20 DAYS IN 2 HOURS CHALLENGE: “BLESSINGS” (Day 20 – Final Day!)

Comment:
    As we conclude this 20-day challenge on “blessings”,
    I hope you have enjoyed discovering how the Lord
    blesses us, and how we have a responsibility of
    ‘unlocking’ those blessings for our enjoyment.

    Does it mean that we may have to
    make some changes in our priorities and attitudes?
    Of course it does, but as we have seen in the last 20 days,
    the benefits are well worth our efforts to change.

    Thanks to all who committed a minimum of 6 minutes a day
    to ‘connect’ with the Lord and learn more about His blessings.
    Six minutes might seem like an insignificant amount of time,
    but making the dedicated commitment for 20 days was an
    opportunity for us to express our desire to meet with God daily.
    Hopefully it has established a new habit for us in our ‘walk of faith’.

    All of the feedback I have received has been very positive;
    if there appears to be sufficient interest, I will plan on
    creating another 20-day challenge on a different topic.

    If you have any comments you would like to share,
    please enter them in the “LEAVE A REPLY”
    section at the very bottom of this posting.

WHAT IS PREVENTING YOU FROM ENJOYING GOD’S BLESSINGS?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every
spiritual blessing in Christ.
(Ephesians 1:3)

MEDITATION:
As believers, how many of us think of ourselves as rich?
No matter how much money we have (or don’t have),
if we are a believer in Jesus, we are extremely wealthy,
because God has lavished the riches of His grace upon us.

But, unfortunately many believers are living in spiritual poverty.
What is the reason for failing to enjoy the riches God has lavished
on those who believe in Him, His Son, the Holy Spirit and God’s
ability to take care of our needs?
It could be one of these 3 reasons:

Ignorance:
Some Christians have never learned about this unlimited
spiritual “bank account”, and as a result, they never draw from it.

Confusion:
Some believers just don’t know how
to access the treasures of God’s grace.
As a result, they worry and complain about their needs
and problems, or in desperation they come to the Lord
begging and pleading for help.
They fail to realize that His abundant supply
has already been deposited into their account.

Competing Interests:
Distraction by things of this world may be
the most common reason for missing out on God’s blessings.
Christians in this category are focused on possessions,
pressing responsibilities, and advancement, but they lack
a sincere interest and/or trust in God’s spiritual blessings.

The truth is, what God has provided through His grace,
is far greater than any earthly wealth we might achieve.
His provisions give us the peace and contentment which money
can never buy, and the benefits reach all the way into eternity.

The only way to access God’s spiritual riches is by faith.
Faith proves itself by the way we react to His commands.
As an example, some people view “tithing” as
“the church wanting our money to keep their doors open”.

Nothing could further from the truth.
When God commanded Christians to “tithe”, He was
giving us an opportunity to show that we are obedient
to Him, and to prove that we have a sincere trust and
faith that He can provide what we need.

We don’t have to beg or persuade the Lord
to give what He has already made available to us.
Instead, we simply choose to believe that we are who He says
we are, and that we can do what He has called us to accomplish.

Without providing all the details (it is a lengthy testimony),
my family has been abundantly blessed from the very beginning
of our decision to obey God’s command to bring our tithes
and offerings to Him.

The non-financial blessings kept growing as we increased our
tithe (first we tithed on our net income, then we tithed on our
gross income, and finally we tithed above our gross income).
We can’t explain it, but we found we could do more with less!

When we initially started tithing, we had to learn to enjoy and
appreciate the 90% God had given us, rather than focusing on
what we could do with the 10% we were returning to Him.
Of course Satan kept trying to remind us that we were
falling behind others who had chosen to use their tithe
for their own purposes.

Next we learned to enjoy bringing our tithes to God
as our show of faith and trust in Him, rather than
considering them as ‘payment’ items on our monthly bills.
To be honest, that was a major turn
in our attitude of being obedient to His commands.

It taught us just how much joy could be found through
exercising our faith and trust in Him to provide for us.
We “tested” God,
and He proved Himself to us (and still does to this day).

About the fourth year into tithing ‘above our gross income’,
we were amazingly blessed by God financially as well.
In a ten month period our annual salary
increased by 10%, then by 15%, and finally by 11%.
Compounded, that meant a total increase of around 40%.

ACTION:
Are you enjoying the blessings of the Lord, or are you still
trying to find satisfaction through what is available in the world?

Think about these questions:
Is it worth gaining wealth in this world and missing out on God’s
blessings (both now, and more importantly, for eternity)?

How are you proving to God that your faith in Him is real?
In other words, what are you doing that says to God,
“I trust You to provide, even when it doesn’t make sense”?

Have you allowed thoughts like, “Oh, He knows my faith is real”
to prevent you from showing your faith through obedience?

What are you doing to prove to the Lord that you love Him?

Doesn’t it just make sense
that obedience should include some amount of activity?

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, help me to realize the riches You
have given me and to enjoy those riches above anything
the world tries to offer me. Help me to use everything
You have given me to minister to others and accomplish
what You want me to accomplish for You. Impress on me
the importance of proving my faith through obedience to
Your commands.”

20 Day Challenge – Day 1:
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/07/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-1/

20 Day Challenge – Day 2:
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/08/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-2/

20 Day Challenge – Day 3:
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/09/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-3/

20 Day Challenge – Day 4:
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/10/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-4/

20 Day Challenge – Day 5:
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/11/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-5/

20 Day Challenge – Day 6:
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/12/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-6/

20 Day Challenge – Day 7
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/13/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-7/

20 Day Challenge – Day 8
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/14/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-8/

20 Day Challenge – Day 9
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/15/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-9/

20 Day Challenge – Day 10
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/16/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-10/

20 Day Challenge – Day 11
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/17/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-11/

20 Day Challenge – Day 12
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/18/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-12/

20 Day Challenge – Day 13
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/19/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-13/

20 Day Challenge – Day 14
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/20/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-14/

20 Day Challenge – Day 15
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/21/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-15/

20 Day Challenge – Day 16
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/22/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-16/

20 Day Challenge – Day 17
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/23/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-17/

20 Day Challenge – Day 18
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/24/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-18/

20 Day Challenge – Day 19
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2021/06/25/20-days-in-2-hours-challenge-blessings-day-19/