Blessed — Empowered to Prosper
Study Text: Psalm 1:1 – "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the
counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the
seat of the scornful."
Have you every stopped to think, "What does it mean to be
"blessed?" I’ve heard this statement, "You are sooooo
blessed," a thousand times, but I never took time to understand what it
really meant. Usually we associate being blessed with having things like cars,
houses and so on. But the real meaning of blessed is this: Empowered by God to
prosper, to be happy, fortunate (have God’s hand of favor upon you) and
enviable (not by fellow Christians but by the ungodly because there is nothing
dirty or unscrupulous about your prosperity). We all want to "get" to
this point in our lives, but do we need to "get" there or are we there
now?
This week we take a look at the things that will cause you to lose your
"blessed" status. Our text starts by telling us, "Blessed
[Empowered to prosper, to be happy, fortunate and enviable] is the man."
Now there is no coincidence that this scripture lines up with what we already
are. We start out by being blessed (empowered to prosper), but choosing bad
options negates our empowerment.
I. BAD ADVICE
Our scripture tells us the first step to staying empowered is NOT
continually walking in the counsel of the ungodly. What walketh really means is
"living." We are being told that our everyday problems should not be
resolved by the ungodly. This is because their counsel [advice, purpose &
plan] doesn’t line up with the Father’s will– only theirs. Therefore, walking
with the ungodly is a very easy way of losing the empowerment to prosper. Think
about it. Who else is more qualified in giving bad advice? The ungodly.
In 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 we see that seeking bad advice is one of the
reasons for Saul’s demise:
So Saul died for his
transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the
LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar
spirit, to enquire of it; and enquired not of the LORD. . . . (KJV)
The Amplified translation reads:
So Saul died for his trespass
against the Lord [in sparing Amalek], for his unfaithfulness in not keeping
God’s word, and also for consulting [a medium with] a spirit of the dead, to
inquire pleadingly of it, And inquired not so of the Lord [in earnest
penitence]. . . .
In his desperation to know the future, Saul consulted a medium (spiritist or
fortune teller), a practice that was/is forbidden and detestable to the Lord.
(See Leviticus 20:6, 27 and Deuteronomy 18:10-12; also see 1 Samuel 28 for the
full story on Samuel consulting a medium). In other words, Saul went to a
source that was outside of the will of God. The result: "Saul took a
sword, and fell upon it" (1Chronicles 10:4). Saul killed himself. He
actually plunged the sword into his own body. And that’s exactly what we do
when we seek the ungodly– be they friends, spouses, relatives or sister Faye–
for advice: We kill ourselves. We cut off our blessings [our empowerment to
prosper].
If you need a counselor, you should seek the Holy Spirit. Remember, He is
the counselor that Jesus said He would send to comfort us. Remember also that
the Lord our God is a "jealous God" (Exodus 20:4). Don’t insult Him
by going to another source, for He is THE SOURCE!!
II. TRAVELING THE WRONG PATHS
The next practice that will keep your blessed status is NOT "Standing
in the way of sinners." Psalms 23:3 states, "He restoreth my soul: he
leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake." Correct me
if I am wrong, but sinners are not on the paths of righteousness – correct!!!
So if a saved person is standing in the way (the places-night clubs, casinos,
bars, porn magazines, playboy channels, psychic networks, horoscopes, etc.) of
sinners, then he/she must be off the paths of righteousness, and if this is the
case then this person is losing his/her empowerment to prosper.
As my wife, Veronica, was editing this message, the Lord said to her,
"If you dwell in my high places, I will keep you there (in high
places)." In other words, we can’t expect the Lord to bless us if we are
not traveling in His high places. We can’t experience the things of God if we
are not operating in an atmosphere that welcomes the blessings and the presence
of God.
Returning to Saul’s predicament, we see that because he was afraid and
wanted to know the future he "disguised himself, and put on other raiment,
and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman [medium] by
night" (1 Samuel 28:8). Why did Saul disguise himself and travel by night?
Because he knew that he was going somewhere he should not have been going, and
he didn’t want to be seen. We also know when we’re traveling the wrong paths
because the Holy Spirit convicts us.
Psalms 18:33 says that " He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and
setteth me upon my high places." The Lord wants to set us in HIGH places,
not in low places where we have to sneak and creep.
III. HANGING OUT WITH THE WRONG PEOPLE
Our final step is, "nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." The
sitteth means to seek rest or relaxation; however, with the scornful there
could be no rest. Remember the saying, "No Jesus, No Peace – Know Jesus,
Know Peace." Job 25:2 tells us that " Dominion and fear are with him
[God], he maketh peace in his high places." Where God resides there is no
shame. Where God resides there is no strife-ONLY PEACE. We should realize that
not being empowered to prosper and not being happy creates strife.
Also, "Bad company corrupts good character" (1 Cor. 15:33). If we
hang out (sitteth) with people who don’t know the Lord, we are going to be
affected. Slowly but surely we will start to pick up their bad, ungodly habits,
and before we know it we will have lost the blessings of God.
The place where we should be sitting is not in the seat of the scornful but
at the Lord’s table. This is where we get to know the Lord and how wonderful He
really is. If we can get ourselves to "hang out" more with the Lord,
great things will occur. However, if you continue to hang out with friends that
aren’t trying to go anywhere in the Lord then you too will fall. You may not
see it, but it will happen.
We need to understand that every day that we don’t operate under the
"full" blessings of God we miss out. But it’s not too late. Right
now, get empowered to prosper so that God will give you the desires of your
heart—-so you can be the head and not the tail—-so you’ll be blessed and
not stressed. Take hold of the empowerment so your life can be changed and so
you’ll never be the same again.
