Blessed By the Best

Have you ever heard that expression, "Stop and smell the roses"? I have a time or two, and to be honest, I'd like to know where all these roses are that we should be stopping and smelling. lol. But in all reality, recently I have found myself taking time to sit back and appreciate how incredibly blessed I am. I have a beautiful wife who is absolutely incredible at supporting me and pushing me beyond my comfort zones in ministry. I have two beautiful kids, one almost entering manhood, and the other, just learning to walk and form her first few words. I'm blessed with a home that provides more than enough room. A business that is flourishing, and a role in ministry that is incredibly rewarding. A local church that truly loves Jesus with pastors that I can learn so much from. I am almost 25% of the way done with the program at Charis Bible College where I am learning so much and it has been far more rewarding than I even thought it would be. When I stop to evaluate my life, it can truly be summed up in one word.... "blessed".

However, lately, I have found myself in a season of, at times, feeling like I do not deserve the life I get to lead today. The enemy tries to creep in and remind me of my past mistakes. He points out my current flaws, and tries to attack my joy, but I have become better and better at recognizing the attacks when they come and rebuking them. That ability comes with spending time digging into recognizing who we are in Christ. Studying with intention exactly who we are and what his promises for our lives are. After spending a significant time devouring these two almost endless lists, confidence in who I am began to exude. I was able to begin helping others learn to see who they are in Christ, and what God's promises mean for their lives. This crucial step is so liberating. It is so freeing when we truly understand who we are in him. I will include a list that I use of who we are in him at the bottom of this post. When it comes to promises, I encourage you to just pick up the bible and start reading. They are truly endless.

Just this week after service I was praying with someone who's eyes have just begun to be open to who they are in Christ. And you can see the joy and the sparkle in their eyes when the conversation moves to just that. When we begin to truly understand who we are in Christ, it opens a door of acceptance that is very hard for the enemy to shut. It crushes the enemy. The enemy wants us to lack confidence. The enemy wants us to think we are unworthy or undeserving. The enemy wants us to focus on our past mistakes. The enemy wants us to focus on ANYTHING other than who we are in Christ Jesus. Because when we begin to wrap our heads around the fact that we are loved, we are accepted, we are a child of God, we are united with God in Spirit, we are redeemed and forgiven, we are a new creation..... Once those things begin to become real to us, it hurts the ability of the enemy to crush us substantially.

Back to this morning though. I found myself questioning why I am so blessed. I started to think about all the ways in which I don't deserve the blessing on my life. Obviously this was an attack of the enemy, because we should immediately understand that we are "Blessed by the Best" as Andrew Wommack says. However today that was not my initial thought and that attack lingered for a bit. I found it carrying over to find myself frustrated with things I wouldn't normally get frustrated with. When we allow the enemies attacks to penetrate us, it becomes easier for those attacks to carry over to other areas as well. Luckily I had a day full of bible college lectures and studying planned. What do you know? The first lecture of the day was from Andrew Wommack himself. I have been taking a class disecting "Relationship with God", and he was speaking about being "Blessed by the Best". About half way through this message I had to pause the lecture because something hit me right in the chest. A clear as day message from the Holy Spirit within me. "Tom I challenged you to pray differently and you did. Now God is answering those prayers, and you wonder why you are blessed? You know exactly why you are blessed. Because you asked for it and God loves you more than you will ever understand. But don't worry Tom, I'm here, I've got you. I'll hit you with the truth when you need it. Love you bud".

Crazy right? Well I'm coming to find out that messages from Him aren't all that crazy any more, and they become clearer and clearer all the time. Sometimes I still don't get clear answers in some areas, but then times like today, He speaks to me directly, almost audibly. See near the beginning of the semester I was taking a few classes that really challenged my prayer life. Specifically, the way in which I was praying for my family, myself, and my ministry. After being challenged I added a few new prayers to my daily talks with him. Which soon became several times a day. The prayers I added were the following:

Work in me, giving me the desire and power to do what pleases you.

Holy Spirit teach me to love those that may be difficult to love.

Bless my family. Endlessly.

Thank you that no one owes me anything.

Bless me with more than enough so that in turn we can bless others even more.

Teach / Show me just how much you love me. Feel free to show off a little God.

Instill in me a level of love for others that knows no bounds.

God make me more and more usable for your glory every day.

Allow my life to be a living testimony for Your Glory to others.

After obeying the Holy Spirit and taking some time to acknowledge the very prayers I have been praying almost constantly the last few months, it was clear as day why I find myself incredibly blessed. I have literally been asking him for it. This acknowledgement also made me instantly realize that by questioning the blessings, I had allowed the enemy to enter and frustrate me in other areas very quickly. This found myself not loving the difficult, and not exhibiting a love for others that knows no bounds, which are also things that I had been focused on. This is a great example of the enemy succeeding in one small area, getting me to question the blessing on my life lately, and use that to attack other areas. Thankfully, I was able to accept the gut check rather quickly. I pray that this can continue to correct itself even faster with more concerted effort and focus on not allowing the enemy's initial attack to penetrate. At the same time I am extremely thankful for my ongoing commitment to growing closer to Him through his Word each and every day, allowing for this open and clear communication.

So I challenge you to look at your prayer life. Are there prayers that you can add to your daily talks with Him. God loves you more than you will ever be able to fully grasp. God wants to bless you, so that you can in turn bless others. But take note, be careful what you pray for because he may just answer it, and when he does it is on us to recognize that He is the reason!

Before we part ways I did want to share an app that our lead pastor shared with us some time ago. It's called "ECHO" and it's a great tool for keeping your prayers in one place. It has multiple functions for different prayers, and has been an incredible tool for me this past year. You should be able to find it on your phone's app store.

A list of "Who I am in Him". There are so many more. This is a small list. You will find hundreds of them throughout the bible.

• I am loved. 1 John 3:3

• I am accepted. Ephesians 1:6

• I am a child of God. John 1:12

• I am Jesus' friend. John 15:14

• I am a joint heir with Jesus, sharing His inheritance with Him. Romans 8:17

• I am united with God and one spirit with Him. 1 Corinthians 6:17

• I am a temple of God. His Spirit and his life lives in me. 1 Corinthians 6:19

• I am a member of Christ's body. 1 Corinthians 12:27

• I am a Saint. Ephesians 1:1

• I am redeemed and forgiven. Colossians 1:14

• I am complete in Jesus Christ. Colossians 2:10

• I am free from condemnation. Romans 8:1

• I am a new creation because I am in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17

• I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved. Colossians 3:12

• I am established, anointed, and sealed by God. 2 Corinthians 1:21

• I do not have a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

• I am God's co-worker. 2 Corinthians 6:1

• I am seated in heavenly places with Christ. Ephesians 2:6

• I have direct access to God Ephesians. 2:18

• I am chosen to bear fruit John. 15:16

• I am one of God's living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house. 1 Peter 2:5