God Wants to Bless Us

Pastor Molander taught today about God's desire to bless us.  God created man because he wanted fellowship with someone that had the right to choose to serve him or to choose to go their own way.  He also established some rules to live by that would prove whether we were serious about wanting to serve him.

Deuteronomy 11:22-28
22 For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;
23 Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.
24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.
25 There shall no man be able to stand before you: [for] the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.
26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:
28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

Notice the word IF in chapter 27, and again in verse 28.  The decision is ours to make!  Yet even when His people failed, he still gave them additional chances to receive his blessings.

I Kings 16:30-33
30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that [were] before him.
31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.
32 And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.
33 And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.

Then God sent a prophet to him to warn Ahab about his decisions.

I Kings 21:27-29
27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
28 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
29 Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: [but] in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.

Every time the Israelites turned back to God he would bless them.  Still, only two of the people he brought out of Egypt actually made it to the promised land.  God sent us his Son to make a way back to God's blessings again.  Christ was born to die in our place so our choice to turn from God would not permanently separate us from God.

Matthew 1:18-21
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just [man], and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Romans 5:8-11
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
11 And not only [so], but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

This means the reconciliation of God and man was provided through the sacrificial death of Jesus.  Not only did he die for us, but he wants to live inside us to help us receive God's promised blessings.

John 14:15-17
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

We have a decision to make.  We can either choose to live in our human will and be lost forever, or we can choose to surrender our life to Him and spend eternity in heaven.  Why not invite him into your heart today?  Repent of your past sins and commit to living a clean and holy life according to the rules he gave us so you too can inherit his blessings.  IF you do, he will bless you not only in your everyday life, but ultimately with eternal salvation.