Satan wants your view of life to be one of - "I'm not worthy. I'm not good enough. I'm undeserving. I can't. God wouldn't." I don't care how many times we preach this message of OVERCOMING, or being BLESSED or VICTORY, we always end up falling back into the trap of feeling "I'm not good enough; I'm not deserving or God is not pleased with me." But God has made it clear on how we are to view life. We are overcomers! We are more than conquerors! We are blessed! We are above and not beneath! We are the head and not the tail! In the Genesis account, the first thing God did after He created Adam and Eve was He blessed them. Now, that's significant because the law of Genesis - the law of first mention, means that whatever God has once done for us, He will continue to do for us. Confess this,"God wants to bless me because He loves me!" The word blessed means "to be happy to the point where others are envious."
Let me show you the difference between the blessed life of a believer and the life of an unbeliever, or maybe I should describe it this way - someone who has a relationship with God as opposed to someone who does not have a relationship with God. Psalm 1:1-6 reads, "Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither - whatever they do prospers. Not so the wicked! They are life chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction." This is a picture of two different lifestyles. It's a contrasting Psalm where it compares two things side by side, and here it's comparing the righteous and the unrighteous. Notice there are only two groups and not three. There is not the righteous and the unrighteous and then the "sometimes righteous", the "kinda sorta righteous" or the "mostly righteous."
There are some things that you need to NOT DO in order to be blessed. Don't walk in the counsel of the wicked (wicked is just a harsh word for an unbeliever). Don't listen to the world - listen to God. Don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers (you are known by the company you keep) and don't stand in the way of sinners. When you stand in the way of sinners, you begin to accept their lifestyle. You even begin to defend them by saying things like "be open minded; it's not that bad or it's no big deal." CHOOSE - PICK - COMMIT. Don't sit in the seat of the mockers. When you sit in someone's seat, you take their place; you become the substitute and now you're one of them. So here is the point behind that whole don't walk, stand or sit teaching - "BE A PERSON GOD CAN BLESS."
FIRST STEP IN BEING BLESSED
John 3:7 says, "You should not be surprised at my saying, you must be born again." What does it mean to be born again? The literal phrase is "to be born from above" meaning there has been a spiritual transformation. Going to church is NOT being born again. Calling yourself a Christian is not being born again. Growing up with Christian parents is not being born again. BORN AGAIN is a defining moment in your life where you give everything over to God and He makes you a new creation from the inside out. If you've never had this "born again" experience, I really encourage you to do it now!
God said the basis of being blessed is a relationship with Him. Revelation 2:17 says, "He that has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says…to him that overcomes will I give a white stone and in the stone a new name written which no man knows except God." What's the meaning of the WHITE STONE - It was something that a citizen of Rome was very familiar with. It was given to the winning Gladiator and basically gave them a free pass. It was given to an accused person who had been found not guilty (meaning justified) and he could show it to everyone as proof of innocence. Often times the Caesar would throw out to the crowds white stones that were marked or engraved with words like - grain, clothes or crops - and could be exchanged accordingly. In this life, God is saying "on this white stone is your blessed life, your healing, your prosperity, your good fortune, your victory and your righteousness." In the life to come, Christ has a specialized blessing, place or assignment just for you!
CHOOSING TO WIN IN LIFE TAKES FOUR THINGS:
1) CHOOSING TO OVERCOME - You choose to overcome every obstacle in life, every difficult situation and every obstacle to live by faith. I John 5:4, "and this is the victory that overcomes the world even our faith." The problems we have in life won't just go away, but wouldn't that be nice if they did???? You don't just get a better life; you create a better life, and you get that life when you begin to live by faith. What is Faith? Faith is expecting the best. You will never overcome without faith. Faith is the currency of heaven. Faith is the language of Heaven. Faith is what sets us apart from ordinary. Faith is the only way to live a life that pleases God.
2) YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE A POSITIVE CONFESSION - Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Whosoever shall say to this mountain be though removed and not doubt in his heart but believe what he says will come to pass then he will have whatever he says. When David faced Goliath, he said "you come to me with a sword and a shield, but I come to you in the name of the Lord our God; this day I will cut off your head." He said it. He believed it. He did it. Proverbs 18:21- Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Luke 6:45 - out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
3) CHOOSE TO HAVE A BIGGER VISION - Go ahead and see a better life for yourself and for your family. Go ahead and get a vision for a better future. We serve a BIG God who wants to do big things and He needs you to think big with Him! How many of us are guilty of thinking too small? Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." The Message Bible says "If people cannot see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves, but when they attend to what He reveals, they are most blessed." The word picture here of a person without a vision is a "ship without a sail," and this describes so many peoples lives. They are just drifting through life, hoping things will get better, but they don't know when, where or how. Life doesn't just get better by accident. We have to chart a course, make a plan and get a vision! Concerning life - "it is what it is until you decide to change it."
4) CHOOSE TO LET GO OF YOUR NEGATIVE PAST - The excess baggage in your life - people, hurts, memories and labels. Phil. 3:13 says, "Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead." Let go of the past by looking forward to God and believing that He will bring good out of bad. All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Either you believe it, or you don't. If you DO believe it, then start ACTING like you believe it.
