“And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this down: Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work; for their good deeds follow them!”” (Revelation 14:13, NLT)
I met Harry many years ago. He was injured on the job site. His recovery took almost a month. During that month, a lawyer talked Harry into suing the company. Though the company was found to be at fault, the lawyer went after the company to get as much damages as possible. Though Harry would have no problem returning to work after his injury healed, the lawyer made it sound to the courtroom as if Harry had suffered life-altering injuries. The court awarded Harry more than a million dollars. What did Harry do? He stopped working, lived a life of leisure, and at the young age of forty-two, decided to take it easy for the rest of his life. He got up late every day. He didn’t take on a new job or learn a new vocation. He sat at home and watched TV most of the day. He saw the lawsuit as a great blessing. However, this financial windfall wrecked Harry’s life, made him supremely lazy, and resulted in his early death at fifty. Was the money from the lawsuit a blessing from God? I doubt it. Harry’s settlement caused him to become lazy, bored, drink alcohol to excess, and sit in front of his TV for hours. His wife enjoyed the money but saw her husband change from hard working to lazy, thin to fat, and giving to apathetic. She even spent more time doing God’s work than Harry did, even with all that time on his hands.
Joe was intelligent and driven. He was a dedicated father and valued friend. He was the kind of guy you could count on when you needed a hand or needed advice. Joe was a close friend to his pastor and a leader in his church. When Joe was forty-two, his wife got cancer. She died eight months later. Joe was heartbroken. Then, two years later, Joe met Sally. Sally helped lift Joe out of depression. She was a divorced woman with three kids of her own. Joe was thrilled to have a second chance at love. He saw Sally as a huge blessing from God and married Sally after six months of wonderful dates. However, three years after their marriage, Sally divorced Joe. It was a bitter divorce, where Sally took Joe for half of everything. Joe lost his home and was a bitter person for years. He hated women in general. He believed all women were conniving and cruel. He left his church and broke ties with all his old friends. Joe’s bitterness eventually caused him to lose not only his health but his life. Contrary to what Joe thought years before, Sally was not the blessing from God she seemed to be initially.
Both Harry and Joe were Christian men. Both Harry and Joe thought they knew God. Both Harry and Joe thought God had blessed them greatly. They mistook a financial windfall and a second love as blessings from God when, in fact, neither the money nor the new love interest was in any way a heaven-sent gift. One might even argue that both men were deluded by Satan into believing that they were blessed by God when they were not. It is all too easy to mistake the meaning or presence of God’s real blessings in your life. What might seem like a blessing at the time might actually be a curse. What might seem like a gift from God might be Satan’s ploy. A hard knock in life might be the blessing from God that uplifts you in due time. A financial burden may be what drives you to trust in God’s providence. Only time and God’s insight can make clear what are God’s blessings. Only by revelation of God’s Spirit can you see through the smoke and mirrors of life to perceive the actions of God’s hand.
One way to determine if something is a blessing from God is by how it affects your relationship with God. All God’s blessings have a way of bringing you closer to God when combined with true faith and obedience. All blessings have the added effect of sprinkling spiritual benefits all around. If God blesses a faithful man with a financial windfall, that wealth will benefit the poor, the needy, the church, and many more. If God blesses a faithful woman with a child, that woman will grow in faith as the child grows to adulthood, whether the child is godly or not. If God blesses a company with profits, you will usually see that company respond with an outpouring of sharing and jobs and security in the community life.
Blessings from God may be easy to accept or cause struggles and challenges. However, the effects of God’s blessings will ultimately result in faith and joy and an outpouring of praise. A true blessing from God may make life easier or it may make life more difficult for a while. Blessings from God may even seem like bad luck at first, but they ultimately result in joy or peace or a renewed commitment to God’s love.
A husband and wife went through a difficult series of challenges. First, she lost her job as a secretary at a government agency. Two months later, he lost his job as a surveyor. The husband and wife struggled greatly for a good while. After months of job searching, the wife was hired at a Christian outreach ministry. She ran the office. Some would see her work as simply secretarial. It was much more than that. Many children who passed through her office saw her as a trusted motherly figure and felt safe in her office. Employees would often seek out her advice or ask for her prayers. She was a big pray-er! As for the husband, he too found a new job. Instead of a surveyor, he started his own business as a contractor. As his construction business grew, he teamed with Habitat for Humanity to help build homes for the needy. He donated many hours and materials to help a good number of widows, needy families, and overwhelmed single parents. When the husband and wife originally lost their jobs at the same time, they saw this period in their marriage as difficult and fearful. What they only realized later was that their job losses were a great blessing sent from God that helped them both to find new and wonderful places of employment where they could share their faith and talents in the most perfect of ways!
The scripture for today from the book of Revelation mentions the power of God’s blessings. First, it claims that those “who die in the Lord” are blessed. Why would death ever be a blessing? Well, according to this scripture, the death of the faithful and obedient will result in their eternal “rest from their hard work” in Heaven (Revelation 14:13). AND, “their good deeds would follow them” to eternity. Blessings from God not only affect your life in this world… they follow you to eternal life.
Blessings from God may come in many forms. Some of those forms may initially appear as difficulties or failures or trials or burdens. However, with time and faith and spiritual insight, you will soon see their benefits. Blessings from God may also come in the forms of forgiveness or grace or financial support or help of some sort. No matter how God’s blessings come to you, the benefits of God’s blessings will follow you for a while in this life and forever in eternity. Blessings from God will sprinkle all kinds of good things in your heart and soul and community and world. AND, they follow you into the afterlife.
What are some of the blessings you have received from God? Did you recognize them as blessings right away or discover them later? Was there ever a time when you thought something was a blessing come from God when it was really another one of Satan’s mischievous deceptions? Don’t underestimate the spiritual learning that comes from answering the questions in this paragraph! Only upon discernment can you understand the meaning and role and place of God’s blessings in this scripture and in your life!
“Where true faith is, it will induce obedience; and where it does induce obedience, it will always, in one form or another, bring a blessing.” (W. Hay Aitken, as found in Thoughts for the Quiet Hour)
Joe was intelligent and driven. He was a dedicated father and valued friend. He was the kind of guy you could count on when you needed a hand or needed advice. Joe was a close friend to his pastor and a leader in his church. When Joe was forty-two, his wife got cancer. She died eight months later. Joe was heartbroken. Then, two years later, Joe met Sally. Sally helped lift Joe out of depression. She was a divorced woman with three kids of her own. Joe was thrilled to have a second chance at love. He saw Sally as a huge blessing from God and married Sally after six months of wonderful dates. However, three years after their marriage, Sally divorced Joe. It was a bitter divorce, where Sally took Joe for half of everything. Joe lost his home and was a bitter person for years. He hated women in general. He believed all women were conniving and cruel. He left his church and broke ties with all his old friends. Joe’s bitterness eventually caused him to lose not only his health but his life. Contrary to what Joe thought years before, Sally was not the blessing from God she seemed to be initially.
Both Harry and Joe were Christian men. Both Harry and Joe thought they knew God. Both Harry and Joe thought God had blessed them greatly. They mistook a financial windfall and a second love as blessings from God when, in fact, neither the money nor the new love interest was in any way a heaven-sent gift. One might even argue that both men were deluded by Satan into believing that they were blessed by God when they were not. It is all too easy to mistake the meaning or presence of God’s real blessings in your life. What might seem like a blessing at the time might actually be a curse. What might seem like a gift from God might be Satan’s ploy. A hard knock in life might be the blessing from God that uplifts you in due time. A financial burden may be what drives you to trust in God’s providence. Only time and God’s insight can make clear what are God’s blessings. Only by revelation of God’s Spirit can you see through the smoke and mirrors of life to perceive the actions of God’s hand.
One way to determine if something is a blessing from God is by how it affects your relationship with God. All God’s blessings have a way of bringing you closer to God when combined with true faith and obedience. All blessings have the added effect of sprinkling spiritual benefits all around. If God blesses a faithful man with a financial windfall, that wealth will benefit the poor, the needy, the church, and many more. If God blesses a faithful woman with a child, that woman will grow in faith as the child grows to adulthood, whether the child is godly or not. If God blesses a company with profits, you will usually see that company respond with an outpouring of sharing and jobs and security in the community life.
Blessings from God may be easy to accept or cause struggles and challenges. However, the effects of God’s blessings will ultimately result in faith and joy and an outpouring of praise. A true blessing from God may make life easier or it may make life more difficult for a while. Blessings from God may even seem like bad luck at first, but they ultimately result in joy or peace or a renewed commitment to God’s love.
A husband and wife went through a difficult series of challenges. First, she lost her job as a secretary at a government agency. Two months later, he lost his job as a surveyor. The husband and wife struggled greatly for a good while. After months of job searching, the wife was hired at a Christian outreach ministry. She ran the office. Some would see her work as simply secretarial. It was much more than that. Many children who passed through her office saw her as a trusted motherly figure and felt safe in her office. Employees would often seek out her advice or ask for her prayers. She was a big pray-er! As for the husband, he too found a new job. Instead of a surveyor, he started his own business as a contractor. As his construction business grew, he teamed with Habitat for Humanity to help build homes for the needy. He donated many hours and materials to help a good number of widows, needy families, and overwhelmed single parents. When the husband and wife originally lost their jobs at the same time, they saw this period in their marriage as difficult and fearful. What they only realized later was that their job losses were a great blessing sent from God that helped them both to find new and wonderful places of employment where they could share their faith and talents in the most perfect of ways!
The scripture for today from the book of Revelation mentions the power of God’s blessings. First, it claims that those “who die in the Lord” are blessed. Why would death ever be a blessing? Well, according to this scripture, the death of the faithful and obedient will result in their eternal “rest from their hard work” in Heaven (Revelation 14:13). AND, “their good deeds would follow them” to eternity. Blessings from God not only affect your life in this world… they follow you to eternal life.
Blessings from God may come in many forms. Some of those forms may initially appear as difficulties or failures or trials or burdens. However, with time and faith and spiritual insight, you will soon see their benefits. Blessings from God may also come in the forms of forgiveness or grace or financial support or help of some sort. No matter how God’s blessings come to you, the benefits of God’s blessings will follow you for a while in this life and forever in eternity. Blessings from God will sprinkle all kinds of good things in your heart and soul and community and world. AND, they follow you into the afterlife.
What are some of the blessings you have received from God? Did you recognize them as blessings right away or discover them later? Was there ever a time when you thought something was a blessing come from God when it was really another one of Satan’s mischievous deceptions? Don’t underestimate the spiritual learning that comes from answering the questions in this paragraph! Only upon discernment can you understand the meaning and role and place of God’s blessings in this scripture and in your life!
“Where true faith is, it will induce obedience; and where it does induce obedience, it will always, in one form or another, bring a blessing.” (W. Hay Aitken, as found in Thoughts for the Quiet Hour)