Welcome to Buoy, a Life in Deeper Water podcast.

Episode 30. Do God’s Blessings Bring You Closer to Him? (beyond a hashtag mentality)

(click here to listen now)

Hello human.

Here’s a word that gets a secular rap in today’s culture. We are talking about the word, blessed. And how to get beyond a hashtag mentality. To recognize God’s blessings and why He does it.

Some consider it Christian-speak, a “rose-colored glasses” way of looking at things.

That it’s mush. Soppy “blessed life” stuff, soaking up the trickling soup rivers at the bottom of life’s bowl.

But it is part of conversations—beginning, middle, end.

Have a blessed day.

I am blessed.

God bless you.

Or.

Bless You (God dropped)

A kind of “smiley face in salutation” form. That it is a nice thing to say to someone. That you wish them well, that you wish them good things in their lives. That you hope their day brings good news, and favor from some higher power. A hashtag for humility, showing our “cultured” gratitude for what we have.

But in many cases, there is no connection, no recognition of the divine source, or any relationship with that source. I am talking about God.

To some, it is a cue that you are a Christian, that God has a role in your life.

To others, it is a trigger that you are a Christian, that God has a role in your life.

Last week when I thought more about how I would see evidence of Divine Blessing in my life as I exercise my spiritual gifts, the word “blessing” dropped to the middle of my brain, like an anchor. A mental mooring.

So now I am in pursuit of what this all means, so I accept God’s blessings and give blessings in the way He has created them, from His nature. No mush. Solid spiritual food.

That when I wish someone good things in their life, blessings in their life, the true meaning resonates through how I build a relationship with them.

I recently read, that any “good” thing that carries a person away from God is, in effect, not good. So, the earthly cues of what “being blessed” might look like… prospering in material things, gaining popularity, traveling, fun recreational activities, a paid-off mortgage, a good annual check-up, healthy children… life’s earthly comforts might check the boxes on how we think God is taking care of us. The things that reassure and relax us enough to be grateful, yup, I guess I just said that… things that prompt gratitude have the potential to lead us away from Him, and toward a mindset that serves our selfish nature.

The Road to Being Blessed Leads Where?

God’s blessings are designed to always lead us ultimately to Himself.

It made me wonder about all the blessings in the Bible. It took very little time to realize that God’s Word is filled with blessings. I could talk about blessings through the rest of mywitness99 journey. There are that many. But today, just a few from the life of Jesus during His earthly ministry.

The Sermon on the Mount begins with the Beatitudes, a series of blessings named by Jesus. It immediately brings to light the context for being blessed.

Matthew 5:3-10

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,

    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,

    for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek,

    for they will inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

    for they will be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful,

    for they will be shown mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart,

    for they will see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers,

    for they will be called children of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus talked about being blessed quite a lot: in the context of being poor, hungry, persecuted, hated.

Luke 6:20-22

20 Looking at his disciples, he said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,

    for yours is the kingdom of God.

21 Blessed are you who hunger now,

    for you will be satisfied.

Blessed are you who weep now,

    for you will laugh.

22 Blessed are you when people hate you,

    when they exclude you and insult you

    and reject your name as evil,

        because of the Son of Man.

 

Jesus talked about being blessed when you keep the word of God, having first heard it.

“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:28)

Building Character is Hard

When I was in the second year of graduate school, we purchased our first computer so I could write my graduate thesis. It had “dos” which stands for dos operating system. The revolutionary idea was that it stored my work. It had a memory to store chapters.  Prior to that, I had an electric typewriter that stored a couple of the previous paragraphs. Ground-breaking at that time.

So, even with my learning curve on how to use our new computer, I managed to learn immediately about the delete key as I was finishing one of my chapters, and accidentally lost several days of writing. It didn’t have a recovery mode, or any back-up to retrieve it. I was left to starting, again. There is nothing worse than re-writing something you wrote, trying to recapture, re-edit, re-create the entire process. It’s hard enough to capture your points with clarity in a well-constructed paragraph, but to re-capture it is like chasing creativity down a rabbit hole.

Was it better the second time? No. I don’t think it was. But that experience did what getting your Masters degree should do, what any worthy life experience should do. Toughen you up. Gird your discernment, strengthen your approach, elevate your execution. Build character. At the time, I was more about my academic character, but that’s not to say God wasn’t in the mix. He was.

The capacity of that computer expanded my capability to match the memory of the machine. Blessings defined as earthly possessions, or the elevation of our physical comforts, left untethered from spiritual value, will not sustain a spiritual life. They can be a distraction if not put to spiritual use. 

Distraction from what? Drawing closer to God.

And the capacity of my Creator has no limits. He has an endless, eternal memory.

“Who Do You Say I Am?”

I want my faith buoyed today with the conversation Christ had with His disciples when He asked them about His identity. It takes place about 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. It has everything to do with being blessed.

Matthew 16:13–20.

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

 

Peter’s answer showed that he understood Jesus to be both the promised Messiah and to be divine. Jesus praises him for that confession. Jesus “blesses” Peter for understanding and believing this to be true. He goes on to identify Peter as the rock, on which He will build His church.

It is interesting to note that Jesus uses the equivalent of Peter’s family name, Simon, son of Jonah. Making specific reference to Peter’s father contrasts when Jesus says next. It did not come from Peter’s earthly father. Peter also did not come to this conclusion about Jesus out of his own cleverness or careful study.

Rather, Peter’s conviction that Jesus is the Christ was given by Jesus’ Father in heaven. God revealed to Peter and the other disciples that Jesus was His Son.

Everything divine comes from our God.

Blessings Begin with Naming Jesus

So, God participates in revealing the truth about Jesus to those who believe in Him.

John 6:44

44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

 

This is where blessing always starts. When we name who Jesus is.

When God blesses us, it is a representation of the intimacy we have together and the inheritance we will receive in full. God’s blessings are about enriching our spiritual walk with Him.

The Greek word for blessed, used by Jesus when he “blesses” Peter, is makarios (“blessed”). Listen to Strong’s definition: it describes a believer in enviable (“fortunate”) position from receiving God’s provisions (favor) – which (literally) extend (“make long, large”) His grace (benefits). This happens with receiving (obeying) the Lord’s inbirthings of faith. Hence, faith (pistis) and blessed (makarios) are closely associated.

Paul says in:

Romans 4:5-7

5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

7 “Blessed are those

    whose transgressions are forgiven,

    whose sins are covered.

 

The blessings we receive from God begin with forgiveness, justification and righteousness. All other blessings build on and deepen our understanding of Him—to know Him more intimately.

This is why Peter tells us in:

 1 Peter 4:10

10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

 

Peter is saying that God has provided for us through His grace, and we should steward His provisions. In the last episode I also noted that an affirmation of your spiritual gift is that you will see evidence of Divine Blessing as you exercise your gift. What comes with that is joy, wisdom, peace, all qualities that are spiritually independent of the rugged context within which blessings are given:  poverty, adversity, trial, meekness, hunger for more righteousness, and as Jesus says—being “poor in spirit”—knowing that this is all spiritually sourced by God. Living in a blessed state of heart, mind and soul because we are sourced by God.

No hashtag needed.

Have a Blessed Day

Blessings from God enrich our spiritual condition. And our spiritual gift in action, blesses others, strengthening our spiritual character as God strengthens the spiritual character of those we serve. A divine win-win.

I am with Peter. Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. I am maturing in the fruit of the Spirit as I serve others with my spiritual gifts. I am obeying the inbirthing of faith in me, given by God.

So, when I say, “I am blessed” I am talking about being in an enviable position, receiving God’s provisions of grace for my life, in every circumstance. Every earthly provision He gives me has a higher spiritual purpose. The rest of my self-made provisions commit spiritual fraud, and I should press the delete button.

And when I say “Have a blessed day” or “God bless you” I am talking about my request that God take care of your heart, mind and soul, so much so, that He strengthens you through life’s most powerful lessons. The lessons that triumphantly reveal who He is to you and how He is taking care of you and preparing you for His house of many mansions.

When you are 25 miles north of any sea of solutions, and Jesus turns to you and says, “Who do you say I am?” claim His name. And be blessed.