Psalm 115:12–18

Commentary

God is the ultimate blessing machine

It is God’s blessing on your life that enables you to make a difference to the lives of others. God is the source of all blessing. He loves to bless you. The psalmist repeats this over and over again. Five times in quick succession he talks about how the LORD will bless us (vv.13–15).

God is not just some multi-millionaire. He is ‘the Maker of heaven and earth… The highest heavens belong to the LORD’ (vv.15b–16a). In his extraordinary generosity, ‘the earth he has given to [us]’ (v.16b).

God loves to bless. The appropriate response to blessing is gratitude: ‘we bless God, oh yes – we bless him now, we bless him always!’ (v.18, MSG).

Prayer

Philippians 2:12–30

Commentary

Be a blessing machine to others

How, in practice, can you make a difference to the lives of those around you?

We are ‘children of God’ (v.15). You are called to be like your Father in heaven, who loves to bless. You have a responsibility to work out your own salvation (to see God’s grace impact every area of your life), but it is he who ‘works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose’ (v.13).

Many people are reluctant to trust God with their future because they fear that God will make them do something that they have no desire to do or will make a mess of their life. Of course, both of these fears are without foundation.

If your will is surrendered to him, God will give you the desire to do whatever he is calling you to do. If he is calling you to a ministry with the poor, that is where your heart will be. If he is calling you to teach, he will give you a desire to teach. If you surrender to his will, he will bring about ‘his good purpose’ (v.13).

What he wants for your life is good. It will not necessarily be easy, but you will not be able to improve on his plan. He will also give you the energy you need: ‘That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure’ (v.13, MSG).

Paul knows the joy of being a ‘blessing machine’. He writes, ‘Do everything readily and cheerfully – no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night’ (vv.14–16a, MSG).

You have the immense privilege of being able to give people not just money, but ‘the word of life’ (v.16a). There is no greater joy than seeing people who are spiritually dead come to life through Jesus.

Paul is willing to give his life with joy for this privilege: ‘But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me’ (vv.17–18).

Paul then gives two examples of friends of his who both demonstrated how to be a ‘blessing machine’:

1. Take a genuine interest in others

   Timothy was one of Paul’s closest friends and is often mentioned in his letters. His loyalty and help were so great that Paul describes it as being ‘like a son with his father’ (v.22).

   Paul pays tribute to his friend, ‘He is loyal, and genuinely concerned for you’ (v.20, MSG). Paul compares this to the blight of self-interest, saying, ‘Most people around here are looking out for themselves’ (v.21, MSG).

   Timothy was a ‘blessing machine’ because he took a ‘genuine interest’ in the welfare of God’s children (v.20). Timothy’s interest was totally authentic: ‘the real thing’ (v.22, MSG). Paul says that he ‘served with me in the work of the gospel’ (v.22).

2. Show courage on behalf of others

   Epaphroditus was also a loyal friend to both Paul and the Philippians. His true character comes across in both the big and little things, and often it is the little things that are most telling. Having become seriously ill, almost to the point of death, Epaphroditus is troubled, not because he is ill and close to death, but because they might have been upset by it. He was like those who, when ill, are not so much worried by the illness as by the fact that they might be a burden to their family or friends.

   Paul describes Epaphroditus as a ‘brother, fellow-worker and fellow-soldier’ (v.25). Epaphroditus had been prepared to ‘risk his life’ for the sake of his friend Paul (v.30). This expression is actually more literally translated as ‘gambling his life’.

   In the early church, there were societies of men and women who called themselves ‘the gamblers’, who ministered to the sick and those in prison. For example, Cyprian, a bishop of Carthage, showed remarkable courage during the plague, which began in AD 250. Where everyone else fled from the sick and the dead, Cyprian and other Christians buried the dead, nursed the sick and saved the city at the risk of their own lives.

   Epaphroditus gambled his life by associating himself with Paul, who was in prison on a capital charge, thereby risking the same charge as Paul. Epaphroditus showed reckless courage on behalf of Paul. He too was a ‘blessing machine’.

Prayer

Jeremiah 4:1–2

Commentary

Don’t turn away from God’s blessing

If you are experiencing the blessing of walking in a close relationship with God, those around you ‘will get caught up in the blessing’ (4:2, MSG).

The prophet Jeremiah urges the people to return to the Lord (v.1). God longs to bless you. ‘You must get rid of your stinking sin paraphernalia and not wander away from me anymore. Then you can say words like, “As God lives ...” and have them mean something true and just and right. And the godless nations will get caught up in the blessing’ (vv.1b–2a, MSG).

God longed to bless his people and all the nations, but they turned away from this blessing. Jeremiah warned the people of the dangers of turning from God to false idols: ‘You cut and hurt a lot of people to get where you are’ (v.34, MSG). They have been unfaithful (3:1b).

Again and again the Lord urges them to return: ‘Return, faithless Israel… for I am merciful… Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and with understanding… How gladly would I treat you like my children and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation. I thought you would call me “Father” and not turn away from following me’ (vv.12,15,19).

The Lord is interested in your heart more than your outward appearance. You cannot pretend with God: ‘Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretence’ (v.10). The Lord urges, ‘Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts’ (4:4). Even in the Old Testament God said it was a circumcised heart (a heart wholly committed to him) that he desired.

If in any way you have turned away from the Lord, return to him today with all your heart.

Prayer