Jesus said that “I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).  If you talk to some Christians, they will tell you that this abundance is talking about ‘spiritual blessings’.  While I am sure some appreciate this attempt to explain away the power of the Gospel, it is a vain attempt.  The abundance, our Messiah was talking about was spiritual and physical.  If you want to know the whole truth about it, you’ve got to know what the Word of God says about it.  If you want to know the truth about ANYTHING in life, you’ve got to know what the Word says.

Let’s take a look at God’s people.  Children usually take on the characteristics of their parents.
Adam- was given authority over all the earth.  He was given everything he could possibly need in the Garden of Eden.  He was given Eve as a helpmate.  They were equal before God.  Note that it was not Adam and Steve, it was Adam and Eve.  God designed man for woman.  Not man for man or woman for woman.  The family God planned for was a wife and a husband.  God wanted them blessed.
Noah (Genesis 9:1) was given authority over the earth after the flood because he has believed and trusted God.  Genesis says
Gen 9:1-3 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them:"Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.  2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.　NKJV
Abraham, the father of our faith, believed God and left his land when God spoke to his heart.  With this obedience, God blessed him,

Gen 12:1-3
Now the Lord had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” NKJV

But was this just a spiritual blessing?  Did God just bless Abraham spiritually? Well, Gen 13:2-3 says, ‘Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold’.  Sounds like a bit more than ‘spiritual to me’.  What about you?  Putting that God ring on your husband or wife’s finger physically symbolizes the spiritual union between the husband and wife.  Without God’s blessings you cannot buy the gold.

Joseph was also blessed.  He was so blessed that even his boss noticed.  In Genesis 39:3-6
we see “And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. 5 So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. 6 Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate”.　
Are you starting to get the point?  God wants us blessed.  He wants us blessed so that we can be a blessing.  What good are we to this lost and dying world if we are not a blessing?  How can we be a blessing, if we are physically blessed?  The most important thing to remember, if you are spiritually blessed, you will be physically blessed.  That is, if you are willing to grab onto it.

God made it very clear and gave His word on the deal to Moses.  Moses was extremely, physically, blessed.  But being blessed requires an action on our part.  Deuteronomy 28:1-14 makes if very clear.

‘But Pastor, this is a promise for the Jews’ someone may ask.  The New Testament makes it very clear that the blessings of Abraham are for all of us who believe.  ( Galatians 3:29).  Besides, that was nothing new.  God blessed Rahab from Jericho because she believed Him.  She was saved.  He also gave Ruth, a foreigner from Moab the opportunity to be blessed and she took it. She was married to Boaz and became an important part of the lineage of King David (Ruth 4:13-17). This is the same lineage of Mary, the woman of faith who birthed our Messiah Jesus.
God’s promises are for all who believe.  Will you believe today?

Posted on 23 April, 2008