The Blessings of the Year

The blessings of the year

         

Text: Genesis 12:1-3.

“Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you.
I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

          Often at the beginning of a New Year most people look back, but I want for us to look forward to the blessings of God in 2013. Anyway, unless you are under 13 today, you were born in the 1900’s which is already sounding to me a long time ago, and to those under 13 it must sound like a different century, Ha! Ha!      

How quickly 365 days can come and go and another year is gone by. Yet, how wonderful is the thought of God blessing each and every one of those 365 days, making every day count:

365 people saved,

365 people healed,

365 miracles in the midst of us,

365 days in the presence of a God blessing Saviour, Healer, and the coming King.

          Plus on an hourly basis:

Every hour of every day someone in the world is being saved under the Gospel of God’s grace and mercy.

Every hour of every day someone in the world is being healed by the power of God working in their lives.

Every day miracles are happening because God is at work in that area.

Well I want God to be working here, in our area, in our town and village and in our home and lives.

Have you ever ask God what was stopping or blocking your blessing? The Bible says as a Believer, God has already blessed us. Christians already possess the blessing that was on Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So if God has already blessed us, it must be something we are or are not doing to line up with the Word of God that is stopping that blessing.

We must do what God says and not what we want. Let us see how faithfulness will help us remove what is stopping the blessing to flow upon us.

1.    THE BLESSINGS OF GOD UPON US.

Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” 

A. Jesus has purchased mankind from the curse through His death and resurrection. Galatians 3:13-14 “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

B. Walk in the blessings that God has given you. Open your spiritual eyes to see what the Lord has done in you, and will do for you. “Why me? Why not you?”

2.    FAITHFULNESS IS THE KEY TO OPENING THE BLESSINGS OF GOD IN YOUR LIFE.

1. A faithful man or woman will abound, or overflow with blessings. Proverbs 28:20 “A faithful man will abound with blessings.”

2. A faithful person is loyal, reliable and dependable. (Does this describe you?)

a. Faithfulness is doing what you were told to do. 

b. Faithfulness is an endless commitment to do things God’s way. 

c. A man or woman should be found faithful, proving himself/herself worthy of trust. 1 Corinthians 4:2 “Moreover it is required in stewards that one is found faithful.”

3. God must be able to trust you with the resources and anointing that He has given you. (Can God trust you and me?)

a. In the parable of the five talents, Jesus demonstrates the importance of faithfulness. 

i. A master gives his servant his goods to be managed Matthew 25:14-30. 

ii. The wicked servant’s unfaithfulness blocked the blessing of God from operating in his life. 

b. God will only bless you with what you are capable of handling. 

i. Be faithful with the little. 

ii. Be faithful with your time.
iii. Be faithful with what belongs to God.

4. Walk in faithfulness and keep the blessings flowing.

CONCLUSION:

The Love of God is the foundational key to keep the blessing from drying up.

Faithfulness gives you access to the blessing that God has promised you.