When God Commands A Blessing (Part 2)
“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
Deuteronomy tells us that God wants to “command a blessing on our storehouses.” There are four storehouses mentioned in the Bible that can represent levels of blessing. Most people will start at the bag level. At the bag level, your mentality is “It’s my money.” It’s interesting that the Bible says that Judas carried the money bag for Jesus’ ministry. Everywhere Jesus and his disciples went, people gave money to His ministry. But the bag mentality began to take hold of Judas. We know this because when the woman broke open the alabaster box that cost a year’s wages and poured it on Jesus’ feet, it was Judas who spoke up in protest. He had a problem with her generosity because he had a bag mentality and he saw this as a waste of money. He became consumed with an “It’s mine” mindset. Later, Judas’ heart was revealed with the acquisition of another bag of money- a bag containing 30 pieces of silver. He placed all his desires in worldly wealth and in doing so, lost everything. Be careful not to allow the love of money to consume you.
It is good to remember that you are a steward of anything that you have in this life. You are not the owner of anything. You don’t own that house, car, business, or property. God entrusted you with it for a time. You will one day stand before the judgment seat and give an account to God on how you used what He gave you to benefit this world. If you want to move from the bag level to the barrel level, you have to be a blessing to others even when it is hard. Remember the widow’s offering and how Jesus admired her faith in giving all that she had left in order to further God’s kingdom.
The bag level is the state of “not enough” and you are barely scraping by, but the barrel level is “just enough.” This level is illustrated in 1 Kings 17. The prophet Elijah was living in a famine and God sent the ravens to bring him bread and meat each day. When the brook dried up there, he sent Elijah to the home of a widow woman who was just about to have her last meal with her little boy. And the prophet made a seemingly audacious request. He tells her to make him a meal first. This was to teach her that when you put God’s kingdom first, the rest will be added to you. And when she acted in blind obedience and gave away the last of her food to the servant of God, she entered into the basket level. Elijah commanded a blessing over her and the Bible says that for three and a half years her barrel of food didn’t run out!
When you demonstrate your faith by sowing into God’s kingdom even when you have very little to give, God will bless the work of your hands and the next level of blessing is right around the corner.
Share
