TO BE BLESSED

We will find that, no matter what it is in life, you need to follow a set of instructions.  Whether it is driving a car or working at a job, you will always have rules or directions to obey.  And the best way to be happy and safe is to be sure you obey those instructions.  

A young man was learning to be a paratrooper.  Before his first jump, he was given these four instructions:

• Jump when you are told.

• Count to ten and pull the ripcord.

• If it does not work, pull the emergency ripcord.

• When you land, a truck will take you back to the base.

The young soldier memorized these instructions and climbed aboard the plane. The plane climbed to ten thousand feet and the paratroopers began to jump.

When the young soldier was told to jump, he jumped. He then counted to ten and pulled the ripcord. Nothing happened! His chute didn’t open! So he pulled the emergency ripcord! It did not open either! In near panic, he thought to himself, “Oh great, the truck probably won’t be there either!”

Have you ever felt like that? Have you had so many hurts and disappointments you just didn’t expect anything else to go right for you? Sometimes the whole world seems to be against us. It’s like that old saying; "If I didn’t have bad luck, I would have no luck at all."

But there are some people who seem to just sail right through life. They always land on their feet. And success always seems to come their way - almost to the point of being unfair.

My daughter, Kim, has always been the one who is best described by having many things going wrong in her life. For instance, she was selected to be a cheerleader for the Arizona Cardinals football team, all to injure her neck during the last practice before her first game.

My son, Shawn, on the other hand, has always ended up the winner. No matter what happened to him, he has always seemed to be ’super-blessed’ and tragedy has visited him but rarely.  When he was in the Navy, he was flying from California to New Jersey.  He had a layover in Atlanta and it was there that he discovered his ticket to New Jersey was gone.  He could not find it.  And he didn’t have enough money to buy a new ticket.

Then, he met a Marine captain who was going to the same place.  The captain was from Atlanta and was going to spend the night with his parents and then drive to New Jersey the next day.  He invited my son to go with him. 

God intervened and my son not only got to where he was going, he got there for free, and he got a home-cooked meal out of it, too.

Turn with me to PSALM 1:1-6.

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers, But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law He meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. No so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish."

What does it take to be a person who always lands on their feet? Unlike the young paratrooper in our story, it takes a genuine hope; and the only genuine hope we have in this life is going to be found in Christ.

We all want the "good life" don’t we? This passage offers us an understanding of what that "good life" is. We are given a hope through Jesus Christ that sets us apart and gives us a life that is very different than what society sees as its "good life".

1. WHY ARE WE BLESSED BY GOD?

In the passage I just read, we are told that God will bless those who do not walk in the counsel of the wicked, which is the world. These people truly love God and pursue a relationship with His Son. They strive to live under God’s laws and directions. In short, they make their lives God-centered.

Of course, that is contrary to the way humans normally think. We try to find our fulfillment in those things of the world, or our own ability to make things happen. In our society, to "have a good time" means to go out and enjoy yourself. (Not enjoy God, but enjoy yourself.)  Do you see where the focus is? The focus is away from God and turned upon you.

We go over to somebody’s home, and when we leave we tell them we enjoyed ourselves, and all the while, we think that is being polite and kind. Again, that is self-centered; it’s all about how we feel. It would be kinder to tell them that you enjoyed their company. That way, the focus is taken from you and put on somebody else.

In the passage I read, it clearly shows that the goal of a real Christian is not to enjoy oneself, but to enjoy God. And this kind of joy is far more permanent that any self-fulfilled happiness we could ever obtain. Let me rephrase that. The goal of a real Christian is only found in praising our God.

Look to others and you will be depressed.  Look to yourself and you will also be depressed.  But look to God through Jesus, and you will be blessed.

For the person of the world; a person who has never acknowledged Christ in their life; a feeling of ’well-being’ comes from within.  And that changes like the wind, unstable and unreliable, for it has no base or anchor. It is only the ’well-being’ that is found in God that gives us true blessings.

What’s so upsetting is that what the Psalmist calls “wickedness” is what most Americans today see as life’s goal; to be independent; to be happy; and to enjoy yourself.  What generally marks success and maturity in our society is self-sufficiency, or being a success.

In our society, we often are made to feel that we must not be reliant upon anyone for anything; that we must do it ourselves; that if we accept help we are weak - therefore unworthy.

What confuses me is that we crave to be approved by others, yet we seek that approval by showing them we don’t need them.  This independence effectively cuts us off from the very people whose admiration and acceptance we ache for! And we do the same thing in our need for God

Every day, we read about, or hear about, how so many people have depression. They are even giving kids heavy medications so they will settle down and pay attention in the classroom. In our "self-sufficient society", we have failed to produce people who can be happy; even though we rank among the wealthiest, healthiest and most educated humans in history!

Let me tell you something very important. By failing to trust in Jesus Christ, and to walk in God, we can’t be happy. A couple of weeks ago, I preached about how we could learn something about our Christian walk by looking at what an eagle goes through.  I said that during its moping period, the eagle stays away from its rock too long and forgets about the power he has to fly, so he just walks around in the dirt, lost and aimless.

I said Christians walk around in the dirt and filth of this world when we forget about our rock – the Rock of Ages that we find our salvation in.  To be independent and alienated from God is to “perish.”

In PSALM 84:12, we read,

"O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in You."

I asked why we were blessed by God.  I think Bill Bright summed it up perfectly when he gave this reason:

“God has placed in our trust a measure of time, a unique set of talents, and sufficient resources to carry out His will for each of our lives.  Our job is to manage those blessings in order to bring the maximum glory to His name.”

In other words; God has blessed us with everything we have so that we could bless Him with everything we have.

2.  BEING BLESSED IN CHRIST JESUS

In PSALM 1:3, it talks about the person who follows God’s laws.

"He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers."

When we speak of a tree that grows besides water, we think of a tree that is always getting the life-giving nutrients in the water because it is so close to the water. When we try to walk in Christ-like behavior, we are always close to the living waters, and we are always receiving the nutrients that make us grow in Christ.

Jesus also gave that analogy in JOHN 15:5 when He said,

"I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in Me, and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me, you can do nothing."

I have learned long ago that whatever I try to do in my own strength will always result in failure. However, everything that I do in Christ, giving Him all glory and praise, will always succeed. Every time I try to do something to improve my lot in life and it fails, I recognize that I tried to do it without Jesus being in the forefront. No matter how tough life gets; no matter how big the problem may seem; Jesus provides the only real source of strength.

Maybe you’re circumstances have robbed you of your joy. Let me point you back to the voice of God as we hear it in these verses. Let His compassionate word penetrate your mind and heart. Hear his answer - it may not change your circumstances but it will change you.

PSALM 1:1

“Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked”

What robs us of our Christian joy? If we listen to the lies of the world around us, it will steal our joy. If we are not feeling joy, maybe we are listening to the world instead of listening to the Word of God.

Listen to His voice.

“Blessed is the person who has not stood in the way of sinners.”

It’s one thing to hear the advice of the world - it’s quite another to accept it and act on it. After we have heard it, have we accepted worldly advice to be true and then acted upon it? I promise you that if this has not robbed you of your joy yet, it soon will.

Listen to His voice.

“Blessed is the person who does not sit in the seat of mockers.”

God is telling us that He will bless us if we –

• Do not WALK in the counsel of the wicked (depend on the world for advice)

• Do not STAND in the way of sinners (depend the world for our acceptance)

• Do not SIT in the seat of mockers (go along with whatever the world suggests)

The progression from walking, to standing to sitting reminds us that even taking that first step away from Christ-centered thinking will rob us of the blessing of lasting Christian joy.

That is why Jesus says, “… remain in me.” We cannot be in two places at once. We can be in the world, or we can be in Jesus, but we cannot be in both. It is a decision that each of us must make for ourselves. The sad part is that most people make the wrong decision and suffer the never-ending consequences of their wrong decision.

When we decide to follow Jesus - no matter what the cost - we become like trees transplanted beside a life giving stream; we will never be without God’s strength that will sustain us – no matter what the world does to us.

The blessings we so eagerly seek only come from one place; they come from walking in Christ. No matter what we do in life, we shall never get any of God’s blessings unless we have Jesus in our hearts.

Many of today’s Christians think of their relationship with Jesus as “Me and Jesus” and we forge ahead in isolation, apart from other believers or church authority. 

They hold relatively low opinions of church history, traditions, and even the church itself.  They do not look to their brothers and sisters in Christ, but rather they look inward to themselves for advancement of their faith, thinking they have been given divine insight by God Almighty. 

True spirituality is perverted, as it becomes a quest for inner stimulation rather than growth in biblical knowledge and the application of truth in community.  Healthy Christians do not live in isolation.  They form a bond with other Christians on a regular basis, and that bond is most-often found in the local church more than anywhere else the believer might go.

It is in this bond, in this church setting, that we find the blessings in Christ Jesus.

3. BLESSINGS UPON BLESSINGS!

On the sixth day God said, “Today I am going to create a land called Oklahoma.  It will be a land of outstanding natural beauty.  It shall have beautiful rolling hills that will be full of animals of all kinds, and it will have beautiful sparkly lakes bountiful with fish

God continued, “I shall make the land rich in oil so to make the inhabitants prosper.  I shall call these inhabitants “Okies”.  They shall be known as the most friendly people on the earth.” 

“But Lord,” asked an angel, “don’t you think you are being too generous to these Okies?” 

“Not really,” replied God.  “Just wait and see the neighbors I am going to give them!”

In verse 3, it says about those who do walk in Christ;

“Whatever he does prospers”

God blesses the believer in Christ abundantly. "Whatever he does prospers." What a promise! That is what God does for us.

This final line of verse 3 has often been interpreted to mean that following Jesus is materially rewarded in the here and now. That is where most of the ‘Prosperity Preachings come from today.

What that passage means is that we will prosper spiritually in everything we do. There are some Christians who are rich and some Christians who are poor. Those that preach a ‘Prosperity Gospel’ would have you think that if you don’t have much money, it is because your faith is not right or strong. That is rubbish.

Some say that Jesus and His followers were rich. If anyone were to simply study the Bible, they would find that is a very untrue belief. Jesus did not try to build an earthly estate. He focused totally on the spiritual estate He had through God. He did not focus on the world or anything in the world. He focused on the treasures He would have in Heaven, where His heart was.

The prosperity that is being referred to is this: “people who trust God have discovered the spiritual prosperity that makes them joint heirs with Jesus.”

Listen to God’s voice once again;

"Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away."

A Godless and self-centered life is like the chaff, it can be blown away by the slightest breeze. On the other hand a righteous life that relies on God for everything is like a well-placed tree whose stability allows it to live and bear fruit. One is weak and one is strong.

Self-sufficient persons only have themselves to rely on - and when it comes Judgment Day, they will surely find out that they had nothing to give themselves in the first place; that the world had lied to them about what it could offer them.

I love Brother Rome’s testimony of how he used to wake up in the mornings so sick that all he could do was hug his toilet, while trying to remember all the fun he had the night before.  Now, Brother Rome goes all over the world as a Gideon, advancing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

That is a perfect example of what the world does to us.  It offers us great and wonderful promises, but can only deliver on the devastation and degradation of our lives.  The world may promise, but it cannot deliver.  It is only through the Lord that we find fulfillment in promises.

“For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous
but the way of the wicked will perish.”

This tells us that the righteous are at the center of God’s will. The Lord knows his people through a personal relationship. And the blessing is the assurance that God cares for His own, protects them, and will reward them.

PSALM 37:18 reminds us:

”The days of the blameless are known to the Lord, and their inheritance will endure forever.”

What the 1st PSALM does is praise the total commitment one should make to the Lord. And, it calls each one of us to make that decision today. It is like the call Jesus made for us to turn away from the world and turn towards Him in MARK.

Jesus came to live among men; not to stand out as being the best, but to simply humble himself and serve the Lord by serving others.

Would the Praise Team please come back on stage?

I read a story the other day about a king who decided to honor his greatest subject. He had his men narrow the field to three people, and then those three people were brought in the courtyard before the entire kingdom. From those three finalists, the king would pick the winner.

The first person presented was a celebrated physician. The king was told that this doctor was highly deserving of the honor because he had rendered faithful and dedicated service to the sick for many years. They said that even though this doctor was rich, he still attended to the poor and sick.

The second person was a distinguished judge. The king was told that the judge was worthy because he was noted for his fairness and brilliant decisions.

The third person was an elderly woman. Everyone was surprised to see her there, because her manner was humble, as was her dress. She hardly looked the part of someone who would be honored as the greatest subject in the kingdom. What chance could she possibly have, when compared to the other three, who had accomplished so much?

But there was something about her; the look of love in her face, the understanding in her eyes, her quiet confidence. The smile in her face showed more wisdom than most people ever have.

The king was intrigued, to say the least, and somewhat puzzled by her presence. He asked who she was. The answer came: “you see the doctor, and the judge? Well she was their teacher!”

The woman had no wealth and no title, but she had unselfishly given her life to genuinely help other people. There is nothing more powerful or more Christ-like than sacrificial love.

The king could not see the value in the humble lady. He missed the significance of the teacher, so he chose another to be his greatest subject. Often we miss the value of those around us. And I cannot help but think it would surprise us to know how often we miss the presence of Christ, too.

Is it possible that you have missed the presence of Christ in your life, too? Sometimes, without knowing it, we get all tangled up in this world’s mess, and when we do, it is very hard for us to see anything but what lay directly ahead.

Maybe it is time that we just stop off this fast-paced merry-go-round called society and reattach ourselves to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Maybe it’s time that we just stop resisting it and accept the Lord’s guidance in our lives.  We would be so much better off; so much happier; and much more peaceful.

Is today the day you want to humble your heart to Him?  Is today the day you want to finally start anew … fresh, alive, and guilt-free?

INVITATION