Reading Scripture: Deuteronomy 28:1-6
Verse to Memorize: Numbers 6:24
Reference: Luke 16:19-31
Goal: to help believers cast away sin and evil so that they can enjoy true blessing given by God who supervises and controls life, death, fortune, and misfortune and to let them have love for Him
God Himself has given Manmin Central Church many praise songs. Here is one of them with the title “The Secrets of Blessings”. The love of God who desires His children to receive blessings is contained in the song.
The Secrets of Blessings
Here are the secrets if you want to be blessed.
Keep all the commandments given to us by God.
God created the Sabbath and the Sabbath is His own.
The seeds of blessing are tithes and our offerings
As written in the Word that was given to us by our God.
We’ve got to rid ourselves of anything that’s leading to sin.
Never, ever, hinder nor blaspheme.
The Helper, the Holy Spirit {the Helper, the Holy Spirit}
In everything that you do, be loyal to God’s kingdom.
As written in the lyrics, when we obey the Word of God, we can receive true blessing, give glory to God, and enjoy true happiness, joy, and peace.
1. God Wants to Give Us True Blessings
There was a rich man. He always dressed in fine linen, and lived joyously in splendor every day. In contrast, a sick beggar named Lazarus was lying at his gate, covered with sores. He was fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. His life was miserable such that even the dogs licked his sores.
The rich man and the poor man both died a while later. Before their lives had ended, Lazarus the beggar, had believed in God while the rich man had not. In the end, Lazarus received salvation and went into joyful rest in Heaven and the rich man was put under sufferings of hot flame of the fires in Hades.
Which one do you think was more blessed one? Although the rich man enjoyed a luxurious life with great amount of wealth on this earth, it was a blessing that lasted only temporarily. In Psalm 90:10 Moses said, “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years, yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; for soon it is gone and we fly away.” Even if one lives in such misery, if he can enter Heaven and enjoy joyful rest like Lazarus, he is indeed a person who receives the true blessing. In Heaven, there are no tears, no sorrow, no disease, no pain, and no death. A life in Heaven is infinitely continuous. Then, to enjoy true happiness, joy, and peace in Heaven is real blessing.
It does not mean that it is the will of God for us to live painfully in poverty and with diseases like Lazarus. Jesus, the Son of God, was scourged and shed His blood, though He had no sin at all, to redeem us from our sins and He also lived a life of poverty, though He is rich, to lead us to blessing. So, anyone who believes Jesus Christ has been set free from infirmities and poverty. God desires His children to receive the blessing of soul’s prosperity so that they cannot only enter Heaven but everything may go well with them and they enjoy good health.
Numbers 6:24-26 says, “The LORD bless you, and keep you; the LORD make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace.” As mentioned in the verse, if you have true faith as God’s children, you can be protected from all kinds of danger and disaster and even enjoy true blessing that God lifts up His countenance on you.
2. When You Cast Away Sin and Evil and Love God…
Psalm 1:1-3 describes a blessed man as the man who ‘does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. His delight is in the law of the LORD, and he meditates in His law day and night.’ In other words, if you cast away sin and evil, love God, and keep His Word, then you can be blessed through God and everything will go well with you.
Dr. Jaerock Lee, Senior Pastor of Manmin Central Church has set a good example for this case. Now, I am going to quote a part of his testimony.
“I had been suffering from many kinds of diseases for seven years before I accepted the Lord and my pain was too severe to be described. Meantime, I went to church in guidance of my sister and knelt down there. Right at that moment, I received the fire of the Spirit and became completely healed of all diseases I had.
From that time on I attended many revival meetings. I learned there that I had been a sinner and the Lord Jesus died for sinners like me. With the realization, I started to live by the Word of God in the Bible. I cut myself off from drinking and smoking, and I gave tithes and thanks-offerings. I also began to pray and read the Bible. I could believe the Bible 100% for I was immediately cured of medically incurable diseases by the power of God. So, I obeyed the words I learned in the Bible promptly after reading them.
After I read the passage saying, “You shall not lie” I tried my best not to lie in any case. For example, when someone asks me if I have had my meal, I had said yes in consideration of them although I actually hadn’t. I prayed to cast it off, saying, “God, please let me cast away such a habitual lie.” I kept the Word of God in my heart and prayed to cast it off. Then, eventually I got rid of it.
I also made a note of every sin and evil I found in me while reading the Bible and I prayed fervently to cast them off. If I had evil that still remained in me I offered up vowed-prayer and fasting. Only after I got assurance that I had utterly cast it away, I erased it from the list in the notebook with a red-colored pen. Because I just obeyed God telling me to do, not to do, to keep, and to throw away things, it was not difficult or hard for me to lead a Christian life.
When I acted according to the Bible, God greatly blessed me so I cleared off my huge financial debt and even came to help the poor. God gave me overflowing blessings just because I lived in accord with the Bible and loved God foremost of all. Furthermore, my whole family accepted the Lord and all of them have never been in a hospital due to their illness. I am also enjoying material blessing and that of children just as the Bible tells us that in all respects we may prosper just as our soul prospers.”
3. Obedience, the Key to Receiving Blessing
Suppose there is a son who always obeys his parents and gains favor from them. The son can confidently ask for whatever he needs. Now there is another son who usually misbehaves and disobeys his parents. This son may not be sure whether the parents will respond positively to his request.
Let’s think about it from the father’s perspective. If his son is obedient to his father he will favorably accept his son’s requests for money without question. This is because the father has trust in his son. But if the son frequently disobeys and is a troublemaker, he can’t give what his son wants out of concern that his son would use it with bad intention.
The same applies in our faith. God created the heavens and the earth and all things in them with the Word and supervises and manages human history and life, death, happiness, and misfortune. Such God the Almighty is our Father and He can give His children whatever they want. However, He is unable to give blessings to those churchgoers who attend church but live in sins and remain attached to worldly pleasure.
Of course, new beginners in faith may find it difficult to love God and obey His Word because it seems as though they are entering through the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14). As they obey the Word one by one they will arrive at the realization that it is a joyful and happy thing ever to possess Heaven. To the extent that they grow up in faith, they can ask God to give with confidence and receive whatever they ask.
Deuteronomy 28:1-6 reads, “Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God: blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.”
To ‘be blessed in the city and in the country’ indicates that blessing came upon where those who obey the Word of God are. ‘The offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock are blessed’ refers to all kinds of blessings such as those of children and those that come upon businesses or workplaces and blessings on all property. ‘Your basket and your kneading bowl are blessed’ means that there are blessings in possessions and abundance in food. ‘Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out’ means you will be blessed everywhere you go and be prosperous in everything you do.
I hope that you will cast away sin and evil, love God, and obey His Word. By doing so, may you both receive blessing on the earth and shine forth as the sun in Heaven.
