Blessings Continued

In one of the halls at the Hardin Center of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is a statue which I have admired for many years.  While it is not a large statue or overly impressive in nature, its simplistic art work and yet depth in meaning captivates me.  The statue is a visual image of Abraham making the trek to the land of Moriah for the purpose of offering a sacrifice.  The stature beautifully portrays Abraham with his son Isaac, the donkey, and all of the necessary supplies for the sacrifice.  As many will remember the sacrifice Abraham is to make is his only son by Sarah, Isaac. 

Over the years many people have raised questions regarding this story.  Many have wondered why God would have asked Abraham to sacrifice his son.  Others have wondered why Abraham would have been willing to do such a horrific task.  Still, others have asked would Abraham have followed through with this deed had God’s angel not stopped him.  While these highly debatable thoughts are great to ponder, there is a fact we can rely on, God is sovereign and only asks us to do that which would bring honor to His name and draw us closer to Him. 

Just as God blessed Abraham with this gift of a son in the form of Isaac, He often blesses us with people and things which He desires us to have for various reasons.  However, the primary reasons are to glorify God and draw us closer to Him.  I wonder if God were testing Abraham in this time to see if he truly trusted God in ALL things.  I wonder if God wanted to see if Abraham desired the blessing more than the One offering the blessing. 

Too often we are prone to act as little children and desire something from God only to have selfish motives mixed with our desires.  Then just as a child who receives his request, we forget to be thankful and forget the source of our gift, God.  In the scriptural account of the sacrifice God wanted to remind Abraham that all blessings are a gift from God and to be used for His glory.  In addition, we should never put more value and love in the gifts than we do into God.  God has commanded us to have no other gods before Him.  When we take a blessing from God and put more devotion into it than we do into the Giver then we have misplaced devotion and priorities.  We must be careful that we do not put our blessings before our God. 

This week take time for be thankful for the Giver of all blessings for He is God!        

Whatever it takes,

Pastor Ric

What is It? Part Two

Taylor Fields tells the story of a homeless man in New York City’s Lower East Side by the name of George.  This man had been living on the streets since he was 13 years old when he ran away from home.  Although he was a man of the street he also had a passion for people.  Fields relates that George had ordered an ordination certificate from the back of a magazine, though he never received it.  However, this didn’t stop George from attempting to carry out ministerial duties.  In fact, Fields would often find George counseling individuals and discovered that George wanted more than anything to have a place of his own in order to help those less fortunate than he.  He wanted an apartment with running hot and cold water, a heater for the winter months, a shower, and a stove for him to cook on.  George wanted out of the street life in order to serve the street life. 

The day came for George when he received word from the Housing Department that he had been approved for housing assistance.  George moved into that dream apartment of his.  When he received the blessing of his own place he did not forget what his dream had been.  He made his place available to friends in need.  The irony of the situation is George called his apartment the Sanctuary of Hope.  In fact, George had business cards printed bearing his name, address, and The Sanctuary of Hope offering the cards to his friends old and new as a way of introducing them to a place of hope.  George recognized his blessing and offered that same blessing to minister to those in need.

Last week I shared a thought on the blessing of Israel when they received the manna from heaven.  Their question was “What is it?”   I asked how many times we receive a blessing from God only to ask the same question as the Israelites.  In the same line of thinking I wonder how many times we receive a blessing from God only to forget the reason God blessed us.  His blessings are for a purpose.  However, we often forget that the purpose is to bring glory to God rather than to prompt us with comfort and pleasure.  Those are a by-product of God’s blessings.  When God blesses us materially we should use it for God’s glory.  When He blesses us emotionally or spiritually we should in turn use that blessing for God’s glory and to give praise to him.  There is a song often sung in churches titled Blessed Be the Name of the Lord which part of it says, “Every blessing You pour out, I'll turn back to praise.”  This is the intent of our Lord Jesus Christ when He offers blessings unto us; we must turn them back to Him in praise.

As I think about the blessings God has offered unto this great church and unto each of us individually I wonder how we are doing in the praise department.  Have we given back to God an offering of praise?  Have we offered up a Sacrifice of Praise unto our great and giving God?  Today why not stop where you are and take an evaluation of the ways in which God has offered blessings unto you.  When you have your inventory list ask two questions.  First, have I offered these blessings back to God in praise?  Secondly, how have I used the blessings which God has given unto me?

Whatever it takes,

Pastor Ric

What is It?

The children of Israel had recently left Egypt and the bondage which they had faced for an extensive period of time.  At God’s gracious hand they had successfully crossed the Red Sea leaving a trail of dead Egyptian soldiers in the vast expanse of water.  Going farther into the wilderness they complained that they had no water to drink when the Lord led them to Marah.  However, now they complained that the water was bitter so God instructed Moses to have trees thrown into the water making it drinkable.  Now they had moved from Marah and Elim (an Oasis) to a point of complaining that they had no food to eat.  God instructs Moses to tell the people of the offering of food at night via quail and in the morning via manna.  When they saw the manna in the morning they looked at one another and asked one question, “What is it?”  (Ex. 16:15)

Here the children of Israel are blessed by God with not one offering of food for their hunger but two.  However, the scripture does not say they worshipped God, is does not say that they thanked God, or even offered a sacrifice to God for this blessing.  Instead the scripture simply says they asked what is it.  How could the children of Israel, God’s anointed group of people miss recognizing God’s blessing?  How could they miss the opportunity to thank God for this bountiful blessing?  Could they have already become accustomed to God giving to them in their time of need and have become complacent?  Did they miss the blessing of God by overlooking and being calloused to what God had to offer unto them?

“Andrew Carnegie, the multimillionaire, left $1 million for one of his relatives, who in return cursed Carnegie thoroughly because he had left $365 million to public charities and had cut him off with just one measly million.” (Homemade, Dec. 1984)  How often do we complain to God because we compare what He has done for others with what He has done for us?  How often to do think God has forgotten us because we tend to overlook the bountiful blessings of each day?  As a devotional I read recently stated,        

Ingratitude denotes spiritual immaturity. Infants do not always appreciate what parents do for them. They have short memories. Their concern is not what you did for me yesterday, but what are you doing for me today. The past is meaningless and so is the future. They live for the present. Those who are mature are deeply appreciative of those who labored in the past. They recognize those who labor during the present and provide for those who will be laboring in the future. Homemade December 1984

What constitutes a blessing?  One dictionary stated that a blessing is help which one believes has come from God.  A blessing is anything which God offers unto us in a form which He sees best fitted for us!  How often have we received a blessing from God and yet we failed to offer up thanks for that which God has given unto us?  How often have we failed to even recognize what God has done for us as a blessing from above?  James stated that “every good and perfect gift comes from above.”  (James 1:17)  Why not stop today and ponder the blessings which God has given unto you, blessings you might have overlooked but God has given on a continual basis?  Why not stop and offer thanks unto God for every good and perfect gift He has poured out on you! I challenge you to try this approach and see what God does when His children come to Him with a grateful heart.

Pastor Ric