Do you want your life to count
to the greatest degree imaginable for the glory of
God? Years ago I decided that I wanted to live to
the hilt of every situation that I believe to be the
will of God. I want to experience the full measure
of the blessings of Christ in my life and ministry.
Every spiritual blessing we
enjoy comes in and through Jesus Christ. Every
believer is an “heir of God and co-heir with Christ”
(Romans 8:17).
The apostle Paul wrote Timothy,
“Instruct those who are rich in this present world
not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the
uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly
supplies us with all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy
6:17). Jesus said, “Seek first
His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these
things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
John Calvin expresses this
provision in Christ beautifully: “If we seek
salvation, we are taught by the very name of Jesus
that it is ‘of him’ (1 Cor. 1:30). If we seek any
other gifts of the Spirit, they will be found in His
anointing. If we seek strength, it lies in His
dominion; if purity, in His conception; if
gentleness, it appears in His birth. For by His
birth He was made like us in all respects (Heb.
2:17) that He might learn to feel our pain (cf. Heb.
5:2). If we seek redemption, it lies in His passion;
if acquittal, in His condemnation; if remission of
the curse, in His cross (Gal. 3:13); if
satisfaction, in His sacrifice; if purification, in
His blood; if reconciliation, in His descent into
hell; if mortification of the flesh, in His tomb; if
newness of life, in His resurrection; if
immortality, in the same; if inheritance of the
Heavenly Kingdom, in His entrance into heaven; if
protection, if security, if abundant supply of all
blessings, in His Kingdom; if untroubled expectation
of judgment, in the power given to Him to judge. In
short, since rich store of every kind of good abound
in Him, let us drink our fill from this fountain and
from no other” (Institutes of the Christian
Religion, p. 527-28).
Are you available to God to do
what He wants to do in and through you to be a
blessing to a lost world? God will not bless you
abundantly if you are self-centered, and much of our
desire for God to bless us as Christians is purely
selfish. Do I sincerely want God to bless me so that
I may be a spiritual well-being to other people? To
some people it might be revolutionary, but may I
suggest that you think of your life as a means by
which God can impart spiritual blessings to other
Christians, and the lost world. God wants to bless
us so that we might be a blessing to others.
Everything in the Christian
life begins, continues and ends in Christ Jesus. C.
S. Lewis once said the greatest heresies in the
church are not the denials of Christian truth, but
additions to it. It is what Lewis called “Christ and
…” Christ and Islam, Christ and Buddha, Christ and
works, Christ and humanism, etc. No, Christianity is
Christ, alone. All true spiritual blessings come
through Christ alone for God’s glory alone.
God is not looking for men and
women who will trust in their abilities, but on His
power and wisdom alone. “God chose the foolish
things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the
weak things of the world to shame the strong. He
chose the lowly things of this world and the
despised things—and the things that are not—to
nullify the things that are, so that no one may
boast before Him. It is because of Him that you are
in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from
God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and
redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let Him
who boasts boast in the Lord’” (1 Cor. 1:27-31).
God is glorified when we make
ourselves available to Him to bless us so we can be
His blessing to others. Are you available to Him to
do whatever He wants to do with you? That is what is
required of you and me. There is no limit to the
imagination what God can do through you if you are
entirely surrendered to Him.
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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Unless otherwise noted "Scripture quotations taken from the NASB." "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE" © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
Wil is a graduate of William Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100 countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek opportunities to be personally involved in world missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
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