PASS ON GOD'S BLESSINGS

 PASS ON GOD’S BLESSINGS

I Chron. 29:14 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give only what you have already given us!” NLT

We would do well to understand this truth as well. No one deserves God’s blessings. And God’s blessings aren’t given to be hidden, hoarded, or used selfishly. Passing on God’s blessings to others ought to be a joy, not a burden. If it is a burden for you to bless others with what God has blessed you with, you need to pause right now and return to your first love. You are not in love with the Lord as you need to be if you are reluctant to give of yourself or your resources to help those whom the Lord brings into your life.

We need to understand that we are only stewards of what the Lord gives. No one deserves what they have in life. Regardless of how industrious or resourceful you may be, you don’t deserve to be blessed with the abilities and opportunities in life you enjoy. You don’t deserve to live your life out where you do. You don’t deserve to even be alive today. We are indebted to the Lord for everything we are and are able to do and accomplish in life.

We show our gratitude to the Lord for our lives in the ways that we honor Him with our resources. We do not take for granted our resources, but instead, use them to the best of our abilities for our good and the goodness of others. We understand that what life is about is a relationship with God and a good steward does with what he has to enhance that relationship.

Give back to the Lord what He has given to you: your time, talents, resources, opportunities in life, friendships, etc. Surrender it all to the Lord and let Him have His way in you with what is already His and you will be blest. Give it all to the Lord with thanksgiving and a heart full of love.

“Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, praise His holy name.” “Lord, I praise you for who I am, all that I am, and all that I have. Thank you, Lord, for your goodness to me.” I am so blessed, O Lord, and I owe it all to you. Thank You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

IT IS GOOD TO PRAISE THE LORD

 IT IS GOOD TO PRAISE THE LORD

I Chron. 29:10-11 Then David praised the LORD in the presence of the assembly, “O LORD, the God of our ancestor Israel, may you be praised forever and ever! Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours. O LORD, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things.” NLT

It is good to praise the Lord. It is good to not be ashamed to declare the glory of our God. It is good to recognize the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty that is our God’s. It is good to acknowledge that our Lord is over all things and that they belong to Him. It is good to express our adoration for our God.

Reread the above statement. Pause and reflect on these things. Let your heart this day dwell in the presence of our God. Praise the Lord, our God; He alone is worthy of our praise.

Notice that David praised the Lord in the presence of the assembly. It is good to praise the Lord from the heart before others. We praise Him in song and in our testimonies. It is good to declare to others how the Lord impacts our lives. We should declare our praises in worship. We should praise Him in our fellowship times. We should be so in awe of our Lord that we cannot contain our praises.

It is always an appropriate time to praise the Lord. Praise should not be found just in the Church. We should praise Him in our homes, on our jobs, amongst our friends, wherever we may be. Praise is the expression of our adoration, love, and respect for the Lord. It honors Him when we declare His praises. Praise comes forth from a heart that is right with God.

Praise supersedes circumstances and feelings. Praise the Lord always, for He is worthy.

EXCITED TO GIVE

 EXCITED TO GIVE

I Chron. 29:9 The people rejoiced over the offerings, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD, and King David was filled with joy. NLT

When was the last time that you were in church and the people there got excited because of the offerings gathered? Or, when was the last time you were excited and joyful because you were able to give an offering to the Lord? If you are like most people, you aren’t necessarily thrilled when it comes to offering time. You may tithe, but it’s more out of duty than a longing of the heart. The Israelites gave their offerings to the Lord. They gave because they wanted to give, and not because they felt they had to give. They gave and there was more than enough to do the work the Lord had given them to do.

I wonder what would happen if we were to start offering to the Lord what we give from the longings of love in our hearts. What if we were to give because of our love and gratitude for what He has done and continues to do in our lives? I wonder what the Lord would do if we were to offer Him our money, time, and talents from the bottom of our hearts.

Love is expressed through the generosity of our hearts. How much do you really love the Lord? You cannot love someone and withhold from them yourself. You cannot love someone and withhold from them what you are able to give to help them when they are in need. Does the Lord need us or our offerings? No, but we need to give to Him for our sake, because a love that is not expressed through giving cannot grow or flourish.

You may not be able to give much, but little is much when God has it. Give from your heart cheerfully what you can and the Lord will bless it richly. You will have all you need for your daily living and there will be more than enough in the storehouse of God to do the work He has given the Church to do.

BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS

 BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS

I Chron. 28:20 Then David continued, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged by the size of the task, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work related to the Temple of the LORD is finished correctly. NLT

Do the work the Lord has given you to do. Don’t be afraid of what others may think. Don’t let the uncertainty of what may happen faze you. Don’t let the size of the task bother you. Don’t let the improbability of your ability to do the task bother you. Don’t let the slowness of progress discourage you. Don’t look at the task, look at the Lord, who gave you the task to do.

If you don’t know what work the Lord has for you to do, work anyways. Do something. No labor for the Lord is done in vain. The Lord will make it clear to you if there is something that you need to be doing that you aren’t doing. He may, or He may not, assign you to a specific task. The Lord is with us in no matter what we do if we do what we do for His glory and honor.

Focus on Him. Be strong and courageous and just get to work. Let your heart feast on His power, majesty, and glory. Feast on the knowledge that the Lord is with you. The Lord will never leave you hanging. He will never let you work on your own. He will never leave you or forsake you. There are no menial tasks in the Kingdom of God. Do the very best you know how and the Lord will bless your work.

The Lord will make sure that the job He gives you to do will be finished correctly. If you are a willing partner with Him, He guarantees your success. The Lord never calls us to failure. He will help us to do whatever it is He wants us to do, if we will do our part. We are His hands and feet. We are His channels of blessing to the world. He has chosen YOU to not only serve Him, but to do it successfully. You cannot fail if you are cooperating with the Lord.

GET TO KNOW THE LORD

 GET TO KNOW THE LORD

I Chron. 28:9-10 And Solomon, my son, get to know the God of your ancestors. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and with a willing mind. For the LORD sees every heart and understands and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. So take this seriously. The LORD has chosen you to build a Temple as his sanctuary. Be strong and do the work. NLT

Dear friend, get to know the Lord your God. Don’t just know about Him, know Him personally. Be sure you are living in a relationship with Him. Know Him in His love, power, holiness, and glory. Know Him so well that you are driven to your knees in worship of Him. Know Him so well that the desires of your heart will be to serve Him. The Lord doesn’t want your half-hearted attempts to worship and serve Him. He doesn’t want you to respond to Him out of duty but out of your willing heart because you love Him.

The Lord sees and knows your heart. He knows what is behind your words and actions. He knows whether you are living in His love or not. He knows your every plan and thought. He knows whether He has your whole heart or just a part of it.

Be assured of this, if you sincerely seek Him, you will find Him. If you don’t, chances are that you won’t. If you forsake Him, watch out! The Lord rejects those who forsake Him. To forsake is to abandon, to walk away from with intent. There is no hope for those who forsake the Lord.

The Lord has chosen you to be a temple for Him to dwell in. You are His temple. He has chosen to live in YOU. So, be strong and do the work. In order to be strong, you must make Jesus not only your Savior, but your Lord.

You must work out your salvation. It takes effort to be a dwelling place for the Lord. You cannot do nothing and expect to grow spiritually. You must put time and energy into your spiritual life. You must seek the Lord, be in His Word, be in your prayer closet, be actively involved in His Church, and be a witness for Him. A strong and vibrant life in Christ requires sacrifice, dedication, work, and self-denial.

You value and appreciate most that which you work for. Salvation is free, but living in Christ is work. Dear friend, be strong and do the work!

DO YOUR OWN THING

 DO YOUR OWN THING

I Chron. 22:11-13 Now my son, may the LORD be with you and give you success as you follow his instruction in building the Temple of the LORD your God. May the LORD your God give you wisdom and understanding that you may obey the law of the LORD your God as you rule over Israel. For if you carefully obey the laws and regulations that the LORD gave to Israel through Moses, you will be successful. Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or lose heart! NLT

David’s prayer for Solomon was for Solomon’s success in fulfilling God’s plan for him. He prayed that Solomon would have what it took to do the job and the fortitude of heart to do it. He prayed that Solomon would know God’s way and follow it. What a prayer!

We too should be praying over our families and friends like this. David was kept from doing what Solomon was now about to do. David wanted to do it, but it was not God’s will for him. Instead of pouting about it, he blessed his son because he could do it. Do we have that kind of a heart? Are we pure enough in heart to want others to succeed in what we can’t do? Be honest with yourself. Does jealousy creep in when someone is more successful than you in doing what you want to do? Do you get bothered when others get to do what you want to do?

It’s not up to us as to who gets to do what in God’s kingdom. He controls the ways things get done and who does them, not us. He knows who is best suited to fulfill His plans, not us. He doesn’t need our opinions; he needs our humble hearts. He needs us to support those who are chosen to do the task. He needs us to be encouragers and not discouragers. He needs us to pray for the well-being and success of those serving.

Do what God has given you to do and don’t concern yourself about what you have not been given to do. Be thankful for what the Lord has allowed you to do and do it to the best of your ability. Bless those who are doing other things. Be a blessing and you will be blessed.

SATAN AT WORK

 SATAN AT WORK

I Chron. 21:1 Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the Israelites. NLT

Don’t underestimate Satan’s work amongst us. He is bent on disruption and destruction. He will take advantage of whoever he can to create havoc in our lives. He will take advantage of every situation we are in and use it against us if we are not careful. He will do his best to get us to do things on our own without first seeking counsel from God. He wants us to see that which is not good as being good for us.

In order to stay on top of what Satan is doing, we must stay connected to the Lord. We must stay spiritually alert and active so that we can recognize when Satan is at work on us or around us. The more in tune we are with God, the more obvious it is what Satan is trying to do. Don’t kid yourself; Satan is always working against you to drive a wedge between you and the Lord. He gets into your heart through your mind and he does not give up easily. Satan does not know the meaning of the word no and he keeps on the attack, always trying new ways to get to you.

We are in a constant battle for control of our hearts and minds. It will not stop as long as we have life. God leaves it up to us as to who will control us. He is always there to help us and give us victory, but He will not violate our freedom of choice. You can choose to live in victory or defeat.

Victory comes to those who intentionally and determinedly seek God in their lives. They invest the time and energy to know God and actively seek His role in their lives. They stay well-fed on the Word. They stay in close communication with Him all the time. They stay in touch with God’s children and let them influence their walk with the Lord.

Satan will never stop rising up against you. Stay within the shelter of God and you will not fall victim to him.