The daily grind of life can easily blind us to the reality that God loads us with His benefits—His blessings—every day. At a time when prices are skyrocketing and jobs are competitive to obtain, we can easily forget the truth—that we are a blessed people.
But from the book of beginnings, Genesis, God has blessed His people. When He created the heavens and the earth and Adam and Eve, the last thing He did before He rested on the seventh day was to bless Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:28). And He has been blessing us ever since! Psalm 68:19 says, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits…” (NKJV). Benefits are blessings and He loads us with them every single day.
The opposite of being blessed is being cursed—and as born-again believers, we have been redeemed from the curse. “But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13).
Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection bought and paid for our redemption. He redeemed us with His blood. Therefore, we are no longer under the curse; we are blessed. There is nothing standing between us and God’s blessings other than our not laying hold of them by faith and receiving all that He has to give us. Deuteronomy 28:8 promises us, “The LORD will guarantee a blessing on everything you do.”
What’s more, God hasn’t blessed us just so we can have our needs met—just so we can work, tithe, give offerings, care for our families, have a safe place to live, save for the future, have safe and reliable transportation, and perhaps take time off for leisure—all the things we might consider being blessed. He has actually blessed us so that we can do all that and more—namely, be a blessing to others.
In John’s Gospel, he wrote that Jesus came to give us life and life more abundantly (John 10:10, NKJV). Jesus came to give us a rich and satisfying life. In other words, it’s the will of God that we live blessed and able to think beyond ourselves, beyond our household, beyond what’s right in front of us. Because there’s more purpose for being blessed than just meeting our own needs. We Are Blessed To Be a Blessing.
How Far Do You See?
Life has a way of limiting our vision, but all through Scripture, the Word tells us to look further, to look up and to look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2, NKJV). It tells us to seek the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). And to walk in the blessings of God…not just for ourselves, but for others. We are meant to look around and see who we can bless with what’s in our hands right now.
We’re not to wait until we have super-abundance to think of others or to look for ways to give to others, though that is tempting, especially when our budgets are tight. Sometimes this requires that we ask God to help us be creative and see potential seed lying around our homes or packed away in our garages.
Consider This Biblical Model of Blessing
At one point in Jesus’ ministry on earth, a huge crowd kept following Him and the disciples wherever He went because they saw His miraculous signs as He healed the sick (John 6). Turning to Philip, Jesus tested him by asking him where they could get enough food to feed these people. Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!” (verse 7).
It was then that Andrew spoke up, “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” (verse 9) Maybe you know the story.
Jesus told the disciples to have everyone sit down. The men alone numbered 5,000 and while the women and children weren’t counted, they could be up to another 15,000 people. “Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, ‘Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.’ So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves” (verses 11-13).
In all, approximately 20,000 people ate that day. And they ate until they were full, from two small fish and five barely loaves.
What might surprise you is that in heaven’s accounting system, it’s the little boy—not Jesus—who received credit for feeding all those hungry people. What’s more, the little boy ended up with more, not less, for giving his basket of two fish and five loaves, because when the disciples gathered up the leftovers, there were 12 baskets left over!
We Call It Twice-Sown Seed
At Kenneth Copeland Ministries, we call the biblical model of that little boy’s basket of fish and loaves twice-sown seed. The boy gave his seed (his fish and loaves) to Jesus, and Jesus blessed it and gave it to the people. The harvest of that seed from the little boy was exponential! It was multiplied and abundant.
In walking this principle out, KCM gives at least 10 percent of all that comes into the ministry to other ministries, outreaches and endeavors that arise throughout each year. In other words, when we receive seed from our Partners and other people who generously give, before we pay our expenses, we give. We receive the seed, we bless it and we distribute it. We believe for it to go out multiplied in greater numbers than when it came in. We give what God has so graciously given to us—through others—to benefit and bless others. We recognize that We Are Blessed To Be a Blessing.
If you give to KCM, this is where a portion of your gift goes. We believe, like you do, that resources come to us and resources go through us. What’s more, the Word says that God multiplies the seed for the sower (2 Corinthians 9:10). When you sow into KCM, it goes forth, coupled with the seeds sown by your fellow Partners, to reach millions. You don’t get credit for what your seed alone produces. In heaven’s accounting system, you get credit for the whole thing! We’re a body—the Body of Christ—therefore, we’re connected. Together, we get to receive exceedingly abundantly above what we can ask or think (Ephesians 3:20-21).
What’s In Your Hands?
That little boy with the basket of loaves and fish had no idea how big his giving could be in the hands of Jesus, but Jesus knew. The disciples didn’t know how big his giving could be, but Jesus knew. Imagine what Jesus could do with what’s in your hands right now if you gave it as seed sowed into someone else’s life, and asked Jesus to bless your seed?
If your budget limits your ability to give above your tithe and the offerings that you’re giving now, start giving your stuff—start sowing it as seed. Or start selling your stuff to give offerings or to generate income to give to others. People do this to build an emergency fund, to earn money as a side job, or to save for special projects and plans. Why not do it to give offerings or to give to others?
Imagine what items you could find to sell if you cleaned out your garage, your closets or your kitchen cabinets. How long has it been since you used all the items that have made their way to the back of cabinets or closets or to the sides of your garage? What’s in your attic that you haven’t used in years?
Our Giving Can Be Creative
Sometimes, we need to think creatively to exercise our giving, and recognize how blessed we really are and that we can be a blessing to someone else, even when our budget says otherwise. Perhaps it’s time to make a meal, bake a cake or share a recipe with someone. Perhaps it’s time to open your home for a Bible study, a small group or a dinner get-together with friends—one where your home is your contribution to an evening everyone so desperately needs. Perhaps you have something you can loan to someone in need—something practical like your lawn mower, or simply space in your garage for them to store belongings.
Maybe you have a skill you can sow as seed. Everyone needs a helping hand from time to time. Look around your community of friends and see the need: children who need babysitting, a home that needs cleaning, laundry that needs to be washed, dried and folded. Maybe you have a neighbor who could use help with grocery runs, errands or repairs to their home.
Whatever you find to give, ensure it’s your best. If it’s clothes, make sure they’re in good condition. If it’s an appliance, clean it up and ensure it’s in great working order. If it’s the gift of cleaning someone’s home, clean it as thoroughly as you would your own. If it’s a financial gift, do like Keith Moore says and round the amount up. Do your best to give your best and to give with excellence.
The ways we can give, the ways We Are Blessed To Be a Blessing, really are endless…if we only open our eyes, look to Jesus and ask Him where can we sow a seed.
God Daily Loads Us With Benefits
As born-again, Spirit-filled believers who believe, We Are Blessed To Be a Blessing. Regardless of our resources, there is purpose to our being a blessed and holy people, and one of those purposes is to bless others (1 Peter 2:9). We are givers by nature, because we have been made in the image of God, who is a giver, who blesses, and who has called us to walk and live in THE BLESSING. And out of the abundance He has given us—at whatever level of abundance we currently have— We Are Blessed To Be a Blessing. If we’ll renew our minds to this truth, and begin practicing it, just like the little boy with the five loaves and two fish, God will multiply our seed. He will multiply our ability to keep giving and giving and giving. That’s who He is. That’s what He does. He blesses.
Read more: https://blog.kcm.org/youre-blessed-to-change-your-world/
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