Blessings

I have the great blessing most mornings to sit on my front deck and watch the sunrise. I get to see it light up the mountains. I also get to sit and watch the sunsets and see the mountains appear as if they are on fire. I never thought I would live in the kind of house I live in or in the area I live in.

I have a great wife, I have great kids, I have great grandkids, and I pastor a great church.

God has allowed me to do what I love for over 40 years now.

I say all this to say I am blessed.

In Ephesians 1:3 Paul says that God has blessed

us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

God has given us everything we need for life and godliness.

I have to be honest. I at times don’t see myself as blessed. The reason I don’t see myself as blessed is because I define blessing as getting what I want when I want it. God defines blessing as giving me what will make me more like Jesus.

In Matthew 5:3-11 Jesus tells us we are blessed if:

We are poor in spirit

We mourn

We are meek

We hunger and thirst for righteousness

We are merciful

We are pure in heart

We are peacemakers

We are persecuted for righteous sake

I don’t always define blessings as Jesus does here in Matthew 5. I tend to see those not as blessings but burdens.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is recognizing and celebrating the blessings of God.

Psalm 18:1-3

I love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliver, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

I love what this verse says about who God is in relationship to us.

He is:

Our Lord

Our Strength

Our Rock

Our Fortress

Our Deliverer

Our Refuge

Our Shield

Our Horn of Salvation

Our Stronghold

Our God is worthy to be praised!

God desires for us as His people to experience Him as the God who protects and provides.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing God as our protector and our provider.

Then it says that when we call upon God He will deliver us from our enemies.

Notice it says that He will save us from our enemies.

The Bible makes clear that our enemy (singular) is Satan.

So, who are our enemies?

As I read this passage I asked God that very question. God showed me that I had four huge enemies that were robbing me from experiencing God’s blessing and hindering me from knowing God as my protector and provider.

Enemy #1: Lust

I have and still do at times struggle with lust. I don’t mean just sexual lust though that has been a struggle. I mean that I lust for material and emotional success from the world’s point of view.

There is nothing wrong with material things.

There is nothing wrong with emotional success.

But when I focus on acquiring material things and achieving success so I can feel good about myself, I push God to one side. I want the thing or the success more than I want Jesus. That then becomes what I worship.

God delivers me from the enemy of lust.

Enemy #2: Unthankfulness 

Being unthankful for what God has done and is doing hinders us from experiencing God and His blessings.

When I am not thankful for what God has done, it means I am focusing on what I don’t have instead of focusing on how God has blessed me.

God has blessed me through His grace beyond anything I deserve and I need to focus on that truth.

Enemy #3: Condemnation

In Romans 8:1 we are told that In Christ there is no condemnation. If God does not condemn, I have no authority to condemn what God has not.

I don’t have the authority to condemn or judge. When I try to exercise that authority, I attempt to act as God and that separates me from knowing God and experiencing His blessings.

Enemy #4: Fear

Fear makes me focus on circumstances and other people and what they think so I miss the truth of God as my protector and provider.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing God delivering me from my enemies.

With God Blessing Me, Protecting Me, and Providing for Me

by Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                         Joe