Gods blessings in darkness | |
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God's Blessing in Darkness
"I will declare the decree of the Lord." Psalm 2:7
I wake up most mornings decreeing this: “You have put us at the top and not at the bottom, You’ve made us the head, not the tail, we’re blessed in the city, blessed in the country, my kneading trough is blessed (Dt. 28), my seed is blessed (Dt 28), the children of the upright are blessed (Ps 112), my children are mighty in the land (Ps 112), I’m the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:21), I’m blessed and highly favored (Ps 5:12), good things are coming to us today, we increase in spirit, soul and body, we are increasing in wisdom, favor and stature with the Lord and with men (I Sam 2:26, Lk 2:52), I thank You God for supernatural favor, for supernatural increase in our lives and that goodness and love follow us all the days of our lives” (Ps 23).
You may be thinking, “Well, times are really hard right now. The economy is weak and some say it’s going to get weaker. Things are looking bad and it’s tough for everybody.”
To that I’d like to talk a little about Abraham. Abraham had faith in God’s promise even when it looked grim in the natural. In the natural there was no way that it was possible for him to have a son at the age of 100 and Sarah at 99, but he chose to not look at the circumstances surrounding him, glaring him in the face. Surely there was plenty of time to doubt the Lord and His Word especially when he had to wait about 7 years for the promise to manifest. However, he didn’t doubt God and because of that God credited him as righteous.
Of all the Old Testament prophets and godly men, there was only one whom God made righteous and that was Abraham and it was all because of his faith.
We’ve read Smith Wigglesworth’s books and he makes the statement, “I am not moved by what I see, I’m not moved by what I feel, I’m only moved by the Word of God.”
There are promises all over the Word that says we are blessed even in a time of famine.
Gen 26:1, “Now there was a famine in the land-besides the earlier famine of Abraham’s time. “ And God said in vs. 3 “Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. “
God blessed Isaac in a time of famine. God blessed Joseph with an interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream and as a result the Egyptians were all blessed during the massive famine of his time.
Genesis 41:39-40, “Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.” In verse
49, “Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.”
I’d say that’s a blessing!! We agree with Smith Wigglesworth’s statement: we will not be moved by what we see or feel; we’re only moved by the Word of God!
Now there are plenty of Christians talking about the gloom and doom. Speaking and foretelling all the bad that will come their way, however, we choose to do as the Word says and only speak of God’s wonderful works.
Psalm 34:1, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise will continually be in my mouth.”
We have chosen to refuse to speak the negative. We will only speak of what God has done for us, how He has delivered us in the past and how He’s going to deliver us in the future.
Psalm 118:6-7, “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The Lord is with me; He is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.”
We will look in triumph on our enemies!! Hallelujah! If God be for us, who can be against us?
Psalm 112:4-8, “Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever. He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is secure, He will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.”
Another favorite verse is in Exodus 10 when all the plagues were being struck on the Egyptians, but the Israelites, God’s people, were untouched: verse 23, So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else (it was so dark they couldn’t even see each other!) or leave his place for three days. YET ALL THE ISRAELITES HAD LIGHT IN THE PLACES WHRE THEY LIVED.
When all darkness is around us, we will have the Light of the Lord. We will prevail because He is with us. Isaiah 60:2, “See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you.”
We are not denying all that is going on in the world. We know what is going on with the world, but we do not have to be a part of the fear and confusion. We are standing in faith that the Lord is blessing us, that it is His will to bless us and that He is blessing you even in the midst of tough times. He wants to bless us and make His glory appear over us, so that we can be a blessing to the hurting, to those in need.
Bill Johnson said in his book, When Heaven Invades Earth, “Embracing a belief system that requires no faith is dangerous. It is contrary to the nature of God and all that the scriptures declare.”
Isaiah 7:9, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”
Stand firm in your faith and make those decrees of His promises. Stand on His promises, on His Word and you will be successful, you will be delivered!
You may be thinking, “Well, times are really hard right now. The economy is weak and some say it’s going to get weaker. Things are looking bad and it’s tough for everybody.”
To that I’d like to talk a little about Abraham. Abraham had faith in God’s promise even when it looked grim in the natural. In the natural there was no way that it was possible for him to have a son at the age of 100 and Sarah at 99, but he chose to not look at the circumstances surrounding him, glaring him in the face. Surely there was plenty of time to doubt the Lord and His Word especially when he had to wait about 7 years for the promise to manifest. However, he didn’t doubt God and because of that God credited him as righteous.
Of all the Old Testament prophets and godly men, there was only one whom God made righteous and that was Abraham and it was all because of his faith.
We’ve read Smith Wigglesworth’s books and he makes the statement, “I am not moved by what I see, I’m not moved by what I feel, I’m only moved by the Word of God.”
There are promises all over the Word that says we are blessed even in a time of famine.
Gen 26:1, “Now there was a famine in the land-besides the earlier famine of Abraham’s time. “ And God said in vs. 3 “Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. “
God blessed Isaac in a time of famine. God blessed Joseph with an interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream and as a result the Egyptians were all blessed during the massive famine of his time.
Genesis 41:39-40, “Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.” In verse
49, “Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.”
I’d say that’s a blessing!! We agree with Smith Wigglesworth’s statement: we will not be moved by what we see or feel; we’re only moved by the Word of God!
Now there are plenty of Christians talking about the gloom and doom. Speaking and foretelling all the bad that will come their way, however, we choose to do as the Word says and only speak of God’s wonderful works.
Psalm 34:1, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise will continually be in my mouth.”
We have chosen to refuse to speak the negative. We will only speak of what God has done for us, how He has delivered us in the past and how He’s going to deliver us in the future.
Psalm 118:6-7, “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The Lord is with me; He is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.”
We will look in triumph on our enemies!! Hallelujah! If God be for us, who can be against us?
Psalm 112:4-8, “Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever. He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is secure, He will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.”
Another favorite verse is in Exodus 10 when all the plagues were being struck on the Egyptians, but the Israelites, God’s people, were untouched: verse 23, So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else (it was so dark they couldn’t even see each other!) or leave his place for three days. YET ALL THE ISRAELITES HAD LIGHT IN THE PLACES WHRE THEY LIVED.
When all darkness is around us, we will have the Light of the Lord. We will prevail because He is with us. Isaiah 60:2, “See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you.”
We are not denying all that is going on in the world. We know what is going on with the world, but we do not have to be a part of the fear and confusion. We are standing in faith that the Lord is blessing us, that it is His will to bless us and that He is blessing you even in the midst of tough times. He wants to bless us and make His glory appear over us, so that we can be a blessing to the hurting, to those in need.
Bill Johnson said in his book, When Heaven Invades Earth, “Embracing a belief system that requires no faith is dangerous. It is contrary to the nature of God and all that the scriptures declare.”
Isaiah 7:9, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”
Stand firm in your faith and make those decrees of His promises. Stand on His promises, on His Word and you will be successful, you will be delivered!
Harvest International Ministry, Inc ©