Am I ready to be blessed?

Deuteronomy 12: ⁷ There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.

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“Just look at how they handled my bags! I should complain.” I thought to myself staring at the mountain of luggage in a pile on the cruise. “What do you mean I can’t upgrade to first class? I have the right status” I verbalized in my complaint. “This rental car smells funny” I should complain I thought to myself.

• Habitual complaining is easy to fall into.
• Habitual complaining is blinding.
• Habitual complaining is detrimental to my witness.

After traveling all over the nation I found myself in the same complaining mode as the rest of the passengers. My complaining spawned impatience which birthed rage and even contempt for “poor service.” I sought better treatment since “I” traveled so much I “deserved” it, right? Wrong!

• GOD wants me to recognize HIS blessings instead seeking what I can get from complaints.
• GOD wants me to understand people will mistreat me because they murdered HIS SON.
• GOD wants me to treat others as I wish to be treated no matter how poorly they are treating me.

Looking back I see I wasn’t a good representative of GOD in my complaining instances. HE would rather see me praise HIM for the many blessings HE has bestowed on me. HE wants me to see beyond the here and now and look to the place HE is taking me rather the place I am right now.

• Are you complaining about something?
• Are you blaming someone?
• Can you stop focusing on what isn’t and look to where GOD is taking you?
• Won’t you stop for a moment and truly praise GOD for the many blessings without expecting something from it?

Think before complaining

Numbers 11:The people weren’t happy about the hard times they were having. The Lord heard what they were saying. It made him burn with anger. Then the Lord sent fire on them. It blazed out among the people. It burned up some of the outer edges of the camp.

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“What is it” I jokingly sneered at the dorm food plopped on my plate! It looked funny, smelled funny and tasted not so funny but bad! I passed on that meal knowing another was on its way in a few hours. I complained about the food.

The next year I had my own apartment. I stepped into the kitchen waiting on someone to hand me my meal and there wasn’t anyone there. I looked in the refrigerator and there was no food there either. I begged to get into the dorm cafeteria and couldn’t. When I got out I had a ticket on my car and had no money to pay it!

• I sometimes forget GOD doesn’t like complaints about HIS plan.
• I sometimes forget GOD doesn’t like grumbles about HIS gifts to me.
• I sometimes forget GOD doesn’t like protests about HIS creatures.

When times were difficult, I complained to GOD and guess what… things got worse! Wait a minute, you mean GOD doesn’t like it when I have a request? A request is different than a complaint.  When I grumble about my situation, no matter how bleak it is, I am saying “GOD you don’t know what you are doing and I DO.”

• GOD cannot stand any form of pride from me especially when it’s wrapped in a complaint.
• GOD does not like it when I have my life all figured out and pout when I am not getting my way.
• GOD will not yield to my rants or complaints because HE is GOD.

Making GOD “GOD” means I have to accept when HE will say “No” or “No” or “NO!” I may have a plan in mind but without HIS blessing, nothing will come to fruition. If it is HIS will HE will bring me through difficult times and lead me beside still waters, if not the HE will provide the endurance and testimony to draw many to HIM.

GOD doesn’t want me to be phony and pretend to be “happy” but HE does want me to respect HIS choice and “joyfully” serve HIM and those HE chooses to send to me.

• Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?
• Why does GOD have you in this position?
• Don’t you understand HE knows where you are and what’s best for you?
• Can you turn this difficult time into a testimony instead of burying the opportunity in a complaint?

I’m better than that person

Luke 17: ⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:

¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

   ¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

   ¹⁴ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

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My neighborhood where I grew up was not bad by any stretch of the imagination but there were a few unsavory characters.  One guy constantly broke in our garage and there were others who acted loud and obnoxious.

My parents once scolded me for not doing my chores and I said in my defense, “I’m doing better than those guys.”

• Just because I do fewer sins than another person doesn’t mean I am not off the hook for my own sins.
• Just because someone does something worse than the sin I just did doesn’t give me the right to compare myself to them.
• Just because I have reset my standards doesn’t mean everyone around me is going to reset theirs.

My friends and family have felt my judgmental behavior which actually drives them away from GOD. Discussions about “those” sinners are not appealing to anyone. GOD wants me to humbly admit “I am a sinner.” By the way there is a period on that last sentence.

• Do you think you are better than “that” person?
• Have you stopped doing certain sins and judging others for doing those sins?
• What sins are you hiding?
• Are you willing to proclaim your sins in front of everyone to finally release its deadly grip on you?