A Blessing for You: What We Need the Most

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by some special friends of this ministry.

Pastor Greg wanted to see a special word of thanks to the harvest partners who make this ministry possible next time your online check out Pastor Greg's personal blog@blog.greglaurie.com God loves was to know God loves was to listen. The Lord is not stingy with his blessings. Jesus said it is your father was her gift to you the kingdom. When we're mired in the quicksand of trials and tribulations. Pastor Greg Laurie reminders God's blessings are available so this blessing is independent of your circumstances. It's about you know U was of much help at all. Maybe a child plumbing emergency smile and her little likes plastic toy crescent wrench warms your heart you were still like the water beginning Greg Laurie points out, God can bless us when we need him most would just what we need today will learn how to open ourselves a little girl. The grubs rounds of the piece of paper and announced to her family on the draw a picture of God her mother said honey. Nobody knows what God looks like that she said will, they will when I'm done. And we wonder sometimes what is God like it's got a happy God or is he a said God is he a smiling God. Riskier, frowning God and how does the Lord look at you and me. Does he look upon us with approval or disapproval.

While that is answered right here and numbers chapter 6 the answer to all those questions is found in this blessing that the Lord wanted the priest to pronounce upon the people at the familiar passage you've heard these words before, no doubt, but it really shows you who God is. Now he feels towards you and we learn six very important things about God. So let's read it together so 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 churn 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 were in a series right now that were calling water Firestone and it's based on the life of Moses and chronologically were in the wilderness. Moses received the 10 Commandments from God to Mount Sinai and there slowly but surely making their way to that land of Canaan and 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 the wilderness, and guess what were in the wilderness to art wing were passing through to another place.

We all face our trials and we all make our mistakes and we all have danger around us are threats to us every day. Of course the coronavirus were all wearing our facemask and were social distancing and were concerned about this. There are dangers then there are the normal concerns of our lives like our livelihood, our employment or help our marriages, our children, our future, we are fallen people living in a fallen world in need of a little help.

Let me restate that were in need of a lock of help.

So God instructs the priest 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 attached on their heart.

I want them to be able to recited from memory again six truths about God that every believer needs to know number one God loves to bless you is not a good thing the 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. Like when I'm with my grandkids. I love to do things for them.

I love to take them out the ice cream. I love to buy them a little toy I love to spend time with them and enjoy them and tell them Jobson tell them a Bible story the other day my granddaughter Allie said of my wife Kathy her grandmother.

She says now mother to she calls it she says no mama. She cooks and she cleans it 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 think God loves to bless you and he wants to bless you. Look at verse 24 the Lord bless you and it's 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 him on the road.

He bless them when little children came to him. He took him into his arms and he bless them. After his resurrection, he lifted his hands and saw the disciples and bless them, and he then ascended Jesus love to bless people who can forget those beautiful beatitudes that he gave on the sermon on the mount were 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's another way to translate the word blessed happy so happy are these people. It comes from a root word mark a real snow, not Macarena. Remember that song never like that song. By the way, no, it's Monica Rios margaritas was the Mediterranean island of Cyprus because of its geographical location, balmy climate and fertile soil.

The Greeks effectively felt that if you live on the island of Monica Rios you added made in the shade it was even called the happy island. So the idea was if you live on Monica Rios 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. Now we have one church over the island of Maui. It's called harvest colonic and I personally think Maui is the best of all the Hawaiian islands.

There's even a saying now we know calling, which means now is the best and I think that's true, but we can all live on Monica Rios we can all live on the island of Maui. So what does this mean to us. We learned 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 in the next words are Genesis 127 and God bless 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 going through a time of struggle, but you can still be happy new stop a new car, a new house, new money is all fine. Those are an extra bonus.

The biblical idea is if you're on the island and your close of the Lord.

You'll be happy. So it's not seen anything about where you are geographically fit 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 of Christ in your heart you can be a happy person right now.

Mr. Greg Mori will have the second half this message just a moment. We hear from Sony find Christ through the study God's word dear Pastor Greg wake up to your voice on the radio each day. I've been a Christian since September 12, 1978 after hearing you speak in Riverside, California while living in connection my employers told me they were praying for me for many years. I did not delete it after hearing your life story all about Jesus. I begin to believe and made a decision to follow Jesus. Thank you Pastor Greg for all that you've done and continue to do for all of us need to hear the word daily. We hope Pastor Greg's words from Scripture continue to touch lives. And if you have a comment or story to share, send it to Pastor Greg's email address is greg@harvest.org that's great@harvest.org were looking at numbers 624 today.

Pastor Greg is he's presenting the six truths about God. Every believer needs to know.

Let's continue the Lord bless you that 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 occurs 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 in Europe to break the curse through prayer. I don't think the Bible teaches that at all. If any family had its share of problems that would've 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 divorce, the chances are far higher that the children when they get older get married will also be divorced will my mother was divorced seven times. She was an alcoholic and I started on the wrong road on 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 a been married now for over 40 years in the Lord is 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 King 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 in Morley, so I'm simply say that if you're living a sinful life, you're going experience the repercussions of that, the curse, if you will you choose. If your life is going to be blessed or cursed. Deuteronomy 3019 to 20 says is God speaking. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, then you may live both you and your descendents, 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 and 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 in the 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 therefore the Jews are for keeping's to watch the guards or to put a heads around the rim of 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 fallen Angel and the Lord will say have you considered my servant Job, a perfect and upright man what the fears God and shuns evil, Satan says lose paraphrase give me a break you the key fears you for nothing and then the Lord allowed a series of calamities, double fall poor job that were orchestrated by the devil because the devil correctly pointed out, have you not put I 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 the Lord Lord of your 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 a you to 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 the face Jesus because Jesus says in John 10 seven I am the door.

So the next time the devil comes knocking at your door wanted to say Lord would 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.

Second Thessalonians 33 says the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. Jude 120 forces now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and present you faultless before his presence with exceeding joy and there were reminded over and first Peter 15 that were kept by the power of God through faith under salvation by the way the original language uses a perfect tense so the nearest equivalent would be your continually Not to set your Put your continually, 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 pay quite a bit of money.

Perhaps in and you don't want to lose him 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, your gonna go wait, that I have a kid with me and to see Leno because you love your job.

You're aware of where they are in the same way God cares about you and these continually keeping you. Hebrews 725 says he's able to save completely those who come to God through him because he lives to enter seed 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 in the old guy said well I just say the Lord, Lord, your property is in danger, your God's property.

You belong to the Lord.

The Bible says you're not. You're only been bought with a price to listen your preserve your protected and your continually With the power of God's you might say whoa that I guess I could never fall away from my faith know 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 is it mean to keep yourself on the love of God meets keep yourself in a place where God can bless you and in the same way it implies keep yourself out of the place we would not receive the blessing of God, perhaps to your disobedience. Keep yourself close to the Lord. Listen, you don't keep yourself say, but you do. Keep yourself safe and there are things overall vulnerable and we know we can fall into sin stay away from those places. By the way, this phrase it 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 vector will be unique hardships and challenges you 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 yay 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 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 wasn't 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 in the into the wilderness to die.

When you know the rest of the story, the Lord, because the waters of the Red Sea, the part and the Israelites crossed through on dry ground and then those same waters close on the pursuing Egyptian army. So God did not keep them from the trial, but he kept them through the trial. The same is true of those three courageous teenagers, Shadrach me shack in the Bendigo member. They were thrown into a fiery furnace because they would not worship a false God. God could've 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 in the fire. Yet I see four and the fourth is like the son of God Jesus was walking with his three friends to the fiery furnace. So again, the Lord kept them through the trial not necessarily from it. The list goes on. Jenny was not From the lion's den, but he was Through its Noah was not From the flood, but he was Through it you might as well what about when an accident or a tragedy happens in the life of a child of God. Where's the keeping power of God, then you and asking a question like that were assuming that somehow we have the inherent right to live long easy lives, and died peacefully in her sleep. One day, but the Bible says our times are in his hands, and that means that the Lord's gonna 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. Especially given all we faced in 2020. Pastor Greg Laurie with his study today on a new beginning called a blessing for you and listen if you had any interruptions in the last half hour.

Here's some good news. You can hear what you missed by going online to harvest.org or even ask for CD to be sent right to your door by calling 1-800-821-3300.

That's 1-800-821-3300 people are talking about Pastor Reginald moving a rush of hope cinematic car prescription never seen anything like me to see Watson on the screen is a beautiful meeting the way he explains it. It's so simple, but yet only hold so much weight rush of available now on DVD, new beginning you can get it today. Pastor Greg, this is different than anything we've ever done before. That's right, you sought online most likely you can own your own beautiful DVD copy that you can show where ever you want whenever you want to whoever you want in this special DVD that were offering the Russell Pope also has some special added features like a little booklet you can call it in evangelistic track with the title life's most important questions that you can give to someone to read. There's also a little flyer in here telling you how I host a watch party and show a rush of hope in your front room in your backyard or wherever you want as an outreach to people that are in your family are in your neighborhood and so we want to send this special copy of a rush of hope to you for your gift of any size. They help us finish 2020 strong and let me see in advance. Thanks so much for believing in this ministry.

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That's 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org next time more insight based on this great blessing found in Numbers chapter 6. More from Pastor Greg series water Firestone next time you beginning and possible by harvest partners, helping people everywhere know God sign up for pastor grades free daily email, devotions@harvest.org