Commanding Blessings Every Day: Manifesting God’s Word through Principles and Prayer
Peter, who once rejected the idea of suffering, later has much to say about suffering in his epistles. Just as our Lord suffered because of His identification with sinful men, so God has purposed that we who trust in Him should suffer because of our identification with Him. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps 1 Peter 2: To sum up, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil, or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing 1 Peter 3: And who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?
But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong 1 Peter 3: If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God 1 Peter 4: Through suffering we are blessed in many ways:. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us Romans 5: Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him James 1: While not a pleasant experience in itself, suffering can be the source of comfort and assurance.
When we struggle with sin and the flesh Romans 7 , we know it is because we have become a new creation in Christ. We now loathe that which we once loved. We now desire that which we once found offensive and repulsive. We seek to obey God when we used to delight in disobedience.
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Satan, once our master, has now become our enemy. Living in the midst of a fallen world itself suffering from the curse of sin Romans 8: Like Lot, we find our righteous souls vexed by sin 2 Peter 2: For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.
But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained it , or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus Philippians 3: In fact, suffering can be a blessing in the hand of God. If we are a child of God, we know His eternal plan allows only those things into our lives which result in our ultimate and eternal good:.
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And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose Romans 8: These blessings fit the definition laid down in Proverbs These blessings are not fulfilled in this life, but in the next. They are not experienced in time, but in eternity. These are the blessings our Lord Himself brings to pass in His second coming.
They are based upon His sacrifice at Calvary but are realized in His coming to judge the earth:. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever Revelation The Book of Hebrews brings the Old Testament faith into focus and clearly describes the nature of the blessings God promised and for which believers waited in faith.
Their identification with Jesus Christ had brought on them the reproach of Christ and the opposition and persecution of unbelieving Jews. Things were bad and about to get worse. Some toyed with the thought of turning back into Judaism to escape persecution. The unnamed author of this epistle reminds these Christians of their Old Testament roots. He points them to the true blessings which are in Christ. It is the blessing to which Abraham and every other Old Testament saint looked forward.
They understood that the blessings God promised were not material, but spiritual, and that they were not temporal, but eternal. They knew these blessings would not come in life, but after death and resurrection:. All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them Hebrews He looked for a heavenly city, a city which God would prepare. I believe this is the dwelling of which our Lord Jesus spoke just before His death:. It is the blessing which comes from faith in Jesus Christ and not from human effort or achievement.
They would do well to give more thought to the blessings of God as defined in Scripture. They would do especially well to give careful thought to this text in Hebrews:. And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, in order that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated men of whom the world was not worthy , wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.
And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect Hebrews Our text speaks only of Old Testament saints. Not one of them received the promised blessing. The reason, we are told, is that God wanted them to enter into blessings with us, at the same time. The point I wish to underscore here are the two very different categories of saints.
The difference between these two categories is not that one group has faith while the other does not. It is not that one group is more spiritual than the other. The difference is that one group seems to succeed on the basis of faith while the other group suffers by faith. The first group--those who succeeded by faith --are described in verses a. By faith, these saints conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, received their dead back to life, and so on.
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How were these saints so successful? They were blessed by God, through faith. The second group--those who suffered and endured by faith --are described in the last half of verse 35 through verse These saints also had faith, but their faith resulted in perseverance rather than in success or prosperity. These are the very ones who would be chided today for their lack of faith. The suffering of some saints should be no more troublesome to us than the success of some saints, or even the success of some sinners.
It is also only in eternity that the curse of God will be fully poured out on sinners. Neither do we have basis for complaint if and when He withholds His blessings. They are His to give; they are also His to withhold. This is the profession of Job:. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. The simple fact is that our prayers betray us. When affliction and adversity comes into our life, we conclude that suffering is incompatible with blessing. We begin to make decisions and to pursue a course of action which takes away the pain.
Those honest enough to admit it reason something like this: That means He wants me to be happy. I am not happy.
This is not a blessing. Most of us are not quite this honest in our thinking, nor quite so bold in our rebellion against God and His Word. Yet our prayers betray us. We ask God to take away the pain and the circumstance. When we suffer, we do not ask God for the mind of Christ, or the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we ask God to bless us by giving us a life free from the pain and sorrow we are currently experiencing.
And in so doing, we actually miss the blessing God has for us in affliction. Whether God in His goodness enables us to succeed, or whether His grace enables us to endure our suffering, let us realize that God is able to make use of suffering to produce blessings. We must therefore live by faith. We must live by faith trusting God to fulfill His promises, even when our eyes tell us the opposite is happening now. As Asaph protested centuries ago in Psalm 73, the wicked may prosper, and the righteous may suffer.
We must see that in the midst of our suffering, we are drawn nearer to God, and recognize this as true blessing. Only God can make something good from that which seems evil at the moment. Trust in Him, and you will be blessed. Your blessings in this life will be mixed with sorrow. Your blessings in eternity will not.
As I conclude this lesson, let me share a quotation by Harold Stigers in his commentary of the Book of Genesis:. His blessing is the reversal of the curse see Genesis He blesses men out of His grace and curses out of His holiness. God not only graciously blesses men, He also graciously delays the curse so that men might be saved see Romans 9: Men are not only condemned because they are destined to destruction, but because they deserve it and have decided for it see Genesis The story of the rich man and Lazarus underscore this principle see Luke Blessing and cursing are both temporal and eternal, the temporal being partial and mixed with sorrow, while the eternal is full and complete.
Temporal blessings are experienced by sinners, living in a sin-cursed world. Eternal blessings are experienced by saints who have been transformed into the image of Christ, whose mortal bodies are left behind and who live in a new world free of sin, of Satan, and of the curse see 1 Corinthians He blesses only Christians spiritually and eternally. Our Lord Himself took upon Himself the task of serving. Full and unhindered blessing can only take place in heaven, when Satan is bound, sin and death defeated, and the things corrupted by sin including our bodies and this world made new.
How is it related to cursing? What is the basis for blessing and cursing? In Christ, God bore the curse of sin and death and provided for us eternal life in its place. We can never, in and of ourselves, be worthy of divine blessings. In Christ, we receive every blessing because He is worthy see Ephesians 1; Revelation 5: In what ways does God bless only Christians?
God gives rain and sunshine to men, and in His grace He delays judgment, giving opportunity for repentance. God blesses the Christian by bearing our curse in the person of Jesus Christ. He blesses the Christian temporally by His presence, by producing our growth and maturity, and by creating a hunger for the full and final blessings of heaven. His blessings are offered in the form of a promise, and this promise must be believed by faith see Genesis Our faith in God and in His promise will result in the obedience of faith Genesis Faith and obedience are both necessary because each calls upon us to act, not on the basis of what we see, but on the basis of what He has said.
Temporal blessings are those blessings which God bestows upon sinful men, living in a fallen world, flowing from His grace. Temporal blessings are incomplete and never without a measure of sorrow and suffering. Marriage and children are both a blessing, but neither is without its trials and suffering. How do you explain these errors? Why are they wrong? To be spiritual they say is the assurance of earthly pleasures; to be sinful is to bring upon oneself pain and suffering. To have enough faith is to have the means to move God into blessing us as we think best, they say.
While we should not seek suffering in this life, we should expect it, recognizing it as a part of the plan of a loving God who is bringing about our good and His glory. God chose Israel as the object of His blessings. His desire was to demonstrate His blessings to all men so that men from every nation would seek blessing in Him. When Israel turned from God, the promised cursings came. But in addition to the deserved suffering of Israel, many godly Israelites suffered.
With the coming of Christ, the blessings of God are more spiritual than material, and they come to those who appear not to be blessed as men would appraise blessing see Luke 6: In our identification with Christ, we enter into His rejection and persecution by men, and in so doing are blessed by a closer walk with Him, a deeper fellowship with Him, and a growing hunger for heaven and the full blessings of God see 2 Corinthians 4 and 5; Philippians 3: It does not tell us that he was seventy-five when he first received the promise of a son.
Abraham may not have left Haran immediately which would mean that Abraham was younger when the promise of a son was first given to him. Thus, his wait would have been more than twenty-five years.
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All of us deserve to suffer for our sins. But in the case of these innocent sufferers, their suffering was not attributed to their sin but was the outgrowth of their righteousness. The writer may have meant that they were given promises, but they did not receive them. More likely, he meant that they received some of the promises but not the promises which could only be fulfilled at the second coming of Christ, promises which are still future for us.
Some Christians seem to be saying that we can be assured of receiving all the promises now. The writer to the Hebrews differs with such thinking. So too does history and our own experience. Zondervan Publishing House, , p. Handing Off the Baton 2 Timothy 4: Walking the Romans Road. Facing Winter Seasons 2 Timothy 4: A Study of God's Plan for Man.
What in the World Is Going On? Introduction I have become a cynic when it comes to promises received in the mail. The Abrahamic covenant takes up the promise of blessing: God clarified the promise of the land in Genesis In summing up his life before Pharaoh, Jacob gave an account not of unceasing bliss but of much affliction: These trials came from the hand of the God who had promised to bless them: If His people forsook the Law, then earthly cursings were promised: If a nation turned from God, its promised blessings would be taken away: These were much more perplexing times as we see from the agony of this psalmist: At times like these, the Word of God becomes much more precious and meaningful: All of the prophets of Israel were resisted, rejected, and persecuted because they spoke to men for God: Write about it in your journal.
Let your mind run free with the possibilities of what you could attain. What will it take to get there? Are there skills you will need to acquire? Are there people who live in that place that you can learn from? How did they get there? What paths did they take?
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Are there habits that you should form that will keep you on course? Now talk about it. Line up your mouth—the rudder of your life—with where you are going. Then keep it steady and on course. What happens to a ship if you head it in one direction at one moment, and then turn it in the opposite direction in the next—and keep doing that over and over? Pretty simple—it goes nowhere. This is what happens when people start speaking about the good things they are expecting to happen one minute, and then spend the next half hour talking about all the negative things happening to them that are keeping them from getting there.
They are turning their lives in circles. They line up their spoken words with where they want to go for a little while, then when they meet a storm along the way, all they do is talk about the bad weather and lose track of where they were headed in the first place. They forget that they have the power to turn their lives around the storm or press on through it to the sunshine on the other side. They forget that the "Son" has never stopped shining on their lives, no matter how dark the clouds in the sky are.
Even in the midst of what looks like catastrophe, keep speaking the blessing, keep the ship of your life on a steady course, and before you know it the storm clouds will clear and you will have broken through your difficulty and left it far behind you. Your every decree is pregnant with the power and potential to revolutionize your life.
I will declare the decree: Ask of Me, and I will give You David used his right to decree and declare to turn the tides of Israel's unfavorable fate and to defeat their enemy Goliath. In the book of 1 Samuel And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword Since the spirit realm is the causal realm, Goliath was dead long before he was struck by the stone and beheaded by the sword.
Remember, according to Proverbs When you bless, blessings will be drawn to you, or as Deuteronomy Again, as James said: What did he mean? A double-minded person is a person with conflicting thoughts—someone who holds two different opinions at the same time. That person is the pilot who steers his ship towards one port for a while, then reverses to steer it towards another in the opposite direction. At one point your life is headed towards blessings because that is what you have spoken, and the next it is headed towards cursing because that is now what your mouth is proclaiming.
With it the tongue we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. I am convinced that Believers tend to live beneath the standard God has ordained for His children because of ignorance. We do not know that our daily declarations and decrees have the power to alter our destiny and change the quality of our lives.
If guarding your words causes you to keep your life and grow in maturity, imagine what happens when you do not guard your words? Whatever you sow will come back to you multiplied. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. I decree and declare that you dwell in the secret place of the Most High God and dwell under the shadow of the Almighty, and everything that is misaligned I command to come into divine alignment.
Your season of frustration and failure is over, and you walk in a season of success and prosperity. Old things have passed away; all things have become new. If you want your life to change, it all starts with what you think and say. In her authoritative, declarative style, Cindy Trimm helps you achieve victory over your circumstances through spoken declarations that activate God's power.
You will put meaning and purpose back into your life when you positively direct your thoughts, words, and actions toward the realization of your goals. Begin each day by commanding your morning.