Endless Blessing

Have you ever thought about the permanent blessing of God?

I know that sounds too good to be true, and in fact, it is, because it is a blessing that has no beginning or end.

The permanent blessing is the blessing of God that is upon our lives every day; it is the favor that gives us life, protects us, leads us and brings us to our homes, frees us from diseases, gives us strength to overcome the bad seasons of life, gives us wisdom and intelligence to solve problems, in short, it is multiple blessings happening at the same time, each one given especially for an area of life.

God sends us what we need at the exact time we need it. Although the situation may seem chaotic and meaningless, the permanent blessing is there with us.

What is the purpose of this blessing?

The Lord gives us this blessing so that we can grow, develop, and become everything that He created us to be.

God created us to do great things, and this takes time, so He graces us with the permanent blessing; the Lord is perfecting us daily, extending his hand so that we can climb one more step towards the future that the Almighty God has designed for each one.

Don’t give up! Don’t surrender! The permanent blessing will always be with you.

Lamentations 3:22-23 (CSB)

Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!

Always Present

Throughout life, we create a wrong perception about what it means to be under God’s protection. We are taught that divine coverage will deliver us from all bad situations, and nothing bad will happen to us.

However, throughout life, we live many things that bother and sadden us. We suffer disappointments, betrayals, and injustices; we feel physical and heart pain, and it seems that everything that could go wrong happens to us.

In these moments, we question whether God is really with us; we question whether we are under his protection and blessing. The whole scenario indicates that we are living alone, and no one cares for our steps.

Before concluding we are alone, we must dive into the Word of God and comprehend how He acted in the lives of his beloved children.

In the Book of Genesis, we see how God was with Joseph throughout his life, the young man faced the envy of his brothers, slavery, and prison. In every place he was, God showed him his grace. Joseph ended his life as the second most important man in Egypt, responsible for saving the nation during the time of famine.

In the Book of Exodus, we see how God cared for the people of Israel in the desert, providing them water, food, shade during the day, and light and warmth during the night. The people were led to the Promised Land, where they enjoyed abundance in everything.

In the Book of Daniel, we see how God saved Daniel’s friends in the blazing furnace, He sent an angel who protected them. Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den and was also protected by an angel sent by God. Daniel and his friends were respected and admired by the king of Babylonia.

All these stories have something in common: God rescued the people amid their disgraces. Everything seemed lost, but God saved them and led them to blessing. The Lord was with each of His children in their worst moments.

Therefore, we must cling to this same faith, believing that God is with us even when everything is chaos and seems like our end. The Lord is by our side, strengthening us and guiding us towards victory.

Isaiah 43:2 (NIV)

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.

Believe That You Can Do Everything!

The world we live in constantly tries to discourage us. Even those who are closer say unpleasant things.

“Why do you believe that you will get it?”

“I don’t know anyone who did it!”

“This isn’t for you. No chance!”

Many of these discouraging words take root in our hearts. We start to doubt ourselves and our capability. We reach the point to think and say the same things.

“This is too hard; I won’t be able to.”

“I’m not good enough for this.”

“This isn’t for me.”

These ideas must be eliminated from our minds. We are capable of doing great, incredible, wonderful, spectacular things. Believe that you can and will do it. Be your bigger motivator.

“If nobody did, I’ll be the first one.”

“This is hard, but God will help me.”

“Everything is possible for one who believes.”

The change of thinking will help you to fight and conquer what you dream of.

Proverbs 12:14

From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things, and the work of their hands brings them reward.

Changing the Vision

Sometimes we stay sad because we do not get something,

We stay unpleased, and about what we do not have, we think.

In our hearts arises a big feeling of unhappiness,

Because what we desire, we do not possess.

 

At this moment, we forget all conquered things,

About what we have in our lives, we forget everything.

We cannot see the blessings we have already received,

For what we do not have, we are looking fixedly.

 

We need to change our vision, and look in another direction,

For everything we already have, we must show appreciation.

We must thank God for everything He already gave us,

We must stop demanding from God what has not happened to us.

 

Our hearts must keep calm and trust in God,

Knowing that at the right time, what we need will be given by the Lord.

Because God is perfect, and He will never fail in anything,

We only have to learn to trust and wait for Him.

This poem is part of the book Life Through the Words.

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/bQpQ7d

Forget the Noun, Do the Verb

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In a simple definition, a noun is a word used to give a name to things. Example: chair, table, box, etc. And the verb is related to the action. Examples: walk, do, think, etc.

I just finished a book that spoke about the creative process, and this book made me think about Christian life. The book's name is ‘Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad (Austin Kleon)’. The author teaches some methods to awaken and keep creativity.

One of the chapters' names is “Forget the noun, do the verb”. In this chapter, the author reflects on the work (verb) of an artist and their title (noun). The work of a painter is to paint, and the work of a writer is to write. The whole chapter is a lesson about the importance of work to obtain the title related to the work. The author says that many people want to be recognised, but do not work to get recognition.

At this point, I suppose you must be asking yourself what all of this has to do with Christian life. I answer that it is more connected than we can imagine.

Let us think together, the term Christian is a noun that identifies those who profess the Christian faith, those who believe in Jesus Christ. And in the same logic of the book, what are the verbs related to the noun Christian? What is needed to be a genuine Christian?

Believe

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And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6

The first verb of a Christian is to believe. Each one must believe in God and have faith in the promises that He made. I am not speaking about prosperity promises, I am speaking about the greatest blessing God has given us and his greatest promise: his love and eternal life. If we believe in God and his promise, we will seek to please him in everything we do. We will live our lives assured that God is with us in all situations. And this certainty changes everything.

Work

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14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:14-17

Another verb very important is to work. This verse is very famous for expressing in a very clear way the relation between faith (to believe) and deeds (to work). Everyone must believe, and at the same time, work to show their faith. Unfortunately, most of us, Christians (I include myself in the group), think that only believing in God and Jesus is enough. We think there are too many people working for God, and our help is not needed or will be useless. But the truth is each worker is essential. Each of us has unique skills, and God can use us powerfully. But for this to happen, we need to be willing to go to work.

Love

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This is my command: Love each other. John 15:17

I believe the verb to love is the most complicated of all, and also one of the easiest to be noticed. Returning to the text about faith and deeds, imagine yourself in an ordinary place, and someone asks you for money or something to eat. One person who loves will do their best to help the person, even if they have no resources, they will pray for the person and ask God to bless that life. And if the person has resources, they will help. The one who observes a situation like that will think: “Certainly that person is a Christian.”

Think about the contrary now. The person does not pray, or then, they have resources but do not help. The one who observes will think: “There is no way someone like this person is a Christian. They saw someone asking for help and mistreated them. Those who love do not do this to their neighbour”.

In Brazil, there is a situation that demonstrates a lack of love. Many “Christians” get happy when they see news about criminals' death, and some of these people celebrate and repeat the phrase: “A good criminal is a dead criminal.” I understand that all actions have their consequences; however, who am I to celebrate the death of another person? Before God, what makes me so better than others? As Christians, we must get sad after knowing about people's death, especially when they die in sinful situations. That one who died was also created in the image of God.

I suppose that at this point, you already understood the relation between the chapter of the book and Christian life. Summarising, only declaring ourselves as Christians does not make us true Christians. Remember the saying: “Actions speak louder than words.” This certainly holds true for the Christian life.

All day, we must do our best to be practitioners of the commandments and Christian principles.

Forget the noun, do the verb