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Markethive

What is God’s Blessing?

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What does Jesus say about being blessed?

Written by Joy on 29/08/2015
Series: Weekly Devotional
Tags: Blessings, Favor, Jesus, Money, Wealth
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God…..” Matthew 5:3-12

To be blessed by God means having God’s favor and goodness. We often think of blessings as riches, high position, health, and happiness. However, Jesus’ famous words about blessings show us that God has a different definition of being blessed.

Who is Blessed?
Jesus’ list of blessed people in Matthew 5 include the needy, sad, meek, and persecuted. This might offend us since we value strength, confidence and independence. But Jesus says we must realize our need for God in order for us to receive His blessing. “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.” (Isaiah 66:2b). Those who show mercy and bring peace, who desire righteousness and a pure heart, show they are true followers of God’s Word.

What are the Blessings?
Jesus never mentions wealth or position, health or happiness as blessings. Instead, he says the greatest blessing is to have a place in the kingdom of heaven and to be called a child of God. To be shown mercy by a Holy God, to know His grace and love in our lives, to know God in an intimate relationship — These are true blessings. “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1a).

Jesus paints a picture of a person that is more interested in spiritual rewards than things of this world. “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…” (Matthew 6:20). Jesus had no personal wealth, but he was still blessed. How? “It is more blessed to give than receive.” (Acts 20:35) Jesus gave his life for us. The blessing of giving is not material prosperity but an inner joy and peace that God gives us when we imitate His loving sacrifice for others.

How are We Blessed?
When Jesus tells us to hunger and thirst for righteousness, it reminds us of his words in John 6:35 – “I am the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Jesus is our ultimate blessing or gift from God. He is the only one who can cleanse us of sin and give us a pure heart so we can see God. (John 6:40) Through Him we become co-heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven, which is our greatest blessing.

Pray this week:
That God will reveal the amazing blessings He has given you through your faith in Christ.

Are you willing to give up the riches of this world for a great reward in Heaven? Talk to someone about the riches you might need to consider giving up.

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Why Are We Here?

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How can we know the purpose for our lives?

Written by GodLife on 09/04/2018

Series: Weekly Devotional

Tags: Meaning, Love, Significance, Purpose, Destiny

…everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

Isaiah 43:7

You've met them or heard of them — men and women of vision and passion. Driven by purpose and a life pursuit. They discover things. They build things. They do important things. Streets, colleges, battleships, cities and awards are named after them. They're fascinating! What makes them tick, and why aren't more people like them?

One reason more people aren't like this may be that the single-minded pursuit of a mission tends to be hard on people. We sometimes call high achievers "workaholics." That makes it sound like an addiction. Addictions are destructive, unlike the diligence we associate with dedicated workers. How can your diligent attention be singularly significant, yet not hurt your friends and loved ones — or your walk with God? Read on to discover three key aspects of an effective Christian life that can make all the difference.

Your own context

Followers of Jesus talk more often about calling than achievement. That puts it into different perspective. You are the hearer. God, your creator and redeemer, is the caller. If He’s your omniscient creator, nothing in your life is an accident. Your resources, experiences, skills, talents and relationships have all been gifts planned and given by Him. It helps to see them as gifts, because then you know you’re responsible to take care of them. Thinking “How God has provided these things for me?” can begin to set you on the right course. 

“…let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him…Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called…in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.” 

All these quotes are from 1 Corinthians 7:17–24, where Paul explicitly covers questions about marriage, servitude and the Gentile or Jewish roots of these early believers.

God’s work, God’s way

Just as you can get guidance from your own life conditions, you can also do so from things shown to you about God. For example, because God is love, He would not be behind inclinations toward the hatred or exploitation of a group of people. Because God is the Spirit of Truth, He’s not in things that rely on the practice of deceit. Israel’s first king, Saul, thought God would accept his sacrifice despite his incomplete obedience to his original mission. Samuel predicted God would replace him, saying,  “…to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15:22) 

God’s Priorities

God is clear that all His instructions are pure (Proverbs 30:5) and that we have no right to add or subtract from them. (Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18-19) That almost makes it sound as if they are all equally important, so that we have to carefully follow it all and “…do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) Yet Jesus had a surprising answer to a teacher of Jewish law who asked, “‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” If all God’s words are perfect, how can any have more priority than the other? Jesus goes on to explain this implied question: “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40) They are greatest because they effectively contain the rest. Romans explains, “love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Romans 13:10) God’s great expression of love (1 John 3:16) was sending Christ to die for our sins. Jesus told the Apostles: “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”(John 20:21)

In summary, the reason you and I are here is to bring glory to God, as Isaiah 43:7 says. We do so by telling others to be reconciled to God, as 2 Corinthians 5:15-20 tells us. Because we know Him, we must not go about this in a way that is against what He reveals about Himself in His Word. And because we trust that He created us for a purpose and has provided for us in a way that serves as a guide and a model for us, we cherish our relationships, seeking the best for others instead of taking advantage of them. We leverage our resources, putting His Kingdom first by using our time, energy, experience, knowledge and influence to help others find the way to eternal life. That’s how to live a life of the very highest purpose without missing out on the best God has for you and your loved ones.

Pray this week:

Father, will you help me see and eliminate anything that is standing in the way of reaching the full potential of my life?

Do you sense any resistance to the ideas shared in this devotional? A caring volunteer is available to discuss and pray through them with you!

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

How to Conquer Stress Fear and Anxiety

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God speaks about fear and anxiety in plain terms in the Bible.

Written by Gary Fleetwood on 01/01/2019
Series: Weekly Devotional
Tags: Anxiety, Fear, God, Stress, Trust
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7
In Matthew 14:22-32, the disciples found themselves in a very stressful situation. They were in a small boat in the middle of the sea when a great wind came up, making their boat toss back and forth. Many of these disciples were fishermen, so they knew the dangers of the storms on the sea very well. Under their circumstances, most likely they felt that they may not make it through the storm alive. However, what is often missed in this story is that in verse 22 it says that Jesus “…made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side.”  Jesus knew full well what was going to happen to the disciples on the Sea of Galilee, so this could actually be called a “spiritual test.”  It should never surprise a believer that God will often test their faith in Him by placing them in a very stressful or uncomfortable situation.

Why can we say that stressful moments should not cause us to be afraid or anxious?
God is most often the author of what happens in our life. He is always wanting to do something in us so that he can do something through us, and many times He is more than willing to place us in a situation that we did not create and one that we cannot control.  So, in the midst of those kinds of difficulties, it is such an important lesson to learn that God controls all things and that there is nothing that He cannot control. He is never caught by surprise by what happens to someone, and that is why Paul could so confidently say in Romans 8:28, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

No matter what may happen to us as believers, what the Scriptures teach is that if we truly are trusting God, we will find that even the anxious and stressful moments are things that He allows to happen to draw us closer to Him. Sometimes we become so distracted with other things that we lose focus on what is eternally important, so God often times raises up very difficult and trying circumstances to help us see more clearly what His greater purposes are for our life.

So, what is God really saying when He says that we do not need to be anxious about anything?
The utterly amazing part of Philippians 4:6-7 is when Paul says, “Do not be anxious about anything.” Our normal behavior is to constantly worry about things that in the big picture really have a very minor impact in our lives, making it difficult to stay focused and ignore the eternal issues that will define our eternity. When I read a statement like “Do not be anxious about anything,” I immediately realize that God is staking His reputation on this statement. He is an all-powerful, all-knowing, and compassionate God, that He simply does not want us to somehow miss the reality of His control over whatever may happen in our lives. For someone who simply created the heavens and the earth with just a word, taking care of any problem or difficulty we may have is simply no big deal.

This is what is so amazing about these verses because when fully understand they are God’s way of saying that we can cast our every care on Him no matter what our stressful circumstances may be saying to us.  1 Peter 5:6-7 explains it this way:

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because He cares for you.

Not long ago, the nuclear plant where my oldest son had worked for seven years was shut down. Everyone that worked there lost their job – 5,000 people in one day without any notice. My son and his family were traveling home at the time when he received the phone call and his wife called us to let us know. In that process, she made the remarkable statement that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him. They never became anxious about what my son losing his job was going to do to their life, but they sincerely found that trusting God in the middle of an outwardly stressful reality was really not difficult. To them, it just seemed to be the most natural thing to trust in God. 

If we can trust Him completely with our eternity, then surely we can trust Him with our present circumstances.

The Bible never promises believers that life will be easy and it never promises that there will be no problems.  However, what it does promise is that when life is difficult and when there are very real problems affecting our life that God has all of the right answers and all of the resources to see us through those stressful moments in our life.  It is His way of helping us to trust Him.

Pray this week:
“Father, I come to you seeking the grace that I know I will need for the difficult times in my life that will challenge both my faith and my confidence in You.  You are a great God and I seek your grace for the strength, courage, and wisdom that I need to trust you fully with my life.”

If someone else were to examine my life when life creates very anxious moments for me, would they be able to tell someone else that I was truly trusting God in the midst of those difficult times?

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member