Blessings

Bible Verse:  From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.  John 1:16

Song:   So Good to Me - Zac Williams

By clicking the above song title, you will be directed to a video of our worship song for today.  Hope you enjoy this song selected specifically to go along with our devotion! (Tip:  if you right click on the link it will open in a separate window and you can listen to the song while you read)

In my search for a job I look at the list of qualifications for the job I am applying for to see if I “qualify”.  They often list things such as:

               ·        Bachelor’s degree

·        Strong problem-solving skills

·        Ability to work as a team

·        Excellent communication skills

These are a list of skills and attributes that the company is looking for in their ideal job candidate.

In our bible verse John is using the word blessing, the original word is charis, which also translates as “grace.” I like that both of these words are interchangeable in this passage.

I often feel like I don’t deserve God’s grace, or His blessings.  I often find myself feeling “unworthy” of good things.  Like I don’t qualify for God’s Grace and blessings.  Often, I feel like if I just tried a little bit harder I would be able to gain the skills and attributes needed to earn God’s grace. 

I recently read the following paragraph from C.S. Lewis that I found enlightening.

If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith.  Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.  We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.  We are far too easily pleased.   C.S. Lewis

What would happen if I allowed God’s blessings and grace to become unleashed in me, if I considered the unblushing promises of reward mine, with no qualifications required? 

  

 John Piper says that "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." This is why He gives us one blessing after another!  Let us receive it that He may be glorified!

I leave you with this question that I recently read in a Beth Moore bible study: 

What would be different if you thought of grace as God’s favor looking for a place to happen?

Heavenly Father, I pray for the fullness of Christ manifested in us that we may be able to do much greater works than “these”.  That our lives would become the epitome of one blessing after another, that we would stop trying to qualify for God’s grace and honor Him and His sacrifice made for us by receiving these gifts intended for us by the Father.  Amen