Abundant Blessings

8th November 2012

Dear all

Today I would like to share with you one of my favourite scriptures that has impacted me so much in recent years.

Proverbs 10:22 " The blessings of the Lord makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it."

What do I understand through this scripture?

When you listen to the voice of God, and do what He commands of us as His children, His blessings without sorrow will reign upon us. Spiritual blessings (hear God In your heart) physical blessings (health) and material blessings.

 In Joshua 1:8 He has revealed " This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success."

Obedience is the cornerstone to our faith in God. Men of faith like Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Moses, David, who listened to the voice of God received countless blessings.

Numerous times in the scriptures the Lord has shown us examples of  people of God who fell out of favour from God because of disobedience.

Our first parents , who were made perfect and clothed in the glory of God,  had every blessings without sorrow but lost the Glory of God when they disobeyed. As a result, they were cast out from the Garden of Eden and had to toil for their provisions.

Ever since, because of the sin of Adam and Eve, man toiled with sweat for his livelihood. The world system today shows a man has to toil, morning till dusk to earn for a decent livelihood.

This is the cycle to misery as result of listening to the voice of the devil. Man has lost his peace of mind, because he is constantly driven to work harder because of fear of lack and the desire for more.

It is a very viscous cycle, schemed up by the devil to keep man constantly preoccupied with the vanities of this world in which a confortable ground for Pride, Self-sufficiency and power is sown.

He traps you first by thinking that you need to work hard to provide for the family. Next he waves the carrot of progress to attract you to take more responsibilities for a better position in your job, so that you can provide a better life for your family.

Next he seeks for recognition and acceptance from his family and society. Progressively man starts thinking He deserves better. He is never satisfied and he becomes restless. He wants more.

Man is actually seeking for God for He was made by God for Him. It was for this reason St augustine wrote that a man's heart is restless unless He rest in the Lord. We can only be complete when we rest in Him. If we choose to ignore this truth, we will be chasing after clouds aimlessly.

As a result man becomes competitive, jealous, proud, selfish, envious and fearful. He is constantly trying to prove to himself and others that he knows better and deserves a better life. Never contented.

I must admit I have allowed myself to get caught in this vicious trap the devil had laid for me.
Let me explain.  

When I first started in the Insurance line, my only intention was to earn a descent amount to provide for my husband and myself.

When I discovered I was good at what I was doing and was being noticed and given the recognition, I became ambitious and, began to apply pressure on myself to keep the good image. Even when I was improving every year I was not satisfied. I had put higher goals. I was always in the rush. I was always very tired and anxious.

Where was God in all this? I don't remember consulting with him about my work. I thought if I worked hard, He will bless me. I worked all day in the field and several hours at night to do my paper work.
I was constantly trying to impress myself and my superiors and my family that I am good at my work.

I was never happy with what I had achieved. I always thought I should have done better. Even though everything on the outside looked I was doing very well, I felt there was something missing within me. I had no peace of mind and ended constantly striving to reach for something better.

Little did I know know that, it was during these times, I used my busyness, to keep me distracted from my sadness that was lurking in my home due to my husband's illness and my loneliness.

The more the sorrow the more I worked harder in my work to fill the void. I justified my long working hours to earn a good income for our livelihood.

Even though I gradually managed to replace the income that my husband lost due to his illness, there was still no peace in my heart.

Why do I say that? When I was tired, I often caught myself thinking, how unfair life has been for me.
Many questions will run through my mind. (murmurings)

Why has this happened to me?

Why do I have to start working at the late age of 50 with an energy of a 30 year old?

Why am I not enjoying like other senior couples, going for holidays and growing old gracefully during our retirement years.

Why must my husband fall sick? Why? Why? Why? If only things could have been different........

Deep down I was wallowing in self pity, how life should have been,  so many regrets. I was always looking back.

There was no joy. During those years I had put on several masks to hide my deep deep sorrows.

It was at this time In late 2008, when I was at my lowest point of endurance, I had decided to attend an on going Christian Discipleship School.

Nothing happened within me during the first year, as I was only going through the motions of a student in a class that taught me the steps of a disciple of Christ.

In august 2009, I decided to take a 2 weeks break from all the hard work and sorrows at home and spend  a quiet time by myself in my sister's house in Australia.

I believe, God was so gracious to me, to grant me the rest I needed mentally and for my physical body. I came home with a refreshed mind.

 I returned just on time to attend a 3 days christian seminar and the topic that was so timely was " Total Restoration"

It was this seminar that changed my life and I have never been the same since, for I had enbarked on a journey to restore my life with God's help. God in this seminar opened my eyes. He made me realise that I was going in circles. Pretty much like a " dog trying to catch its own tail"

Why do I say that?

I was looking for peace, self fulfilment, in the wrong places.

 I realised, though having a job that provides a good income is good and these are also channels  provided by God for my well being,  it was only good for that sole purpose. The Job by itself cannot give me an everlasting Joy.

 What if for whatever reason, I did not have this job, will my happiness cease? Will I panic? Is my self worth measured by the position I hold and the income I receive?

I came to understand that the cravings from my carnal nature that made me to strive to receive more out of my job was actually a misplaced joy. I had justified myself to think, the more the merrier.

I saw how the devil had led me to think that my success depended on me striving day and night for my happiness to have a secure future thus resulting in a stressful live.

I even thought that, since the responsibility for providing for myself and my husband depended now solely on me, I should put that as my number one priority as I was running out of time as my body clock was ticking away.

The Holy Spirit patiently showed me, over a period of time how my career became my God.

 He revealed to me, how much I had moved away from Him. How I have allowed FEAR of FAILURE to be the platform for my motivation to succeed. Fear of having less drove me to earn more. He revealed to me how the devil had robbed my Joy.

John 10:10 " The thief does not come except to steal (my joy,my health, my peace) and kill, and to destroy."

He showed how many times in the earlier years of my financial crises, I had cried to Him for help.

God had answered me, by opening this door in the insurance line.

Yet when I was doing very well, I made my career as the main Goal for my happiness and God was a means for achieving it.

 I spent very little time with God. A quick prayer in the morning and a quick prayer at night. I did it out of guilt almost as if I was doing God a favour.  He didn't need me. I needed Him.

Until that point my prayers were "bless me prayers" and "help me prayers". How sad and disappointed
God must have been with me. Yet He continued loving me. Why do I say that?

 God was trying to get my attention to help me, through various circumstances, but I was too caught up with the noises of the world and its attractions and could not hear Him.

 Instead I had turned Him into a dispensing machine. God forgive me. Protect me Jesus from going back to that place of strive.

Holy Spirit showed me that, when I switched mode, from earning to meet my daily needs, to seeking for vain glories for self gratification, I had lost my peace. Fear had masked itself under these vain glories.

Once again I was looking for freedom and a life filled with Joy, as I mentioned earlier, pretty much like the " dog trying to catch his own tail."

As I write this, it brings to my mind the mistakes, our forefathers in the scriptures, made, were very similar to mine. An action that stemmed from ingratitude and pride.

Moses led the people of God ( Israelites ) from slavery to freedom, from the land of Egypt. Yet they had forgotten God's mercy and love and started murmuring, and disobeyed God by worshipping other Gods.

 As result, they suffered much and it took them 40 years to come to a realisation before they could enter the promised land.

 While Moses was spending time with God on the mountain for one month, listening to God, so as to know the next course of action for God's people, the people became restless in the valley.

 Instead of turning to God by being quiet and stilling their minds and waiting for God's timing, they gave into their  restless cravings of the flesh, and hence  the birth of the " golden calf "

 How often we have done the same thing. We become restless, when our mind is constantly tormented to do something to make us happy. To fill some vacuum in our life.

These times we tell God what we want for ourselves, we tell God what we want for others, for their good and God to rubber stamp it.

Why do we behave this way?

I have come to understand, that, because of our fallen sinful nature, we are always trying to be like " God" making decisions that is stemmed from the seed of pride, that, we know better, what is good for us and what will make us happy and thus we too start to build many "golden calfs" and sin.

We don't have to live like this any more. Instead Jesus has given us a rescue plan. A life of blessings where sorrow is not added to it.

When we trust in Him and believe that through His death on the cross, He has wiped out the death of the flesh (sting of our fallen nature), and that we are now living in His spirit in our mortal bodies, we can  today actually enjoy all blessings promised in the scriptures.

He has promised in John 10:10 " I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." This promise is here on earth for all to enjoy.

But blessings come with conditions that need to be met. What is that condition?

Now that we have accepted Him as lord and saviour of our life and believe His spirit is in us, we need to abide in Him.

It is written John 15:3-4 " You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me."

How do we abide in Him?  By loving God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.

How do we love God with all our heart?

By obeying Joshua 1:8 " This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

We need to have the heart of David, who was quick to repent when He sinned and seeked for God's mercy. Psalm 51 is the fruit of a repentant heart.That way he was clothed with the robe of humility. God forgave him and called him a man after my heart.

God loves us so much that He has already forgiven us when He died on the cross 2000 years ago.

 But in order to fully enjoy the life He has promised us we need to believe and  accept Him and his forgiveness and thus inherit this spirit filled life here on earth. We don't have to earn our way to Heaven or be merited with blessings by anything we do, to deserve it.

 No sin of ours can seperate us from Him for Jesus has restored us as His kingdom children through a blood bought covenant.

We need to everyday, as it is written in Joshua 1:8, check our walk with the Word of God, with His spirit convicting us ( God talking to us in our hearts) , then our way will be prosperous and with success.

When we start living everyday conscious of His presence in us and our thinking is aligned with His ways, our walk will become Christ like.

As we confess His life giving Word over our life, and allow His Word to wash us everyday by convicting us to abide in him He becomes the Word in us and thus the " Word became flesh "  is fulfilled in our life. His Word will not come back void for it is written " Heaven and Earth will pass away but my word will not pass away until it is fullfilled."

What a Divine Exchange. Jesus has restored what was lost in  the Garden of Eden.

The Glory of God is now upon us as it is written in 2 corinth 4:7 " But we have this treasure( Jesus in us) in earthen vessels (our human body) that excellance of the power may be of God and not of us."

Today after 3 years of meditating on His Word and progressively walking in his step as His disciple, I will boast in His glory that indeed He has filled my heart with His supernatural Joy, Peace and Love.

Though the world might say, what have you accomplished according to world's standard of success,  they can only boast of perishable treasures of this world.

I will say, my Joy is everlasting and it comes from God and it cannot be explained but only experienced and understood by those who eat from this Tree of Life ( Jesus) and I will wait with an expectent faith for the unfolding of the fullness of His blessings  (abundant life) in his time, here on Earth and in the Heavens when I breathe my last breath.

I am grateful to God for giving me a life that I now know, is complete in Him here on Earth ( temporary existance) and in a permanant home in Heaven.

Colossians 2: 9-10 " For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily ( Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and you are complete in Him, who is the Head of all principality and power.

I pray God for everyone who is reading my blog will also be blessed with the unveiling of this truth of an abundant life in Christ.




God Bless