A Blessing for You | Just What We Need

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Learn more and sign up at harvest.org. God loves to bless you. Isn't that a great thing to know? God loves to bless you. Listen, the Lord is not stingy with his blessings. Jesus said it is your Father's good pleasure to give to you the kingdom. When we're mired in the quicksand of trials and tribulations, Pastor Greg Laurie reminds us God's blessings are available to you. So this blessing, it's independent of your circumstances.

It's about who you know. Has anyone ever tried to help you who candidly wasn't much help at all? Maybe a child showed up to your plumbing emergency with a smile and your little Tykes plastic toy crescent wrench.

It may have warmed your heart, but you were still ankle deep in water. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out God can bless us when we need him most and with just what we need the most. It's as if he knew all along. Today we'll learn how to open ourselves to his blessings. I heard the story of a little girl that grabbed some crayons and a piece of paper and announced to her family, I'm going to draw a picture of God. Her mother said, honey, nobody knows what God looks like.

And she said, well, they will when I'm done. And we wonder sometimes what is God like? Is God a happy God or is he a sad God? Is he a smiling God or is he a frowning God? And how does the Lord look at you and me? Does he look upon us with approval or disapproval? Well, that is answered right here in Numbers chapter 6. The answer to the answer to all those questions is found in this blessing that the Lord wanted the priest to pronounce upon the people. It's a familiar passage.

You've heard these words before no doubt. But it really shows you who God is and how he feels towards you. And we learn six very important things about God.

So let's read it together, shall we? Numbers chapter 6 starting in verse 24. The Lord bless you. The Lord keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. And so shall you put my name on the children of Israel and I will bless them. I love that.

Don't you? This was written to the children of Israel as they were making their way to the promised land. As you know we are in a series right now that we are calling Water, Fire, Stone. And it is based on the life of Moses.

And chronologically we are in the wilderness. Moses has received the Ten Commandments from God and Mount Sinai. And they are slowly but surely making their way to that land of Canaan. The land flowing with milk and honey. So the Lord specifically says to Moses to tell the priest, you tell the priest to pronounce this blessing on the people.

Because I want them to remember it. So they were in a wilderness. And guess what? We are in a wilderness too aren't we? We are passing through to another place. We all face our trials. And we all make our mistakes. And we all have danger around us. There are threats to us every day of course.

There are dangers. Then there are the normal concerns of our lives. Like our livelihood. Our employment. Our health. Our marriages. Our children. Our future. We are fallen people living in a fallen world in need of a little help.

Well let me restate that. We are in need of a lot of help. So God instructs the priests, the spiritual leaders of the people to pronounce this blessing. And in fact the Lord says I want you to pronounce it on the people over and over and over again. I want this thing ingrained in their brain. I want this etched on their hearts.

I want them to be able to recite it from memory. Again six truths about God that every believer needs to know. Number one. God loves to bless you. Isn't that a great thing to know? God loves to bless you.

Listen. The Lord is not stingy with His blessings. Jesus said it is your father's good pleasure to give to you the kingdom. It is like when I am with my grandkids. I love to do things for them. I love to take them out to ice cream. I love to buy them a little toy.

I love to spend time with them and enjoy them and tell them jokes and tell them a Bible story. The other day my granddaughter Allie said of my wife Kathy, her grandmother, she says nama. That is what she calls her. She says nama. She cooks and she cleans and gives us food that makes us happy. And then she says to me, but you papa you provide the entertainment. I like that.

And you know this is the thing. God loves to bless you. And He wants to bless you. Look at verse 24.

The Lord blesses you. And it is worth noting that Jesus both began and ended His ministry on earth blessing people. Remember He met two downhearted disciples walking on the Emmaus road after He had been crucified.

They did not know that He had risen yet. And we read that as He saw them on the road He blessed them. When little children came to Him He took them into His arms and He blessed them. After His resurrection He lifted His hands and saw His disciples and blessed them.

And He then ascended. Jesus loved to bless people. And who can forget those beautiful beatitudes that He gave on the Sermon on the Mount where He said, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled. Blessed blessed blessed He says. And by the way another way to describe these statements of Jesus are the be happy attitudes. In other words if you live by these teachings of Christ you will be a happy person. And that is another way to translate the word blessed happy.

So happy are these people. It comes from a root word makarios. Makarios was the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Because of its geographical location, balmy climate, and fertile soil the Greeks effectively felt that if you lived on the island of Makarios you had it made in the shade. It was even called the happy island. So the idea was if you live on Makarios you live in a self-contained happiness. Everything you need for life is right there on the island.

You don't have to leave the island to get it. But we can't all live on Makarios. So what does this mean to us? We learn two important truths from the very Word. Number one God wants you to be blessed and happy. Because in the opening chapter of Genesis we read God created man in his own image.

In the image of God he created them. And the next words are in Genesis 1 27 and God blessed them. So this blessing that God gives to you is something he wants you to experience. And secondly it's independent of your circumstances. Let me say that again. This blessing or this happiness that God wants you to experience is independent of your circumstances. So you might be having great things happen outwardly or maybe you're going through a time of struggle.

But you can still be happy. New stuff. A new car. A new house. New money. It's all fine. But those aren't extra.

A bonus. The biblical idea is if you're on the island and you're close to the Lord you'll be happy. So it's not saying anything about where you are geographically. It's saying everything about where you are spiritually. It's not about what you have.

It's about who you know. The Bible says let your life be without greed and be content with such things that you have for he has said I will never leave you or forsake you. Listen if you have Christ in your heart you can be a happy person right now. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. You know when you've walked in the very land where Jesus himself walked you'll gain a whole new appreciation for the truth of scripture. Hey everybody Greg Laurie here inviting you to the Harvest Ministries Israel tour April 9 to 19 2024. This will be an unforgettable journey through biblical sites and a unique opportunity to grow in your own faith. Listen spots are limited. Be sure to sign up as soon as possible at Israel.Harvest.org.

Again it's Israel.Harvest.org. Hope to see you there. Well we're looking at number 624 today with Pastor Greg as he's presenting the six truths about God every believer needs to know.

Let's continue. The Lord bless you. Now some people might think that the Bible ought to say the Lord curse you. Now it is a fact that certain people have brought in effect a curse upon their life and I don't mean that in any mystical way. Sometimes people talk about a generational curse that's on a family and you have to break the curse through prayer.

I don't think the Bible teaches that at all. If any family had its share of problems it would have been my family. And sometimes what you have is a cycle of sin that's passed on from generation to generation. For instance if the parent is an alcoholic chances are far higher that the child will also become an alcoholic. If the parents are divorced the chances are far higher that the children when they get older and get married will also be divorced. Well my mother was divorced seven times.

She was an alcoholic. And I started down the wrong road in the early years of my life. And I came to Christ at 17 and Jesus broke the cycle of sin in my life.

And I'm happy to report I've been married now for over 40 years. And the Lord has been good and faithful to me. And so my point is simply this. That if there is a curse on your life it's because you've disobeyed God. We read that God cursed Cain because of his constant disobedience. It says in Deuteronomy 27 there's a curse on a person who worships a false god. The Bible also says in Deuteronomy 27 20 there's a curse on a person who lives immorally. So I'm simply saying that if you're living a sinful life you're going to experience the repercussions of that.

The curse if you will. You choose if your life is going to be blessed or cursed. Deuteronomy 30 19 to 20 says this. God speaking I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you. And I have set before you life and death blessings and curses. Now choose life that you may live.

Both you and your descendants. And then it goes on to say that you may love the Lord your God. Obey his voice and that you may cling to him. For he is your life in the length of your days. Listen. You want to live a blessed and happy life. Then you need to love God. Obey his voice and cling to him.

Boom. Live it. Put it into practice. Watch what the Lord will do. The Lord bless you. Then it goes on to say the Lord keep you. Verse 24. The Lord bless you and keep you. God wants us to be constantly reassured that he will keep us.

It's interesting this word that is used here for keep means to watch, to guard, or to put a hedge around. Do you remember the story of the book of Job? One day the Lord was bragging on Job in heaven. And the angels were there and Satan was there as well. Don't forget Satan's a fallen angel. And the Lord was saying, have you considered my servant Job a perfect and upright man when the fears God and shuns evil? Satan says, let's paraphrase, give me a break.

Do you think he fears you for nothing? And then the Lord allowed a series of calamities to befall poor Job that were orchestrated by the devil. Because the devil correctly pointed out have you not put a hedge of protection around Job and everything that he has you bless the work of his hands.

And that's true by the way. When I read what happened to Job after that I feel like saying to the Lord, Lord if you are even for a fleeting moment feeling a little proud of me please keep it to yourself. And don't say it in front of Satan.

I'm kidding really. But the point is is that you two have a hedge of protection around you as a follower of Jesus Christ. Satan cannot penetrate that wall. And if he goes in the front door he has to face Jesus. Because Jesus says in John 10 7, I am the door. So the next time the devil comes knocking at your door you ought to just say, Lord would you mind getting that?

That's the way to deal with his attacks. But there are many passages in the Bible that remind us of the keeping and protective power of God. 2 Thessalonians 3 3 says, the Lord is faithful who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. Jude 1 24 says, not him who was able to keep you from stumbling and present you faultless before his presence with exceeding joy. And then we're reminded over in 1 Peter 1 5 that we're kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

Now by the way the original language uses a perfect tense. So the nearest equivalent would be you're continually kept. Not just that you're kept but you're continually kept.

The Lord is going to watch over you. Look you don't forget something that you care about. Let's say you have a beautiful pair of sunglasses. And you treasure them.

For starters you paid quite a bit of money perhaps. And you don't want to lose them. So you're always aware of where those sunglasses are. You don't lose them because you care about that which is valuable to you. Or if you go to Disneyland you don't lose your child. You don't go home and go, wait did I have a kid with me at Disneyland?

No. Because you love your child you're aware of where they are. In the same way God cares about you and he's continually keeping you. Hebrews 7 25 says he's able to save completely those who come to God through him because he lives to intercede for us. Heard about an older gentleman that was known for his godly life.

And he was asked what he did when he was tempted. And the old guy said, well I just say to the Lord, Lord your property is in danger. You're God's property. You belong to the Lord. The Bible says you're not your own.

You've been bought with a price. So listen you're preserved. You're protected. And you're continually kept by the power of God. So you might say well then I guess I could never fall away from my faith. No you you could. You could fall away from your faith.

Any believer can. Because later on in Jude it says keep yourselves in the love of God. Though God's love is unsought, undeserved, and unconditional you can be out of harmony with God's love. What does it mean to keep yourself in the love of God? It means keep yourself in a place where God can bless you. And in the same way it implies keep yourself out of the place where you would not receive the blessing of God.

Perhaps through your disobedience. Keep yourself close to the Lord. Listen you don't keep yourself saved but you do keep yourself safe. And there are things where we're all vulnerable and we know we could fall into sin.

Stay away from those places. And by the way this phrase that is used here the Lord keep you carries the idea of keeping you through something. Not necessarily from something but through something. In other words when you become a Christian you will still go through hardships. In fact there will be unique hardships and challenges you'll face because you're a Christian. But God never promises to airlift you over all of your problems. But what he does promise to do is be with you through all of your problems. As David said, yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me.

Your rod and your staff they comfort me. So we've been looking at the Israelites. And you remember they were delivered from Egypt and they made their way to the Red Sea.

There was no way they could get across the Red Sea. And if that wasn't bad enough the Egyptian army was in hot pursuit. They got so upset they turned to Moses and said, so was it because there were no graves in Egypt you brought us here into the wilderness to die?

Well you know the rest of the story. The Lord caused the waters of the Red Sea to part and the Israelites crossed through on dry ground. And then those same waters closed on the pursuing Egyptian army. So God did not keep them from the trial but he kept them through the trial. The same was true of those three courageous teenagers Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Remember they were thrown into a fiery furnace because they would not worship a false god. God could have delivered them from the furnace altogether but he allowed them to be thrown into the furnace. But remember the king looked and he said, did not I throw three people into the fire yet I see four and the fourth is like the Son of God. Jesus was walking with his three friends through the fiery furnace. So again the Lord kept them through the trial not necessarily from it.

The list goes on. Daniel was not kept from the lion's den but he was kept through it. Noah was not kept from the flood but he was kept through it. You might ask well what about when an accident or a tragedy happens in the life of a child of God? Where is the keeping power of God then?

You know in asking a question like that we're assuming that somehow we have the inerrant right to live long easy lives and die peacefully in our sleep one day. But the Bible says our times are in his hands and that means that the Lord's going to walk with us through life no matter what you're facing and you'll never be alone. The Lord bless you and the Lord continuously keep you. Great reassurance today no matter what we're facing in life. Pastor Greg Laurie with his study today on a new beginning called a blessing for you. Now if you've had any interruptions over the last half hour here's some good news. You can hear what you missed by going online to harvest.org.

Just look for the title a blessing for you or subscribe to our podcast at google podcasts apple podcasts or spotify. Well Pastor Greg we're so excited about your new movie called Fame. So many want to be rich and famous but so many rich and famous people have ruined their lives.

Yeah. Is fame sort of a drug you know people get a little taste of it and they want more and then they can get hooked on the attention and it drags them to unhealthy places. Yes a good example is Chris Farley. Chris Farley was a very successful comedian on Saturday Night Live. Actually Chris's idol was John Belushi and Belushi died of a drug overdose and tragically the same thing happened to Chris Farley. In fact at one point when he was in the throes of drug addiction one of his friends said to Chris, Chris you don't want to die like Belushi do you? And Chris said in response oh yeah that'd be really cool and his friend said I started crying I actually wept for him and sadly Belushi and Farley both died from a lethal overdose of heroin and cocaine.

Neither one of them found the happiness they wanted and they both died at the age of 33. But wait Chris Farley was famous why did he live this way? Here's what Farley himself said quote, once I thought if I had enough in the bank if I had enough fame that it would be all right but I'm a human being and like everybody else I'm not exempt. And so this is the story and we've heard this story over and over and over again. A lot of them now can go out there and become famous instantly on social media platforms and even get monetized for doing it and and they're famous for what? I don't know what do they even really do?

But yet there they've managed to be known by people and that's the goal for many of them but is that what it's cracked up to be? The answer is no. Let me save you the trouble.

No. The answer is in Christ. Really it's not fame that you want. It's meaning and it's knowing that your life matters.

It's not success as much as its significance and that's found in a relationship with God. So in this movie where I interview Alice Cooper and I interviewed Daryl Strawberry and I talk a little bit about some of these people I've touched on and about the emptiness of their lives. I show that what we're really looking for is Christ. Okay so let me describe the opening scene for you.

It's kind of fun. We shot it at a major movie studio in Hollywood. You know the camera's kind of following me and all this stuff is happening around me and then I tell everyone this is actually a sound stage and that's how I introduce the movie because I'm trying to show that look this appears one way but it's a facade.

It's not real and this is what fame is and this is what life without Christ is. Now you can't see the scene but here's the way it sounds. You get a picture of it. I'm walking down the street opening the film.

Check this out. I'm Greg Laurie and I'm in New York City but I hate traffic and there's always traffic here. People come to New York from all around the world looking for a lot of things. Some are looking for success. Maybe others are looking for significance or maybe if they come here they'll become rich and famous. Speaking of that USA Today did a poll among its young readers Generation Z Millennials and asked them the question what do you want more than anything else in life? Their answer they wanted to become rich and famous. I want you to join me on a journey as we look at the lives of some really famous people and what that fame led to. Is it really all that we think it is or is it a facade? Speaking of facades I'm actually not in New York City at all.

I'm on the back lot of Paramount Studios. These are not people walking down the street. This is my family. This is well fake. It looks good on the outside but in the inside or behind the facades there's really nothing and that's what it's like when you chase after fame and fortune and success and all those things that we're told will make us happy. Well that's a scene from the new movie called Fame and Pastor Greg we also have a book that goes along with the film that actually takes all of these matters and discusses them in more detail. Yes it's called Fame same title written with Marshall Terrell who I've done a number of books with. It's a fantastic book.

It's a pretty quick read. It would be a great book for you to read but I think it would be a fantastic resource to give to someone especially a non-believer. The premise of the book is fame is not the answer. I illustrate that with lots of current and contemporary stories from culture today.

Then I go back to scripture and show what the Bible says about these things and then give the answer in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. So we'll be delighted to send you this brand new book called Fame for your gift of any size to help us continue on here at A New Beginning and then remind you to go see our brand new film Fame. Dave tell them where they can see that. Yeah the movie called Fame premieres the weekend of October 20th through 22nd at our new Harvest media platform at harvest.org and also other streaming platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Samsung, Amazon Fire and Google Play.

It's free to watch. So mark your calendar for October 20th through 22nd and don't forget that important companion book also called Fame. We'll be glad to send a copy of the book your way to thank you for partnering with us so we can continue to bring the gospel through this radio program through books and film and through so many other forms of outreach. So get in touch with your donation today by calling 1-800-821-3300.

Call anytime 24 7 1-800-821-3300 or write A New Beginning Box 4000 Riverside California 92514 or go online to harvest.org. Well next time more insight based on this great blessing found in Numbers chapter 6. More from Pastor Greg's series Water, Fire, Stone. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie. Hey everybody thanks for listening to A New Beginning. This is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners. So for more content that can help you know God and equip you to make him known to others or to learn more about how you can become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org.