the parable of the manager whom the master leaves in charge of the servants, the food, and all of his possessions.  When the master left, the manager mistreated the servants, and consumed excessive food and drink.  The master returned unexpectedly, caught him drunk and  behaving poorly, and punished him. (Luke 12:40-48)  Then Jesus made the point that those who knowingly disobey will be punished more severely, and those who are given more will be held to a higher standard.

The Lord is a good and righteous judge, He will reward and punish people as they deserve based upon their thoughts, spoken words, and their behavior. (2 Timothy 4:8)  He also takes into account the knowledge and understanding of the person being judged. (Luke 12:47)  He who knows better, and still does that which is wrong, will be punished more severely than he who does wrong unknowingly.  Those to whom much is given, of them will much be required. (Luke 12:48)  The more that we are blessed, the more we will be held accountable for how we handled our blessings.  We are blessed so that we may be a blessing to others. (Read Luke 16:19-31 regarding a certain rich man and Lazarus the beggar)  He that gives to the poor is actually lending to The Lord and He will repay him. (Proverbs 19:17)  Those who are entrusted with positions of leadership and influence will be judged on how we handled that responsibility and whether or not we helped others.  We will be held to a higher standard.  Those of us who "have", will be judged on what we did with it, and on how we treated those who "have not".  Those in positions of influence should be very careful regarding what they say and do around, and to, those who listen to them, follow them, and are influenced by them.  There will be varying degrees of punishment in eternity depending upon the sin committed. (Matthew 10:15, Matthew 11:22-24, Mark 6:11, and Hebrews 10:29)  We should make sure that our sins are forgiven.