Faith Matters Podcast

Wisdom; Day 4

Wisdom; Day 5

#590 - Double Blessing; Day 5

Playing the Long GameFor our final day together exploring God’s blessings, I want to share where I believe being a bigger blessing starts: clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, and caring for the sick.Every statistic about people living below the poverty line or experiencing homelessness reveals how much our cities are hurting below the surface. Every number has a name, every name has a story, and every story matters to God. You can add other metrics to the mix, such as mental health. And you can fill in the blank based on where you live. But no matter how you slice it, we live in a fallen world surrounded by hurting people. The good news? God’s kingdom is coming, and we are the conduits of His blessing. Seeking the health of your city and caring for the poor and hungry may sound daunting, but it is really just another invitation from God to bless others and receive His blessing in return. Jesus said, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40, NIV). That’s the heart of the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. It’s the way we play the long game, the giving game! Show me the size of your dream, and I’ll show you the size of your God. So what are you believing God for? Of course, no matter how big your dream is, God is bigger still! James, the brother of Jesus, reminds us, “You do not have because you do not ask God” (James 4:2, NIV) Jesus’s words up the ante: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7, NIV).Blessing is yours for the asking, but the only way to keep it is to give it away. In the words of the martyred missionary Jim Elliot, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” So who will you bless today? How will you bless them?

#589 - Double Blessing; Day 4

Irreplaceable PraiseIn fractal geometry, there is a complex set of numbers that produces an infinitely intricate shape when plotted on a plane. It’s called a Mandelbrot set, after the founder of fractal geometry, Benoit Mandelbrot. Clouds and coastlines are classic examples of this endless complexity. Any detail can be magnified to reveal even more detail, ad infinitum. The blessings of God are a Mandelbrot set. They aren’t one size fits all. Each blessing is custom fitted to your complexity and, I might add, your personality. Take the mercy of God, for example. The mercy God has shown you is as unique as your fingerprint. The writer of Lamentations said that God’s mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22–23). The Hebrew word for “new” doesn’t just mean “again and again.” It means “different.” In other words, today’s mercy is different from yesterday’s mercy, which is different from the mercy of the day before that.If you want to fully appreciate God’s mercy, take out a calculator. Multiply your age by 365 days; then add the number of days since your last birthday. The total number of days you’ve been alive is synonymous with the different strains of mercy you have been shown. Each day’s mercy is a never-to-be-repeated miracle.Let me push this envelope a little further. There never has been and never will be anyone like you, but that isn’t a testament to you. It’s a testament to the God who created you. And the significance of that is this: no one can worship God like you or for you. When we sing a song like “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” we may be singing the same words, but we are singing a very different song.God has been faithful to me in thousands of different ways. When I sing of His faithfulness, I’m singing out of my unique experiences. And so are you. If you don’t sing, the person next to you might not miss your voice, but God will. In fact, you are holding out on God. Why? Because your praise is irreplaceable! Like our praise that is uniquely offered to God, God’s blessings are uniquely fitted to us. What can you praise God for today that no one else in history has praised Him for?Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.Lamentations 3:22‭-‬23 NIV

#588 - Double Blessing; Day 3

Holy AnticipationThere are half a dozen “double promises” in Scripture. The prophet Isaiah promised a double portion of joy or prosperity, depending on your translation of choice (Isaiah 61:7). The apostle Paul conferred double honor on those who lead well (1 Timothy 5:17). And a double portion of Elijah’s spirit netted twice as many miracles in the ministry of Elisha (2 Kings 2:9). But perhaps the most unique binary blessing in the Bible is declared by the prophet Zechariah: “Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double” (Zechariah 9:12, ESV).Zechariah declared this double blessing to Jewish prisoners of war, but he called them prisoners of hope. So which is it—prisoners of war or prisoners of hope? That depends on your perspective, doesn’t it? If you let your circumstances define the way you see God, you are a prisoner of perspective. Or worse, a prisoner of your past mistakes! But if you let God define the way you see your circumstances, you are a prisoner of hope. Israel had experienced a bitter defeat at the hands of Babylonians. They were at the mercy of their captors, who had defiled their temple and mocked their God. But God reminded them of who would have the last laugh. For their pain, He prescribed the promise of double blessing. You cannot claim the promises of God like a game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, but every promise has your name on it. Every blessing in the Bible is part and parcel of our spiritual birthright by virtue of what Christ accomplished on the cross. Positioning ourselves for those blessings begins by kneeling at the foot of the cross and ends with us casting our crowns before the throne of God. In between, we flip every blessing we receive. Flipping the blessing enables you to live with holy anticipation, waiting to see what God does next. Of course, if you cultivate a double-blessing mindset that is focused on flipping every blessing, you better buckle your seat belt. Why? Because God is going to open the windows of heaven and pour out more blessing than you can contain. I’m not talking about material blessings. Giving produces joy, and more joy is just what the world needs!What is a blessing in your life you could “flip” today to give to someone else?

#587 - Double Blessing; Day 2

Flipping the BlessingNow, I know what you may be thinking. Am I promising health, wealth, and prosperity? The answer to that is an unequivocal no! God promises us something so much better than physical health or material wealth. Plus, some of God’s greatest blessings are blessings in disguise. The blessing of God is not an immunity card against pain and suffering. Jesus said point blank, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33, NIV). He Himself endured far more than His fair share of earthly troubles, including the cross! What makes us think we can become like Jesus without going through some of the same struggles He did? But take note—this promise doesn’t end with “trouble.” Don’t make the mistake of putting a period where God puts a comma! In the same breath, Jesus declared, “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” In fact, God has postured Himself to bless you from the very beginning. The Hebrew word for “blessing,” barak, is repeated 330 times in the Old Testament. It means to bless the one who blesses you. And in the New Testament, we get two flavors of blessing—makarios and eulogētos. The concept of blessing may be Greek to you, but I want you to understand that blessing is the central storyline of Scripture from start to finish. Some of God’s blessings are as simple and straightforward as the sunrise. Others are more difficult to discern, like the blessing of brokenness. But of this I’m certain: the blessing of God is the solution to your biggest problem, the answer to your boldest prayer, and the fulfillment of your bravest dream. Yet just as “trouble” doesn’t have the final word in our lives, the endgame of God’s blessing is not getting but giving! God doesn’t bless us to raise our standard of living. God blesses us to raise our standard of giving. That idea is as old as the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 12:2–3. Even better, the old covenant has been updated and upgraded by what Christ accomplished on the cross. Simply put, we are blessed to bless. The way we turn a blessing into a double blessing is by flipping the blessing. In other words, we get a blessing by giving a blessing. That is counterintuitive and countercultural, but that is the miracle. And you will be a bigger blessing to more people because of it.