You Are Blessed

By:  Norm Rasmussen

Video Commentary

If you have made Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior ' trusting that His death on the cross paid the price in FULL for all your sins so they will not be held against you on the Judgment Day ' then I want to remind you of something Satan and the world and maybe your own brain doesn't want you believing: YOU ARE BLESSED!

How can I PROVE you have every right to believe you are blessed ' no matter how miserable of a Christian you might be right now ' no matter how frustrated and perhaps discouraged and depressed and faithless you might be?  The Bible clearly states that you are blessed!  You are blessed not because I tell you that you are blessed ' you are blessed because God tells you in holy scripture that you are blessed! 

Please hear me out, dear reader.  Don't let the devil rob you of a HUGE REVELATION the Holy Spirit wants to impart to every disciple of Jesus Christ who doesn't understand this crucially important truth about their position in Jesus Christ.  

Rather than duplicate what is already available, if you haven't yet had the opportunity to read this writing, I would highly encourage you to take the time to read through it.  You'll find more than sufficient Bible promises that clearly state that you have every right as a child of God to BELIEVE you are blessed in Christ Jesus:  Who God The Father Says I Am In Christ

But this writing goes beyond your RIGHT to believe you are blessed.  This writing makes the attempt to help you receive from the Holy Spirit the WISDOM of believing you are blessed in Jesus ' no matter what state you find yourself in down here on this planet.  I'm serious, soldier of the Lord!

Okay ' here is a KEY foundational truth on which to build on and launch from.   In Mark 9:23 (NKJV) Jesus makes this bold and truthful declaration:  

'If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.'

Another KEY foundational truth on which to build on and launch from is Mark 11:22-23.  Again, Jesus is doing the speaking:  

'Have faith in God.  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says.  

"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.'  

Can we see and agree that God is addressing at least TWO KEY points here in these two declarations of Truth, and those two vitally KEY points are:  Our Believing and Confessing?  

Tell me ' how wrong can a Christian possibly BE by starting to confess 'I am blessed in Jesus!' - daily ' hourly ' on EVERY occasion when their logical mind with the devil's help tries to remind them of just how much they AREN'T blessed?  

Let's say you are sick or maybe severely crippled and can't get healed.  And/or maybe you don't have a dime to your name and the bills keep coming in.  You marriage is miserable and may be growing worse.  Your kids refuse to serve Jesus and the whole world is going to hell in a hand basket as far as you're concerned, and you're thinking reading this:  How stupid do you think I AM, Norm, to say 'I am blessed!'  Dude ' you have to be out of your ever-lovin' mind!!!!!

Hey ' I can totally relate!  I've been through that same mental process, believe me.  The condition I found myself in as a Christian of roughly 25 years was clearly obvious to me that God had shut off just about every "blessing" I could imagine at the time ' so don't try to con me into believing I was supposed to start talking like some brainwashed parrot who could say nothing else but:  'Awkk-awkk.  I am blessed in Jesus!  I am blessed in Jesus.  Awkk-Awk, I am blessed in Jesus.' 

Awwwww, but let's go back to what Jesus said:  'If you can believe, all things are possible.'  Is it possible that you are shutting off potential blessings that can come your way by your refusal to CONFESS who God says you ARE in Christ Jesus ' no matter WHAT painful circumstances you find yourself in?  Absolutely!  A wise Christian works HARD at refusing to believe their current circumstances have ANYTHING at all to do with a possible future blessing(s) God may decide to grant them TOMORROW or a day down the road later. 

For we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV).  Anything wrong by having faith in God's Word rather than faith in our difficult circumstances?  Anything WRONG with believing we walk by faith in God's Word rather than by sight (the trying circumstances we may find ourselves in, in other words?).

And no ... I'm not talking about "mind over matter."  I'm talking about letting our "mustard seed" faith in God and faith in God's promises CHANGE the adverse circumstances we currently are facing as GOD determines are circumstances should be - not the way Satan determines they should be.  Satan purposes to have your circumstances DESTROY your faith in God and God's promises in His Word.  God purposes to have you rise above life's adverse circumstances so that FAITH in God rules your life - not circumstances.  

If you and I could rewind the clock of time and go back to when Jesus lived on this earth, and we were able to spend several weeks or months hanging out with Him, I can assure you that if you were to ask Him daily when you first met him, "How are you doing today, Jesus?" ... His answer would always and immediately have been, "Blessed in and of the Father!"

Would He say that to you to try to make you think he was flippantly "super spiritual?"  No.  His reason for doing so would be, first and foremost, to simply declare the truth of the matter, and perhaps more importantly, to "set His mind on things above" so that the evil circumstances He no doubt had to deal with moment by moment didn't pull His faith down to where circumstances would start eroding - contaminating it.   Jesus needed to "walk in faith" more than any other human being has ever had to "walk in faith" to qualify to have the fullness of the Holy Spirit's wisdom and power operating in His life.  Without the fullness of power from the Holy Spirit, it would have been much more difficult for Jesus to resist the temptation to sin ... hence disqualifying Him to be the savior of mankind.

And if Christians are to constantly strive to walk with the Father as Jesus walked with the Father (which we ARE), should we not be purposing to "set our minds on things above" as Jesus did so as not to let the circumstances of this life keep pulling us down ... trying to erode our faith in God and faith in God's Word?  Constantly trying to rob our joy and peace?   Absolutely, son and daughter of the most high God!  

In one very important sense, what we are doing when we force ourselves to say out loud, frequently:  'I am blessed in Jesus!' ' we are waging effective spiritual warfare against the poisonous darts the devil is firing non-stop at our mind 24/7.  It is putting into action:  

Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.  (Ephesians 6:16 NKJV)

This may sound obviously silly to some, but we do NOT stop Satan's fiery darts going into our mind by using the shield of 'sight'.  We do NOT stop Satan's fiery darts going into our mind by using the shield of 'adverse, trying circumstances we are facing.'  We do NOT use the shield of 'human reasoning' to stop Satan's fiery darts going into our mind ... trying to suck every spiritual drop of peace, joy, and hope from us.  Rather: God says the shield of FAITH is what helps stop Satan's fiery darts.   We have to play by God's rules ... not any others, if we are wise.  

God's "rules" work.  As has become a popular saying these days to people who we think are operating in a stupid-zone: "How has that been working out for you?"

Yet there is another weapon a WISE Christian begins to also employ to counter Satan's mind attacks, and that is the weapon of CONFESSING the wisely believed and properly applied Word of God.  In so doing ' it increases our odds greatly of watching God do what we might like to think at the moment as the "IMPOSSIBLE."

NOW, I'm not suggesting that if you have a sickness and/or disease that may be life-threatening, for instance, to start confessing something such as:  'I am not sick.  I am not diseased.'  In my STRONG opinion, that is the same thing as going into DENIAL of matters.  God does not want us operating in denial of any kind. God doesn't want us going off into goofy denial of earthly facts. If you are sick, you are sick.  If you have a potential terminal disease, you have a potential terminal disease.  There is nothing wrong with confessing that earthly FACT in my firm, unwavering opinion.  HOWEVER ' just because you may have a potential terminal sickness and/or disease does NOT mean you aren't blessed in Jesus in heavenly, spiritual places!   You may not YET be blessed with a miraculous healing of your sickness and/or disease ' but your confession may be the difference between getting one or not getting one, dear friend.  Seriously.  

So to apply WISE balance in my situation I might find myself in?  It's perfectly fine with God to confess my earthly circumstances, and it's perfectly fine (EXTREMELY WISE!) to confess my eternal - spiritual truth of matters from God's perspective, which IS:  I am flat blessed in God in my very secure position in Christ Jesus and in ALL spiritual, heavenly places.    

Attitude and gratitude are MUCH BIGGER DEALS with God than what we may realize.  Having a wrong attitude can rob us of earthly blessings God may want to give us, but won't until we begin to get an attitude change.  Getting an attitude change almost becomes impossible to get until we are willing to take on a GRATITUDE change.  Being thankful in ALL situations pays HUGE dividends in your relationship with God. 

If you happen to know me, don't be surprised to hear me say to you if you catch me on a given day in a given mental state of mind, by asking me,  "Hey, Norm, how are things going with you today?"

"Life sucks!!!! ... but I'm blessed in Jesus!  Things are rotten in the flesh, beings you asked ... but I'm FULLY blessed in Jesus!"

That shocks a lot of folks, but I'm preaching a very LOUD message by saying such a thing, though most don't get the point - YET!   Just keep in mind if you hear me say that ... I'm taking authority over my carnal mind and I might also be taking authority over the demonic realm and have no real clue I'm doing so.  At the very least ... I'm confessing that because God does NOT want me walking around down here in more and more defeat.  Not spiritually, any way.  Beyond that ... I'll let God be God regarding anything else regarding the "blessing department."  

And even IF you should die from the sickness and/or disease, but have applied the daily discipline of confessing to yourself and others:  'I am blessed in Jesus!'  ' you are merely stating the TRUTH from God's perspective.  How so?  Because God does not quantify nor qualify you and I believing being blessed by whether we are totally healthy physically or on our death bed with sickness.  God doesn't quantify nor qualify us being blessed whether we have a billion dollars in our checking account or we have a plug nickel.  These are human ' early quantifies and qualifiers of the definition of 'blessings'.  God wants us realizing that because of our position in Christ Jesus ' we are SPIRITUALLY BLESSED.  It's just a matter of time when that is going to be manifested in its fullness, which isn't going to happen until we receive our glorified bodies, and we have had our individual appointment with God at the Judgment Seat of Christ (Reward ' loss of reward coronation). 

Let me say this another way.  I may not have faith to believe for a healing, or for a job, or for whatever I would like to have from God, but I do NOT have to settle for defeat as a child of the living God!  I have every right to remind my spirit and any demons assigned to me that my spirit is WHOLE ' COMPLETE ' and FULLY FUNCTIONAL to receive a miracle from God, if He so decides to grant me one or more.  But here's the crucial question:  Am I positioning myself spiritually to motivate Him to grant me one?  I may not be if I don't start confessing to myself and others that 'I'm blessed in Jesus' no matter WHAT, my circumstances would try to dictate otherwise.  

By FAITH - self - I am SPIRITUALLY blessed in Jesus and that settles the issue!  I am qualifying myself to operate in some dimension of faith ' no matter how small or insignificant it might seem.  ANY faith is better than none.  ANY correct confession that clearly lines up with the balanced, wisely applied, Word of God is a mustard seed of faith that God may decide to use to grant you and I a miracle.  Never forget it.  A 'mustard seed of faith' to us may be a MOUNTAIN OF MUSTARD SEED FAITH in God's estimation!   Let us NEVER be unwise in qualifying or quantifying the 'size' or 'degree' of our faith.  Let GOD do the quantifying and qualifying of it, dear one. 

Rather than struggle with trying to find more right words to communicate what I believe the Holy Spirit is trying to communicate with readers, I feel the Lord would have me share with you a recent testimony that came to us to publish on this very topic.  I'm believing God will use it to help some people get a better grasp on what the Lord is trying to get us to understand and DO about our wise confession:

TALK ABOUT BEING BLESSED - YOU 'GOTTA HEAR THIS!

(By: Dorene Zuege)

Last week Thursday (March 4, 2010), my sister Alta and I were in route to visit my mother in the nursing home.  We were on a four lane street, with two lanes going each direction.  I was driving in the left lane and there was a good flow of traffic, and everyone was basically doing the speed limit.  

I noticed a truck behind me, and then I noticed him pulling into the right hand lane.  I didn't think too much of it until all of a sudden he decided to cut in front of me ' between me and the car that was just ahead of me in the left lane.  There was absolutely no room for that truck to squeeze through! 

Everything happened so fast that I didn't even have time to slam on my brakes.  Somehow the truck's front end got through okay, but not his left rear end.  It went right through the right front end of my car! 

Both Alta and I shouted at the same time, "Did you see that?!  He went right THROUGH our car!'  

'I don't know how he didn't sever off your right hand mirror either, he was so close to you!' continued Alta.  

Well, the reason he didn't was because he was already passing through it!  

Now I know that Jesus walks through walls, and so do angels.  But trucks and cars do NOT go through each other!  They collide and crumple and dismantle and people get hurt or get killed.  But I have been telling people for quite a few years when they ask me how I am, I usually reply, 'I am blessed coming in and I'm blessed going out and I'm blessed all the time in between, leaving no time without being blessed!'  And I absolutely believe that!  I have been confessing that for so many years now that our GOD had to suspend the laws of nature for a few seconds to show just how much He really can bless us when we believe in His protection.  Part of a believer's covenant with the LORD is that we receive His blessings in many ways ' one of which is His protection in times of danger.  And this time it was a real doozie!   PRAISE THE LORD!  

And what was real neat too, is that I had not had the time before church service to share this testimony with my pastor, and after the worship time, he asked the congregation if there was anyone who wanted to share what the LORD had done for them during the week.  This is not my pastor's general way of conducting the service.  It's generally at that time opening the floor for people to give their prayer requests.  So, even though I wasn't able to share it before the service began, God made sure Pastor made a way that I could share it with the whole body of Christ!

To God be the glory for His unending mercies and grace, with thousands and thousands of exclamation points to try to express my appreciation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE HELP US HELP YOU SHARE THE BEST NEWS GOD HAS FOR EVERY PERSON BECAUSE...

JESUS DID IT! and...

YOU ARE SO GREATLY NEEDED!

Remember:  All that we do in this life comes back to our God-given purpose which is to serve and glorify God. The money and assets we accumulate, the fame and power we've attained or seek to attain - all of the things of this nature will one day pass away, but those lives of others we impact for Jesus Christ will last for eternity, and we will be rewarded for the part we helped play by impacting those lives ... for eternity. (Matthew 6:19-20 is our assurance)