You 'feeling' your blessings?

"A man should always consider how much he has more than he wants." (Joseph Addison) 

“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs." (Matthew 5:3) How much do you 'have' compared to what you 'need'? For many of us, our need appears greater than what we have, but in truth, we have been given so much - we just don't always remember how great those blessings are. As Addison reminds us, it is our duty to consider (reflect upon) our many blessings instead of always focusing so intently on our wants.

The more we recognize our need for God's grace, the less we focus on all the petty 'wants' we have in life. The closer we press into a relationship with Jesus, the less we find ourselves pining after things that don't matter all that much. God blesses those who recognize their need for him - with his entire Kingdom. If that doesn't make you feel a little bit special today, think about it a little longer. We have been given all we need in Christ Jesus.

A need is something essential to life. A want isn't exactly essential, but we crave or desire it. We sometimes get those two confused, focusing on all the wrong stuff, or coming at life with a totally off-kilter view of what it is that will make us 'happy', 'fulfilled', or 'blessed'. The message is that we have already received the biggest blessing we could ever need or want! God gives us all that is necessary for life, but he doesn't always make a way for us to enjoy or achieve all our desires.

The other side of that coin is that our desires begin to 'morph' a bit the closer we get to Jesus. There is a transition that occurs mentally and that begins to affect our desires. Perhaps this is why scripture tells us, "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires." (Psalm 37:4) It is also important to recognize that "Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." (Matthew 6:21) If we are struggling a bit with 'feeling our blessings', maybe we need to focus a little less on the feeling and a bit more on the connection we have with Jesus. We'll find all we need in him - all we want will begin to seem a little less important as we do. Just sayin!