Have you received God’s blessing in your life? What does God’s blessing look like?

God desires to bless and to keep his children with his presence and delight, with his graciousness, and with his peace.

In the oldest blessing from the book of Numbers, the fourth book of the Pentateuch, Moses writes this blessing: “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26, ESV).

Do you live in such a way that if Jesus returned right now you would be comfortable with how he finds the condition of your life?

Are you ready for Jesus to return? Is your house in order to welcome King Jesus when he comes again to judge the living and the dead?

The Nicene Creed professes that Jesus “ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” And “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.” Jesus is in authority and on his throne and Jesus will assume his authority and bring his kingdom here “on earth as it is in heaven.”

What are you thankful for? Can you list all the ways you are thankful to God?

We have so much to be thankful for. God’s goodness and providence is endless. We should give thanks to God with all our heart as we reflect on who God is and all God has done.

The Psalmist writes, “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.” (Psalm 9:1, ESV).

Are you thankful for the people around you? What about the people closest to you, are you thankful for them? How do people know you are thankful for them?

We should be thankful for others and express our gratitude for them often. Being thankful and expressing it brings great joy and encouragement to others and to ourselves.

The Apostle Paul wrote of his gratitude for the church in Philippi and encouraged them, saying, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:3-6, ESV).

Do kings have a king? Is there authority and power above every authority and power? Do rulers have a ruler? Who is your king?

God promised to give King David an everlasting kingship that would never end.

This everlasting kingship was what God spoke of through the Prophet Jeremiah, when he said, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23:5-6, ESV).

Why should we give thanks? What is the value of giving thanks? Is there a right or wrong time or circumstance to give thanks? Are you thankful?

People who are thankful are happier people. Giving thanks is essential for every follower of Jesus. We should rejoice, pray, and give thanks at all times. There is never a wrong time or circumstance to give thanks.

The Apostle Paul wrote the Thessalonian church encouraging them to give thanks, saying, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, ESV).

Have you ever been transferred from a negative and dark place in your life to a positive and light-filled space?

God desires to transfer us from darkness to the light of his kingdom.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian church about this divine transfer, saying, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14, ESV).

What does Jesus the King and his Kingdom look like? Are we anticipating the Kingdom of God?

Jesus Christ is King. The Kingdom of God is the rule and the reign of Jesus.

The Prophet Isaiah spoke of the King and his Kingdom when he said, “Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” (Isaiah 60:3, ESV).

Jesus is the King of Kings and every nation and ruler will ultimately come to his brilliant light and submit to his authority.

Who is your king? Who rules over your life with supremacy? Are you your own ruler? Or are you governed by God?

Jesus is our true King. The question is, does the way we live our lives reflect that we truly see him as our King?

In the time of Jesus’ crucifixion some believed that Jesus was King and others doubted his Kingship.

The gospel of Luke tells us, “The soldiers also mocked Jesus, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’” (Luke 23:36-38, ESV).

What good are you doing? Do you share? Do you consider doing good and sharing a sacrificial offering to God?

God’s people are to do good in the world and to share what we have generously. When we do good and share, it is a sacrifice that pleases God.

The Author of Hebrews writes, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” (Hebrews 13:16, ESV).

What will the end of times look like? How will we know the end has come and what should we do in response to it?

In Luke’s gospel account, Jesus addressed the end of the age, saying, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.” (Luke 21:10-11, ESV).

Jesus described the conflict and the natural disasters that would occur at the end of time. Jesus said that it would be accompanied by awesome signs from heaven.

Where do you direct your thoughts? Do you direct your thoughts to the things of the world or do you fix your mind on the kingdom of God? Where is your mind?

What we fix our minds upon is important. Our thoughts become our words, and our words become our actions. It matters where our minds are focused.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian church, encouraging them with these words, saying, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:2, ESV).

What gifts has God given you? Are you using God’s good gifts for God’s good purposes in the world?

God has given us all gifts and skills to be used to glorify him with our lives. We all have something to offer and to give.

In his first letter, the Apostle Peter wrote, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (1 Peter 4:10, ESV).

Do you fear God? Are you careful to respect God’s good name? Does God know you? Are you remembered by God?

The wisdom of the Proverbs says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10, KJV).

We know God and revere his name when we fear God. When we fear God, he sees us, he hears us, and he knows us as his own. God remembers us when we fear him and revere his holy name.

Are you at peace in your life? Is the peace you are experiencing perfect?

God desires his children to experience his perfect peace. We experience God’s perfect peace by keeping our minds on him and by trusting him.

God spoke through the Prophet Isaiah about his perfect peace, saying, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26:3, ESV).

Do you keep busy doing good deeds? Do you work hard in your labors? Do you ever grow weary in doing good?

God calls us to work steady and diligently. As followers of Jesus, we are called to serve well, to do good work, and to work doing good in the world. This faithful labor can be tiresome, we can grow weary, and we can even burn out.

The Apostle Paul wrote the church in Thessalonica, encouraging them with these words: “As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” (2 Thessalonians 3:13, ESV).

Were you made for this world or for another world?

In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world” (C.S. Lewis).

If we are unsettled by this life and the way things are in this world, we should look to the life to come. We are to obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul wrote the church in Thessalonica, saying, “God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14, ESV).

Is God the God of the dead or the God of the living?

God is the author of life and the giver of life everlasting. When we are in God, there is no death, because God is the God of the living.

In Luke’s gospel account Jesus assured the Sadducees of the resurrection, saying, “But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.” (Luke 20:37-38, ESV).

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15, ESV).

Who are you? It is a complicated question. Equally complicated is the question, "Who were they?" when referring to the people of the Bible. If we are to understand the rich meaning of the scriptures, we must understand who the people of the Bible were. When we consider this question, what we are really asking about is culture.

The word culture is derived from the Latin cultura, meaning "to cultivate.” To understand culture, it requires an understanding of language and knowledge differences, and perceptions, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors, which are formed through patterns of human activity and symbolic structures, which give these activities significance, meaning, and importance.

Would you trade your life for a better life? If someone could deliver you from all the darkness in life and give you light, would you receive that good gift?

God desires for us to transfer our lives for the life he has for us.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.” (Colossians 1:13, ESV).