God is blessed…and so are we!

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

This past Saturday night a few IBCBers got together to watch some of our children while their parents went out on a date night.  The children—big and little—enjoyed a variety of activities including playing with toys, batting around balloons, driving toy cars, and coloring pictures.  After finishing her coloring, one little girl brought me the picture to show me the results of her play.  She looked up at me with anticipation in her eyes longing for approval.  That sweet face touched my heart and I responded to her expectation by kneeling down, looking her in the eye, and saying, “Thank you for sharing your picture with me!  You chose some beautiful colors.  Well done!”  A smile broke out on her face as she ran away to play with the balloons.

Stop and think about it…in a similar way:  God takes pleasure in you!  When you earnestly seek God in faith—trusting him with your life, looking to him in belief, God is pleased.  Joy springs up in our heavenly Father’s heart when we come to him as his children longing for him, his nearness, his approval, his smile!  To put in words we used on Sunday:  God is happy!  God is blessed!

And so are we!  When we earnestly seek God, God rewards us with his presence, his fills us with his power, and he gives us a purpose.  God is pleased to reward us…to approve of us…to give us his joy.  God blesses us, and we are filled with happiness.  Everyone longs for happiness.  That’s a God-given need.  However, our pursuit of happiness often leads us astray to seeking it from money, power, selfish desires, etc.  The Bible reminds us that those who long for happiness can find it in the one who is happy…or blessed:  God himself!

Join us in our journey of seeking God’s blessed-ness…God’s happiness…as we study the “Beatitudes”—Matthew 5:3-10.  Consider memorizing these verses, meditating on them regularly, and praying that God would build these character qualities in your life.  Make yourself available to God through these practices, and let his happiness be yours as God rewards you with these virtues of Christlikeness.

Blessed to be a blessing to others,

Scott Corwin, Pastor

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