Let's talk blessing. God does not bless his children because of anything they do or do not do. That is a conditional God, which is so not the Father. It is almost as if we are playing the childhood love game with God. "He loves me, He loves me not. He loves me, He loves me not." So with flower in hand, we hopelessly wait to pick the next petal because THEN he will love us. FALSE folks. God loves you the same yesterday, today and forever. His love never changes. NO matter what you do. what freedom!
But as we live this best life, we have the ability to CHOOSE to grow in the favor of God. Even Jesus had to grow in favor.
I was driving home many months ago. I had been trying to figure out where to work this summer and just couldn't quite seem to get any direction. So I am driving home one day and the Lord says to go apply at a restaurant. I thought, well my gosh, I have no restaurant experience. They won't hire me. Blah, Blah, Blah. So after negotiating with the Father for a while, I gave in. Although I was unable to see clearly at this moment, remember that the Lord will NEVER set you up to fail...only for you to step out and trust His faithfulness. Ok, so I go in. Apply. And get the job right away.
My job consists of polishing a lot of silver and running a lot of food. Which is great. The job is a blessing of God. And I could not have been more thankful. One night, after polishing what seemed to be mine of silver I started getting a little lazy. I heard the Lord ask why I wasn't polishing the right way. And then He said that everything I do is unto the glory.
You see, when you live IN LOVE with the King of the Universe everything you do is in response to that LOVE. That changes everything. Moving from religion to relationship will literally change everything. It is not that polishing silver is my favorite past time. But when you move to the rhythms of mercy with an understanding that EVERYTHING is because of the grace of God, what/why/how/when/how many is all a by-product of that love. EVEN on my best day it is only by the grace of God. Living poor in spirit is wealth in the Kingdom.
After the Lord re-calibrated my work ethic, I polished like the Queen was coming to town. Two days later I got a very significant raise. When you live in LOVE, favor follows. Blessing follows favor. Challenge is the next step. It is easy to assume that because of God's blessing you dont' have to work for it anymore. that is an incorrect way of thinking. Abuse of blessing only leads to error. And response to error only creates another error. We then assume that God takes away those things in our life. And I do not think that is the case.
Let me illustrate.
1 Kings 11:9 The Lord was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.
Why does it matter? The more obvious God's will is to you...or the more He reveals His heart, the greater the requirement. His still small voice is not punishment, it is His mercy. When you clearly see and hear the blessing of God on your life, there is great weight in that. God appeared to Solomon twice and gave him the desires of his heart. And yet Solomon CHOSE to turn from the Lord. A lot of times people cannot handle blessing and crumble. Solomon did.
"Sometimes He actually speaks so quietly that you actually have to be leaning in to Him to hear his voice." Why? it is his mercy.
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