Sermon Illustrations on Blessing

It Is More Blessed to Give

Ecclesiastes 11:1

Generous giving blesses others and returns blessings to the giver in unexpected ways.

One day, Mr. L., a businessman living in a southern city, knocked at the office door of the Salvation Army. The Army captain answered and was very surprised to receive a gift of $100 from Mr. L. That was big money at that time and was much appreciated by this charity organization. As Mr. L. started to walk down the sidewalk, he heard steps behind him. It was the Army captain hastening to catch up with him. "Our baby is sick," he said, "would it be all right to use some of this money to buy milk for it?" "Go ahead and use all you need for your child," Mr. L. replied. A number of years later, Mr. L. was running for a high government office and was to make a speech in the city where the Army captain worked. The large auditorium was filled to capacity with interested listeners, and the Army captain was one of them. When Mr. L. finished his speech, the Army captain stood up and asked permission to speak. He told the incident how Mr. L. had given $100 and about his sick child receiving the needed milk. There was a thundering applause from the audience-and a decided victory for Mr. L. in his campaigning! "Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days" (Ecclesiastes 11:1).

What Is Tithing?

Malachi 3:10

Tithing is a biblical principle that brings spiritual blessing and economic investment in God's kingdom.

Mathematically it is a tenth. "...and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto Thee" (Genesis 28:11). Scripturally it is a law. "Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase" (Deuteronomy 14:22). Morally it is a debt. "...Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings" (Malachi 3:8). Economically it is an investment. "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Matthew 6:20). "Give, and it shall be given unto you" (Luke 6:38). Spiritually it is a blessing. "I will open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10).

Gain by Giving

We gain spiritual blessing and purity by giving freely, like a flowing stream.

On a farm in New York state is a pond and a little brook. When I last saw them, it was in the rainy season, and both were full to the brim with clean, pure water. It is in the dry season the difference in their natures shows up. The stream, constantly flowing to water the banks all along its course, still keeps pure and sparkling; it continues to draw from the underground springs at its source and to give freely as it goes along. The pond, neither receiving nor giving, hoards its precious moisture only to have its waters become foul and stagnant. It is the same lesson our Lord was trying to teach His disciples: We gain by giving and lose by keeping. After sharing the mercy of God and thus maintaining and increasing our own purity, we receive the peace of God in such abundance that it overflows to all around us.

Blessed, Fawns of the

True blessedness is rare and hidden beneath outward appearances and social masks.

If we could see things as they are; if we were not deceived by the masquerade of this poor life; if we were not so easily taken in by the masks and dresses of those who act in this great drama, be it comedy or tragedy; if we could but see what the men are behind the scenes, penetrate their hearts, watch the inner motions, and discern their secret feelings, — we should find but few who could hear the name of "blessed." Spurgeon.

Blessings

The same influences can bless one person and harm another, depending on their response.

BLESSINGS, Alternative of "Father," said Clara, "I never could understand how the same wind can take ships in such different directions. There goes one in toward the port, and there is another standing out to sea." "It depends upon the position of the sails," her father answered. "It is much the same with men in the world as with ships at sea. One sails heavenward by the same breeze which sweeps another on to destruction. I was thinking of poor Fred Merrill, who has come home from the same college where our Edmund graduated with such honor, and from which he returned to be our pride and comfort. Fred has fallen into bad habits, and is a source of untold anxiety and distress to his parents. So differently did college-life affect the two. And it is the same with all the influences which surround us: they are blessings to one, and poison to another. Gaining wealth makes one man generous, and another miserly; domestic trouble hardens one, and softens another."

Blessings, Recognized

A thankful heart attracts and recognizes God's blessings like a magnet draws iron.

If one should give me a dish of sand, and tell me there were particles of iron in it, I might look for them with my eyes, and search for them with my clumsy fingers, and be unable to detect them; but let me take a magnet, and sweep through it, and how would it draw to itself the most invisible particles by the mere power of attraction! The unthankful heart, like my finger in the sand, discovers no mercies: but let the thankful heart sweep through the day; and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings; only the iron in God's sand is gold.

— O. W. Holmes

Blessings, Transient

All blessings can be lost except hope, which remains after trials and loss.

The story of Pandora is, that she was sent by Jupiter to bless man; that she was furnished with a box into which every god had put some blessing. These all comprised her marriage presents. She opened the box incautiously, and all her gifts escaped, hope only excepted.

Deeds, Memory of Good

Good deeds remain vividly remembered like bright islands amid life's hardships.

They lie in the memory of age like the coral islands, green and sunny, amidst the melancholy waste of ocean. Dr. Thomas.

Doing Good, Importance of

A merciful Christian blesses many beyond what seems possible, like a small overflowing cup.

See that well on the mountain-side,—a small, rude, rocky cup full of crystal water, and that tiny rill flowing through a breach in its brim. The vessel is so diminutive, that it could not contain a supply of water for a single family a single day. But ever getting through secret channels, and ever giving by an open overflow, day and night, summer and winter, from year to year, it discharges in the aggregate a volume to which its own capacity bears no appreciable proportion. The flow from that diminutive cup might, in a drought or war, become life to all the inhabitants of a city. It is thus that a Christian, if he is full of mercy and good fruits, is a greater blessing to the world than either himself or his neighbors deem.

— Arnot

Good Works, Profit of

Good works do not save but are pleasing to God and profitable to others.

As ciphers, added one by one in an endless row to the left hand of a unit, are of no value, but, on the right hand, rapidly multiply its power, so, although good works are of no avail to make a man a Christian, yet a Christian's good works are both pleasing to God and profitable to men.

— Arnot

Humanity, Rewarded

God rewards perseverance and faithfulness even when the burden seems too great to bear.

A poor Macedonian soldier was one day leading before Alexander a mule laden with gold for the king's use. The beast became so tired, he could not sustain the load; when the mule-driver took it off, and carried it himself, with great difficulty, a considerable way. Alexander seeing him sinking under the burthen, and about to throw it on the ground, cried out, "Friend, do not be weary yet: try and carry it to thy tent; for it is all thine."

Meek, Blessing of the

The meek inherit the earth because they humbly flow along it, blessing wherever they go.

It is in the lowly valley that the sun's warmth is truly genial: unless, indeed, there are mountains so close and abrupt as to overshadow it. Then noisome vapors may be bred there; but otherwise in the valley may we behold the meaning of the wonderful blessing bestowed upon the meek, that they shall inherit the earth. It is theirs for this very reason, because they do not seek it. They do not exalt their heads like icebergs, which, by the by, are driven away from earth, and cluster, or rather jostle, around the pole; but they flow along the earth humbly and silently: and, wherever they flow, they bless it; and so all its beauty and all its richness are reflected in their pure, calm, peaceful bosoms. Hare.

Meekness, Advantage of

Meekness results in blessing and favor, as Abraham's yielding led to God's greater provision.

There is nothing lost by meekness and yielding. Abraham yields over his right of choice: Lot taketh it. And, behold! Lot is crossed in that which he chose; Abraham blessed in that which was left him. As heaven is taken by violence, so is earth with meekness. And God (the true proprietary) loves no tenants better, nor grants larger leases to any, than the meek. Trapp.

Parents, Respect for

Honoring parents brings God's blessing, shown in George Washington's story.

George Washington, when quite young, was about to go to sea as a midshipman. Every thing was in readiness. His trunk had been taken on board the boat; and he went to bid his mother farewell, when he saw tears filling her eyes. Seeing her distress, he turned to the servant, and said, "Go and tell them to fetch my trunk back. I will not go away to break my mother's heart." His mother, struck with his decision, said to him, "George, God has promised to bless the children that honor their parents; and I believe he will bless you."

Pleasure, Brevities

Sensual pleasures overfill and fail; spiritual pleasures satisfy without excess.

Think not that a pleasure which God hath threatened, nor that a blessing which God hath cursed.—Quarles.—The pleasures of sense will surfeit, and not satisfy; the pleasures of religion will satisfy, but not surfeit.—Henry.—He buys honey too dear who licks it from thorns. Xerxes offered a reward to the man who would invent a new pleasure.

Religion, Blessings of

Religion blesses believers by providing faith, God's presence, hope, and spiritual sustenance on life's journey.

And in manifold ways does religion bless the poor man in his pilgrimage. Faith is a rod with which he cleaves Red Seas of difficulty; and God's word is a pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night, amidst the rocks of a sandy wilderness. And sabbaths are wells of water; and ordinances are beautiful and shady palm-trees; and prayer brings down manua every morning; and the sight of the cross heals the bite of fiery serpents; and hope is a spy going beforehand, to bring back the clusters of Eshcol. And then, at last, God's presence is as the ark, in the midst of the river; and the pilgrim passes dry-shod into "the land that floweth with milk and honey." J. Stoughton.

Religion, Temporal Advantage of

Following Jesus brings tangible blessings in both body and soul.

A poor man who had been a follower of Jesus about twelve months thus spoke of the advantage he had derived from religion since he had embraced it: "This year, I have had a good crop on my little piece of land; I have got a fat pig in my sty, and some money in my pocket: last year this time, I had nothing: the whole went to the public-house. I know religion is a good thing for body as well as soul."

Sabbath, Blessings of the

Sabbath rest brings widespread health and happiness to people and even animals.

It is impossible to estimate the blessed effect produced upon a nation's health and happiness, when, on the return of each Sunday, millions are thus set free from toil; when the ledger is closed on the desk; when the hammer rests upon the anvil, and the wheel in the factory; when the mine sends forth its crowds into the light and glory of this new-born day; and when men can rest their wearied frames, or tread the green earth or hoary mountain, and breathe the fresh air, and look calmly upon the blue sky overhead, or listen to the sounding stream or beating sea-wave; and when the very dumb cattle partake of the universal blessing. Dr. Macleod.

The Poor Boy And The Wallet

A poor boy's honesty in returning lost money leads to blessing and success.

A lad was proceeding to an uncle's to petition him for aid for a sick sister and her children, when he found a wallet containing fifty dollars. The aid was refused, and the distressed family were pinched for want. The boy revealed the fortune to his mother; but expressed a doubt about using any portion of the money. His mother confirmed the doubt, and they resolved not to use it. The pocket-book was advertised, and the owner found. Being a man of wealth, upon learning the history of the family, he presented the fifty dollars to the sick mother and took the boy into his service, and he became one of the most successful merchants in Ohio. Honesty always brings its reward—to the mind, if not to the pocket.

Cressin'S Defence

Cressin's diligent farming yields abundant fruit, disproving neighbors' suspicions of sorcery.

Pliny tells us of one Cressin, who so tilled and manured a piece of ground, that it yielded him fruits in abundance, while the lands around him remained extremely poor and barren. His simple neighbors could not account for this wonderful difference on any other supposition than that of his working by enchantment; and they accordingly proceeded to arraign him for his supposed sorcery, before the justice seat. "How is it," said they, "unless it be that he enchants us, that he can contrive to draw such a revenue from his inheritance, while we, with equal lands, are wretched and miserable?" Cressin was his own advocate; his case was one which required not either ability to expound, or language to recommend. "Behold," said he, "this comely damsel; she is my daughter, my fellow laborer; behold, too, these implements of husbandry; these carts, and these oxen. Go with me, moreover, to my fields, and behold there how they are tilled, how manured, how weeded, how watered, how fenced in! And when," added he, raising his voice, "you have beheld all these things, you will have beheld all the art, the charms, the magic, which Cressin has used!"

The judges pronounced his acquittal, passing a high eulogium on that industry and good husbandry which had so innocently made him an object of suspicion and envy to his neighbors.

Effects Of Music On Bishop Beveridge

Music refreshes the mind and spirit, preparing one for work and filling with pure thoughts.

Bishop Beveridge observes, that, of all recreation, he found music to be the best, and especially when he played himself. "It calls in my spirits," says he, "composes my thoughts, delights my ear, recreates my mind, and so not only fits me for after business, but fills my heart at the present with pure and useful thoughts."

Lesson For Young Men

Observing the Sabbath correlates with business success and financial stability.

Seven young men, in a town in Massachusetts, started in the same business nearly at the same time. Six of them had some property or assistance from their friends, and followed their business seven days in a week. The other had less property than either of the six. He had less assistance from others, and worked in his business only six days in a week. He is now (1845) the only man who has property, and has not failed in his business.

Way Which Works Best

Keeping the Sabbath leads to better overall success than working on that day.

A distinguished mechanic, in a part of the country where the Sabbath was disregarded, had been accustomed for a time to keep his men at work on that day. He was afterwards at work for a man who regarded the Sabbath, and who, on Saturday, was anxious to know what he intended to do; and therefore asked, "What do you expect to do to-morrow?" He said, "I expect to stop, and keep the Sabbath. I used to work on the Sabbath, and often obtained higher wages than on other days. But I so often lost, during the week, more than all I could gain on the Sabbath, that I gave it up years ago. I have kept the Sabbath since, and I find it works better." It does work better. And all who make the experiment will, in due time, find it so.

More Losses Than Gains

Keeping the Sabbath brings greater blessings than working on it, shown by a shipmaster's experience.

"I used," said the master of a vessel, "sometimes to work on the Sabbath; but something would happen, by which I lost so much more than I gained by working on the Sabbath, that on one occasion, after having been at work and met with some disaster, I swore most profanely that I never would work again, or suffer my men to work on that day. And I never have." He finds it works better. He does not swear now. He has induced many others not to swear, and not to break the Sabbath. He finds that in the keeping of God's commands there is great reward. All who obey them will find the same.

The Pedler'S Experience

A pedler found resting on Sabbath brought more blessing than working that day.

The Rev. Dr. Benedict, of Plainfield, gave a writer in the Connecticut Observer, the following account a few years before his death.

Soon after he left college he had occasion to travel southward as far as the State of North Carolina. Being unacquainted with the way, he was desirous of finding some one to accompany him. A man who had frequently traveled that road in the business of a pedler, was about to commence the journey, and informed him that it would afford him pleasure to be his companion and guide. They accordingly set out together. At the close of the week Mr. B. remarked to his companion, that the journey thus far had been pleasant to him; "but," added he, "I know not how I shall do next week, provided you intend to continue your journey on the Sabbath. I cannot proceed till Monday, and if you leave me, I shall probably lose my way." The man replied, "I have not traveled on the Sabbath for several years, though my business leads me to take long journeys. I formerly did; but I always lost more than I gained by the practice. Some hinderance or accident would occur on the following week, which convinced me that it is for my interest to rest upon the Sabbath."

# 55. Sabbath-breaking unnecessary.

Blessing, of God

Genesis 48

God blesses according to His grace, often choosing the weak to confound the mighty.

Jacob blesses contrary to Joseph's wish. God in His grace does not always observe order of nature in bestowing His blessings, nor prefer those we think fittest. Chooses weak to confound mighty

Blessing, Remembering

2 Chronicles 20:26

Remembering God's blessings encourages trust and frequent praise.

Valley of Berachah, lit. "Blessing." (Modern Bible class name "Baraca" taken from this). Was perpetuated for encouragement of others to trust God and to remind us that our praises should be as oft repeated as our prayers

Blessings, Spiritual and temporal

Joshua 15:19

Upper springs symbolize spiritual blessings; nether springs symbolize temporal blessings.

Blessings of upper springs illustrate those which relate to our souls and those of the nether springs speak of those which relate to the body and the life which now is

Hidden Blessing?

John 14:1

From standpoint of Genesis 27 looks at influence of a parent's blessing on

their child. (The life of a pastor who blesses his flock yet neglects his own

family is compared.) A Harvard study concluded that women in class of 1956

who left home feeling valued did significantly better in relationships and

professions over the next 30 years. Key elements in a parental blessing are:

1. Meaningful touch.

2. Picturing a special future.

3. Attaching high value.

#1012

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The Beatitudes Chart the Path To Victory

Jesus' Beatitudes stand in startling contrast to the values of His society - and ours.

In spite of their gentle appearance, the beatitudes in fact differ radically from the attitudes and behaviors that draw human approval and reward - and therefore rebuke sharply the powers of the world, which rule our human nature.

The beatitudes not only bring into focus the daily battle in our hearts between the will of God and that of our self-centered human nature; they chart the path to victory in the battle.

1. Blessed are those who have all the answers, for they will be confident and

in control.

2. Blessed are those who ignore their losses, for they will never feel pain.

3. Blessed are the proud, for they will get what they deserve.

4. Blessed are those who don't care about what God wants, for they will get

what they want out of life.

5. Blessed are those who get even, for they will save face.

6. Blessed are the schemers, for they will see their goals accomplished.

7. Blessed are the warriors, for they will be respected.

8. Blessed are those who are careful not to be too good, for they will fit in.

9. Blessed are those who never get too serious about their faith in Jesus

Christ, for they will not upset anyone.

America's Greatness

"The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults."

-- Alexis de Tocqueville

Don't Ask the Blessing, Offer One

Mark 6:41

DON'T ASK THE BLESSING, OFFER ONE

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In your mind's eye I want you to picture Jesus at the Feeding of the Five Thousand. Hungry multitudes cover the hillside. Jesus takes the little boy's lunch, lifts it up, and says the familiar prayer: "Bless this food to the nourishing and strengthening of our bodies. Amen." I'm here to tell you that it just didn't happen like that. No way!

Since when did we begin to bless our food, anyway? Frankly, our food's been blessed to the point that most of us -- how shall I say this -- are "over-nourished."

You find two words in the New Testament used in connection with praying before meals.

OFFERING PRAISE

Here's what really happened at the Feeding of the Five Thousand. "Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves" (Mark 6:41). The Greek word for "gave thanks" (NIV) or "blessed" (KJV) is "eulogeo," from which we get our English word "eulogy." It means "speak well of, praise, extol." The word commonly translates the Hebrew word, "barak," "to bless." But it wasn't the food Jesus was "speaking well of" or "blessing," it was his Father.

Every faithful Jew would offer this blessing before partaking of bread: "Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the world, who has caused bread to come forth out of the earth." Before partaking of wine, the blessing was said this way: "Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the world, who has created the fruit of the vine." The first word, "eulogeo," reminds us to eulogize or praise God before we eat.

OFFERING THANKS

The second praying-before-meals word is the Greek word "eucharisteo," from which we get our English word "Eucharist," often used as the name of Holy Communion. "Eucharisteo" means, "be thankful, offer thanks," and was used at the Last Supper.

"While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks (eulogeo) and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, 'Take and eat; this is my body.' Then he took the cup, gave thanks (eucharisteo) and offered it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you' " (Matthew 26:26-27, NIV).

What Jesus was doing at this Passover meal was offering to his Father the traditional blessings when bread and wine were eaten. It was common for Jews to offer a blessing for each food served during a meal.

THE BLESS ME CLUB

So how did we Christians end up blessing the food instead of God? Tradition? Habit? Some of the confusion may have come from a mistranslation of the passage I just quoted. In the King James Version, Matthew 26:26 reads: "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body.'" Notice how the tiny word "it" was added after the word "blessed"? The word "it" isn't part of the Greek text -- that's why it's in italics in the King James Version. But "bless it" implies something far different than "bless God." That addition of one little word may have twisted the way we pray before meals into something Jesus didn't intend at all.

Not that there's anything wrong in asking a blessing from God. There's not. Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread" -- but only after praise: "Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done...." No, asking favors from God isn't wrong, but it shouldn't be the primary part of our prayers, or we become like greedy little children: "Gimme this! Gimme that!". Those prayers are essentially selfish rather than self-giving. They don't fulfill either the First Commandment, to love God with all our heart, or the Second, to love our neighbor as ourselves.

HOW SHOULD WE PRAY?

The Apostle Paul put it in this perspective. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6). Notice the phrase "with thanksgiving" tucked in there with "present your requests to God." It's essential to keep prayer God- centered rather than self-centered. It's also the key to praying with real faith.

So when you pray, remember that your food doesn't deserve a blessing nearly so much as God who gave it. You can bless like Jesus did, "Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the world, who has caused bread to come forth out of the earth." Or offer a simple prayer of thanks to God for the food. Next time, don't "ask the blessing," but offer one to your Father.

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The Blessing of A Messy Home

A friend and I were standing in line at the grocery store the other day, and I was telling her how lazy my children were. I had come in from work that morning, and like most times, my house was wrecked.

"I believe children nowadays are just out for what they can get. I bend over backwards for them, and they can't even help keep our house clean. It wouldn't bother me so, but it's the woman who looks bad if the house is a mess."

"Do you know how blessed you are?" a woman behind us asked. "I would love to go home and find my house a mess. I wouldn't mind my carpet being ruined or the dishes left everywhere. I wouldn't mind the dirty clothes being piled high or the many socks to match. I wouldn't even mind anyone talking about my dirty home. Matter of fact, I would love it. I would dearly love to kick my way through the house just to get to my kids and be able to hug them, kiss them and tell them how much I love them. You see, my two children were killed in an auto accident and now it's just my husband and me. My house stays clean, my clothes stay put up, the dishes are done. There are no fingerprints on my walls, no mysterious spots on my carpets. There are no sounds of arguing, no slamming doors, no laughter, no 'I love you Mom.' So you see, you are very blessed. What I would give to be going through what you are right now. How I would love to be able to hold my kids, wipe away their tears, share their dreams. Just to watch them play. If I had my children, I wouldn't care how my house looked. I would be happy just to have them."

Now if you come into my house and see a big old mess, you can think bad thoughts if you want, but I feel greatly blessed.

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Old Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you;

May the wind be always at your back;

May the sun shine warm upon your face;

The rains fall soft upon your fields;

And, until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

(An Old Irish Blessing).

His Song Saved Him

It is related that during the Civil War a Confederate soldier who

was placed far out in a lonely wood to watch suddenly felt a strange

dread and fear come over him. The moon was shining dimly in the deeply

wooded place. And while it seemed strange and unwise, he felt

constrained to sing softly the old song, "Jesus, Lover of my soul let

me to Thy bosom fly," and the stanza, "Other refuge have I none." This

he did, and immediately felt relieved of his fear.

A few years later, when the war was over, he was at a meeting and

sang the same song. After the song, a stranger came up to him and

said, "I never saw you before, but I have heard that voice before."

Then he asked him if he sang that song one night during the war. Then

he related to him how he and some of his men, who were Union soldiers,

were hidden behind trees and had their guns turned on him and were

ready to fire! "But," said he, "as we heard that song, 'Jesus, Lover

of my soul,' and, 'Other refuge have I none,' I said to my men, Don't

shoot that man,' and we slipped away and left you. I shall never forget the voice I heard that night."

There is only one refuge and that is Jesus, and we need Him at the

end of the way.

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

The Threshold of the Treasure

Numbers 13

Roger was the father of a friend of mine, and he was a very successful businessman. That's probably why a neighbor approached Roger one day and asked him if he wanted to be involved in a new hamburger chain he was starting. It was a little outfit called McDonald's. Roger was offered the fourth franchise in this brand new venture and a founding share. Roger thought about it and then said, “No, thanks.” Ouch! Later, another neighbor came to Roger and told him about this new business he was launching called Service Master. Would Roger like to get in the ground floor with an investment? Roger thought about and then he said, “No, thanks.” Double ouch! As McDonald's and Service Master grew to be some of the most successful companies in the world, I wonder what must have gone through Roger's mind. He had been on the brink of so much wealth, but he missed it because of one decision.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “The Threshold Of The Treasure.”

Tragically, so many of God's children have made those same kinds of decisions. You may be on the edge of one right now. God is ready to include you in some wonderful blessing He wants to bring into your life, but whether or not you get what He wants to give you depends on a decision you make. You may be on the threshold of treasure He wants to give you - it may be an emotional treasure, a financial blessing, the answer to a long-prayed prayer, a special relationship, a new beginning, maybe a greater impact in your ministry, or a breakthrough in some impossible situation. But, like that man who missed his share of Ronald McDonald's fortune, it may all come down to your making the right decision.

It did for God's ancient people in our word for today from the Word of God. It's in Numbers 13, beginning with verse 30. The Jews are on the brink of incredible blessing as they stand at the border of the Promised Land. Twelve scouts return from that land with a bunch of grapes so large that it takes two men to carry them on a pole - just a taste of the blessing God has in store. But, like most decisions that lead to great blessing, there are great challenges to face on the way to the blessing. In this case, walled cities and giants in the land.

One of the scouts, Caleb, says to the people, “'We should go up and take possession of the land.” But the men who had gone up with him said, 'We can't...'“ There are the two voices that fight it out on the brink of great blessing - “We should.” ... “We can't.”

Caleb and Joshua see the people are ready to retreat. So, they tell them, “The land ... is exceedingly good ... the Lord will give it to us. Only do not rebel ... do not be afraid ... the Lord is with us” (Numbers 14:7-9). The giants looked bigger than the Lord to those people, and they make their decision. The challenge is just too great - we won't go for it. And God says, here are His words: “Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home. Your children will be suffering for your unfaithfulness. You will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have Me against you” (Numbers 14:30-34). Wow.

God said to His ancient people - and perhaps to you and me, “There is so much I have wanted to give you, but you made the wrong choice. You focused on the obstacles, on your inadequacy, on the negative input, and not on My power and My promise. You will never see the great blessing I wanted you to have.”

Just as a businessman learned when he passed up what turned out to be a golden - actually, golden arches - opportunity, you can miss great treasure if you make the wrong decision. The decisions you make really matter. You may be standing on the edge of great blessing right now, facing a great challenge. Making the right decision means having the right focus - on your great God, not on the giants. “The land is exceedingly good ... do not rebel ... do not be afraid ... the Lord is with you.”

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #5251]

(untitled)

I asked the Lord to bless you

As I prayed for you today

To guide you and protect you

As you go along your way....

His love is always with you

His promises are true,

And when we give Him all our cares

You know He will see us through

So when the road you're traveling on

Seems difficult at best

Just remember I'm here praying

And God will do the rest.

God's Longing For Us

1. GOD WANTS TO BLESS YOU.

He gets a kick out of making His children happy. He feels much the same way parents feel on Christmas morning as they anticipate watching their kids unwrap presents amid squeals of delight…

There’s never a moment in all our lives, from the day we trusted Christ till the day we see Him, when God is not longing to bless us. At every moment, in every circumstance, God is doing us good. He never stops. It gives Him too much pleasure. God is not waiting to bless us after our troubles end. He is blessing us right now, in and through those troubles. At this exact moment, He is giving us what He knows is good.

2. THE DEEPEST PLEASURE WE’RE CAPABLE OF EXPERIENCING IS A DIRECT ENCOUNTER WITH GOD.

In God’s new way of dealing with people, He does us the most good by making Himself available to be enjoyed and by seeing to it that we seek an encounter with Him with more energy than we seek anything else…

The highest dream we could ever dream, the wish that if granted would make us happier than any other blessing, is to know God, to actually experience Him.

3. THE PROBLEM IS THAT WE DON’T BELIEVE THIS IDEA (ENCOUNTERING GOD IS OUR DEEPEST PLEASURE)…

We assent to it in our heads. But we don’t feel it in our hearts…

So the Holy Spirit awakens that appetite. He uses the pain of shattered dreams to help us discover our desire for God, to help us begin dreaming the highest dream…

Our shattered dreams are never random. They are always a piece in a larger puzzle, a chapter in a larger story.

When dreams shatter, we lose hope. We may get on, but the fire is out. There may still be some things worth living for, but the best is gone. The spark has been doused, our passion for life extinguished. At least that’s how it seems…

How do we find the faith that lets us see what is invisible to passionately believe that He’s always wonderfully and lovingly responsive when He seems so callous? That’s the question: What does it mean to hope in God as we continue to live in a world where good dreams shatter and God seems to do nothing about it?

Trusting God is dangerous business. Unless we’re trusting Him for what He’s promised to provide, the step after trust is disillusionment…

So what can He be trusted for? Exactly what is He doing with His considerable power? What would be different if we experienced that power, if His power were released in us?

There is an answer, and it is repeated again and again in the Bible. But the answer, the only one that squarely faces the enormous challenge of trusting a seemingly unresponsive God, requires a change in how we naturally look at life. It demands a revolution in our understanding of why we’re alive at all, of why God keeps us living in this world for so long before He takes us to heaven.

Jesus responds, “Some of your fondest dreams will shatter, and you will be tempted to lose hope. I will seem to you callous or, worse, weak – unresponsive to your pain. You will wonder if I cannot do anything or simply will not.”

“When all this comes to pass, My word to you is this: Do not lose hope. A plan is unfolding that you cannot clearly see. If you could see it as I do, you would still hurt, but you would not lose hope. You would gladly remain faithful to me in the middle of the worst suffering. I guarantee you the power to please me, not to have a good time. But pleasing me will bring you great joy.”

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #5622]

Your Prayers Matter: Things Happen Or Don't Happen Because of Prayer

Luke 11:5

Alvin Vander Griend tells of a Christian who lived in a middle-class suburb in central California. He made a commitment to pray:

five blessings

on five neighbors

for five minutes a day

for five days a week

for five weeks.

Surprising things began to happen. One neighbor asked him how she could have a personal relationship with Christ. When the Christian shared the gospel with her, she accepted Christ as her Savior. A drug-dealing neighbor asked him to pray for him and help him turn his life around and get out of the drug business. A Buddhist couple from across the street asked if they could go to church with the Christian's family. And a Hispanic couple living next door asked him to start a Bible study for the neighborhood.

This suburbanite's prayers mattered to God. They provided God the opportunity He was looking for to work in the hearts and lives of his neighbors.

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The Prayer of Jabez: What Does It Teach?

1 Chronicles 4:10

Does God intend to give his children certain blessings but only if they ask?

Does reciting the same prayer to God every day provide power?

Does praying daily for God to bless you and enlarge your territory violate the dictates of Christian humility and sacrifice?

Has the so-called "health and wealth" theology found a back door into Baptist congregations?

These are some of the theological questions raised by the breakaway popularity of Bruce Wilkinson's bestseller, "The Prayer of Jabez." The book has been widely embraced by Baptist ministers and laypeople in recent weeks and has become the basis of small-group Bible studies and sermons in some churches.

In the book, Wilkinson, founder of Walk Thru the Bible Ministries in Atlanta, urges readers to "reach for an extraordinary life" by praying the prayer of Jabez daily. He has prayed the prayer of Jabez every day for 30 years, he writes, and has found it to produce wonderful results in his life and ministry. "The Jabez prayer distills God's powerful will for your future," Wilkinson admonishes.

The book breaks the prayer of 1 Chronicles 4:10 into four parts.

The first is "that you would bless me indeed."

"God really does have unclaimed blessings waiting for you, my friend," Wilkinson writes. He explains that praying for God's blessings for yourself "is not the self-centered act it might appear, but a supremely spiritual one and exactly the kind of request our Father longs to hear."

To "bless," according to Wilkinson, means to "ask for or to impart supernatural favor. When we ask for God's blessing, we're not asking for more of what we could get for ourselves."

Although by praying the prayer of Jabez, "your life will become marked by miracles," Wilkinson urges readers not to see the prayer as a means to get specific things. Jabez, he notes, "left it entirely up to God to decide what the blessings would be and where, when and how" they would be received.

To illustrate the importance of asking for God's blessing, Wilkinson tells a fable about a man named Mr. Jones who dies and goes to heaven, where he discovers a ribbon-tied box with his name on it. Inside the box, he learns, are "all the blessings God wanted to give him while he was on earth, but Mr. Jones had never asked."

Wilkinson explains: "Even though there is no limit to God's goodness, if you didn't ask him for a blessing yesterday, you didn't get all that you were supposed to have. That's the catch -- if you don't ask for his blessing, you forfeit those that come to you only when you ask."

The second part of the prayer is to "enlarge my territory."

This means to "ask God to enlarge your life so you can make a greater impact for him," Wilkinson says. "When you start asking in earnest -- begging -- for more influence and responsibility with which to honor him, God will bring opportunities and people into your path."

The third part of the prayer is "that your hand would be with me."

This emphasizes the Christian's dependence upon God and inability to do God's work in human power alone, Wilkinson explains. "The hand of the Lord is so seldom experienced by even mature Christians that they don't miss it and don't ask for it. They hardly know it exists."

Finally, the prayer asks "that you would keep me from evil."

This is a prayer not to face temptation, Wilkinson says. "Most of us face too many temptations -- and therefore sin too often -- because we don't ask God to lead us away from temptation."

In conclusion, Wilkinson asserts that God does have favorites. "Equal access to God does not add up to equal reward. ... Simply put, God favors those who ask."

The nature of Wilkinson's message has drawn immediate comparisons among some critics to the health-and-wealth gospel of the televangelists. But Baptist advocates of the book say that's not what the book teaches at all. "I don't see it as being prosperity theology," said Ted Elmore, director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas prayer office. "There are ample places in the Old and New Testaments where God does indeed want to bless his people."

Johnny White, associate pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio, acknowledged the book "skates on the edge of health and wealth," but he does not believe that was Wilkinson's intent. In using the book at Trinity, where 750 people recently discussed it in home Bible studies, "we've tried to focus on the natural human tendency to turn inward. We've tried to draw from that passage the outward focus -- bless me that I might reach out."

Even though he likes and advocates the prayer, it should not be seen as a "quick fix" or a "magic formula," said Jeff Williams, pastor of First Baptist Church of Denton, Texas.

At Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, prayer and spiritual formation professor Dan Crawford has been teaching about the prayer of Jabez for 15 years. When he does, however, he presents it as "a biblical example of when a man prayed a bold prayer and God said yes." While he believes God answers all prayers, Crawford asserted that God doesn't always answer all prayers in the affirmative. "Sometimes God says no; sometimes God says wait." The value of the Jabez model is to encourage Christians to pray boldly, Crawford said. It should not be construed as a "hocus-pocus magic formula," he warned.

Even so, scores of people are reporting that they have discovered life-changing results by praying the prayer of Jabez. Reviews of the book on Amazon.com, for example, are replete with dramatic testimonies, as is the book's own Web site, www.prayerofjabez.com.

Elmore said he and other members of his family have found personal blessings through the prayer of Jabez. Yet he understands how the prayer and the book might be misused. "The danger is not with the prayer of Jabez itself," Elmore said. "The danger would be in interpretation." A person who feels the need to pray this specific prayer as a formula to achieve God's blessing is "a person who's more concerned with prayer than the God who answers prayer," he said. "Our confidence is not in prayer; our confidence is in God."

White, likewise, has found the prayer of Jabez personally beneficial. And he's heard from other members of Trinity that they have too. Yet it's not the only thing he prays, he said. "It would be missing the point to think this becomes the mantra of life."

Christians should not fall into using the prayer of Jabez as a "ritualistic prayer," Crawford added. "It's biblical to see God as wanting to give us good things. That's throughout the Scriptures. I don't think it's totally dependent upon us asking for it in some kind of ritualistic prayer. It may depend more on faithfulness and how the circumstances fit in to God's overall plan. "Sometimes God gives to us that which to him is good but to us doesn't appear as we want it," Crawford said. "He works things for his good."

With more than 4.4 million copies of the little book now in circulation and no end in sight to the sales explosion, Christians who attempt to draw attention to what they see as potential theological dangers in the book often get a chilly reception.

Jim Holliday, pastor of Lyndon Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., writes book reviews for the Kentucky Western Recorder. He recently reviewed "The Prayer of Jabez" and panned it with a one star rating out of five possible stars. Even members of his own congregation have questioned his judgment.

Yet he stands by his critique. "The book makes too much out of the prayer of Jabez," he asserted. "If I were going to spend every day in a prayer discipline, I would much rather spend it with the prayer Jesus taught us," Holliday said. "There's probably more to be mined there in terms of spiritual development than in Jabez."

Holliday's view is shared by Mike Gunn, pastor of the non-denominational Mars Hill Christian Fellowship in Seattle. The contemporary congregation with roots in the Bible church movement has posted a bruising critique of Wilkinson's book on its Web site. Gunn calls Wilkinson's book "a new low in the poor theology department" and nothing more than a fad.

"There are many great books on prayer," Gunn writes. "'The Prayer of Jabez' is not one of them. ... Stay away from anyone who pulls out an obscure verse from a genealogy and builds a theology around it."

Meanwhile, the marketing machine behind Christian publishing is working overtime to develop spin-off Jabez products. Versions geared to women, teens and children are planned, as are Bible study guides and videos. Plaques and cups already are available.

For his part, Wilkinson expressed shock at the success of the book, which began germinating in his mind 30 years ago as a student at Dallas Theological Seminary. "We can't claim any credit or brilliance," he told the Dallas Morning News. "It's just God deciding Jabez prayed this prayer thousands of years ago, and maybe now it's time to get it answered."

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A Shabbat Miracle

Mark 10:16

Living 10,000 miles away from my parents, we always looked forward to their yearly visits to Israel. Whenever they visited my family, we always got along wonderfully. That is, until Shabbat.

Long ago, my great-grandparents had decided to stop observing Shabbat, and my grandparents and parents had followed in their footsteps. We had grown up with very little awareness of or interest in Jewish rituals. After college I became more interested in Judaism and gradually began to learn Hebrew, study Jewish sources, and practice a more observant life style. This process culminated with my moving to Israel. Though my parents were always very proud of being Jews, my choices were alien to them. They felt that I had rejected the way they had raised me, and could not understand why what had been acceptable for three generations had to be changed. Endless talks had not been able to change these feelings that the unity of our family had been shattered.

We were often able to camouflage these feelings of loss during the week. But then Shabbat would inevitably arrive. All the rituals of Shabbat represented the change from how my parents had raised me to how I lived my life today. Starting with the Thursday night cooking, through the Friday cleaning, showering and getting into Shabbat clothes, the tension in the air would become more palpable with every passing moment.

By the time we sat down to eat, we could hardly look into each others' faces. My wife and I sat in our special Shabbat clothes, the kids all cleaned up, with white shirts and freshly scrubbed faces, opposite my parents, sitting in their regular clothes, looking excessively uncomfortable.

We would sing Shalom Aleikhem and then Eshet Hayil while my parents, knowing no Hebrew, would sit in painful silence. Then the children would come to my wife and me for the moving traditional Shabbat parent's blessing, and we would proceed with Kiddush, HaMotzee, and the meal. All the while trying to make conversation in attempts to cover up the true feelings of discomfort.

We proceeded like this for years, always dreading the approaching of Shabbat. Then, inexplicably, everything changed.

One Shabbat, after singing the seemingly interminably long songs of Shalom Aleikhem and Eshet Hayil, I sat waiting for the children to come for their blessings. Then, utterly unplanned and unanticipated, an uncontrollable force came over me. Without any awareness of what I was doing, I rose from my chair and took several steps to where my father was sitting.

For a moment I just stood next to him, in a daze, not really understanding what I had done. He looked at me and asked what I was doing. I looked at him and said, "Dad, give me a brakhah, a blessing." Bewildered, he said, "I don't know any Hebrew."

"So say whatever you want to."

He paused, then placed both hands on my head, paused for another moment, and then whispered, "I love you, son."

At this point, the children were all asking, "Why is Grammi crying?" I walked over to my mother, and amidst her tears of joy, I bent down for her to give me her blessing.

Then I returned to my seat and gave the kids their blessings. The tensions had all disappeared. The Shabbat experience that had once separated us, the Shabbat that had once shown how different we were, had now become the Shabbat of expressing our love for each other. It had become our Shabbat, for all of us. No longer was there a break in the generations.

Now, though still completely different in our life styles, we all look forward to sharing Shabbat together. Come Thursday nights, the excitement grows as we anticipate the moment of sharing our three generations of blessings.

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What It Means To Say, God Bless America

Luke 24:51

Since Sept. 11's terrorist attacks, the words "God Bless America" can be seen and heard everywhere. In the halls of Congress and in the Oval Office, in public buildings and in houses of worship, it seems that Americans are seeking action from God.

"We can't escape it, we don't want to escape it," Jim Shaddix reflected during a New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary chapel service. "It's been fresh, it's been invigorating."

Shaddix, dean of the chapel and associate professor of preaching at NOBTS, noted that even those who have been opposed to prayer in school and mention of God in culture are being forced to respond to the God Bless America "heart cry."

"It has caused me to wonder, what it is we are really asking?" Shaddix said. "What is it we are really asking God to do?"

The plea for God's blessing is not only coming from America, he noted. Reading a statement from Osama bin Laden released after the attack, Shaddix illustrated how the terrorists as well as the terrorized are seeking God's blessing for their cause. Each group wants God to change their situation.

"Can we really know what it's going to take for God to bless America? Everybody is asking and expecting God to bless their particular side. It raises the question, is there a word from God in which he tells us, 'Here is where my blessings lie'?"

Drawing from Matthew 5:1-10, Shaddix pointed to the Beatitudes in answering the question. In this familiar passage of Scripture, which introduces the "Sermon on the Mount," Jesus gives insight into the nature of the blessing of God.

"The blessing of God begins with an admission of spiritual bankruptcy, not an alteration of physical circumstances. I'm very concerned, in our day and time, that the echo of 'God Bless America' from our lips is really a heart cry for God to intervene in our physical circumstances."

Things have not changed all that much since the days Jesus walked on this earth, Shaddix continued. After Jesus had healed many of the sick and hurting in Galilee, great multitudes began to follow him. The people following Jesus were primarily seeking a change in their physical circumstances. It was in this context that Jesus pulled aside his disciples to teach them about the true nature of God's blessing. The message that Jesus delivered on that day is one that Americans need to hear and heed in these trying times.

"What God desires for your life is not merely the altering of your physical circumstances, but it is to do something spiritual in your heart. Does he tell us what that is? I think he does."

Jesus gives an indication of what he desires to do in the hearts of his followers in the first Beatitude -- "blessed are the poor in spirit." The word used for "poor" in this passage carries the meaning of absolute poverty, Shaddix said, noting that the blessing of God begins when people "realize they have absolutely no resources to offer God, that is the beginning point according to Jesus Christ."

God desires to hear people cry out for him out of spiritual bankruptcy not out of the hope for change of temporal, physical circumstances. This utter poverty of spirit and realization of sinful helplessness is the point at which people come to cry out for the grace of God and his salvation, and it is where the blessing of God begins, he asserted.

"The agenda of God is much bigger than this country. It is much bigger than the war on terrorism. It is a spiritual agenda. That must always be at the forefront of our preaching, our teaching and our counseling as we give guidance to people in these difficult times."

Secondly, the blessing of God is neither random nor indiscriminate, Shaddix said, explaining that the blessing comes as the Christian progresses toward maturity. He noted that the Beatitude text progresses in two dimensions. The first is vertical (in relationship with God) and second is horizontal (in relationship with others). Shaddix noted that when Jesus was asked about the most important commandments he echoed this two-dimensional relationship. He said that the greatest command is to love God above all and the second is to love neighbor above self.

"We need to understand that God doesn't just throw his blessing out there and say, 'Hey, anybody and everybody, live like you want to and I'll bless you.' We've got to understand this in America today. We've got to understand this in our churches today, that the blessing of God is directed and poured out primarily within the confines of kingdom citizenship."

The last beatitude illustrates that the blessing of God is realized in the celebration of persecution, rather than in the elimination of persecution. Many Americans are crying out to God to "end the persecution." But in verse 10, Jesus explains that the pinnacle of the blessing of God is found in persecution for righteousness' sake.

"Do you realize that we have not been attacked in America because of righteousness? For whatever [reason] it is, it is not because we are a righteous nation."

If Americans and American Christians are only seeking the face of God to end terrorism, they are not truly seeking the blessing of God, he explained. God's blessing is much deeper than the physical; it comes through righteous, radical missions and evangelism, he said. This type of witness by the church will lead to the persecution Jesus spoke of in verse 10 -- persecution for the sake of righteousness.

"We need to ask ourselves, 'Are we ready for the blessing of God?' When you are persecuted because of the bold stance for Christ, rejoice in it because you are in good company, celebrate because therein is the blessing of God," he concluded.

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Have A Good Day

Mark 10:17

"Have a good day." Do you find yourself uttering this common phrase without giving any thought to what it is that you are actually saying?

If we go beyond the mechanized utterance, what does this well-wishing phrase that populates our speech mean? Actually, it is not well-wishing. It is well-hoping. We hope they have a good day. Human beings are hopeful beings, so it is right that hope be found in our everyday language.

But when we say "Have a good day," what is it that we are hoping for the other person? We hope for goodness in their life. So when we break out of the programmed farewell and say, "Have a good day," we are hoping that goodness surrounds them in their day.

But what is the nature of this goodness that we are hoping for? Superficial pop-culture voices say that it is money or fame or success. For them, "Have a good day" means "Get rich today." To the hopeless among us - sadly they are in no short supply - there is no goodness to be found in life and so their "Have a good day" means "Good luck not getting killed." To the high-minded philosopher, goodness is a principle or an eternal Form. Her "Have a good day" may mean "Know a principle today." Are these the hopes you have for others or for yourself? You know, they aren’t really my hopes.

Consider the word good. The modern English word for good derives from the Old English word god - our contemporary word God derives from this same word. This reveals something quite astounding about how the Old English language cast the world: It connected God with good, goodness with Godness. To the Old English speaker "Have a good day" meant "Have a God day" or "Go with God, be with God, be with goodness."

You see, their linguistic connection reveals a deep facet about reality: Goodness is intimately connected to God. He is the absolute. Wonderfully, He wants to share this goodness with us. And He also wants us to share with others the goodness He has given to us. Jesus says this when He says that God wants us to know Him, love Him, and to likewise love our neighbor.

So, dear friends, let us speak with our Old English bequest and say to those around us, "Have a God day, go with Him, be with Him, be in goodness." Now you could, of course, prefer the Spanish and still say the same thing: "Adios!"

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Public Table Grace

Mark 6:41

When in a public restaurant, should we pray a blessing before eating? If so, how should we do it? We just saw a lady in a restaurant who made a spectacle of her prayer so that everyone would be sure to notice that she was praying. I’m sure she felt she was witnessing, but I’m not sure that is the way to witness. It almost looks like phariseeism — “look at me, I’m praying — I’m ‘spiritual’.”

Prayer, even giving thanks for food, is a personal and private communication between you and God. I believe we should offer a prayer of thanks, even in a public restaurant, but I don’t think we should do it through a megaphone.

We have very little Scripture on this aspect of prayer, except the example of Christ at feeding the 5000 when He gave thanks. He did say this in Matt. 6:5 (NLT), “And now about prayer. When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on the street corners (or restaurants?) and in the synagogues (yes, churches, too) where everyone can see them.” We are all aware how difficult it is to pray publicly and pray strictly to God and not to be heard of men.

Suggestion — when you pray noticeably in a restaurant, be sure to leave a nice tip! We don’t want to give God a bad name.

[Holwick - I think Acts 27:35 is one of the clearest examples of a public table grace in the Bible.]

I'm Too Blessed To Be Stressed - [poem]

I’m too blessed to be stressed and too anointed to be disappointed!

I refuse to be discouraged, to be sad or to cry.

I refuse to be downhearted and here’s the reason why:

I have a God who is almighty; who is sovereign and supreme;

I have a God who loves me, and I am on his team.

He is all wise and powerful; Jesus is His Name;

Though everything else is changeable, My God remains the same.

I refuse to be defeated. My eyes are on my God.

He has promised to be with me, as through this life I trod.

I am looking past my circumstances, to heaven’s throne above.

My prayers have reached the heart of God. I am resting in his love.

I give thanks to him in everything. My eyes are on his face.

The battle is his; the victory is mine; He will help me win the race.

I repeat, “I’m Too Blessed to Be Stressed.”

A Special Sauce

Luke 6:38

I was sitting at the drive thru window at McDonald’s this weekend (ok, I eat out a lot). I did the usual thing, I drove up to the menu and ordered. I proceeded to the first window and paid, then drove to the second window and waited for the order. After sitting there for a few minutes, the clerk slid back the window and asked, “Will you please pull over to the side; your order is not ready.”

I was a little upset and even impatient, but I pulled over and waited. I thought, “How come other folks ordered and drove straight through and I have to wait?” I waited for another two or three minutes — it seemed like hours — before the clerk finally ran out, tapped on the window, and handed me the order. Of course I asked, “Hey, what took so long?” She replied, “You wanted the SPECIAL SAUCE, which meant it had to be especially made for that sandwich, it doesn’t usually come with that one.”

The scene is a reflection of our prayer life. We make our request to the Lord. Our menu is His word where He has listed promise after promise. We stand before Him and request and plead and, sometimes, even beg. We go to the first window and pay, sometimes with fervent prayer, sometimes with prolonged suffering, sometimes with obedience, and sometimes not at all. We then move to the second window and wait for our order. If God doesn’t answer within a few minutes, we become upset. You know the phrase, “Jesus, it’s 5:00 PM Friday; I prayed to you yesterday, and You still haven’t answered. I can’t wait much longer.”

Why is it taking Him so long, I’ve seen people drive up before me and they received their orders right away? We even go so far as to tap on the window and ask if He has forgotten our order. We become impatient. We become upset. We become downright mad.

• “Lord I asked for a mate ten days ago and I don’t see him/her anywhere.”

• “Lord, I’ve been asking for a new job for two years; others have passed me by.”

• “I’ve been waiting on a financial blessing for ten years and I still have more month than money.”

• “Where are You and why haven’t you blessed me?”

And just when you think He is giving you the answer, He pulls back the royal curtain of eternity, and states, “Please pull over to the side and wait a while longer?” This once frustrated me to no end, made me mad, made me want to give up, made me wanna holler; that is, until the clerk brought out my sandwich — then, the revelation became clear.

Do you know why the Lord has put you on the side? Do you know why you have had to wait for this blessing longer than before? Do you know why He has put you through more this time than ever? Do you know why it seems as though He has not heard you and He does not care? DO you know why it seems like you have had to go through more tears, more pains, and more struggling this time?

Because this blessing is a SPECIAL SAUCE BLESSING. This is an OVERFLOWING, PRESSED DOWN, SHAKEN TOGETHER, BLESSING! You made a SPECIAL ORDER and GOD has been putting together a SPECIAL SAUCE BLESSING for you and He has to prepare it for you.

• That mate you wanted, HE’s putting together a SPECIAL SAUCE.

• That job you wanted, HE’S putting together a SPECIAL SAUCE.

• That financial blessing, A SPECIAL SAUCE.

• That peace on the job, A SPECIAL SAUCE.

• That house… A SPECIAL SAUCE.

• That promotion… A SPECIAL SAUCE.

• That deeper anointing… A SPECIAL SAUCE.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end… “ [and a SPECIAL SAUCE]. Jeremiah 29:11

How many people have driven away before the clerk brought their food, and how many people have missed their blessings because they did not wait?

Hang in there. Keep on waiting. You made a SPECIAL ORDER, now wait on a SPECIAL SAUCE! “But they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

They who wait shall get a SPECIAL SAUCE!

– author known only to God.

Comments On the Prayer of Jabez

1 Chronicles 4

Over the past couple of years, a little book has appeared on the shelves of Christian book stores selling in that time several millions of copies and with such a great marketing success has been followed by follow on books, plaques, and similar materials it takes as its theme a short passage from 1 Chronicles 4:

‘And Jabez was more honourable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez saying, “Because I bore him with pain.” Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that Thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that Thy hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldst keep me from harm, that it may not pain me!” And God granted him what he requested.’ 1 Chronicles 4:9-10; (NAS)

The book is, of course, “The Prayer of Jabez,” written by Bruce Wilkinson, founder of “Walk Thru the Bible Ministries.”

• who says he has prayed this prayer every day for 30 years

• and urges his readers to pray it daily

• and he tells a fable, which is just that, a fable, of Mr Jones who arrives in heaven to find a never-opened gift-wrapped box of blessings that he never received because he had never claimed them — an unwarranted extrapolation of “Ye have not because ye ask not,” a depreciation of the sovereignty of the Providence who chooses to accomplish His will through the prayers of His people

This book has some problems

• One should certainly question that this, or for that matter, any other passage of scripture, be taken as a formula for blessing

• In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ warns us God does not listen to us for our much speaking (Matthew 6:7)

• and in the same verse, that we are not to use vain repetitions

• so there is a great danger of prayer in this fashion becoming a mere ritual — a trap into which we can already easily fall

• also, it is a questionable approach of Bible interpretation to build our theology of prayer from such a short passage, embedded as it is in the middle of a record of genealogies

• the Holy Spirit has also given many instances of prayer for our instruction in this matter

° there are 150 psalms arising from all circumstances

° there are recorded the prayers of such great men of God as Moses, Solomon, and the old testament prophets

° in each of Paul’s letters we find a prayer recorded — even more than one in some cases

• and there is the teaching that we find about prayer, most specifically that of our Lord Jesus Christ and the model prayer which He gave to us — and I do not believe that even it was intended to be repeated every time we pray

Message of Prayer of Jabez

• and yet, this prayer was included in Scripture by the Holy Spirit for our instruction and we should not discard the truths that are to be found this passage (which are not original with me!)

• Jabez was bold in prayer

° we find this same quality in Abraham, in Moses and so on

° and we, who through Christ’s reconciling work have peace with God, should be bold in our prayers — yet all the while seeking that they be in keeping with God’s will

• “Oh that Thou wouldst bless me indeed” — we should come to prayer this evening, and at all times, with the recognition that

° all blessing comes from God

° God delights in the blessing of His people

° and it is His blessing — approval — we seek, not men’s

• “enlarge my border” — that God may increase our faith, our ability, our opportunity, our desire to serve Him

• “Thy hand might be with me” — recognizing our daily need for intimate fellowship with God, that, as Christ said, “without me ye can do nothing”

• “Thou wouldst keep me from harm, that it may not pain me!” — which is in accord with that in the model prayer: “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil [or the Evil one]”

Let us keep these truths in mind as we go to prayer this evening.

Blessed Beyond Measure!

• If you woke up this morning with more health than illness… you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

• If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation… you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

• If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death… you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

• If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead, and a place to sleep… you are richer than 75% of this world.

• If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace… you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.

• If your parents are still alive and still married… you are very rare, even in the United States.

• If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful… you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

• If you can hold someone’s hand, hug them, or even touch them on the shoulder… you are blessed because in a world that is dying from lack of touch, you can offer Spirit’s healing embrace.

• If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you, and furthermore… you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.

Have a good day, count your blessings, and pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are. — Author unknown.

“A bird does not sing because it has an answer; it sings because it has a song.”

“What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it.” (Hugh Mulligan)

Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says… “I’ll try again tomorrow.”

The Power of Blessing

Hebrews 11:20

From one of the great patriarchs in the Scriptures, Jacob, we can discover how to positively impact our children. An instance in Jacob's life provides a snapshot of Jacob's godly love for his kids. Through this snapshot, we will observe how we can love our kids.

Jacob was a powerful and influential man, not only because of his ancestors and his sons, but because of the blessings he received and gave. He was a man with a prominent past who saw a bright future. That is reflected in what he did with two of his grandsons as told in Hebrews 11:20-21. The text reads, “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.”

We see Jacob at the end of his life. On his deathbed, Jacob's last wish is to bless his children because he lived life with a view to the future.

But let's ask a critical question: What do we mean by “blessing”? We often miss the supernatural significance of the blessing. Sometimes we become so familiar with a concept that we lose its concrete meaning. I am concerned that has happened to our understanding of the biblical concept of the “blessing.”

Think about it. We often use the word “bless” in familiar speech. The other day I sneezed and our 2-year-old granddaughter said, “Bless you!” The Irish have a blessing that says, “May you be in heaven thirty minutes before the devil knows you are dead!” We know the word. But what do we know about what it really means?

We learn the true meaning of the blessing from Jacob. When Jacob blessed Joseph and his sons, what was he doing? The basic meaning of the word “to bless” in the Scriptures comes from the Hebrew word barak, “to kneel.” And the word picture here describes a man who had his camel bend down on its knees so he could get on it (Genesis 24:11). In the Scriptures, when barak, “to bless,” is used in association with God, it means, “to bow with bended knee to express awe and value.” We're familiar with the concept of blessing when we encounter royalty. In history, and even today in countries with a royal family such as England, a person bows or curtsies to express to royalty their inherent honor and value.

So when God blesses us, as He so often does, He says to you and to me, “I value you and I add value to your life.”

As we take this concept from the heavenly realm to where we live day by day, “to bless” simply means to recognize value in a person and to add value through a spoken word or a specific deed. And from this truth, we come to a working definition for blessing: a blessing is a positive and powerful influence on a person's life through a word spoken or a deed done.

Jacob blessed his sons by the example of his life of faith and by his spoken blessing at the end of his life. As Jacob looked to the past and saw how God had blessed him, he then looked to the future and had faith that God would bless his family throughout generations. That's the point of his blessing Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh. He wants God to use him to bless his family. That's why he lays his hands on the boys. He wants God to use him to be a blessing for his family, and he has faith that God will continue to bless his family.

We can learn from Jacob and join him in blessing our children. How do we bless our kids? Here are a few ways: 1) pray for them; 2) encourage them; 3) explain to them that they are special and God has a wonderful plan for them; 4) show them, by your own example, the joy of pursing God's best in life; and 5) spend time with them, taking care to expose the truths of the Bible to them.

When we live out these very practical disciplines, we will discover the power of the blessing both in our own lives and in the lives of our children.

_____________

Claude Thomas is pastor of First Baptist Church in Euless, Texas.

The Secret To Happiness For Kids [and Others!]

• Obey God; And always do what is right.

• Never lie, but always tell the truth, even if it gets you into trouble.

• Always be good to others and never do anything that might hurt them.

• Never say anything bad about anyone.

• Don’t hang around with kids who don’t believe in God, but make friends with the kids that do.

• Always do what you say you are going to do, even if when the time comes it isn’t easy.

• Always share the things you have without expecting something back.

• Never get someone into trouble so you can get something out of it.

• If you do these things, you will be blessed. And you will live in the house of God forever.

100 Sermon Illustrations on Blessing