1 Senir Pastr Prince Guneratnam Title: Misuse f Gd s Blessings INTRODUCTION Gd s blessings means what Gd gives us. (Deuternmy 28: 8, 11, 12) The LORD will cmmand the blessing n yu in yur strehuses and in all t which yu set yur hand, and He will bless yu in the land which the LORD yur Gd is giving yu. And the LORD will grant yu plenty f gds, in the fruit f yur bdy, in the increase f yur livestck, and in the prduce f yur grund, in the land f which the LORD swre t yur fathers t give yu. The LORD will pen t yu His gd treasure, the heavens, t give the rain t yur land in its seasn, and t bless all the wrk f yur hand. Yu shall lend t many natins, but yu shall nt brrw. All that we have are Gd s blessings. Life itself - its resurces, pwer r psitin. GOD S BLESSINGS COME TO US IN THREE WAYS: A divine gift that causes us t succeed and be strng. Mses said t the peple at the Red Sea (Ex 14:13-14) D nt be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvatin f the LORD, which He will accmplish fr yu tday. Fr the Egyptians whm yu see tday, yu shall see again n mre frever. 14 The LORD will fight fr yu, and yu shall hld yur peace. The Lrd will pen t yu His treasure, where yu did nt built, dig r grw Gd pens t yu! (Deuternmy 28:12) The LORD will pen t yu His gd treasure, the heavens, t give the rain t yur land in its seasn, and t bless all the wrk f yur hand. Yu shall lend t many natins, but yu shall nt brrw. (Deuternmy 6:10) S it shall be, when the LORD yur Gd brings yu int the land f which He swre t yur fathers, t Abraham, Isaac, and Jacb, t give yu large and beautiful cities which yu did nt build, (Deuternmy 8:17 & 18) 17 then yu say in yur heart, My pwer and the might f my hand have gained me this wealth. 18 And yu shall remember the LORD yur Gd, fr it is He wh gives yu pwer t get wealth, that He may establish His cvenant which He swre t yur fathers, as it is this day. Why des Gd bless yu? That He may establish His Cvenant - Gd s Purpse, His Will and fr His Name sake!
2 Gd s presence with us is a blessing Mses prayer and Gd s answer (Exdus 33:13 15) 3 Nw therefre, I pray, if I have fund grace in Yur sight, shw me nw Yur way, that I may knw Yu and that I may find grace in Yur sight. And cnsider that this natin is Yur peple. 14 And He said, My Presence will g with yu, and I will give yu rest. 15 Then he said t Him, If Yur Presence des nt g with us, d nt bring us up frm here. Gd s wrking in us is a blessing (Philippians 2:13) fr it is Gd wh wrks in yu bth t will and t d fr His gd pleasure. T misuse Gd s blessings is t use them fr wrng reasns r purpses Gd places high punitive measures fr their misuse. E.g. The Ark f the Cvenant was hly and n ne was allwed t tuch it except appinted nes. It was t be carried. (Numbers 4:15) And when Aarn and his sns have finished cvering the sanctuary and all the furnishings f the sanctuary, when the camp is set t g, then the sns f Khath shall cme t carry them; but they shall nt tuch any hly thing, lest they die. The Ark f the Cvenant was t be carried and nt put n a cart. (2 Samuel 6: 3,6, 7) 3 S they set the ark f Gd n a new cart, and brught it ut f the huse f Abinadab, which was n the hill; and Uzzah and Ahi, the sns f Abinadab, drve the new cart. 6 And when they came t Nachn s threshing flr, Uzzah put ut his hand t the ark f Gd and tk hld f it, fr the xen stumbled. 7 Then the anger f the LORD was arused against Uzzah, and Gd struck him there fr his errr; and he died there by the ark f Gd. Gd has lw tlerance fr thse wh misuse His blessings. Misuse f Gd-given resurces, pwer and psitin brings suffering and pain. Als sicknesses, diseases and pverty. If we knw what is right and still chse t misuse and abuse, this is an act f disbedience. CONSIDER THE GARDEN OF EDEN AND SEE GOD S RESPONSES TO MISUSES OF HIS BLESSINGS Misuse f Resurces (Genesis 2:16 & 17) 16 And the LORD Gd cmmanded the man, saying, Of every tree f the garden yu may freely eat; 17 but f the tree f the knwledge f gd and evil yu shall nt eat, fr in the day that yu eat f it yu shall surely die. Adam and Eve ate what was nt fr eating an act f misuse. What happened? (Genesis 3:6)
3 6 S when the wman saw that the tree was gd fr fd, that it was pleasant t the eyes, and a tree desirable t make ne wise, she tk f its fruit and ate. She als gave t her husband with her, and he ate. What was Gd s respnse? (Genesis 3:16-19) 16 T the wman He said: I will greatly multiply yur srrw and yur cnceptin; In pain yu shall bring frth children; Yur desire shall be fr yur husband, and he shall rule ver yu. 17 Then t Adam He said, Because yu have heeded the vice f yur wife, and have eaten frm the tree f which I cmmanded yu, saying, Yu shall nt eat f it : Cursed is the grund fr yur sake; In til yu shall eat f it all the days f yur life. 18 Bth thrns and thistles it shall bring frth fr yu and yu shall eat the herb f the field. 19 In the sweat f yur face yu shall eat bread till yu return t the grund, fr ut f it yu were taken; fr dust yu are, and t dust yu shall return. Adam and Eve were punished severely What was given t Adam and Eve was cursed. They were nt cursed but what belnged t them was. (Genesis 3:19 ) 19 In the sweat f yur face yu shall eat bread till yu return t the grund, fr ut f it yu were taken; fr dust yu are, and t dust yu shall return. The ther that was cursed was the serpent, mre than the animal kingdm (Genesis 3:14) 14 S the LORD Gd said t the serpent: Because yu have dne this,yu are cursed mre than all cattle, and mre than every beast f the field; n yur belly yu shall g, and yu shall eat dust all the days f yur life. Adam and Eve lst what was rightly theirs (Genesis 3:23) 23 therefre the LORD Gd sent him ut f the garden f Eden t till the grund frm which he was taken. In the parable f the talents, Jesus teaches that the ne wh misused his talent by burying in the grund had it taken frm him. (Matthew 25:25-28) 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid yur talent in the grund. Lk, there yu have what is yurs. 26 But his lrd answered and said t him, Yu wicked and lazy servant, yu knew that I reap where I have nt swn, and gather where I have nt scattered seed. 27 S yu ught t have depsited my mney with the bankers, and at my cming I wuld have received back my wn with interest. 28 S take the talent frm him, and give it t him wh has ten talents. Symblic t the tree f the knwledge f gd and evil tday, is ur tithes Tithes belng t Gd
4 (Leviticus 27:30) 30 And all the tithe f the land, whether f the seed f the land r f the fruit f the tree, is the LORD s. It is hly t the LORD. We are t hnr Gd with ur tithes. (Prverbs 3:9-10) 9 Hnr the LORD with yur pssessins, and with the firstfruits f all yur increase; 10 S yur barns will be filled with plenty, and yur vats will verflw with new wine. It is nt bite-size, faith prmise neither ffering It is Gd s sacred prtin t use it fr any ther purpse is t misuse it. Gd says, we rb Him (Malachi 3:8-9) 8 Will a man rb Gd? Yet yu have rbbed Me! But yu say, In what way have we rbbed Yu? In tithes and fferings. 9 Yu are cursed with a curse, fr yu have rbbed Me, even this whle natin. What is the blessing f Gd when we d nt misuse ur tithes? (Malachi 3:10-12) 10 Bring all the tithes int the strehuse, that there may be fd in My huse, and try Me nw in this, Says the LORD f hsts, If I will nt pen fr yu the windws f heaven and pur ut fr yu such blessing that there will nt be rm enugh t receive it. 11 And I will rebuke the devurer fr yur sakes, s that he will nt destry the fruit f yur grund, nr shall the vine fail t bear fruit fr yu in the field, Says the LORD f hsts; 12 And all natins will call yu blessed, fr yu will be a delightful land, says the LORD f hsts. There are 7 blessings: 7 is the number f perfectin Gd s huse will be prvided fr there is n lack. Ntice it is the first f the 7 blessings Heaven s windw will be pened t yu Gd s supply will be mre than enugh The devurer will be rebuked Our fruit will nt be destryed We shall be fruitful We will be called blessed. Tithes is nt a Msaic Law we learn frm Jacb wh lived earlier than Mses. Jacb said, (Genesis 28:22) And this stne which I have set as a pillar shall be Gd s huse, and f all that Yu give me I will surely give a tenth t yu. Take nte f Abraham wh was befre Jacb (Genesis 14:18-20) 18 Then Melchizedek king f Salem brught ut bread and wine; he was the priest f Gd Mst High. 19 And he blessed him and said: Blessed be Abram f Gd Mst High, Pssessr f heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be Gd Mst High, Wh has delivered yur enemies int yur hand. And he gave him a tithe f all. Jesus emphasized the need t tithe
5 (Matthew 23:23) We t yu, scribes and Pharisees, hypcrites! Fr yu pay tithe f mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters f the law: justice and mercy and faith. These yu ught t have dne, withut leaving the thers undne. CONCLUSION Gd s blessings cannt be wasted. E.g. The feeding f the 5,000. (Jhn 6:12) S when they were filled, He said t His disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, s that nthing is lst. Gd des nt spnsr wastefulness. If yu want mre, d nt misuse by being wasteful. The dwnfall f the prdigal sn was his wastefulness. (Luke 15:13) And nt many days after, the yunger sn gathered all tgether, jurneyed t a far cuntry, and there wasted his pssessins with prdigal living.