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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: BLESSED (03/07/19)
Passing Michael in the hall at church, Martha paused and greeted him, “Hi, how are you today?” to which he replied, “I’m blessed! How are you?”

Martha answered, “Blessed and highly favored!”

Curious, Michael continued, “What do you mean you are blessed and highly favored? Did you get the job that you were praying for?”

“Yes! I did, indeed! What about you?” Martha replied.

Michael could hardly contain himself. “I got a raise and now my wife and I will qualify for a loan large enough to purchase our dream home!”

Both chimed in unison, “Hallelujah, Praise God!”

Sound familiar? What do people mean when they say they are blessed? Do they mean that they got a raise, got married, bought a house, came into some money? What do we mean when we, like Martha and Michael, say we are “blessed”? Are we saying that our life is successful i.e., that it is the “Christian Good Life”? With everything going right in our lives, are we truly the most blessed of all? Do we feel self-sufficient and proud, even self-righteous? Is it because of our hard work that we have attained all of these blessings? Could it possibly be a way of boasting while trying to sound humble?

Here is how Jesus describes “blessed”:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:3–4, 10–11)

“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:28)

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven.” (Romans 4:7 quoting Psalm 32:1)

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial." (James 1:12)

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” (Revelation 14:13, 19:9)

Oh, how different! May we seek the Lord with our whole hearts and let go of the temporal. Let's let Jesus change what we mean when we say that we are "blessed".


All scriptures are from the ESV.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
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This article has been read 504 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
C D Swanson 
03/14/19
Great messages in this well written entry.

Thank you.
Blessings~
Joanney Uthe 
03/14/19
I really enjoyed the contrast between a worldly view of being blessed and a Biblical view. Great job on this devotional.
Nancy Sullivan 
03/15/19
A challenging word for each one to grasp the true meaning of "blessed and highly favored". Nicely done.
Laurie Glass 
03/15/19
You make a good point in this piece. Nicely done.
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
03/15/19
You make some great points in this Bible study. I like the questions you suggest that the reader ask herself and the Scripture you picked is a great fit to the message.
Barbara Culler 
03/18/19
Actually, I rarely hear anyone respond that they are blessed. And I've never heard anyone say that they are highly favored. That is something to think on!