Expecting the Blessing

The Kingdom Hero Show – Episode 72

-Begin Transcript –

Welcome to The Kingdom Hero Show, where CHRIST is KING and the TRUTH matters! Our mission: To advance the Kingdom of God by shining the Kingdom Light everywhere we go!

On today’s program… Do miracles still happen? Well YES, of course they do. But you may wonder how you can see miracles happen in your life. What’s the secret to getting the most out of your walk with God? Well in truth, it’s not a secret. The answer is found in the Word, and we’re gonna talk about it on this special uninterrupted episode. Lots of scriptures to cover in the process, so I hope you’re ready to take some notes.

But first, subscribe to my Rumble channel. You’ll find the link on our official website – TheKingdomLight.com, that’s TheKingdomLight.com. You’ll also see that the right-hand column of the website features our Twitter feed. Whatever we tweet or re-tweet shows up in that right side panel. While you’re on our website, click the link to visit the Kingdom Storehouse and get yourself some Kingdom Gear. Lots of great stuff for gifts or for yourself, so check it out.

Alright, here we go, folks…

– Open Tag: Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to Let the KINGDOM HEROICS Begin! –

Let me preface this by saying, we’re not dealing with any kind of get rich quick schemes. This isn’t some crazy prosperity doctrine, but I do believe God desires for His people to prosper – and there are varying aspects to being prosperous. It’s not always about wealth, but there’s nothing wrong with wealth. How we look at it is important. The more God blesses us, the more we can bless others, and that should be our attitude.

So how do we attain God’s blessings? The first thing we need to realize as His people is that…

1) God wants to bless us.

Just like a good parent, it isn’t His wish to withhold any good thing from His children. Look at how much He doted over Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.

Genesis 11:28-29

Here we see that God blessed them out of His abundance of kindness and generosity. He provided everything they needed and more. Not only did He give them food to sustain them, but He gave them dominion – power and authority – over all of creation. They had it all.

True enough though, they listened to bad advice from the serpent and sinned, for which God cut them off from the abundance of His blessings in the Garden. But that curse of sin was broken when Jesus died for our sins. Because of this, we have full access to all of the blessings God has for us. And yes, He enjoys granting us gifts and favor.

Second…

2) God reciprocates when we exalt Him.

If our priorities are in order, we will be putting the Lord first in our lives. When we honor Him in this way, He opens the floodgates of heaven and pours His blessings down on us. But we tend to be overly concerned with the things of this world, things we need or want, rather than giving God the glory He deserves. We worry about stuff rather than trusting Him to supply our needs.

31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 …your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:31-33

18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

So regardless of our situation, we ought to prioritize time to exalt God and give Him praise and thanks first, rather than worrying about our physical or worldly concerns. Keep in mind that He loves you and wants to bless you. And He inhabits our praises, His presence falls on us, and that’s what we need more than anything else – His presence in our daily lives.

Third…

3) Ask God for what you need.

Rather than merely chasing after things we want, which makes us focused on the wrong things, we need to go to the Lord with our needs.

2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.

James 4:2

When our focus is on the things we don’t have, or on wishing we had what someone else has, we’re not in a good place to receive from God. It’s that type of carnal desire that leads us into sin and frustration. When people focus so heavily on attaining things they don’t have and have no means of getting them honestly, that’s when they will lie, cheat, steal, and even kill for those things.

And the latter part of that verse says that we don’t have what we need because we’re not asking God for it. Why don’t we ask God for what we need? It could be pride – the idea that I should be able to get necessities on my own. Or it might even be that we don’t really believe that God will help us. Which brings us to…

4) Trust Him for providence.

Do you really believe that God can and will provide your every need? Again, it helps to think of Him as your Heavenly Father – because THAT’S WHO HE IS!

8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?

Matthew 7:8-10

Sometimes, we can be guilty of praying without believing. Do you realize that? Sure, we go to God in prayer – either as a ritual or even as a desperate last measure – but we aren’t really trusting Him with our whole heart to come through for us. I’ve heard people say, “When all else fails, pray.” Why do we fall into this mentality that prayer is the last ditch effort after you’ve done everything else? Prayer should be our first instinct, not our last! Think about it: If you truly believe God will provide, why not go to Him first? We have to really trust that He will make a way when there seems to be no way.

5) Invest in the Kingdom.

There are certain concepts that God designed intentionally and specifically for our benefit. Not the least of which is sowing and reaping. When a farmer sows seed into the ground, he expects to later reap in abundance what he’s sown. He has made an investment, and he does so expecting a large return.

12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him, 13 and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy.

Genesis 26:12-13

We all should understand by now how sowing and reaping works in the natural, but how often do you sow spiritual seeds? Are you investing in the Kingdom of God? Are you investing your time in the Kingdom by studying the Word and seeking the Lord’s will? Do you give into the work of the church? Do you tithe as the Bible instructs? Are you helping the church by serving in some way? If you want to reap good things from God’s Kingdom, you need to sow into it. If you expect a bountiful return, you must first make an investment.

6) Obey God.

Find out what God wants you to do, and do it. For this, you have to seek the Lord in prayer, through meditation on the Word, and let Him speak to you. Open your heart and listen intently for God’s direction. However long it takes, earnestly pray for Him to show you or lead you to whatever it is He wants you to do. And remember, if it’s from God, it will line up with scripture. Though it may not happen the way you imagine, obedience is key.

9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

2 Kings 5:9-14

See, Naaman actually got mad when the miracle he needed didn’t come like he thought it would. And he almost missed out on the blessing because of it. How many times have you gotten upset because things didn’t happen the way you wanted? Did you give up on your blessing before you could receive it? Fortunately for Naaman, he finally yielded to the encouragement of his servants, washed as he was told and was healed.

Maybe you try and try to make something happen your way, and when it doesn’t, you get discouraged instead of doing things God’s way from the start. Look at what happened with Peter and six other disciples when they went fishing in the Sea of Tiberias. After toiling all night and catching nothing, we read the following…

4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.

John 21:4-6

Now this was one of several times that Jesus appeared to His disciples after His death, burial, and resurrection. But what I want you to notice here is that, after fishing all night and catching nothing, He tells them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat. These guys were no strangers to the art of fishing, and they hadn’t caught any fish at all that night. Morning comes, they are undoubtedly tired and discouraged. But when they heard the instruction to make one more attempt – “and you will find some,” Jesus says – they decided to obey rather than question it. And it was then, in their obedience, that their miracle happened.

And finally…

7) Remind yourself of His faithfulness.

I don’t know about you, but God has come through for me on countless occasions. It does me a huge amount of good to think back on all the times He rescued me from circumstances I had gotten myself into, or when he has healed me physically, or when He touched me through the prayer of a loved one to the point it felt like fire was gonna shoot out of my fingertips, or the time He sent an angel to nudge my car back onto the road when I had lost control, or how about every time He has filled me with His Holy Spirit, or when He often came through for me financially, and perhaps the many times He saved me or protected me when I didn’t even know it.

When you are troubled or going through a trying situation, just remind yourself of all those times when God did amazing things for you in the past. When the devil throws your shortcomings in your face, throw God’s many kindnesses to you in his face. Remembering those things gives you encouragement in times of despair, builds up and fortifies your faith, and helps you to press forward when life tries to push you backwards. God is good, and that’s worth remembering.

Conclusion:

So if we want to be in a position to receive all that God has for us, whether it’s blessings such as financial needs, basic provisions, or even something totally miraculous, remember…

  1. God wants to bless us. He’s our Father, and He loves us.
  2. God reciprocates when we exalt Him. In every situation, praise Him.
  3. Ask God for what you need. We too often have not because we ask not.
  4. Trust Him for providence. Believe with your whole heart that God will come through for you.
  5. Invest in the Kingdom. Sow expecting a bountiful harvest. Tithe to your local church. Volunteer to serve in the church, and help fill a need.
  6. Obey God. Your obedience to God’s instruction is paramount to receiving your miracle. Seek His voice and do what He says to do, faithfully believing, and He will be faithful to hold up His end of the bargain.
  7. Remind yourself of His faithfulness. Never forget what God has done for you. That will help you to know beyond any doubt that He’s gonna do it again!

I’m. Just. Saying.

-End Transcript –

Author: stacemassengill

I am a blood-bought saint of God, saved by His amazing Grace! God called me to start Great Commission Ministries online in June of 2011, and that began as a video series called "The GC." After 7 seasons of that web-series, I felt led to expand the ministry to blogs as well as a new video series I called "67 seconds of Encouragement." Eventually, the blogs became a podcast. And the ministry continues to grow from that, currently in the form of The Kingdom Hero Show. My prayer is that this ministry brings hope and encouragement to everyone who finds it. Please share it with others and help spread the Good News of Christ!

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