Passing On God’s Blessings - Part 2

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Wednesday, August seventh. We hear people say, God bless you, a lot. But only rarely do we think about what it really means. Let's reflect on how you should respond to the blessings of God as the Life Principle series continues. Turn over to the sixth chapter of First Timothy. And if you'll notice what he says in the sixth chapter and the seventeenth verse, he says, instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God who richly supplies us all with good things to enjoy. Then he says, instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share. So, in thinking about that, I want us to think about this whole idea that God has blessed every single one of us. One of the things He had in mind when He blessed us is that you and I would be a blessing to someone else. Now, what I want to do is I want to give you a list of things that Jesus has done for every one of us. And then I want you to see in each one of these that He said, now on the basis of what I've done for you, this is what you're to do.

So, let's start with the fact that He saved us. And look at this, He saved us from our sins and He said to us, now it's my responsibility and yours to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creatures. Now, that doesn't mean that you have to go to China or Russia tomorrow, but it means, listen, where you live, you and I are responsible for sharing the truth of the gospel with the people who are in our circle. Now, some circles are way out yonder and some are up close. Some have a few friends, you have people you work with, and then on and on it goes.

It doesn't make any difference. Wherever we live, we have a responsibility to be sharing the gospel because that's what He gave us. A second thing is, you think about this, that He loves us. He loves us supremely.

And so, look in First Peter chapter four, verse eight. Listen to what He says, above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be fervent in our love. In other words, fervent love means it's love that's in action.

Fervent love expresses itself. It expresses itself not only in words, but it expresses itself in deeds. Then, of course, He forgives us of our sins. Look at this, Ephesians four thirty-two.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. How does Jesus forgive us? He freely forgives us. We don't have to beg and plead for God to forgive us. And there's not a single one of us, no matter who you are, who can say, I asked the Lord to forgive me of my sins, but He didn't do it. I asked Him two or three times, but He didn't do it. If you ask Him sincerely as one of His children, yes, He did. You may not feel it.

You may not see anything going on around you that's different. You ask Him to forgive you. He says if we confess our sins, He's faithful.

You can trust Him. And just, He has a right to forgive you. Now, if you're not a believer, where does it begin? It begins with your confessing of your sins, asking Him to forgive you of your sins and accepting His Son Jesus as your personal Savior, and that acceptance is based on the fact that He paid your sin debt in full, not that you are good enough to be saved by simply asking. And so, our forgiveness is from Him. He says we're to forgive others even, listen, even as God through His Son Jesus Christ has forgiven us. He has forgiven every single one of us of many, many things, many, many times, and not only that, He's forgiven us of the same thing many times. Now, how do I know that? Because if I ask you today, how many times have you been to Him and asked Him to forgive you for something you did and you are sorry and you're ashamed and you promise Him that's it and it's not going to happen again?

Have you done that? Most of you are not honest at that point. I understand that. I understand that. I understand that. I understand that.

I understand that. All right, let's make it a little worse. And you did it again, and you came back and you said, I want you to forgive me again. Did God ever say, that's the last time and that is it?

No, He didn't. I have to forgive no matter what, no matter when, no matter how, and no matter who. There is no limit to forgiveness. There is no limit to forgiveness. There is no limit to forgiveness. There is no limit to forgiveness.

How many times has Jesus forgiven you? Well, if I'm going to be one of His followers, that's part of it. Then, of course, He provides for us materially. Look what He says. He says, instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.

Look what you have. Every single person seated here, and probably most of you who are not in the world, you're not in the world, you're not in the world. No matter how little we have, we're wealthy compared to those. Because He's always giving us whatever we need, we're to do the same for others. Then, of course, He teaches us the truth.

That's why we know it. Look at this. The one who is taught the Word is to share all good things with the one who teaches Him or teaches her. So, if you have the responsibility of teaching someone else, you say, but now wait a minute. I am not a teacher. Well, how do you define a teacher?

Someone who has a college education and a degree in teaching? No. Watch this. If you know something I don't know, and you're willing to tell me what that means and how I can apply it to my life, you just taught me something. And sometimes when I'm listening to people, and I love to listen to what's going on in their life, sometimes when I'm listening to folks, they'll say something that I learned something about. I think, thank you, Jesus. Folks have walked out of my office at times and I said, thank you, thank you, God, for sending them in here because I needed to hear that. You taught me something about why people feel the way they feel and how they act and how they respond and what they think about the Word of God and what their whole belief system is based on. And then, of course, the truth is all of us are to be teachers. And our Lord has given us the Holy Spirit that makes us capable of teaching other people. There are many people you can teach the truth of God's Word.

Then, of course, think about this. He comforts us. And listen to what He says in Second Corinthians.

He says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of all mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all affliction, so that we'll be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort of which we ourselves are comforted by God. You and I comfort us. You say, I don't know what to say.

Yes, you do. You say, well, how am I going to comfort someone? You see them hurting.

Here's what you say to them. I just want you to know that I'm really praying for you. I don't fully understand everything that you're going through, but I want you to know you can count on me. You see, the truth is all of us can do what Jesus is doing for us, and here's the command.

The truth is I don't have a choice. If I'm going to be a follower of Jesus, He comforted others. He says I'm the comfort of us. An encourager, for example. He encourages us. That's one of the reasons you and I pray.

We pray because sometimes we get a little discouraged or we face in something, we just say, God, I need You. Listen to what He says, Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus. Everybody needs one or more encouragers. I wonder, when's the last time you decided, I'm going to send someone some email, write them a letter, call them in. I just want to say a word of encouragement to them. You don't have to say that I've called you to encourage you.

No, that's not what I'm talking about. You just do it. And you know what? Sometimes a pat on the shoulder or a handshake with both hands is a very encouraging thing to some people. But you see, if I'm always thinking about me, myself and I, I'm going to let a wonderful opportunity go by many times a day to be an encourager if I'm not careful. Then of course, He has accepted us.

Thank God He has. He has accepted us. Listen to this, Therefore I accept one another, just as Christ also has accepted us to the glory of God. If I accept someone, that means that I take them for who they are. I may not like what they do.

I may not like the way they act. But I can accept them as persons who may be persons in need. They may be persons who are selfish. They may be persons who are greedy. They may be persons who have happiness and joy. In other words, one of the worst emotions there is, is an emotion to feel rejected by somebody. And I think about how many people today go to work. And when they walk in, we don't need you no more. We're having to cut back and so this is your last day. You look at it any way you want to, but there's a sense of rejection.

They don't need me anymore. And remember this, every single one of us has been accepted by God through His Son Jesus Christ that has nothing to do with deserving it. It's just because that's who He is.

He loves us. And I can still remember this. And I've said it several times in some things back down in my life, I refer to often because I'm grateful. And one of them is this, my first grade school teacher. I walked out of her room. One day she was standing, it was the end of the day, school was over, she was standing at the door and talking to another one of the school teachers. I was only six years old.

Her name was Mrs. Farrell, the other day his name was Mrs. Croxton. And she said to Mrs. Croxton, she didn't even see me walking by, she said, I like Charles. I didn't know what acceptance or what rejection was about at six years old.

But God sent a message to me, and having grown up without a father and just my mother and myself, God knew I needed that. She just said, I like Charles. Nobody has ever said to you, I like you, that you didn't appreciate, right? Especially when you're going through a tough time and somebody says, you know what, I've always loved you. I like you.

I appreciate you. Everybody likes that. Then of course, He admonishes us.

Look at this. And concerning you, My brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another. To admonish one another, listen, is not only to encourage you, but sometimes to warn them. That is to caution them.

I see where you're headed, but I want you to think about something before you make that decision. I see what you're telling me, but have you thought about what God says about that? Admonishment is a caution, whether to buy something, developing a relationship or whatever it might be. Jesus certainly has admonished us and we're to admonish others. Then of course, He's been very patient with us.

Look at this. With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love. Every parent has to be patient. We have to be patient with each other.

And patience says, you know what? I can wait till you learn this. I can wait till you forgive me. I can wait till you change.

I can wait till you pay me. In other words, I can wait. God has been patient with every single one of us. We have to be patient with one another. And then of course, kindness.

The same verse we'd read a few moments ago. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other. Kindness says, I'm thinking about you. You'd be surprised how you can express kindnesses to people that don't expect it, but may need it, or it gives them joy or happiness or whatever it might be.

Think about it. When is the last time you purposely decided, now I'm going to do something really good for him or her. I'm going to show her that I really do care for her.

Now, of course, every husband and wife should live like that all the time. But when is the last time somebody that you appreciate, you just decided, you know what, now you don't tell them. You don't do that. In other words, this week I had the wonderful privilege of being kind to somebody and hiding it so they'd have to find it. But I just wanted them to know that I appreciate them and that I'm grateful for them. It's not that you do it to get anything. Remember we said, we're not talking about getting, we're talking about giving. And then of course, this whole idea of stimulating one another. Look at this verse. Hebrews ten, twenty-four. And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. Look at this verse.

Hebrews ten, twenty-four. And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. Now, to stimulate means to motivate them, to stir them up. In other words, how do we motivate other people? You want to motivate your children to be obedient. You want to motivate them to express love. You want to motivate them to be kind. But what about ourselves? And what about stimulating each other?

And you see, brow beating people and talking negative to them and always criticizing. What motivates you? What stimulates you?

Not criticism. We're stimulated by what? By kindness, by words of acceptance, and by compliments that are meaningful. And when we see good characteristics in people and we say that, we stimulate them to do better. This is why you hear me saying, I say to our staff, look your best, do your best, be your best. I want to stimulate them to rise up and don't be average. Do your best, look your best, be your best because you're representatives of Jesus Christ.

Stimulate one another. That is, so work in their life and so speak to them that something inside of them just rises up to do their best, whoever they are. And then, of course, shares with us.

And the very first verse we talked about in this fourth chapter of Ephesians, and this twenty-eighth verse, when he says here, He who steals must steal no longer, because lots of slaves in those days were doing that. But rather, He says He must labor performing with His own hands, what's good, so that we'll have something to share with one another who has needs. Now, let me ask you a question. I have just said to you, this is what Jesus did in His life. And then I shared with you, this is what He's done in your life and mine, and now this is what He expects us to do for others. So, I want to ask you a question.

Listen carefully. And think about it before you answer it for yourself. As you look at your own life and the way you live, would you say you are a getter or a giver? Do you spend most of your time thinking about what you're going to get, or do you think about most of your time, how can I give, what can I give, what can I share? What would you say you are? A getter or a giver?

The happiest people are the givers. Now, I'll make one last statement you must never forget. Are you listening?

Say, Amen. When you stand before the Lord and you get to heaven, listen carefully, you will not be rewarded for what you get. You'll only be rewarded for what you give.

Did you get that? When you get to heaven, you're not going to be rewarded for what you get in this life. You're going to be rewarded for what you give. Father, how grateful we are for Your love for us and all the wonderful ways You express it. And I pray that every person who hears this message will realize how absolutely, totally indebted we are to You. For not some things, but everything.

For life itself, breath itself, and everything that comes with it. I pray that every person who hears it would be wise enough to surrender their life to You, Father, through Jesus Christ, Your Son. And I pray this in His wonderful name, Amen.

Now, you have just heard the truth, and I would say to you before you go to bed tonight, read over all those things that Jesus has done for you. And say, Lord, now tomorrow, when I get up tomorrow morning, you might read them again. Lord, today, I want You to give me the opportunity of expressing this to the people I work with. To the people I work with, the people I meet. I want You to serve through me today, Jesus.

And tomorrow evening, when you get home, stop and recount. See what God has done through your life. And you know what? Life will be different when you stop getting and you start giving. Now, I know you say, oh, but you don't know what I need.

Watch this carefully. All the time you're giving, you're receiving. Because you see, when you're giving to others, God's doing something in your life. All the time you're giving, He's giving something in return. In His way, and He'll show it to you when the time is right. If you want life at its very best, you've got to be a giver. You know what? God says, look, you let me take care of the getting, you just give and watch what happens. Amen?