FROM MY HEART-RETAINING BLESSINGS

Isaiah 42:1 NIV

Who wants to be blessed? When I think about being blessed I think of things that are valuable like? Cars, houses, children, husband, job, money and planes etc. Today I am sharing unfiltered what is pouring from my heart today. We are ending the month on the topic of retaining blessings but the question that keeps popping up in my head is are you willing? Are you willing to count the cost?

Luke 14:25-31 Jesus looked at the people following Him and said if you can turn away from the people you love, drop everything and follow me then you can ride, if not you are not ready. And uses a relatable example but many times we may count the partial cost but not the full cost. They want fame but do not think of privacy and the things that can be exposed.

When we are talking about big-ticket items like people and things that are of value to God. To become a teacher is a value, every job has a level of value but how are you going to use it?

Is it all for your gain and vanity to show your beauty, your wealth, what you can do? Is it self-motivated or to benefit and help profit the kingdom?

If that's what it is about you, God cannot use you but I know who has no problem showcasing your body and everything that is of vanity-that is the devil with no problem.

I don’t know if you know this God and satan needs workers: people often say being a Christian is so much work either way you work don’t get it twisted. It depends on who you wanna roll with. Satan comes with a lot of cause and effect that you don't know but God has a book filled with cause and effect. What is required is clear. Imagine going to a lawyer and they never draft up any legal documents. How will the lawyer represent your case? The lawyer has other clients and cases. Can that person remember the details of your document? Will you trust your life in the hands of a person who hasn't shown you proof that they can be trusted?

Sometimes we choose the friends and people we remain around, when God looks at your case He is saying not sure if I can trust this one. I gave her $1,000 the way she ran to the airport with that little chump change and was saying praise God and not $1 I got in offering or as tithes.

God does not want our lip service, he wants action, he wants you to show him. This is how you can get blessed and retain the blessings He has given you.

I heard of this Andrew Carter: I heard his testimony on YouTube he is a minister that started in prison, he did not find God there he was running from God-Jonah, he grew up in foster care, met someone that introduced him to Christ he became a Christian was seeking God for a specific thing he got a word of prophecy that he did not want to hear and walked away from God and the church got in an altercation after having a million-dollar business, kids and a wife. Got arrested and lost it all later found God and got double for his trouble he thought he lost so much before but in Christ, he gained so much more: finances, a wife, business and even greater God!

God wants to bless you, even if you had a time when you ran away even if you were in the process of running away and the world seemed so much easier. He is so loving, he is waiting to show you who you can be with him. Everything satan reveals is counterfeit, satan is a fraudster, a liar and a deceiver. If he is showing you what seems to be an easy way to make money God has something great in store for you, if he is showing you someone (guy/girl) possibly to sleep with it is because God has someone for you. He gives you the fake or the person who God has for you at the wrong time.

How do we keep a marriage, house, car or whatever other blessing God gave us?

You have to be faithful: but I don’t even like this job I am in now. If you are working at McDonald's, be the best staff at that location, be there on time, be a faithful steward with what you have been given. You do not have a job and stay at home, let that house be spotless, food prepared, or help others. Being faithful does not only apply to the church or being in a church setting. We get it confused many times thinking it is just about what can be seen in church but who are you outside of church? Do your coworkers know you are a child of God without you making an announcement? You shouldn’t even have to tell them they should be able to see a light shine so bright they would have to ask what is different about you. When God can see the light like in Daniel who despite being tossed in the lion's den still chose to serve God to pray but in the midst of it all still honours and respect diplomats. God had to show him off.

Parents are so proud when their kids do well in school they post it on social media, on their stories and share it with friends but God is like when am I gonna have that same chance to show you off. It is so much work but remembers that children who found it hard to get good grades but to please you they studied they worked hard, not necessarily understanding from the beginning why it was so important to do well in school. This is what God is expecting from you. To study His word, wear it like a badge of honour like you would with your kid's good grades. Holding on to his blessings he does not want you to do well and then be exposed for things you were not prepared for.

During this single season learning to abstain has been a challenge because the world shows pornography, sex outside of marriage, having his out of the wedding as the norm and going against what deems norm can be hard. But in this I am now seeing if you can hold firm to what you are feeling in your single season being married comes with more value, sex is has a high value, waiting and not cheating comes with more understanding, knowing how to wait, knowing how and when to walk away from certain people and relationships is easier and it is not as a result of someone but because of your convictions that had been practiced before being in a relationship. The Holy Spirit can help where you have put in some work. Like Joseph being set up, he could have stayed with the Pharaoh's wife wanting to gain but he ran and although he was innocent he had proof of guilt. He sat in prison not bitter and upset but using the gifts God gave him, ready to be put to work. So when he was sent for work, he cleaned himself up to meet with a dignitary.

When he came out of prison this guy still had value. What are you bringing to the table to sustain the blessings God has already given to you? Whether it is a job, marriage, children or a business before getting it we can have big talks on doing so well with it but having it and keeping it is another story. I was invited to a friend's house to visit for a while and I looked with big googly eyes in amazement at the size of the home, rooms, everything. But over time I asked what it is the cost of utilities, mortgage, day to day upkeep. The excitement went to questions: Am I ready to maintain a house this size, financially can I afford it? We can cry and rant to God about some things but He knows not only that we cannot afford but He also knows our hearts. Is this to post on social media for everyone to see that you have a home? or husband or whatever it may be? We go through trials to remove some of the unnecessary filth from our hearts.

I remember when God showed me and I heard some promises He had for me but boy I never thought about the cost. To be a person of integrity you will be tested with information that can damage people, To be a person with wealth you will be tested with finances. You have to be ready to go in the ring with your opponent. The question is will you have a clean match or is this gonna be like politics? Messy, dirty and scandalous. God wants His kids to fully represent His kingdom, he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. When we think of the royal kingdom He was the example of what royalty should look like, Jesus showed humility by coming off His throne to help us, to show us the way, to give us these stories to use as examples.

Retaining blessings we need to know what is ours, count the cost and check our heart posture for the reasons behind why we do what we do. Otherwise, God has many things stored up for us. Study His word for nuggets to follow for each day of your life.

#retainingblessings #countthecost #whoisreadyforablessing #studyGodsword #thebigevent