Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, Ephesians 1:3
Dear Lord,
I am unable to give You the praise You deserve for who You are and what You have blessed me with – freedom from my sins in this life and eternal life in Christ. There is no blessing under the sun that can even begin to compare to the blessing I will forever hold in You, Jesus.
This world proclaims "hashtag blessed” so much on their Facebooks, Tik Toks, and IG profiles when it comes to worldly things; to temporal things that will soon be passing away, whether that means next year or in the next 50 years. Either way, this world is all passing away very soon, and eternity awaits every single one of us - whether that's heaven or hell. For true Christians, it’s the new heavens and the new earth. And let's quickly clarify this glorious Truth: According to Scripture, the new heavens and the new earth is a tangible, physical place, in which we will all have tangible, physical (upgraded and indestructible) bodies, serving an awesome purpose in the Kingdom of Heaven, living wholeheartedly for the glory of God, with a height of joy that none of us have ever experienced before. We will not be disembodied spirits floating around aimlessly as many people imagine heaven to be. And we will still all recognize one another and know who we are when we get to heaven. You guys, no need for a bucket list in this life, ok? The only thing you better have in your bucket is Jesus Christ. So if you truly have Christ, you have absolutely nothing to be anxious for in this life. You'll have all of eternity to do all your travels and live your life to the fullest on the new earth...which will blow this life clear out of the water. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body (Philippians 3:20).
Invest in Your Eternity
Everything we do here on earth; every single thing we say; every single thing we think; every single choice we make, has an eternal and lasting impact on our souls in the next life. “Our work is great; our time is short; the consequences of our labors are infinite.” - John Newton With your eyes set on heaven, make this moment and every single day count for Jesus. Deny yourself. Take up your cross daily. Live for Him in all that you do. Place the glory of God at the center of your thoughts, speech, and life - and not yourself, like the world is always telling you to do. Don't listen to the world. It's full of countless layers of deception aiming to drag souls to hell in every way it can. Listen to the Word of God. It's absolute Truth and the only roadmap to eternal life in Christ. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you as well (Matthew 6:33).
Invest in your eternity wisely, dear ones. "Life is short and eternity is long, and so it is only reasonable to live this short life in the light of eternity." - Charles Spurgeon. Also, Christ could be coming back at any time, and the Word of God commands us to be responsible and prepared for His arrival. Whether Jesus comes here first or we go there, the time is negligible. We're all inevitably going to stand before Him one day, and that means every day counts. Each and everyday matters, and every choice we make matters too. Every time we read His Word it matters, and every time we don't, it matters. Every time we trust Him and obey Him, it matters, and every time we don't, it matters. It all matters. So everything that we do here on this temporary earth, everything, will have some type of lasting impact over there.
Now we know that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone, and there's nothing we can do that could ever earn our salvation. But as Christians, who we are here and what we do on earth now is to prepare us for who we are going to be and what we're going to do over there. Our present actions are determining our heavenly statuses that will be fixed for all eternity.
The Wisest Investment to Make
The only real perspective to have on this life we live - is an eternal one. This world is but a test. The only way you pass it is with Jesus. In other words, be responsible with your eternal soul. Prepare wisely, and first and foremost, examine yourself to make sure you're truly in the faith. Millions profess to know Christ, but don't truly follow Him. The faith that says but does not do is really unbelief. Millions are either still following themselves, or they are deceived and following a distorted version of Christianity and a counterfeit Jesus. (Read the book of 1st John to examine the authenticity of your faith). Know what the Word of God says for your life, be responsible to interpret it accurately, and trust it; which your faith will be proven true through your obedience to it. What true Christians do here and now will ring in the halls of heaven forever. If you're not desiring to obey and glorify Christ here on earth, what makes you think you'd all a sudden start obeying and glorifying Christ when you died? That's why living all for the glory of God is how you really should be living this life. Living for the glory of God is the wisest and greatest investment you could ever make, with the biggest payoff that quite frankly, would make a multi-billionaire look like a pauper. So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
#Blessed Vs. Blessed in Christ
The world assigns "hashtag blessed" to things like money, material things, earthly riches, houses and cars, vacations and travel, status and notoriety, degrees and awards, bank investments, retirement plans and portfolios, good health and physical strength, vanity and external beauty, jobs and careers. Although we all like those things, often times for many people those earthly blessings can quickly turn into idols; things that take us captive and steal our focus away from the eternal blessing that really matters - the blessings of all blessings - Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Jesus should be the One at the center of our thoughts and focus every. single. day. That's because He is the way, the Truth, and the life (John 14:6). And we were made for Him, and we were made to bring Him glory. That's our main purpose in life and why we were created - to bring God glory. Only when we live out our true purpose, will we discover true joy and peace, no matter what chaos or turmoil may be surrounding us. Joy and peace naturally flow from trusting and obeying God. Sorrow and confusion flows from trusting and living for oneself.
My Supreme Treasure
In reality, to have Jesus Christ is to be truly blessed beyond all comparison; spiritually and eternally blessed beyond our wildest imaginations; infinitely rich beyond our wildest dreams. If I have Jesus Christ, and yet I'm stripped of everything and everyone else, I am nevertheless blessed and rich beyond all incredible measure. I have eternal life by God's grace through faith in Christ. And not only do I have eternal life, but Jesus has saved me from my sins so that I may also live an abundant life of joy in this dark and evil world. I have joy because I am at peace with God. Being at peace with God means I am right with God through faith in Christ. Being right with God is a peace that surpasses all understanding; a peace the world can't comprehend. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1). And furthermore, I have nothing to fear - past, present, or future - because I have Christ. Without Christ, I would have everything to fear...the wrath of God. Jesus is my supreme treasure, and I count everything else as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. (Philippians 3:8).
Lord, help me to suffer well for You, deny myself, live for You, love You, and be a blessing to others, boldly proclaiming the gospel and pointing everyone to the awesome glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Jesus always says it best because He is the Best. This is what it means to be truly blessed:
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:3-12 esv
All glory belongs to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.
Love, Jenna
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. Matthew 7:24-27 esv