Dr. M. DeWayne Anderson

Thanksgiving —  All the Blessings

God has revealed Himself in such a way so that we know Him in His power and infinite supply. He is Jehovah – Jireh, the God who supplies all your need, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19) He is the God of all grace and mercy, who forgives all your sin and iniquities, (Psalms 103:3). He is Jehovah – Rapha, the God who heals all your diseases, (Psalms 103:3). He is the God of our salvation, the God Who provides, and the God Who gives us victory. He is the God Who is always present and gives peace, joy and love. He delivers from our enemies and redeems us from destruction. He is God Almighty Who has all power, strength and ability.

God demonstrated His power to bless when He made this promise to Abraham.

Hebrews 6:13-14 NKJV For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.”

God promised to bless and multiply Abraham and His blessing was so great that it extended beyond his son Isaac. God said He would multiply him until his descendants would be as the stars of the heaven and the sand of the seashore. Then God gave him a bonus blessing that his descendants would possess the gates of their enemies. There is no way to measure the depth of God’s goodness and rich blessing.

Luke 12:24–25  NKJV Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?  And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

Luke 12:26–27 NKJV If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Luke 12:28 NLT And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

Notice how God loads us down with His blessings.

He saves and justifies us by faith in Jesus Christ. He gives us peace through the Lord Jesus Christ and access into this grace in which we stand. He causes us to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Then when trouble and tribulations come, He causes them to produce good and not evil.

God is not finished.

He is the God of much more. Things that the Lord considers to be the most insignificant are huge to us. God knows how to take care of us and His care exceeds the grace, mercy, and peace that we need to enter and remain in His presence. His blessing and care refers to everything that we need. Jesus spoke of God’s ability to supply covering for your body as well as your soul.

God can do this because He is the God of “MUCH MORE.”

Matthew 7:11 NKJV If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

This verse gives several clues about how God blesses us. We have a heavenly Father that is so good that He is able to give good things. He is a good, good Father. He is the God of many blessings because He is our heavenly Father and He delights in doing good. Part of these good things is known by the gifts that God gives His children. Jesus said, “Your Father in heaven gives much more.” Your heavenly Father is a good, good Father. That’s who He is.

James 1:17 NKJV Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

When the descendants of Abraham went into the Land of Promise, it was a good land that God had prepared for them. There was a dual purpose in God doing good for them. God was fulfilling His good promise to Abraham and He wanted everyone to know that He does much more than anyone else can do. When they arrived in the land, it was flowing with the richness and sweetness that God had promised.

Philippians 2:13 NKJV For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

God delights in giving good things to those who ask Him.

Jesus repeated this promise many times. Matthew 7:7 He said, “Ask, and it will be given to you.” John 4:10 He said, “If you knew who it is who says, ‘Give me drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” What He gave was better than what the woman at the well had ever received. In John 16:22-24, Jesus said, “Ask the Father in My name and He will give it to you.” He said, “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

What kind of heavenly Father can do that?

He is a blessing God Who loads us down with His benefits. It is impossible to estimate or know everything God has at His disposal. He has MUCH MORE grace and mercy than you have asked for. He has MUCH MORE power than you have needed. He has MUCH MORE good gifts than you have received. He is the God who heals ALL of your diseases. He is the God who supplies all of your needs according to His riches in glory. He is the God who forgives all your sins and iniquities. He is full of compassion. He is abundant in loving kindness and tender mercies. He knows how to help you in all of your distresses and needs.

Psalm 103:1–2  NKJV Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:

Psalm 103:3–5 NKJV Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,  Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,  Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

When God blesses us, He does things that no one else can do.

Psalms 23 tells us, “He restores our soul. He leads us through the deep valley of the shadow of death, and we do not fear. He causes us to fear no evil. He sustains and feed us in the presence of our enemies. He anoints our head with the oil of joy and our cup runs over. His mercy and goodness follows us all the days of our life. He has prepared an everlasting place for us in His house.”

We should offer Him our highest praise.

Pay close attention to what God does for you.

Romans 5:9-10 NKJV Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

God blesses us by justifying us by Christ’s blood.

The wonder-working power of the blood of Jesus is able to take dirty rotten sinners who are still guilty of sin and cleanse them by Christ’s blood. Our sins have been laid upon Jesus Christ who shed His blood for us on Calvary. By doing this, we have been declared righteous.

By His blood, we are saved from wrath.

This wrath is both the present and future condemnation against all ungodliness. God has stepped in to save us by the blood of Jesus Christ His Son.

We were reconciled to God through the death of His Son.

Left to our own devices, we are enemies of God. God has intervened in our hopelessness. When we could not help ourselves, God stepped in with pure grace.

Think about all of the power that God has invested to keep us by the life of Jesus!

We have not even started understanding His keeping power or the abundant grace of God. We have found a place of shelter and calm assurance in Jesus Christ and God just keeps giving grace upon grace and blessing on top of blessing. The end of this grace, blessing and righteousness is the reign of life.

God wants to change things in your life.

He wants His grace to reign in your life through righteousness and set you free from the condemnation of your past sins. Here is the blessing of this kind of life. You don’t have to wait until you get to heaven to experience the blessings of this new life. Jesus Christ has set us free right now and gives us new joy that does not pass away. The condemnation that was upon each of us that brought terrible consequences has been put away. Every judgment and sentence of death that was against you has been set aside. God has done something wonderful for you.

God sent His own Son to show you that He is the God of many benefits and blessings.

Through Jesus Christ, God keeps on blessing and blessing. Through Jesus Christ, He opens the windows of heaven’s blessings. He keeps pouring out blessing on top of blessing. He saves and He heals you. He satisfies and fills you. He pours out the Spirit of life upon you and gives you joy. He covers you with everything that is needed to bless you with abundant life.