Planting Seeds

What is the blessing God wants for us?

On outreach we sang the song ‘The Blessing’ a lot while being in the Plains living out of a small mud hut. The people we met didn’t have much, many women can’t read or write and many men travel to different cities to earn money for their families. God desires to bless us and speak to us like He did in creations original design (Genesis 1:28).

God started from scratch with Adam and Eve- He formed them from dust and breathed His Spirit of Life into them (Genesis 2:7). But before they were filled with His Spirit they were empty and lifeless- nothing but dust.

While being in the Plains the air was constantly filled with dust which made it hard to breath and see. It felt like there was no where we could go to get some fresh air. This is all most of the people we met in the villages there had ever known. Our team was able to discern that the physical dustiness was also spiritual; the villagers were struggling to breath- find purpose in life, they were empty- looking to be filled, they were surrounded by dust- confused, doubtful and uncertain. Because they were surrounded by the dust they became very fearful and they are controlled by fear- fear of their gods, fear of their family and fear of rejection. This fear keeps them in bondage even though they desire the breath of God to blow away the dust. This fear has kept them bound to a poverty mindset which they have no hope in getting out of until they heard of the Jesus that loves them.

In the Plains we got to see 50+ souls saved and so many healings we lost track. We saw the poor in spirit be blessed with salvation and so much joy! We came to people that were lifeless and left them knowing they had experienced a new joy of the Lord to be able to start a new life and have the blessing of the kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are the poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3a)

God wants to bless the poor by meeting them right where they are and loving them too much to leave them there. The original Greek word for ‘poor’ is ‘ptochos’ meaning to crouch, bend down, be under a burden, beg, to be absolutely destitute. The poor have no hope and are at the mercy of begging for scraps, they hold out their empty hands asking for anything, they are desperate. One blessing, one mercy could make the difference of life or death.

Likewise, we come to God with empty hands desperate to receive anything He will give us. There is nothing we could offer God- we are weak, poor and empty and it is only when we realize this that we can hold our hands out and receive the gifts and blessings He wants to freely give us.

When Adam and Eve chose to believe the lies of satan over trusting Gods truth, sin entered the world. Satan took the form of a serpent and even though God blessed them with authority over all of creation, they forgot Gods blessing and chose to believe the lies of the serpent. As a result of sin, Adam and Eve realized they were naked and covered themselves with fig leaves and tried to hide from God (Genesis 3:7-8). Their sin made them ashamed and they no longer felt worthy of being in relationship with God. They chose to break the relationship they had with God by disobeying the rule God had made for their best intentions. Their coping mechanism for the brokenness they were feeling was to cover themselves to depend on themselves instead of their provider God. They thought they knew better than God, their creator of the world who has blessed them with authority over the garden of Eden (Eden meaning the presence of God- an open door for Heaven), who had spoke to them and loved them and had a perfect relationship.

We still have the same reaction to sin nowadays, we scramble to find whatever we can to cover ourselves, we panic to find something to make us feel better, to cover us from feeling ashamed but whatever we find, whatever our fig leaves are, it only lasts for a temporary moment. Shame leads us to fear judgement and often we hide our sin from God and other people. Today it can look like addictions (as escapisms), anger towards other peoples sin while ignoring your own or oppressive spirits like depression and anxiety controlling you.

Whatever your fig leaves are God still loves you and wants to bring freedom to you and restore your relationship once again. God knew that the fig leaves Adam and Eve used were only temporary lasting so God loved them and covered them with the first animal sacrifice by making them clothes of animal skin despite their sin (Genesis 3:21). But sin is like poison to the Holiness and perfection of God and Adam and Eve had poisoned themselves and could no longer be in the Garden in Eden (Gods presence).

Blessed are the poor in spirit for they will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 5:3)

God has called your name to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and live with Him forever. We all fall short of being perfect (Romans 3:23) therefore there is nothing you could ever do to restore your relationship with God and get to Heaven on your own. And nothing you can do could save you or cover you from the brokenness and emptiness. Only what God can do. God sent Jesus to restore or relationship with God and save us from our brokenness. Jesus defeated death (the result of sin) by rising from the dead through obeying God the Father. So that we might turn away from the lies that poisoned our world and accept His truth and love into our hearts. God made those who believe in their hearts and confess with their mouths that Jesus Christ is the Lord His children again.

Now we (followers of Jesus) are covered with the everlasting blood of Jesus. Not only are we forever loved and covered but we have received the in dwelling of His Spirit again like the original design in the garden. And the Holy Spirit welcomes us into the Kingdom of God. The blessing is the promise of His kingdom in our hearts and poured out into earth through us.

By faith that God will keep His promises we see His grace. We hold out our hands knowing that we are broken, weak, empty and poor without Him. He is the breath of life to the body of dust we are without Him. He desires to fill us with His Spirit (Acts 2:4) so that our relationship is restored again to fullness.

This is what God desires for all people to bless them with the free gift of eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven because we are covered by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus there is nothing we could do to earn His love and gifts, Jesus paid it all so it is free. 

It’s only when we realize how poor and desperate our souls are that we can hold out our empty hands and receive the gifts and blessings of God. Keep your eyes on Him.