Jen’s Gem: You are blessed!
As I write this week’s blog post, I am sitting at the kitchen table in my childhood home. I returned for my high school reunion (we won’t say which one) and I am looking forward to seeing the many friends I spent four years of my life with so many decades ago.
This event has made me ponder those days of yesteryear and the person I was as I roamed the halls of a building that has since been sold. None of my fellow classmates nor I can revisit those hallowed halls, auditorium, or football field where many memories were made and still cherished to this day.
We cannot turn back time.
I wonder if Jesus’ disciples wished to hit rewind after His death. They missed their friend deeply and their hearts were grieved as they watched Him being taken down from the Cross. They hid in a locked room so they would not face the same fate.
But then…
In three short days, there Jesus was…risen from the dead. In a sense, turning back the clock to His days of walking the earth, sharing the Gospel. The disciples were elated! I mean who wouldn’t be? Some doubted it was really Jesus. We all know the story of “doubting Thomas” who was adamant in his disbelief until he touched Jesus’ wounds.
“Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”” (John 20:29 NKJV).
In a way, you can’t blame Thomas. I mean, it does stretch the brain cells to think that Jesus could’ve really risen from the dead, despite Him saying He would do so multiple times. Yet, how many of us today place more credence in what we see, rather than what we read in God’s Word?
Romans 10:17 says “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Thomas heard Jesus preach and teach for years, but still he doubted. Note Jesus’ words above – blessed are those who have NOT seen yet believed. Do you know who the “those” are that He is talking about? You and me!
We have not seen Jesus. We did not live 2,000 years ago. We did not walk with Him or talk with Him, yet He calls us blessed IF we believe He is who He says He is.
Blessed! And not just some teensy, tiny blessing, but knock your socks off blessings as it says in Ephesians 1:3. We are blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing that exists right now in heaven. Whoa!
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (NKJV).
I don’t know about you, but Sign. Me. Up. I could use “every spiritual blessing in heaven” right about now. How about you?
Well, guess what? As a believer in Jesus’ death and resurrection, they are all yours!
Every last one of them. There’s an Amazon warehouse in heaven filled with these blessings and you don’t even need Amazon Prime to get them. You simply need to believe in the One who died and rose again and forgave all of your sins.
That’s it you say? Yep, that’s it. Maybe there was a time in your life when God was not real to you. Maybe you disregarded God’s Word as simply a history book filled with nice stories of people who lived thousands of years ago. Maybe, like doubting Thomas, you have a hard time believing what you cannot see.
That’s ok. Everyone has doubts. Everyone gets confused. Everyone has to find their own way to faith. But guess who will be waiting with open arms when you do? Jesus.
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6 NKJV).
I am excited to see my high school friends, however it pales in comparison to one day seeing Jesus in heaven.