What if I told you that ‘God already knew about whatever it is you are experiencing right now, whether pleasant or unpleasant? ‘ He knew about them long before they happened, before you were even born.

Below, are 4 different translations of Psalm 139:16..

“You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.“
Psalms 139:16 NLT

“Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were appointed for me, When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].”
Psalms 139:16 AMP

“Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.’
Psalms 139:16 NKJV

“Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.”
Psalm 139:13‭-‬16 MSG

Anyhow we choose to read this verse of Psalms, there are at least 4 things it tells us…

1. God knew you before you were formed in your mother’s womb.

2. He had a definite plan and Purpose for your Life, before proceeding to forming you in your mother’s womb.

3. There is a Number of days apportioned to you in this life by God. Nobody should tell you how much longer you have to live if they haven’t discussed with God (selah).

4. Your daily experiences (good or bad) do not surprise God because He knew about them long before you were born. He saw your days afar off even before they came to be.

I don’t know how reading this makes you feel, but for me I am reassured that every Stage of my life, every Day of my life and every Moment of my life are continually before God. He knew about them before they came to be. And being that God is Good, and He only has good in Him, then I choose to believe that God’s plans for me are good.

Irrespective of what you are experiencing today, God already planned an expected end for you….in Him.

So, look beyond today, see beyond your unpleasant or bad experiences of today. There’s a tomorrow coming after today and it’s coming with good….in Christ..for you. Your story will end well because God already planned a good end for you, plans of good, not of evil…

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV

Friends, God’s got your back! His thoughts towards you are of peace, they are good, they have no evil in them, they will lead you to the beautiful future He’s planned for you…in Him.

The temptations (and troubles) of life which come to derail you from God’s good plan and purpose will fail if you stay with God, walk with God and trust God, He will make a way of escape for you (1 Corinthians 10:13).

What stage, day or moment of life are you currently at? Pleasant? Praise God! Unpleasant? Praise God, trust God, He’s got you. Your times and seasons are in His hands (Psalms 31:15).

I love John 17:23….

“I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.“
John 17:23 NKJV

If Christ is in Us and the Father is in Christ, then we are kept safe in the Father through Christ.

Halleluyah!

Prayer

Father, I trust your good thoughts, plans and purpose for my life. I will stay with You, walk with You and trust You to lead me to my glorious destiny in You.

Abraham entrusted his life to God and His Word…..when you trust someone, you believe them even when you don’t fully understand…… So even without understanding where God was leading him to, Abraham trusted and obeyed. He didn’t know where God was leading him to, he didn’t fully understand what God was doing, however, he submitted himself and his life to God’s control and leading. He accepted/believed the Word of God as true in his spirit (faith) and he judged God as capable and reliable in his mind and thinking (trust). Abraham had faith in God’s Word and he trusted God to fulfill His promise.

Recognize that thorns come to ultimately frustrate you; to make life difficult for you; to make it seem like you’re not making progress. So first,  carefully tackle any form of frustration attempting to creep into mind by removing the focus from yourself and unto a bigger goal. Second shut down the proponents of your thorns.

Thank You for Your Grace; the display of your love and kindness, the daily manifestation of your glory and power.

Thank You for Your Grace; Your graciousness and Gift of grace freely given to us. Grace bought us, grace keeps us and we glory in Your grace.

Thank You for Your Grace; washing away sins, saving lives, filling to overflow with rivers of living waters.

Thank You for Your Grace; Divine enablement by Your Spirit to do the seemingly impossible even today.

Thank You for Your Grace; Your divine ability, to physically create, build and establish your purpose.

Thank You for Your Grace; Your divine and boundless favour, bringing in overflowing measures of goodness from wherever life exists, extending same from us to wherever life exists.

Thank You for Your Grace; divine strength and sustenance to remain undaunted, unflinching, persuaded and fully committed.

Thank You for Your Grace; The force of Your power, neutralizing every opposition and contrary force.

Thank You for Your Grace; my confidence, my boldness, my assurance.

Lord, thank You for Your Grace today.

Considering the above truths, we shouldn’t have believers struggling to make ends meet. Every follower of Jesus Christ should naturally exhibit the hallmarks of the blessing; increase, expansion, influence, dominion, and enjoy security/protection. Statutorily, every Christian possessed all these things from the new-birth, unfortunately not every Christian fully expresses them as should. 

In the Rest place of God, there is no anxiety, worry or panic, because faith in the Word reigns supreme.

The Blessing of Abraham

If you have been with me on this study, remember that we took a side journey from the sub-topic “Victory Through Faith” in order to find out how Abraham became the ‘Father of Faith’. You can read a bit more about that here.

Today we conclude our brief study on Abraham by looking at ‘The Blessing of Abraham’.

What is the blessing?

God pronounced the blessing on man immediately after creating him (Genesis 1:28). However Adam’s sin and fall introduced the curse which brought in spiritual death, sickness and poverty. Through His death, burial and resurrection, the Lord Jesus settled the curse forever, did away with it and re-established the blessing (Galatians 3:13‭-‬14).

When we look at the first mention of the blessing, we gain an understanding of what the blessing means….

“Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 1:28 NKJV

……be fruitful, multiply, increase, expand, dominate…

I find that the blessing is often mentioned alongside fruitfulness, expansion, increase, abundance, or influence in the scripture. Sometimes we find a combination of these mentioned.

From Proverbs 10:22, we see the value of the blessing….

“The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.”
Proverbs 10:22 NKJV

The Blessing Makes Rich! The Blessing Makes Rich!! The Blessing Makes Rich!!!

So the blessing is an empowerment to prosper.

What is the Blessing of Abraham?

We find the answer to this in Genesis 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. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 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.”
Genesis 12:1‭-‬3 NKJV

If we want to line-list the Blessing of Abraham, we will have;

• I will make you into a great nation.
  • I will bless you.
  • I will make your name great.
  • You shall be a blessing.
  • I will bless/curse those who bless/curse you (I will personally fight your battles).

So, what do we see here? We see;

• Increase
• Expansion
• Influence
• Dominion/Authority
• Security/Protection

This is ‘The Blessing of Abraham’ and it pretty much covers everything anyone would want in life to feel successful, doesn’t it?

So did Abraham become all that God promised? Sure!

Genesis 24:1-2, summarizes for us that God blessed Abraham in all things….

“Now Abraham was old, [well] advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.” Genesis 24:1 AMP.

What exactly can fall under ‘all things‘?

Genesis 24:35 mentions some of them;

“The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great (wealthy, powerful); He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys.
Genesis 24:35 AMP

So Abraham put his hands to work and the blessing manifested.

Genesis 24:35 is actually a testimony from Abraham’s servant (as he went seeking a wife for Isaac from the house of Bethuel). According to his testimony, Abraham had become; greatly blessed, wealthy, powerful, an owner of flocks and herds, silver and gold, camels and donkeys and master servants and maids. I love the way Abraham’s possessions are mentioned in multiples- flocks, herds, camels, donkeys, etc. And talking about Abraham’s servants, I found it almost ‘mind-blowing’ that Abraham went to war (to rescue his nephew Lot) with 318 trained men born in his household! So how big was Abraham’s household? If he went with 318 men, how many were left behind? How many wives, children, mothers were not counted? So how exactly big was Abraham’s household? Talk about being blessed! In modern day, Abraham would have been described as a very powerful and influential person.

Abraham experienced the blessing through faith, obedience and patience.

I love the blessing of Abraham and I am so glad that I am an heir of Abraham. I am a partaker of this blessing.

Heir of Abraham

Yes, I am an heir of Abraham and the Blessing of Abraham is mine.

Someone says ‘Grace, how did you come about that?’

First, Abraham became the father of faith because he believed God’s promises and he was counted righteous through faith. Therefore because I believe God’s Word by faith also, I am an heir of Abraham. Abraham is my father.

I am a daughter of Abraham….and you are a son/daughter of Abraham.

“In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God,” Galatians 3:6-7 NLT

I am an heir of Abraham….and you are an heir of Abraham.

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Galatians 3:26-29 NKJV

Who is an heir? Someone legally entitled to the property or rank of another on that person’s death. A person who inherits and continues the work of a predecessor. A beneficiary, grantee, inheritor, successor.

I am an heir of Abraham and an inheritor of the blessing of Abraham….and so are you.

Yes, I share in the same Blessing of Abraham..

“What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.” Galatians 3:8-9 NLT

I am an heir of Abraham and I have the blessing of Abraham. I have the Blessing! God has empowered me to prosper. And just as God blessed the handworks of Abraham causing increase and expansion leading up to wealth, influence and dominion, even so the blessing causes the works of my hands to prosper, leading up to wealth, influence and dominion. I walk by faith, I walk in-step with the Spirit, I live by the Word and I inherit the blessing. I am blessed, my name is blessed, and I am a blessing to nations…..and so are you!

When God entered into a covenant with Abraham, it was to assure him that the promise will be fulfilled, that the blessing will not fail. As Christians we stay confident that the blessing will prevail because of the covenant made by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. The blessing will not fail.

Thank You Jesus!

Remember that you can access previous parts of this study as follows; Part 1: Study Background. Part 2: The Scope of the Christian Victory. Part 3: How Christians Gained Victory. Part 4: How Faith, Love and Hope Mix Together for Victorious Christian Living. Part 5: The Nature of God’s Love. Part 6: Characteristics of God Kind of Love. Parts 7 and 8:  Winning Through Love. Part 9: How to develop our love nature. Part 10: Giving Is Not (always) Love. Part 11:Victory Through Faith: Understanding Faith. Part 12: Victory Through Faith: The Righteousness of God. Part 13: The Stimulus for Faith. Part 14: The Faith of Abraham (A). Part 15: The Faith of Abraham (B).

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Blessings & Love Always!

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us

Yes, God will send His Word to shine the light into our hearts, bringing illumination and understanding to help us take advantage of all Christ has done, and to help us see that He already healed us (I Peter 2:24). And the Holy Spirit helps us see that God already sent His Word and healed us. So do not let the enemy keep you in bondage with an expectation that your healing is coming from God, no, the Word (Jesus) already came and healed all your diseases.

“And we still have the promise that God gave those people. That promise is that we can enter his place of rest. So we should be very careful that none of you fails to get that promise.”
Hebrews 4:1 ERV

The above verse of scripture, speaks of a promise made by God to a set of people- the Israelites. A promise that according to the writer, can be inherited and experienced today by every believer in Christ Jesus- the promise of A Place of Rest. And one intrinsic attribute of God is that He keeps His promises. Indeed, all of God’s promises in Christ are Yes and Amen!

Hebrews Chapter 3 provides a background to Hebrews chapter 4. The writer briefly recounts the not-so-nice experience of the Israelites in the wilderness over a period of 40 years. According to God, these people were rebellious, they tested and tried Him regularly, and they generally exuded deep and annoying unbelief (Hebrews 3: 7-10). As a result of their choice and way of life, God swore that they will not enter into His rest.

“Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘they shall not enter My rest.” Hebrews 3:10-11 NKJV

What is The Rest Place of God?

The Rest Place of God is Not a Physical location

Generally speaking, a place is a location, a point or an area. A place is also a position- which can mean someone’s current location or situation. The Rest Place of God is none of these things.

The Rest Place of God is not the Day of Rest

Is The Sabbath the Rest Day?

The word ‘Sabbath’ might mean different days of the week for different people, yet for all Christians, it communicates the idea of a day of rest. For the Jews, the Sabbath day starts at nightfall on Friday and ends on nightfall of Saturday. And while some ‘Christian sects’ try to follow the Jewish Sabbath day routine, others have chosen Sunday as their Sabbath day. It would appear then that the whole concept of recognizing a specific day as the day of rest cannot be applied universally across the Christendom. Maybe what needs to be understood is what exactly the Sabbath stands for.

Understanding the Sabbath

Starting from Genesis 2:2-3, it is recorded that God observed the 7th day as a day of rest after the creation. So God Himself started the Sabbath Day tradition. The Bible records that God rested and was refreshed. So there is a refreshing associated with rest (selah).

Why did God Rest ?

Genesis Chapters 1 and 2 tells us that God created the whole world in 6 days! Everything, Made from Words!! And on the 7th day, God rested. Even though we read that God rested and was refreshed post creation, we are not told that He rested because He was tired. I believe that God rested because He thought to Himself; ‘My work is done, everything is complete and perfect, everything is good!’

God had faith in His Word. He trusted His Word. He knew everything was as good as it should be.

In Exodus Chapter 31:12-18, God gave a very strong command to the Israelites concerning the Sabbath; it was to be observed as a day of rest, a holy day to the Lord. The penalty for speaking ill of the Sabbath was death, anyone who refuses to observe the Sabbath was to be ostracized or killed. So the Sabbath was a big deal to God Almighty. However the Lord Jesus seemed to have neglected this great command of the Sabbath during his ministry.

Jesus walked into grainfields on a Sabbath, His disciples took of the grains of the fields on a Sabbath, Jesus performed miracles on the Sabbath, He taught God’s Word on the Sabbath (Matthew 12: 1-6, 9-14, Luke 13:10-17, Luke 6:5). So in summary, Jesus did not rest on the Sabbath day! And as you can imagine, the religious leaders of His time rebuked Him for not observing the traditions, commands and laws passed down from the fathers. In response to this, Jesus dismissed their allegations as simply hypocritical because they themselves do not commit totally to observing the Sabbath as a day of rest. It would seem that they didn’t even understand what the Sabbath meant. I find it very instructive how Jesus always puts compassion and doing good above keeping laws and offering sacrifices.

So the Rest Place of God is not a location, situation, physical position or a rest day.

So what is The Rest Place of God?

Let’s see Deuteronomy 5:12-15……

‘‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”
Deuteronomy 5:12‭-‬15 NKJV

Again, we see another mention of the Sabbath and its sacredness here. But see what God says in verse 15; “remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm“…..

So God is saying 2 things here: 1. Do not work on the Sabbath. 2. Remember how you were slaves in Egypt until My mighty hand and outstretched arm brought you out. You were in bondage and helpless until I saved you!

What do these mean?

I believe God was saying; ‘remember when you were so powerless and couldn’t help yourself until I intervened to deliver you; remember this and do not be anxious about working on the Sabbath; remember this and trust that I can take care of you; remember this and trust in My ability to take care of you whether you work or you do not work.’

So indeed, the law about the Sabbath wasn’t necessarily about working or not working but a test of obedience, faith and trust in God. And as far as Jesus could see, the religious leaders of His time, knew the laws but lacked understanding and revelation of their true intent.

If we go back to Hebrews 4:1‭-‬3 ERV, we see the primary reason the Israelites could not enter God’s place of rest…..

“For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said” NKJV

They heard the gospel, but did not mix the Word they heard with faith. And because they refused to mix God’s Word with faith, the Word was not profitable or beneficial to them. So it seemed their prayers were not answered, it appeared God never heard their outcry. The resultant effect of this was that they were always anxious, worried, agitated, panicky. They were never at rest. They did not enter God’s place of rest. They could have experienced ‘Sabbath’ everyday but yet they couldn’t.

Sounds familiar doesn’t it? How we can sometimes get all worked up over something we cannot change only to start trying to calm ourselves down so that we don’t fall ill from anxiety.

Worrying is like seating on a rocking chair that takes you no where. Sometimes we’re struggling with not worrying… Oh! if only we would enter His rest….the place where God wants us to be at all times and concerning all things.

In the Rest Place of God, the Word of God is mixed with Faith. It is a place of knowing, believing and speaking what the Word says irrespective of the circumstances. It is a place of being fully persuaded. A place of confidence and peace. It is a place of faith and trust. It is a spiritual state that translates into a physical experience. So the believer can actually have Sabbath every time and every day.

How do we enter his rest?

1. Mix the Word with faith: Confess the Word and stay steadfast with your confession.…

Say what the Word says in every situation.

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.“ Hebrews 10:23 NKJV

2. Believe in the efficacy of the Word: the Word is not dead, but living, powerful and sharp….

“Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:11‭-‬12 NKJV

We can enter His Rest Place for (because) the Word of God is not dead or powerless, but living, powerful and sharp. Halleluyah!

Shalom!