Katy Community Church

Welcome to Katy Community Church

Lesson 14 – Divine Blessings, Privileges and Opportunity, Problem-Solving Devices

Lesson 14 – Divine Blessings, Privileges and Opportunity, Problem-Solving Devices

Lesson for December 9, 2012

 

Our Spiritual Assets

 

Divine Blessings, Privileges and Opportunity, Problem-Solving Devices

 

Divine Blessings

When a person trusts Jesus Christ as his personal Savior, a potential is established for blessing from God.  Salvation is based on the grace of God, apart from any human merit, as is the Christian Way of Life. (Titus 2:11-12)  Therefore, the potential for blessing is based on the grace of God.  A blessing is a benefit bestowed upon the believer by God.

Why does God bless or bestow benefits on believers?  Since blessings were deposited to the believer’s account in eternity past and based on the grace of God (Ephesians 1:3), it is impossible for them to earn or deserve the blessings of God.  In others words, God does not bless you because of your works, even if they are legitimate divine production.  God blesses you on the basis of His righteousness resident in your soul (Matthew 6:33, II Corinthians 5:21). This allows God to be just and in keeping with His grace policy (even if you are not living your spiritual life).  You cannot coerce God into blessing you by what you do or do not do.  However, it is your choice to access or appropriate these blessings.  The way to access divine blessings is to increase your capacity to receive them by learning and applying Bible doctrine under the control of God the Holy Spirit.  And, remember that the production of divine good is itself a divine blessing.

Increasing capacity in your life is a grace function.  Under your right pastor-teacher, you study and apply accurate Bible doctrine, which produces growth and increases capacity.  Remember that God is not going to give you more than you can handle.  Therefore, divine blessing comes as a result of compliance with God’s system of blessing.  Is your volition involved?  Absolutely!  You are the one who must choose to trust Jesus Christ as your Savior, you must choose to study and apply the accurate teaching of God’s Word to your life, and you must choose to allow God the Holy Spirit to control your life.  Accordingly, God is waiting to send blessings to each of us. (Isaiah 30:18)

In order to understand the concept of increased capacity, we need to briefly review the Royal Priesthood and the Royal Ambassadorship of the believer.  Remember our illustration?  A vertical line represents your spiritual life, which is your relationship with God as a Royal Priest.  A horizontal line represents your Christian life, which is your relationship with other people as a Royal Ambassador.  Together we call this the Christian Way of Life. 

As a Royal Priest, we represent ourselves before God, which is always a private matter.  When we sin and remove ourselves from fellowship with God, we are able to go directly to the throne of God in prayer and utilize I John 1:9, which restores fellowship.  The more time you spend studying and applying accurate Bible teaching under the control of the Holy Spirit, the faster your capacity will increase.  This translates into spiritual advance and eventually leads to spiritual maturity (our goal as believers).  The only way that we are going to increase our capacity to receive God’s blessings is to develop our relationship with God. 

As a Royal Ambassador, we represent the Lord Jesus Christ to the world.

(II Corinthians 5:17) This, of course, involves interaction with others.  This representation is a spiritual service and DOES NOT contribute to your spiritual growth or your capacity for blessing as a believer.  It is a result of your growth.  It is a blessing in itself and a means for you to be a blessing to others. 

Now, let’s review the grace provisions of God for the Church Age believer.

  1. Life support – God keeps you and me alive for a purpose after salvation.  This purpose is to glorify Him as a witness for the Supreme Court of Heaven against Satan and his demons.  By trusting Jesus Christ as Savior and fulfilling God’s plan for our life, we demonstrate to Satan and his followers the justice of God. (Psalm 68:19-20)
  2. Temporal supply – God has promised every believer certain blessings regardless of their spiritual status.  Food, clothing and shelter are a few. (Matthew 6:25-34)
  3. Security in two stages – God provides physical protection in the devil’s world by means of guardian angels and government entities, to name a couple.  He also provides spiritual security by holding us “in the hollow of His hand” and by giving us the sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit. (Hebrews 1:14; John 10:28)
  4. Spiritual provision – This involves the spiritual blessings of the 40 assets received at salvation and temporal blessings such as family, finances, jobs, etc.  It also involves blessing by association at the workplace, at school, at home, in an organization and historical impact on a nation.  Undeserved suffering is also a spiritual provision, though it may not seem so at first glance, but it is a means of growth and increased dependence upon God.  And finally, dying grace is provided where God gives a maximum amount of His grace in a believer’s death as a testimony to those you leave behind.

Privilege and Opportunity

Never before in the history of the world has the believer in Christ had the privilege and the opportunity that is afforded him today.  The Church Age in which we live is an unparalleled dispensation with numerous advantages for the believer.  The privileges and opportunities that we have been given are not only unique, they are “above and beyond all that we could ever think or imagine.”  (Ephesians 3:13-21)

Jesus Christ has secured forever the strategic victory (the skillful planning and management in getting the better of the adversary) over Satan.  At salvation this victory places the believer in a place of maximum strength with the potential to win the tactical victory (the procedure for gaining advantage or success over the adversary) over Satan, the world (cosmic) system and the sin nature.  Our union with Christ (Positional Sanctification) guarantees the opportunity to overcome the obstacles that are placed before us (or that we place before ourselves) in order to execute the Christian Way of Life and glorify God while we are on earth.

Many privileges are given to the believer at the moment of salvation and many are given after salvation.  However, opportunities must be seized by personal volition.  As a believer, you are the most privileged person on the face of the earth, but at the same time you may be missing the opportunities for fantastic blessing by not executing God’s plan, purpose and will for your life.  Tactical victory comes over a period of time as the believer makes thousands of right decisions regarding God, himself, others and circumstances.  Winning the tactical victory is done by the believer who is being empowered by God the Holy Spirit as he organizes his life around right priorities:  Jesus Christ must be the most important Person in your life, learning and applying accurate Bible doctrine must be placed above personal pleasure or your career, and virtue (a strict adherence to the truth) must drive every decision you make in life. (Ephesians 4:14-15)

Privilege in life is always accompanied by responsibility.  This is also true with the Royal Family of God.  Our responsibility, of course, is to God as Royal Priests and as Royal Ambassadors.  Christ’s strategic victory secured only potential for the tactical victory.  As believers, we all have equal privilege and equal opportunity to execute the Christian Way of Life.  Some believers will choose to do so and some will not.  Those who fail in their responsibility to God will experience a life of misery and unhappiness.  Those who choose to embrace and fulfill their responsibility to God will experience a life of peace and happiness.

 

Ten Problem-Solving Devices

  1. Rebound – to name, admit, acknowledge, or cite your sins to God.  When we name, admit, acknowledge or cite our known sins to God, He forgives us and purifies us from all personal sins: known, unknown and even forgotten sins. (I John 1:9)
  1. Filling of the Holy Spirit – being controlled by and guided by the Holy Spirit.  It is not an emotional experience, rather it is a fact stated in God’s Word for us to believe. (Ephesians 5:18)
  1. Faith-Rest Technique – mixing the promises of God with your faith (belief), applying the correct doctrine and reaching the correct doctrinal conclusion. (Hebrews 4)
  1. Grace Orientation – becoming familiar with God’s grace policy toward the believer for salvation and the spiritual life, and the fantastic blessings that accompany each. (Ephesians 2:8-9; James 4:6)
  1. Doctrinal Orientation – learning and applying Bible doctrine, which is the mind of Christ and Divine Viewpoint Thinking. (Colossians 3:16)
  1. Personal Sense of Destiny – understanding who you are and what you have as a result of being in union with Christ. (Philippians 3:20-21) 
  1. Personal Love for God – as Royal Priests we are to love God.  You can love God only if you know Him through the study of His Word. (I John 2:5)
  1. Impersonal Love for all Mankind- as Royal Ambassadors we are to love the entire human race. (I John 4:11-21)
  1. Sharing the Happiness of God – this means that we tap into God’s happiness by following His predesigned plan for us, which produces a permanent contentment in the soul. (John 15:1-14)
  1.  Occupation with Christ – this means we follow His example (our perfect role model) by learning to think in the same manner that He did (Divine Viewpoint Thinking), obeying divine mandates as He did, by making good decisions from a position of strength as He did and by using the Problem-Solving Devices as He did. (Hebrews 12:2; II Corinthians 10:5)