The Footsteps of Faith Messenger is a weekly newsletter written by Tim Darnell to encourage your faith and to bring out the inner champion of Christ in your life. For your own subscription, go to my
AC home site and click on the appropriate side bar option. This week's issue asks the question "Do You Want to be Blessed".
Footsteps of Faith Messenger - Issue 193
Do You Want to be Blessed
Psalm 112
Tim Darnell
Do you want to be blessed? I’ve asked that question of audiences many times over the years. I assumed that everyone would want to be blessed, but apparently I’ve been wrong about that assumption. How absurd is it that people would not care about having a blessed life. Is the idea of not caring about being blessed even possible?
I’ll never forget enthusiastically asking that question one Sunday morning in a rather cold, clinical – frankly, “sterile” church; and only one hand meekly went up. I could tell that it was going to be a long service, and it was. How desensitized people can become, as evidenced even in a church setting, where true joy should be present, but is not. A joyless life or a non-enthusiastic church setting is an incriminating condition that attests to the reality of the Holy Spirit not being invited, and therefore, not being present.
I’ll ask you the question, “Do you want to be blessed?” I hope that in response to that question you would be standing up, waving your hands and shouting loudly, “Yes, I want to be blessed!” If you can’t respond positively to that question, then I would have to wonder about your connection to Christ and the Holy Spirit.
God offers us incredible blessings daily. He gifts us with tremendous blessings moment by moment. But, what a slap in our Creator’s face - to not be able to admit wanting those blessings. In genuine gratitude, we should be praising Him profusely for all that He has done, and all that He continually provides. We should always seek His blessings – wanting with all our hearts to receive His incredible blessings.
The Bible tells us clearly how to be blessed and what good will happen when we follow the prescription. Psalm 112 (one of my top five Psalms) proclaims:
“Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in His commands.”
“His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.”
“Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.”
“Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man.”
“Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice.”
“Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever.”
“He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.”
“His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.”
“He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor, his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.”
- “The wicked man will see and be vexed, he will gnash his teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.”
The upright, the faithful ones are the ones who receive blessings. They are God’s chosen who find true happiness, fulfillment, and prosperity. The upright see not only themselves, but their children blessed mightily as well.
The upright are rewarded for fearing God and for treating all God’s children with love and respect. They don’t cling to their possessions, but rather lend freely and scatter gifts beyond their own land. They care about others, not just in their thoughts and prayers, but in their consistent, liberal giving as well.
The upright have no reason to fear bad reports. They don’t sit around trembling about bad things that might happen – negative “non-realities” that many of us are guilty of creating in our own minds. We spend years of our life worrying about things that never come to pass.
No, the upright don’t worry. They don’t fret. They are secure and confident, knowing that they are in “right relationship” (righteousness) with God. They trust Him and they obey Him. They do the right thing, because it is the right thing to do. They don’t base their decisions on profitability or expedience, but rather on what the righteous, “right” thing to do is.
Be upright – be strong – be joyful. Trust in God fully, and He will reward you with the life described in Psalm 112. King David understood the idea of being upright, and joyfully tells others to live in reverence to God, while delightfully obeying the King of Kings.
These are powerful words and an excellent model for those who want to be blessed. So, I ask you the question, “Do you want to be blessed?” Will you raise your hand right now? Will you voice a prayer to Jesus regarding those blessings?
I pray that you strive to be blessed every day. You surely can and will be blessed when you put your full trust, fear, and obedience in one entity only – God Almighty.
Prayer:
Lord, help us to be fully upright, Godly men and women – people who fear You and You alone. Thank You in advance for the phenomenal blessed life that You have in store for us when we keep up our end of the bargain by obeying your commands and leaning on You fully. Lord, You are holy. You are merciful. You are consistently steadfast, and we pray that we become steadfast as well. You are beyond indescribable, Lord God, and we love You and praise You. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
