When blessings come upon an individual, they typically are linked to physical and/or spiritual obedience and good works. God plainly tells us that blessings are a result of our actions.
Clearly smart and careful play can be "actions" which lead to a big stack of chips. But let's face it - there are times when other players simply give their chips away. They go "on tilt," go all in pre-flop and walk right into your pocket Aces.
Our point is that gifts are blessings, too - and God gives even better gifts:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. - Ephesians 2:8-9
We mentioned in our last post God sometimes gives blessings to everyone in an area. Salvation is a gift God wants to provide. The question is whether you'll accept it - or think something's fishy about it, and fold.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 6:23
Never dying? Now that's quite a gift! Yet the Bible also shows God doesn't really hand out that blessing to everyone right now....
Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." - Acts 2:38
Here's another "gift" - but in this case, as the Pastor wrote, it's "a result of our actions." And in this case, folding can be a good thing. We need to....
....Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. - Ezekiel 18:30b
Turn to God, to live a life free of offenses and sins. That action can indeed lead to blessings from Him - and luck truly will have nothing to do with them. We'll have one more thought from this article in a future post.
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