You want to be blessed, right? Of course, you do; we all do! The real question is, do you believe that God wants to bless you? The truth is that God really does want to bless you because He loves you so much! In spite of what your circumstances may suggest, He desires to bless you abundantly. Come what may, you must be determined to believe for blessings.
Each year, I choose a new scripture to keep me focused and on track, and this year I chose Luke 1:45. We all know the story of Mary and Elizabeth, but I think we often overlook the revelation wrapped inside of verse 45. After finding out that she would have a miraculous pregnancy, Mary went to visit Elizabeth. During their greeting, Elizabeth’s baby leaped inside of her, she was filled with the Holy Spirit and then she said, “blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:45 NIV) What a greeting and encounter with Holy Spirit!
Elizabeth was an older woman who had always longed to have a baby. It seemed like it would never happen for her. I can image that she wondered if God even wanted to bless her. She felt disgraced and overlooked by those around her. I wonder if there were days when Elizabeth did not believe for the blessing anymore? There have been days like that for me. I can certainly relate to Elizabeth, and I am sure that you can too.
Has God promised you anything at all? If so, you must believe that He will fulfill that promise in your life. Elizabeth was teaching you and I that if we want God’s promises to happen in our lives, then we first have to believe Him. We have to believe that He can and will do it, simply because He loves us and always keeps Him promises. That can sometimes be hard to remember. Here are a few other guarantees to hold on to as you believe God for blessings:
- If you live a righteous life in the sight of the Lord, then He longs to fulfill His promises to you.
Luke chapter 1 tells us that Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah lived a righteous life before the Lord. Although their prayer request had not been answered, as quickly as they would have liked, they still chose to live right. I suspect that they also kept on believing for the blessing.
- If you continue to pray and seek Him, then He longs to fulfill His promises to you.
Zechariah was a priest, so he spent a great deal of time praying to the Lord. I believe Elizabeth spent a lot of time in prayer as well. She had a longing in her heart, and she knew that God was the only one able to answer her request. Although it was difficult, she kept on believing for the blessing as she prayed.
- If you continue to be faithful and obedient to Him, then He longs to fulfill His promises to you.
The Bible also records that she and Zechariah were faithful and obedient to God. They honored God with their lives and kept His commands. The weeks and months and years passed by, but they continued to remain obedient to God. Even when they had gotten very old and had yet to see the blessing, they remained faithful to God. Somewhere deep down inside, Elizabeth must have still been believing for the blessing.
By the time Elizabeth and Mary got together, and she felt the ‘promise’ leap inside of her she must have just been completely overwhelmed by God’s goodness! She realized that she and Mary had been richly blessed because they believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises, and He did.
What is it that helps you to keep on believing for blessings?
