God's Place of Blessing...The World's Place of Cursing

Matthew 11:2-6
"When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples (3) and said to him, 'Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?' (4) Jesus answered them, 'Go and tell John what you hear and see: (5) the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. (6) And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."

Last night during Discipleship Training (for those who are not aware, we are reading The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus) a point surfaced that I would like to discuss a bit more. In the scripture above, we get a glimpse of John the Baptist in prison and facing a death sentence...but also questioning the identity of Jesus. He was the one who leaped in his mother's womb at the presence of Jesus in the womb of Mary. He was also the one who baptized Jesus and recognized him for who he was.

John knew that his call/purpose was to prepare the way for the coming of "one who is more powerful than {him}" (Matt. 3:11). So here he is after completing that task and living a life that represented his dedication to the service of God, facing death because of that very obedience and trust. It is from this place that he begins to question Jesus' identity! Nothing about the place John stands seems remotely blessed.

But Pastor raised a point last night that this may very well be the place and point when John could have heard the voice of God say, "Well Done!"; thereby making that place a very BLESSED place!!! He (Pastor) also posed the question, "What if it means: to be blessed from God's perspective...is to be cursed by the world's perspective?" Do we attach our preconceived notions of what a blessing really is (which stems from our personal and "fleshly" desires) and so only interpret it as something that is "good" for us?

It makes no logical sense how sitting in jail and facing death should be considered an ultimate place of one's blessing. However, it also makes no logical sense how a crucified man from Nazareth should be considered God's ultimate sign of love, sacrifice and power! In 1 Corinthians 1:18, Paul says, "For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." How does it look when we think about blessings differently...and are now more cognizant of recognizing the true blessing of our obedience and God's presence in the midst of every storm. Maybe more of us would find that we struggle less with hearing from God or feeling God's presence. Maybe more of us would find that we fret less about our situations and experience more incomprehensible joy daily. Maybe more of us would find that we are less concerned with outcomes and more concerned with living fully in each moment.......

Blessings,

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