“I know I am loved and blessed because God has been so patient and merciful towards me.”
He blesses me with His patience, He shows me His unconditional and unending love.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve experienced a lot of highs and lows in my life. Some experiences happened to me and others I caused by my choices. This is true whether the experience was good or bad.
Thank God for His patience. Mine would have run out a long time ago! He’s watched me continue to sin in some areas of my life and ask for forgiveness again….He’s witnessed my disobedience (or what I like to call delayed obedience to make myself feel better) even when I profess to trust Him.
But in His infinite mercy, He has and continues to bless me. I’m not talking about material stuff, although I am very grateful for those blessings too…
More than words
#loved or #blessed are popular hashtags on social media. Although as daughters of the King and sisters in Christ, we might have good intention behind using them, have you noticed that they are used by those who don’t believe in Him too?
Of course, we are all God’s children, so my point is not that non-believers are not #loved or #blessed, but I want to challenge you to think more deeply about what those words mean so that they will be a true encouragement in your life and not just hashtags or slogans we wear on Christian t shirts.
What does #blessed mean to you?
When I named this company loved and blessed, I honestly was thinking about being blessed in the way the secular world looks at it. Back in 2014 I wanted to encourage you to remember how much God loves you and how much He has blessed you with. I started this business out of my own pain over infertility and the motherhood I have not been blessed with, so I encouraged myself by remembering that although we didn’t have a child, we were still so blessed because of all the other things we did have.
Of course we were and are very #blessed with so many things, but over the years, as I’ve matured in Christ, the phrase “loved and blessed” has grown to mean something deeper to me.
Love is a blessing.
I’ve written so many posts about just how loved you are. I’m sure you never get tired of hearing it, LOL, but if you need a reminder, read this post I wrote about God’s unconditional love for you.
The greatest gift is to be loved.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. - John 3:16
We love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)
It’s only natural that because we are loved, we love Him and want to bless His Holy Name (Psalm 103:1), by living a life He is proud of - a life worthy of Jesus’ sacrifice.
Blessed and Made Holy
In Colossians 1:21-23, Paul says “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation - if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I Paul, have become a servant.”
Did you catch that? “He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight…”
Through Christ’s death, we have been consecrated with His blood. We have been called out of darkness to walk with Him in His Light and Truth.
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:13-16)
A life worthy of Jesus’ sacrifice is blessed. Not because of the material things we receive or the good things that happen to us, but because it is being made holy day-by-day.
Through our obedience…
“...Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” — Luke 11:28
Through our hunger for righteousness…
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” — Matthew 5:6
Through our pursuit of peace…
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” — Matthew 5:9
Through the trials we persevere through…
“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.” — James 1:12
Living loved and blessed
So although it is still true that you (and I) are loved and blessed, because God loves us and because we have been blessed with so many things and experiences…..living loved and blessed means that we fully trust God because we know how deeply He loves us and we are blessed even by our trials, because we know God is using them to make us more holy with each day.
Just like in the beginning, God finished His work on the 7th day and rested and blessed it and made it holy, God is doing the same in your life too. (Genesis 2:3)
He is still at work in your life. He has not finished the work He will do through you. But with each day, through His mercy, His patience and His unending love of you, He is blessing you and making you holy so that you can rest in Him.
Jamila is the founder of loved+blessed. On her personal mission to leave a legacy of encouragement, she blogs about her own life lessons with the hope that it will bring joy into others’ lives and help them find the courage to keep walking in faith knowing that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord. Read her testimony of how God turned her misery into ministry.
