Got Blessings?

“The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” (Provs. 10:22) Every believer is indeed rich, “blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” (Eph. 1:3). Those blessings include such “unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph.3:8) as forgiveness of sins, freedom from condemnation, adoption into the family of God with Him as our Father, objects of His love and unconditional grace (favor), plus peace with God through Jesus and the presence always of His indwelling Holy Spirit. If you are a child of God, you are rich in blessings, period!

F.B. Meyer said that “whatever blessing is in our cup, it is sure to run over. With our Father, the calf is always the fatted calf, the robe is always the best robe, the joy is unspeakable, the peace passes understanding…there is no grudging in God’s benevolence.”

Sir Walter Raleigh was all the time submitting requests to Queen Elizabeth on behalf of convicts. On one occasion, the Queen asked Sir Walter when he would stop being a beggar, to which Sir Walter replied, “When your Majesty ceases to be a giver.” Our God has never, nor will He ever, stopped being a Giver!

Count your blessings, name them one by one: “Blessed is the man whose transgression is covered; blessed is the man who maketh the Lord his trust; blessed are they that dwell in Thy house; blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee; blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance.” (Ps.32:1; Ps. 40:4; Ps. 84:4,5; Ps.89:15)

Oswald Chambers struck a chord in hearts when he observed that “the great difficulty spiritually is to concentrate on God, and it is His blessings that make it difficult. Troubles nearly always make us look to God; His blessings are apt to make us look elsewhere.”

Troubles: we as individuals and as a nation and world are deep into them on almost any day. “Everything is going up.” (Inflation!) Yet, rain is still coming down; birds are still singing; joy still costs nothing, and love is never in short supply from the heart of our heavenly Father. A smile is no more costly today than ever; a kind word, a timely touch, or a caring presence.  Yes, everything material, it seems, is going up today, but those things of eternal value are still moving from heaven to earth, and on earth from heart to heart, home to home, and the supply chain is unbroken!

A child described an elevator thusly: “When I got into this little room, the upstairs came down.” (George Gardiner) And, so it is, “Heaven came down and glory filled my soul.”

My friend, Evangelist Leon Foote, once shared what he called, “The biggest blessing of the year!”  His words: On a trip to Texas, “I stopped to see my older brother, Joe. He is a Marine from WWII.  I have prayed for and witnessed to him for over 40 years. I have prayed at the altar in some of your churches. Joe has cancer, and this time he was willing to listen to me. There in his home on a Friday night, Nov. 5, he prayed and asked Jesus into his heart. Amen, Amen!”  Talk about blessings!

What have you received of late, today in fact, for which to “praise God from Whom all blessings flow?” The blessing of salvation always tops our list, Eph. 2:8,9; then sanctification, I Thess. 4:3; service, Luke 18:29,30; soul-winning; Ps.126:6, supplication, Matt.7:7; and stewardship, Luke 6:38, among a multitude of others.

So, yes, the blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich! Stop with me now and bow your heart, casting all your burdens on the Lord, and just thank Him for the riches of His grace. In Christ, the pauper is rich; without Christ, the prince is a pauper.

In the mid 1700s, Robert Robinson’s father died when he was 17. His mother sent him to London to learn a trade, but while there he fell into drinking and gangs. But Robert once heard the mega voice of Evangelist George Whitefield preaching on the subject “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee the wrath to come?” Robinson felt as though the message was directed right at him, and in faith he responded, calling upon and falling upon the grace of God for salvation. He would later write of God’s amazing grace and abundant blessings:

“Come Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing call for songs of loudest praise.” (Robert Robinson, 1735-1790)

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” (Eph.1:3)