Unclaimed Blessing

Q: What's a good scripture about claiming your blessing?

A: Thank you for your question. Honestly, there is no scripture that specifically talks about claiming your blessing. At least not in the context I believe you are asking. The question implies that there is a blessing that you do not have that you need to acquire. By definition, to claim means "to call for or need; deserve." If we use this definition, the question must be asked, "What blessing do you deserve that you are making a claim to?" This indicates an attitude that God owes you for your obedience to Him. Therefore, how do you measure up to God's requirements in order to receive His blessings? Jesus said, "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20)." How are you doing on that one? And if that is not hard enough to do, Jesus raised the bar a few verses later. He said, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48)." In order to receive the blessings of God, perfect obedience to His Law is required. The conclusion is that you will never live a righteous enough life in order to claim any blessings from God.

For many Christians the blessings they desire to claim are the blessings of the flesh. In order to get these desires met they will look through the Old Testament and pick and choose scriptures given to the nation of Israel and "claim" them for themselves. They will take passages like Deuteronomy 28:1-14 and verses like Jeremiah 29:11 and Malachi 3:10 and "claim" them for themselves because of the promised blessings given. Unfortunately, what they fail to realize, as was previously mentioned, is that all the blessings God promised to the nation of Israel were contingent on their obedience to His law. And what is skipped by many of these same Christians are the curses for disobedience to God's law. Ignored are passages like Deuteronomy 28:15-68, which outlines the terrible curses awaiting the disobedient, and Malachi 3:7 which talks about Jewish forefathers who "turned away from my decrees and have not kept them." If you are concerned about claiming your blessing you need to be more concerned about your inability to do what is required to be blessed. Many Christians have dedicated themselves to an impossible life under the Law in an effort to obtain from God blessings He has not promised to give them and are missing out on the blessings He has freely given to us in Christ Jesus.

Many Christians live their lives as if something is missing from it. The fact is, something is missing from their lives. What is missing from their lives is the understanding of what is God's blessing. Ephesians 1:3 states, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." The blessing God has freely given to all Christians, and offers to the entire world, is Himself. God, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, lives eternally within the body of every born again Christian. Here is a question for you? "Why do you want to claim your blessing?" Inherent in the question is the acknowledgement that something is missing from your life. For most of us, we believe that that void can be met through the acquisition of material and physical blessings. That is why the Old Testament promises of God, to those who obey the Law, are so appealing. We falsely believe that through the acquisition of those things the deepest desires of our heart will be met. The great thing is that God gave us those desires of our heart, but He designed us in such a way that He is the only one that can satisfy those desires.

We all have the desire for unconditional love, total acceptance, meaning and purpose to life. And because of this we deceive ourselves into believing that if our flesh is blessed in some way, these needs will be satisfied. And if we are truthful, we will have to acknowledge that this is not the case. Salvation is the restoration of the life of God that mankind lost when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden. God, through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, has restored His life to all those who have accepted Jesus Christ by faith. His indwelling presence meets the deepest desires of our heart because He has restored Himself to us as was His original plan. Now, in Christ, we are unconditionally loved by God (Romans 8:38-39) and are totally accepted by Him (Romans 15:7). This, in turn, gives us meaning and purpose to life because we now understand that God has created us for Himself so that, in Him, we can share that which we have received from Him with the world. This will release us from the bondage of trying to claim blessings of the flesh through our self-effort, which will never meet the needs of our heart that are only met by God through faith in Jesus Christ. Instead of trying to claim blessings you do not deserve and will not meet your needs, receive the blessing of the Spirit that you do need and that only Jesus Christ has freely given you through your faith in Him. Grace and Peace