The Fullness of the Blessings of God

Well, good evening and thank you for being here even in spite

of me speaking tonight. Thank you. Well, I am honored to be able

to fill the pulpit tonight and share with what God has shared with

me. And I tremble every time I come up here. But I'm also excited

as well, so all types of emotions today. I hope you had a

good day today. We had project, a house project at our house.

Our electric bills are getting too crazy, so we needed to blow in

some insulation in our attic and so it shouldn't take that long

except for when you step through the living room ceiling.

Yeah. So we have a sunlight, sunlight now. So it's pretty nice

now. My wife loves it and everyone is happy. So actually that

took lot longer to repair the drywall too. But thankfully we have

insulation in the attic. So. Well, tonight I'd like for you to

turn open your Bibles, turn with me to the book of Psalm, the

book of Psalms and chapter one. This is. I have found a lot

of. I've spent a lot of time in the book of Psalms this year in

particular. I find peace and comfort and so much just out of the

book here of Psalms. And I just love David's Psalms and throughout

all of them, Solomon's as well. But I just been drawn to them

lately. So the last few times I've been able to speak to you, I've

spoke out of this book and Lord has directed me here again.

So let's take a look at verse one, chapter one. The Bible says,

blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the

ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the

seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall

be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters that bringeth forth

fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever

he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like

the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly

shall not stand in the judgment, nor the sinner in the congregation

of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the ways of the righteous,

but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Let's pray. Lord, I

need your help tonight. I ask that you guide my words, my thoughts,

my lips. Lord, would you meet with us? I pray, Lord, would you

meet with us as a whole and individually? Lord, we do have needs.

We have problems, Lord, we have worries and anxiety. About things,

Lord, I pray that we can forget those for a moment and focus

on you, Lord. Meet with us, I pray in Jesus name. Amen. So if I

went around the room tonight and I were to say, would anyone not

want the blessings of God on their life? There would be no hands,

right? We all desire to have the blessings of God. We all want

them. I mean, everyone wants God's blessings on their life. And

it's kind of. This is a difficult situation because it's

hard for some people to understand the blessings of God.

I mean, you can go right down the street and pull into a neighborhood

and it would be. We can seemingly think that, oh well, hey,

God has blessed them. God has blessed them. God has blessed them.

And, and yes, he has. But there's more to blessings than just

material things. We all want a good home, a nice home, one without

holes in their ceilings. And we all want good health and a healthy

family, right? We all want a job that has security. We want a

little bit of money in the bank too. And you know, that's nice,

but that's not the blessings of God fully. So tonight I'd like

to talk to you for a short time about the fullness of the blessings,

the fullness of the blessings. And here we're not sure who wrote

this psalm. And it doesn't really matter because God still has

endorsed it and has preserved it for us. But I believe that either

it was King David or King Solomon that wrote this psalm. And

what's amazing about either two of those men, if they did write

it, or whoever wrote it, this is still, this statement can still

be true, is that they probably only had seven or eight books of

the Bible at the time. They didn't have access to all the Old

Testament. The New Testament wasn't even written before, although

God had it written in heaven. But right now, these Old Testament

saints, whatever man wrote this book knew something. He has

experienced something that he is now sharing. And I believe that

it's amazing that you can see God. You can see Christ in the Old

Testament. You can see the full blessings of God throughout

all the scriptures. But even with a limited amount of scriptures,

look what he says in verse two. But his delight is in the law

of the Lord. And in his law does he meditate day and night out

of the Old Testament. A few handful like he. It just boggles

my mind that all of this was confounded out of a short few books.

But look what he says in verse one. It says, blessed is the man

that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth

in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

So the blessings, the fullness of blessings, God, the writer of

Psalm and God is telling you and I that there are some places

in which the blessings of God cannot flow. So if you want the blessings

of God, there are some areas that you and I need to stay away

from. There are some people that we need to distance ourselves

from. It's okay to be friendly, but. But how much time

are you spending? Look at the first one. It says that walketh not

in the counsel of the ungodly. When you've had a bad day, when you're

just tired of dealing with people. Or maybe life has hit you

right square in the face. Maybe trials are coming in, or maybe

the storm clouds are rolling, or maybe you just had a long day,

or maybe you. Whatever the case may be, where do you turn? Where

do you turn to? Where are you spending your time? Is it scrolling?

Is it videos? Is it listening to talk shows? Or who. Where are

you spending your time with? Because that is a council. We think

counsel is just sitting in a chair and talking about your problems.

But counsel is receiving knowledge from someone else. Counsel

is you're being influenced by where you spend your time and who

you listen to. Whoever influencer or whoever video that

you see online or where are you taking them. Are you listening

to what they have to say about gardening? You say, hey, it's just

gardening, it's just fixing the truck. That's all good, but that's

counsel. But where do you go when you went. When things are tough,

are you turning to the word of God? But right here, the Bible says

that blessings do not flow with ungodly counsel. So in direct

contradiction, if you want God's blessings on your life, you

better find some godly men to get some godly men and women and

families to get some counsel from. Be careful who you're listening

to. And then it says, nor standeth in the way of sinners. You

know, we have an obligation to reach a lost and dying world. So

there's some balance here. But there's. How much time are you spending

with unsaved folk? How much energy are you giving them? Or maybe

they're an old friend and they're not saved and they. That's

okay. They can be old friends and you can be nice to them. But

are you to the point where you're specially listening to their

counsel? But are you spending time there? Or. Here's the next one.

Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. You've heard this before,

but the progression is walking. Now you've stopped. Now

you're standing. Now you're having a seat. Now you're listening.

Now you're embracing all the things that they have, which they

don't have a biblical worldview. They don't start at the

same source that you start with. They don't follow the same

course that we all claim to be true. And they definitely don't end

at the conclusion that we end at. So it's. How can two walk together

except they be agreed? We should be careful. We should be careful

with where we spend in our time. Because God. To receive what

God has for you, we just position ourselves. We just sang

about showers of blessings. Well, yesterday we were driving and

you could see the storm coming in and just. It was just raining

in one spot and just in another spot and it was like, hey,

it's raining there and it's raining there. Pretty neat to see

how the sky just falls right there and you can see, see clear

day and then the storm. Well, if you want the showers of blessing,

you have to position yourself to receive them. Now, God can bless

anybody, anywhere, anytime. But generally speaking, God wants

you to live a particular life, you and I, to live a particular life

that is separate from sin, that is away from the ungodly counsel

and definitely from the scorner who, who wants to belittle

the things of God or to joke about it. Do you know you got to

be careful with what you watch anymore because everything is a joke

about God and what Satan can get you to laugh at. You'll never

take serious again. We need to be so careful about where we're putting

our time and our focus. And so the location does matter, our environment

does matter for the blessings of God. But let's take another step.

Let's look at verse two. It says, but his delight, his enjoyment,

he cannot wait to get into this next part. He says, but his

delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law does he meditate

day and night. So there are a couple different blessings. Can God

bless you with material things? Yes. Is that all the blessings?

No. The Bible says in Ephesians that we received spiritual

blessings from Christ. That's referring to the ascension, that

after Christ's death, burial and resurrection, where did he go?

He went to heaven. That's where he is right now. He is seated

at the right hand of the Father. He is able. Now there's a

man right there's a member of the human race sitting in a place

of authority in heaven. And he is interceding for you and me. He

has your best interest at heart. And he, yes, is the God of

creation. And he already deserves that place. But not a man.

But now there's a man in heaven. And this spiritual blessings

flow. And how do we receive this spiritual blessing? How do we

receive the blessings of God in the fullest? Well, I want to refer

to you. I want to ask you this question. Let's start here. Is God

enough? Is God enough really? I mean, we can say it. And this is

the easiest place to be a Christian. Inside these four walls

is the easiest place to say amen and to live right and to do

right. Everyone's watching. We see everyone. This is the easy part.

But is God enough? Now, I didn't ask you. Is God necessary?

We all know God is necessary. We know that the earth is spinning,

rotating on its axis at 1,000 miles an hour, orbiting around the

sun at 63,000 miles an hour, suspended in nothing. Yes, God's

holding this world together. We know that there's so much order

in this earth that we know a hundred years from now, what minute

the sun will rise. God is necessary. That's not the question.

Is God enough? Is he enough? You see, sometimes when life comes

at you and things start to. Maybe you've lost your job, maybe

you're getting laid off, maybe there's some financial struggles

or some marital problems or whatever life. Or maybe your child

is sick, this little five month old baby who passed away. That's

life. That's so tough. I don't know what I would do. I really don't

know what I would do. And I can sit here tonight and tell you,

yes, God is enough. But I have not faced that storm. But I do know

that God is enough. Do you know why I know that? It's because

this book is filled with men and women who have put God to the

test. And they have been able to go through all the storms of life.

Job lost everything, all of his children, all of his livestock.

His wife cursed him and he came away. And he says, the Lord

giveth, the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

You see, David. David was hunted by Saul. Joseph was thrown

in prison. And they can still stand. Based on the law of the Lord,

based on the word of God, to be able to withstand anything that

this world has for us. You say, how do you do it? How? How do

you do it? Well, the blessing is to know the blesser it's to know

the God in which all blessings flow from. You say, well, what is

a blessing? We say, bless you when you sneeze. Well, is that the

same blessing? Maybe a little bit. They want benefits. So just

know that divine blessing is basically God's approval. It's his

stamp. He is stamping. When God blesses you, it's his hand is

on you. Do you remember Daniel who was kidnapped and brought in

as a slave into Babylon? And he was. They. They said that he was

somewhere between 14 and 17 years old. And this young man had

enough Bible knowledge of the character of God that it didn't matter

what happened to him. And when, when he was supposed to be

influenced by the Babylonians, by. To drink their meat and to speak

their language and to drink their wine, Daniel influenced them.

They changed the way, they changed the menu. Because Daniel

had a way of doing things that honored God. He positioned himself

to be able to receive the blessings of God, to receive the

favor of God. And he could walk into, into the king's palace

and speak. That was their goal. Well, he was already chosen

to do that. That's why the Babylonians picked him. They said,

huh, there's something different about that guy right there.

Same thing. Same thing with all these men and women. Look at

Rahab. Look at all these examples of men and women who had

a relationship with God that went beyond the material. Do you

know that people right now, Christians in America and Christians

back 400 years, 4,000 years ago, 6,000 years ago, throughout

all time, there's nothing new under the sun. But there are some

people that only know God by what he does. And so when God does

something that we don't know or understand or like we say, God,

you must forget about me. I can't believe God would do this to

me. I can't believe that this is happening. And that's what the

children of Israel did when they came out of Egypt after 400

years of bondage and slavery. They saw the Red Sea opened up and

they walked through on dry ground and they went to Mount Sinai.

They saw the thunder and lightning. They saw all this. Then

they started eating manna. Then they started drinking water.

Then they noticed that their shoes weren't wearing out and their

clothes were still fine after how many years? But why didn't they

go into the Promised Land? Because they only knew God by what

he did. And when God stopped doing good things to them, they said,

huh, the character of God, he's not. He's not what I thought

he was, but he is because you and I need to learn God by his word

so that we can understand his ways. And that when things don't

go the way that we think that they should, when life happens and

circumstances are not in our favor, we're not shaken by every

little thing. We are grounded in the word of God. Look what it

says here. I'm jumping ahead, but look at verse three. It says,

and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that

bringeth forth fruit in a season. His leaf also shall not wither,

and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. That's what I want. How

do I get there? Do you realize that in Genesis 15, God was speaking

to Abraham? This was after the Abrahamic blessing that God will

bless him and he'll give him a land. He'll make his name great,

give him descendants as numerous as the stars. He said, hey,

I've called you. Abraham left. Abraham did a covenant with God.

And then he was to go to a particular place. There was a famine

there. So he left and went to Egypt. And he left Egypt with a bunch

of cattle, a bunch of riches. He should have been happy there.

Was then his nephew Lot ran off, and then he had to go rescue

Lot. And then the king of Sodom wanted to give him some land.

He said, no, I don't want that land because I want to make sure

I'm honoring God. And he was kind of confused a little bit at

verse end of 14, end of Genesis, chapter 14. He was trying

Genesis 14 · chapter mention

to understand God. I'm trying to live for you. And I keep running

into problems. What's going on? God said this. Let's turn there.

Genesis 15. Is God enough. Genesis 15 says, after these things,

the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, fear not,

Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. The blessings

of life flow from the blesser. And when you and I get to know God

in a way that's beyond just this materialistic point of view,

and when we. Even when our comfort level isn't met and things

happen in life, God is still faithful. God is still true. You

can still. I mean, I think of Peter. Peter was arrested by King

Herod for preaching the gospel. King Herod already took off

John the Baptist's head. Peter was next. Peter was placed in prison

with 16 soldiers. He knew that his next morning he was going to

be executed. And when the angel came in to rescue Peter, he

had to kick him. He was sleeping. How do you sleep when you

know you're about to die? The next morning. See, that's peace.

That's peace. In the midst of the storm, there was a promise. He

knew the character of God. It's just amazing. I love to see

the result of knowing God, of knowing God. And you say, well, how

can I know him better? How can I understand him more clearly? Hopefully

you're holding it tonight. Hopefully you're holding this. And

this book is like no other book. This is a feast about the nature,

about the character, about the person, about the work, about the

life of your creator, the one that put you here, who designed you,

who put you right in the space of time, right where he wants you

today to do something. Well, how are we going to get to know what

he wants to do if we don't know him? I've told my boys this.

I said, hey, there are some things, son, that you don't have

to pray for. He's like, really? I'm like, yeah, you don't

have to pray. Should I marry an unsaved girl? You don't have to

pray for that. God's already answered that. So the will of God

for you is found right here. You can pray about it, but you just

got to read it and find it. So this is this blessing. So the law.

Look at verse two again. It says, but his delight, his enjoyment

is in the law of the Lord. And in his law does he meditate day and

night. This meditation, you've heard it before, but it's about the

as a. It's about chewing on the word of God throughout the day.

Your devotions in your time of reading, I don't know when you do

your reading, hopefully, hopefully that you're reading something.

Sometimes I would love to do a full out devotion in the morning.

I don't study in the morning, but I do a devotion in the morning.

And I try to take something. You say, well, how long should my

devotion be? Well, start somewhere. But my habit is I read

until I get something. I just read until God speaks to me. That

might be one verse, it might be three verses, it might be two

chapters. But I'm wanting God to speak to me. I want something.

I want to learn something. Every time that you read the Bible,

you should ask these questions. Is there any sin to avoid?

Is there any promise to claim any victory, to gain any blessing

to enjoy out of a passage of scripture, God's revelation to you

and me about himself. It makes me think of Psalm 23, Psalm 23, so

familiar. You probably have it memorized. And I don't believe I'm

Taking this out of context, but this is what I think of when

it gets to verse five. It says, thou hast prepared a table

before me in the presence of mine enemies. Where's that table?

Is it a table of ground? I know where sheep in a pasture. It's

a place on which they feast, where they can eat. Okay. But I want

you to imagine tonight, there's a table set right here. Nice

table, nice covering. There's candles, there's plates, there's

chargers, there's napkins. It's all set right here. Thou has

preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Think

of this table tonight I'm going to ask you this question. How

close to God are you right now? How close to God are you right

now? Are you closer than you ever have been before? Or is there

another time in your life where you can say, you know what?

I'm not as close as I used to be. But how close are you to God

right now? I'm going to say something, and I don't mean this

to be rude, but in regards to how close are you to God? You're

as close as you want to be. You are close as you want to be.

God has a table spread right here for you. He's sitting here at

the table and he says, oh, come and taste and see that the Lord

is good. I'm reminded of the song my pastor used to sing. And

he says, oh, Jesus has the table spread where the saints of

God are fed. And he invites his chosen people to come and dine

with his manna he's going to feed oh, he'll supply your every

need. Isn't it sweet when we sup with Jesus all the time? Come

and dine, come and taste and see that the Lord is good. And you

can be like a tree that's planted. You can have your ground

established that when no matter what happens in life, you

don't have to think that, hey, as long as I have these material

things that God is good. No, God is good even if you have them

or even if you don't. Thou hast preparest a table before me

in the presence of mine enemies. Then he goes on to say,

thou has anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Can

you say that? That sounds like a blessing to me. When your cup runneth

over. That's what God is wanting to do with us, all of us.

He wants to build men and women to be able to respond to no

matter what this world throws at you. How Are you doing? How am

I doing? Oh, you should have heard me with my foot through the

ceiling today. Goodness, ah, that wasn't planned. And, and I tell

you, when life comes at you, no matter something little or silly

like that, how you respond is what you and I will be accountable

for, not what happens to you. And I, I've told the students, I

said, what happens to you. This is something I love this, this.

An old preacher friend told me this. He says, what happens to you

isn't nearly as important as how you handle what happens to you.

And that handling our response is truly what God wants from us.

He wants us to be able to be so rooted that no matter what happens,

it's saying, oh, all right, Lord, I know you're doing something.

I know you're good and I know that you're immutable. And, and that

every good and perfect gift cometh down from the Father of Light.

And I know that. You see, now, once you get to know God and you

get to know him by his ways rather than just his works, life

looks different, life feels different. We are told in Second

Peter to grow in the knowledge, to grow in grace and in

the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This response

is the grow. The more that you and I get into the Word. Alright,

if you haven't heard anything, I'm about done. This right here,

you and I, we spend time in the Word of God and we read it and

we chew on it. We start to think about it. For me, I like to.

This is just something that an old preacher told me. He said, hey,

find a verse, read something, something speaks to you. Think about

it throughout the day. Find a song that sings about it. Find another

verse that cross reference that says the same thing in a different

place of the Bible and begin to think through it. Think through,

what is this teaching me and what can I learn? And what is God

trying to show me with this life of this person? What? Or this

illustration over here, because that's what you and I need,

the blessings of God is to know God himself. You and I can have

a relationship with the creator of the universe, the supreme

Being who is holding everything together. He wants to

know you. Well, he actually already does. He knows everything

about you. But how much do you know of him? How can we grow in grace?

How can we respond to the point? Okay, think of this. When

Joseph got thrown into prison, he was the jailer they turned to

jail over. The jailer said, hey, here's the keys. You watch over

these guys. What about the apostle Paul, the Apostle Paul. In

Acts 27, he was. He was a prisoner on the ship. And when things

started falling apart, they're going to him. He became the captain.

Do you see the difference? Do you see that the knowledge of God

can change everything. That's the blessing. That is the fullness

of the blessing of God. Is to know him. Is to know him. To know

him to the point where you can say, nope, my God would not do that

for nothing. There's something in line here for me, and there's

something I need to learn from it. You can say, my God is too good

to do that. Don't you tell me that. One second, sir. Don't you

tell me that, ma'. Am. Nope. I. I know my God well enough that

he would not do this for nothing. As we learn more about God,

it stabilizes us. It secures us in the unknown. In the rockiness

of the boat. Christ is sleeping. Are we going to perish?

Do you not care that we die? Peace be still. You see, the disciples

were even learning more of his nature. More that he had control

of things, more that he knew what was going on. And it seems like

God, you forgot us. Don't forget we're still here. Paul said

it like this, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection

and the fellowship of his suffering. God allows suffering in

our life so that we can know him better. I don't like saying this,

but suffering is a gift. God gives us an avenue. Understand him

fuller through the problems that this life throws at us. I don't

fully understand it. I don't understand a lot of things, but I've

learned. I heard. I heard Dr. Barber say this. He was preaching

a funeral, and he says, you don't have to ask the question, why,

when you know the whole. How well do you know him? Tonight, why

don't we all stand for time of invitation? Let's pray. Lord, thank

you for your word. Thank you for what it does for us right now,

today, this moment, Lord, what it has done for us in the past. And,

Lord, what it will do for us in eternity. Lord, thank you for

the unchanging nature of who you are. And this word is a revelation

of who you are. Lord. I pray that we would each be grounded, be

stable in who you are. Lord. Show us your glory again. Thank you

for what you've done and what you will do. I pray that you be with

this time of invitation. In Jesus name, Amen.