Abundance and Blessings
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2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV)
Abundance
God is God, and He can do whatever He pleases. If He wants to bless us, and even bless us abundantly, so that's what He shall do, and there is nothing we can do about it.
The people who teaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ have and always have different opinions, particularly when it comes to God's grace, God's blessings and God's provisions.
There have been so many different kinds of teachings, so much so that Christianity have been divided into many different groups -- each one preaching their own "teachings". And although for the more important parts they seem to agree, there are, as I have said many points of contention. I will not go through with these differences in opinion, as each proponent will have their own supporting verses, and I strongly believe that the Word of God (the bible) is not for debating.
Poverty
One of the more glaring points of contention in on how there are so many different teachings about and the different ways of dealing with abundance and wealth, and even poverty and health, or lack thereof. One thing I do believe in, is that God does not intend for us to be poor or be physically sick. No. But there are those among the believers who teaches that God wants us to be "poor", or that God wants us to suffer (with being unwell) or to live a life of hardship. On the other extreme, there are those believers who teach that God want us to be "rich", and that God wants us to enjoy a life of extravagance and enjoy tremendous earthly blessings.
Not sure when the different branches of Christianity have polarized into totally contradicting views but I do know that Jesus said, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35 (NIV)
Believers can agree to disagree on the unimportant stuff, just as long as they agree on the most important one -- the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
What is sad is that many Christians cannot even love other Christians, particularly more those other believers who believe on a "teaching" different than those they believe in.
Problems
But that's beyond our point, one thing that I do want to touch on is that most new believers think that when they come into the faith, all their problems will some how miraculously go away or that they can just wave a magic wand and all their wishes will come true.
I am afraid to say that most times it is the complete opposite. Many times new believers are shunned by their non-believing family members and friends. They are looked upon as crazy, out of their minds and that non-believers ridicule them for their new found faith and bash them, punish them or even curse them, they get demoted or fired from their jobs and kicked out of their houses or their communities. Yes, new believers normally become worst off coming into the faith than they were before they got in.
Hope
But these are to be expected, and only shows that darkness hates the light. New believers need to become separate and live lives that are really worthy of their new belief and to show non-believers that their faith is real and that their God is real.
Jesus didn't promise that His followers will not have trials, in fact He said that they will have them. But He did promise that He will be there with them, to go through those difficult times. And that is a real blessing right there.
Now, I also believe that believers would be blessed and would be blessed abundantly but not until they are ready for it. And any blessings that come from the Lord, will not cause His followers to be harmed by the blessings they received. Many times believers question why other people are blessed, and even why non-believers are blessed, the thing they don't see are the sad or the bad side effects that most of these so called blessings bring about.
One passage, I want to share today is the one where Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice His son Isaac. Of course today, God will not ask us to do what He asked of Abraham (for that was totally another time and another place). But I just want for us to revisit that story or even read it for the first time, if you haven't.
Genesis 22:1-18 (NIV)
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
Blessings
And this is why, if you are a believer and you are ever wondering why you (or your family) are still not being blessed (financially, emotionally, physically), maybe because you aren't ready to receive that kind of blessing yet. No, not that you do not deserve it, or not that you should earn it with the good works that you do.
As I've said God is God and He shall do as He pleases. But like Abraham, Isaac and their children, you too will be blessed of God and you too shall overcome and you too will be a blessing, and others will be blessed because of you, because of one thing, and that is because of God. Put Him first and all these things shall be added unto you.
Photo Credit: Jan Calligrapher
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