BLESSINGS & CURSES

Dearest Saints, When we talk about Blessings and Curses, I sense that many Believers often get sidetracked. The world would tell someone that when favorable situations happens to anyone, they consider it a blessing. And when unfavorable circumstances happen that are most unwelcoming, many consider these circumstances a curse. In a nutshell, I would like to define blessings as any situation (whether favorable or unfavorable) that is able to effectively deal with the heart and turn ones heart towards the Lord, or commit their heart by drawing closer to the Lord then before. When negative circumstances occur, if it turns our heart and affections towards God, it is equally a blessing. I like to consider alot of these circumstances as a "hidden blessing" all because it doesn't make sense to the world. During trials, the result of something that seems anything but a blessing is something that we may not want, but may very well need. Because in the end, the type of relationship we have with God is what is going to count and often times, it takes trials to draw our hearts away from the affections of this world and turn our heart to where it needs to be (to God). However, I believe that when good fortune comes to many people, including Christians and they don't bother to give the time of day to give God thanks, this becomes more of a "hidden curse" because of the accountability by failing to give Him thanks and remaining indifferent, which I consider sins of omission (failing to do what is right), which is sin before God (James 4:17). For Christians, if their heart remains complacent and their is no positive change through any good fortune that has come about, I believe it will be far worse for Gods people to remain unthankful with no change of heart to draw closer to God because these are the times we should be encouraged and bring hope to others through our testimony and praises. Complacency should have NO place in any Christians lives. Someone who continues to go through trials or any unfortunate set of circumstances while drawing closer in relationship to God is far better off then anyone who seemingly has everything going for them but has no desire for God or desire to draw closer to God. This is what I often call a "hidden curse" because most people don't understand the end result or the accountability each one will need to give. Therefore, we cannot afford to get ourselves trapped into assuming that blessings only come by favorable circumstances and curses are anything else but! Some of the roughest valleys of my life resulted in richer blessings then any other times because it drew my heart away from having any worldly affections and worldly ambitions that often got in the way with having the right relationship with God. My trials helped me to understand what is really important in life. I know for a fact that had I got what I wanted out of life, I would have remained complacent or indifferent towards the things of God which would have been anything but a blessing. When you read Luke 16:19-25, tells His Disciples about the rich man and Lazarus (the Beggar). A time came that they were going to give an account of their lives. The rich man was sent to Hades (a place of torment) and Lazarus was safe in Paradise (Abrahams bosom). The rich man cried out in agony for mercy being tormented in flames. Abraham mentions to this rich man that he had his reward by eating scrumptuously and living lavishly and while Lazarus was living as a beggar. To the world, the rich man would be considered most blessed and Lazarus would be considered accursed. I would dare say that the rich man would have been glad to turn back the time and trade places with Lazarus who ended up being by far more blessed then the rich man in all his comfortable life. So how can anyone who sees the end say that the rich man was more blessed? The main point I want to emphasize is that no matter what we may be going through, WE CAN NOT AFFORD LOSE HOPE by simply determining our circumstances whether it be favorable or unfavorable. The question we need to ask ourselves is: "Is our heart being drawn closer and closer towards Him"? This is why when we pray for others, we can't just pray that the storms would be diverted, or just pray for physical, emotional or relational needs. We need to pray the prayers that matter most. That peoples hearts would turn to God and those whose hearts are turned to God, draw even closer to have a deeper and closer relationship with Him than before. I would rather no prayers be answered for anyone if it is not going to draw the heart closer to God because that is what is going to count in the end. Like God tells us: "I would that we would all prosper AND walk in divine health, just as our soul FIRST PROSPERS" (3 John 2). Therefore, it is more important to God for the condition of our heart then to simply have our prayers answered the way we would want them answered. God cuts the bad branches off to get rid of all ungodly affections and ungodly ambitions from our lives. However, He not only cuts the bad branches, but also prunes good branches so that a person who may be bearing fruit, will bear more and better, more excellent fruit (John 15:2). Therefore, it is imperative that we put our Trust in an "all-wise" and "all-loving" God who knows how to bring us through the right circumstances to bring out the best in us and for us. We just have to make a decision to cooperate with Him. When we invite Him to help us turn our heart (our love) towards Him more and more, this is really what it means to be most blessed. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Ministry Encourager Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/