How To Be Blessed

How do you get a blessing from God?

We go to church so we can be blessed. We listen to uplifting, Christian music so we can be blessed. We pray so we can receive a blessing from God.

But are these the best ways to be blessed? The Bible says, "It is more blessed to ... rather than to ..." (Acts 20:35). Perhaps we can find blessings in unexpected ways.

According to the dictionary, a "blessing" is "a favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness; [it is] something promoting or contributing to happiness, well-being, or prosperity."

No wonder we want to receive God's blessing! And this desire has been common throughout history.

From ancient times, in the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, down through history, people have longed to have God's blessing. Moses gave the Law to the people of God, where blessings were promised for obedience:

Deut 11:26-28 (NIV)

David wrote in the Psalms—"For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous" (5:12).

Another Psalm is quoted regularly in churches as a benediction—"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us" (67:1).

A few years ago a book by Bruce Wilkinson became quite popular. It was called The Prayer of Jabez, taken from 1 Chronicles 4:10 (NIV)

That's what we all want, isn't it?—to be blessed by God. We want more, not less—better, not worse; health, not sickness; riches, not poverty. We want to enjoy benefits like we find in the old Irish blessing:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

We want God's blessings, God's good things. And perhaps just as much, we want to avoid troubles and problems—which seem to be the opposite of blessings:

We don't want the road to fall away and disappear; we don't want to face a strong head-wind; we don't want the sun to fade in the icy blast of winter; and we don't want the rains to skip over our dry, parched fields.

So how do we receive God's blessings? Can we do anything to improve our chances of receiving good things from God's hand while avoiding the bad things in life?

To answer that question I want to go to a very popular passage in the Bible—the words of Jesus in what is known as the "Sermon on the Mount." We call it the "Beatitudes"—a label which comes from the Latin word for "blessed" or "happy."

As we read these blessings, I want you to notice something we usually overlook: blessings can come out of difficulties! Notice Jesus' perspective: that troubles and trials are often the place where blessings begin. Life's problems can be the pot where our blessings are prepared.

Matthew 5:1-12 (NIV)

Blessed are the poor, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger, those who are persecuted, those who are insulted and falsely accused.

These statements fly in the face of what we typically think about blessings: to be poor, to mourn, to be meek, hungry, thirsty, or persecuted—to us these things sound like curses, not blessings.

In fact, someone rewrote the Beatitudes to better fit the climate and attitudes of the 21^st century when it comes to defining blessings. The rewrite went like this:

Blessed are the rich and famous, because they can always get a seat at the best restaurants. Blessed are the good-looking, for they shall be on the cover of People magazine. Blessed are those who party, for they know how to have fun. Blessed are those who take first place in the division, for they shall have momentum going into the play-offs. Blessed are the movers and shakers, for they shall make a name for themselves. Blessed are those who demand their rights, for they shall not be overlooked. Blessed are the healthy and fit, because they don't mind being seen in a bathing suit. Blessed are those who make it to the top, because they get to look down on everyone else. [Bryan Wilkerson, in his sermon "The Heartbreak Gospel"]

This is how a lot of people view blessings. According to Jesus, however, we are blessed more through difficulties, hardships, and trials! How can this be possible?

Why did Jesus say that blessings can come through difficulties? We could do an entire series on the Beatitudes—analyze each separate situation and blessing—but for today let's just look at the first one: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

What does that mean? To be poor in spirit?

It's one thing to be poor in material things: when we can't pay the bills; when we can't afford the things we want or need; when we have to make do with less.

But to be poor in spirit suggests something quite different. It's not about bills and budgets; it's about the condition of our soul.

The word "poor" in the NT came from a word that literally meant "to crouch or cower"—it was a picture of a beggar on the street who would sit with hand outstretched, crouching and cowering before the passersby, hoping one would show mercy and give a few coins.

[Picture of beggar] To be poor in spirit, then, would suggest someone who recognizes his desperate need—he would be like a spiritual beggar, crouching and cowering, consumed by humility over his spiritual poverty—over his poor spiritual condition.

A confident, proud, independent, self-assured person cannot be poor in spirit. Someone with high self-esteem—who thinks he's pretty hot stuff—is not going to be poor in spirit.

Luke 18:24 (NIV)

James 4:6 (NIV)

Who receives grace? The humble. The poor in spirit. Who doesn't receive grace? The proud.

To be poor in spirit means that we must recognize our problem. We must realize the trouble we are in before we can come to the point where we can ask for help.

Realize their need (Matt 5:3, NLT)

Those people who know they have great spiritual needs are happy... (Matt 5:3, NCV)

Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor... (Matt 5:3, TEV)

It's not until we humble ourselves and become willing to admit that we have a problem that we can actually begin to find a solution for the problem!

As long as we fail to see our need, as long as we do not recognize what's going on, as long as we ignore the advice of others, nothing will be done to make any kind of change in our lives.

AA's Twelve Steps' first step (the starting place): We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

A few weeks ago I was mowing our lawn when I mowed next to a landscaping timber. I turned and kept going, but I got only a few feet when suddenly I felt several sharp stings in my legs. I looked down to see a bunch of angry yellow jackets swarming around my legs. I yelped and jumped and waved my arms and took off running, and the yellow jackets gave chase. Through the gate and around the house I ran, heading for the back door, the yellow jackets following all the way. I grabbed the door knob only to discover it was locked. I pounded on the door, "Let me in!" But no one came. So I turned to deal with the few persistent yellow jackets who were still after me.
Well, as soon as things had settled down, I went back to inspect the scene of the attack. And sure enough, I could see yellow jackets going in and coming out of a crack in the wood. So I went down to L&M, bought some wasp and hornet killer, and began planning my counterstrike. Later that evening, after the yellow jackets had settled down for the night, at 19 hundred hours, I launched a surprise attack. Sprayed down that crack in the wood and—for good measure—several other cracks in the timber.
Now the yellow jacket problem had been there for some time, only I didn't know it. They had been lurking inside the landscaping timber, but I was oblivious to the dangers. It wasn't until I was forced to admit the problem—and it was a painful education—that I was moved to action.

It's the same way with our spiritual problems. We have to realize there is a problem so we can be moved to action. We may be blissful in our ignorance, thinking everything is just fine. We may not realize we are spiritually bankrupt—spiritually poor—that we have a desperate need for God's grace. Sometimes it's not until we are stung by the consequences of our sin. But eventually, when we come to grips with the terrible reality of our situation, we humble ourselves and look for the solution to kill the yellow jackets of sin. That's when we are moved to action and are ready to receive God's grace.

That's when a divine exchange occurs—where Jesus takes our place in order for us to be able to take his place.

You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; rich as he was, he made himself poor for your sake, in order to make you rich by means of his poverty. (2 Cor 8:9, TEV)

It's not until we admit our spiritual poverty—that we are poor in spirit—that we can be blessed with the abundance of God's spiritual riches.

The blessings of God's kingdom are promised to those who realize how spiritually broke they are—who know they are spiritually destitute, living in spiritual poverty, and have nothing to offer spiritually. Oswald Chambers said:

Our Lord begins where we would never begin, at the point of human destitution. The greatest blessing a man ever gets from God is the realization that, if he is going to enter into His Kingdom, it must be through the door of destitution. Naturally we do not want to begin there; that is why the appeal of Jesus is of no use until we come face to face with realities; then the only One worth listening to is the Lord. —Oswald Chambers in He Shall Glorify Me. [Christianity Today, Vol. 31, no. 8.]

Jesus promises "the kingdom of heaven" to those who admit their need.

So let's talk about how we are blessed when we face our spiritual poverty. Receiving the kingdom of heaven will mean at least four things to us:

1. We become citizens of God's kingdom.

Phil 3:18-20 (NIV)

Once we belong to the kingdom of heaven, we no longer belong to this world. We take an oath of citizenship and declare our loyalty and allegiance to our new country—a heavenly country.

Twenty years ago I knew a young man named Neil Bojidar. He had escaped from communist Romania, not once but twice. The first time he was captured in Yugoslavia and sent back to Romania where he was beaten and put in a prison work camp for about 8 months. That experience only strengthened his resolve to get away. Eventually he made it to the U.S. where he studied and became a citizen. Living in the U.S. was dramatically different from living under Nicolae Ceauşescu in communist Romania.
In the same way, we are like refugees who come from terrible, oppressive regimes to the United States where we are granted citizenship to a new homeland. We are no longer "foreigners" to heaven; now we belong to God's kingdom.

Eph 2:19 (NIV)

...[God] has made us fit to share all the wonderful things that belong to those who live in the Kingdom of light. For he has rescued us out of the darkness and gloom of Satan's kingdom and brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son (Col 1:12-13, LB)

2. We will have greater expectations.

In God's kingdom, we operate by different principles than those who are citizens of this world. We live by faith rather than by sight.

The Little Mermaid: "Under the sea, under the sea / Darling it's better / Down where it's wetter / Take it from me."

There are different worlds with different rules and different expectations. To live under the sea requires some major changes in life forms. Under the sea gills work better than lungs. Under the sea fins work better than feet. On the other hand, if you put a fish on dry ground, it's got major problems—it has no lungs, it has no feet. It will flop around trying to find water. Why? Because it wasn't made for the kingdom of dry ground.

It's the same with us. To come into the kingdom of heaven, we need to be changed—transformed to live in a different world. Otherwise we'd just flop around. Sinners cannot breathe the air of God's kingdom—but God transforms us; he gives us spiritual lungs.

Ezek 37:5 (NIV)

Sinners cannot walk by faith—but God transforms us; he gives us spiritual legs.

2 Cor 5:7 (NASB)

Gal 5:25 (NASB)

By faith we have greater expectations. We can see a better life when we belong to the kingdom of heaven. We have moved from one kingdom to another—from a physical, material realm to a mystical, spiritual realm.

Heb 11:13-16 (NIV)

3. We will enjoy better privileges.

A citizen has different rights and privileges than a foreigner. A country has a greater obligation to its citizens than it has to people from other lands.

It's the same way in God's kingdom. There are spiritual privileges and promises available to God's people that we never had when we were part of this world. As citizens of God's kingdom, we have new rights!

John 1:12 (NIV)

Gal 4:4-7 (NIV)

A slave has essentially no rights. He is owned by someone else. He cannot decide for himself what he wants to do. He is told what to do and where to go. If he works hard and produces a good return for his master, he doesn't benefit personally from his hard work. He's not going to inherit anything from the slave-owner, because the inheritance will go to the master's own children.

But if a slave could be adopted by his master... if a slave could be changed from a slave to a son—that would make all the difference! Then the slave could receive the all the rights normally granted to a son.

Romans 8:17 (NIV)

1 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV)

4. We will look to a higher authority.

When someone is harassed or abused by another person—perhaps even attacked and put in physical danger—our courts will write an OFP, an "order for protection." It's designed to bring the full force of the law and the authority of the land upon the abuser in order to protect the victim from further risk.

In an even stronger way, when we become members of God's kingdom we are granted a higher authority. In God's kingdom, we have God on our side. Through his authority, we ourselves have received authority.

Matt 16:19 (NIV)

Col 2:10 (NIV)

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!

Have you been blessed by God's kingdom? If not, recognize that you are "poor in spirit."