Have you ever wondered what you need to do to get God to bless you? How do you get yourself in a "position" to be blessed? The answer is actually very encouraging.
Under the Old Covenant which was centered in the 10 Commandments, a person was blessed because of obedience. Just read Deuteronomy 28:1-2. "If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God". NIV All of the blessings are listed in verses 3-14. Then verse 15 says, "However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all His commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you." NIV There are about 4 times as many curses as there are blessings if you read to the end of the chapter. The blessings God promised under the Old Covenant are conditional based on obedience. I don't know about you but I am fairly certain I do not want to be in that kind of relationship.
Under the New Covenant, a person is blessed because of one reason and one reason only: they are in union with Christ. Ephesians 1:3 says, "Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! For in our union with Christ He has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world." GNT These blessings are conditional also but here the condition is faith not obedience. It is our faith in Jesus Christ which unites us with Christ. Once united with Christ, we are able to experience and enjoy our blessings only if we continue to live by faith. For example, God loves and accepts us unconditionally but we only enjoy this if we believe it whether we feel it or not. Have you noticed that in some instances we tend to get caught up in checking in with our feelings to tell us if something is true rather than God's word?
It would be like having one million dollars in our checking account. If we believe we have it intellectually that is a good place to begin. But only when our faith leads us to withdraw from our "every spiritual blessing" account do we get to enjoy it.
So then what about obedience? Living like who we are in Christ is a blessing. Living like who we are in Christ is an act of faith. The more we believe and act on our faith that we are sons and daughters of God who are deeply and unconditionally loved, the more we will obey.
Let's be careful. We are Covenant people but the flesh wants to cause us to drift towards an Old Covenant mentality of obedience based blessings. To put it another way, we are to live with a grace based mentality growing in our understanding that we are already blessed because of Jesus' obedience. A law based mentality is exhausting while a grace based mentality is restful.
We are already "positioned" to be blessed because we are united with Christ. He is our ultimate blessing and every aspect of who He is and who we are in Him is to be enjoyed now and forever.
Live Free In Christ,
Mark Maulding, President and Founder
www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding
Under the Old Covenant which was centered in the 10 Commandments, a person was blessed because of obedience. Just read Deuteronomy 28:1-2. "If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God". NIV All of the blessings are listed in verses 3-14. Then verse 15 says, "However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all His commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you." NIV There are about 4 times as many curses as there are blessings if you read to the end of the chapter. The blessings God promised under the Old Covenant are conditional based on obedience. I don't know about you but I am fairly certain I do not want to be in that kind of relationship.
Under the New Covenant, a person is blessed because of one reason and one reason only: they are in union with Christ. Ephesians 1:3 says, "Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! For in our union with Christ He has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world." GNT These blessings are conditional also but here the condition is faith not obedience. It is our faith in Jesus Christ which unites us with Christ. Once united with Christ, we are able to experience and enjoy our blessings only if we continue to live by faith. For example, God loves and accepts us unconditionally but we only enjoy this if we believe it whether we feel it or not. Have you noticed that in some instances we tend to get caught up in checking in with our feelings to tell us if something is true rather than God's word?
It would be like having one million dollars in our checking account. If we believe we have it intellectually that is a good place to begin. But only when our faith leads us to withdraw from our "every spiritual blessing" account do we get to enjoy it.
So then what about obedience? Living like who we are in Christ is a blessing. Living like who we are in Christ is an act of faith. The more we believe and act on our faith that we are sons and daughters of God who are deeply and unconditionally loved, the more we will obey.
Let's be careful. We are Covenant people but the flesh wants to cause us to drift towards an Old Covenant mentality of obedience based blessings. To put it another way, we are to live with a grace based mentality growing in our understanding that we are already blessed because of Jesus' obedience. A law based mentality is exhausting while a grace based mentality is restful.
We are already "positioned" to be blessed because we are united with Christ. He is our ultimate blessing and every aspect of who He is and who we are in Him is to be enjoyed now and forever.
Live Free In Christ,
Mark Maulding, President and Founder
www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding
