When we approach God on His throne, we do so with reverence because He is a glorious and holy God. We also approach with gratitude because He is a God of compassion and grace. His throne is also a place of blessing. His glory explodes from the throne and covers the earth. His forgiveness flows from the throne and covers us. And His blessing overflows from the throne with everything we could possibly need.
Ephesians 1:3 says…
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…”
First, where do these abundant blessings originate? They originate from heaven. God blesses us “…in the heavenly places.” Later in this same chapter, Paul elaborates on the exact location of these blessings.
In Ephesians 1:20, Paul describes what God did for Jesus. He says…
“…He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places…”
When Paul talks about the heavenly places, He is talking about the throne. The throne is a place of blessing.
Then, in Ephesians 2:6-7, Paul goes on to explain that we have a seat with Jesus on His throne. He says that God…
“…raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
God seated us with Jesus in the heavenly places, on His throne. His throne is a place of blessings, specifically for those of us who have believed in Jesus and continue to follow Him.
According to this verse, why did God seat us in the heavenly places? So that He could bless us as a demonstration of the fact that His favor is beyond anything we could imagine with the limitations of our human thinking.
His gracious kindness toward is goes far beyond what we might consider a rich outpouring of grace. “Surpassing” means to go far beyond, to exceed, to transcend. “Riches” refers to an abundance of wealth stored up beyond what most people have. In other words, the grace and kindness that God shows us transcends our view of abundance. If we think we know how much God wants to bless us, then it must be more than we think.
How does God bless us? He blesses us with His kindness or goodness. When he speaks to us, His kind words lead us to what is best for us. When He leads us, He leads us to an experience of life that is beyond anything we would imagine. When He provides for us, He provides spiritual goodness and material blessing beyond what we can do ourselves. Everything we have, we have from God. He is a God who loves to bless His children.
God’s blessings originate from His throne in heaven, giving us everything we need for life and godliness. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing that could possibly be given to us.
2 Peter 1:3 says…
“His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness…”
As if every spiritual blessing is not enough, God also loves to bless His children with everything we need in life. This does not mean that if we follow God, He will bring us wealth. But it does mean that God loves to bless His children with material wealth and prosperity.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 describes the material blessings of God poured out on His people…
"Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God…”
The promise begins with a condition. Literally, the Hebrew says, “If you listen to the voice of YEHOVAH with the intention of understanding and obeying…” It is interesting that some of the translations leave out the word “voice,” which seems to be a grave omission. The condition is simple, when God speaks, we listen and obey.
This seems straight forward. If God is speaking and we hear it, how could we deny His voice and not obey the instructions and assignments coming from the highest place in all the universe? The path to obedience and blessing is clear when we understand the meaning of the words that follow.
The passage goes on to say, “…being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today.” Being careful means literally to keep or guard. Figuratively, it means to retain something, treasure it, to celebrate it, or to perform it as in a vow. “To do” means to accomplish, to observe, or celebrate.
It is in the combination and order of these words that we understand the intentionality necessary to hear from God when He speaks. First, the passage assumes that God speaks. Then, when God speaks, we listen with the intention of obeying. We know in advance that if God speaks something and we hear it, we are going to obey. That is decided before we ever approach Him, or He approaches us.
Because we are intentional, we listen carefully, we pay attention to every word to make sure we understand it, so we can obey it in the way God intended. Then, we hold onto it, keep it, guard it and treasure whatever it is that God has spoken to us. If it is a command, we obey. If it is an assignment, we perform it. If it is a promise, we believe it. When the promise is fulfilled, we celebrate it. And one thing is certain, we do not hesitate, and we do not stop until we have accomplished what God has commanded, and He has accomplished all that He has spoken.
And when we see God’s spoken words through to the end, all the blessings of heaven come upon us and overtake us. Literally, the blessings pursue us, they chase us down, and when they find us, they cover us.
God blesses us through His voice and through our obedience. He blesses us with all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places and He blesses us with material wealth and generational fruitfulness.
Both are described in the following verses, in Deuteronomy 28:3-14…
God blesses us wherever we live or go. His blessings follow us.
3 "Blessed shall you be in the city and blessed shall you be in the country."
His blessings extend to our children and to our livelihood.
4 "Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock."
God’s blessings include an abundance of food to eat.
5 "Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl."
God blesses us as we go about our daily routines.
6 "Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out."
His blessings include protection from our enemies, those who rise up against us in any way.
7 "YEHOVAH shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways."
God blesses the work of our hands in the place He provides for us to work.
8 "YEHOVAH will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you put your hand to and He will bless you in the land which YEHOVAH your God gives you."
God blesses us with a firm foundation for our faith and lives, as His special treasure.
9 "YEHOVAH will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of YEHOVAH your God and walk in His ways."
God blesses us in a way that people will notice that we are blessed by Him.
10 "So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of YEHOVAH, and they will be afraid of you."
His blessings go beyond ordinary to extraordinary, beyond enough to abundance.
11 "YEHOVAH will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your beast and in the produce of your ground, in the land which YEHOVAH swore to your fathers to give you."
God blesses us from His throne in heaven, material good from heaven along with spiritual.
12 "YEHOVAH will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow."
God blesses us to rise above the din of everyday life, He blesses us to lead others.
13 "YEHOVAH will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath…"
And of course, these blessings are ours when we listen and obey. His blessings flow from heaven and are delivered to us through His voice and His promises.
"…if you listen to the commandments of YEHOVAH your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully, and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them."
God loves to bless His children from heaven because it is in His nature to do so.
Psalm 115:12-15 says…
"The LORD has been mindful of us;
He will bless us;
He will bless the house of Israel;
He will bless the house of Aaron.
He will bless those who fear YEHOVAH,
The small together with the great.
May YEHOVAH give you increase,
You and your children.
May you be blessed of YEHOVAH,
Maker of heaven and earth."
The starting place of God’s blessing is in His mind. He remembers us. He never forgets. We are always on His mind. This poet of old uses a beautiful play on words, one that we can be sure he was aware of when he wrote this psalm. “The LORD” is the Hebrew word YEHOVAH, the memorial name of God. It is the name by which God wants to be remembered and it is YEHOVAH, who remembers us always. YEHOVAH remembers those who remember Him by His memorial name. Especially those who fear Him.
It is no mistake that immediately following God’s remembrance of us, the psalmist says, “He will bless.” The word “us” was added by the translators. It is not in the original text and it does not need to be there. The idea is that God remembers us to bless us. It is who He is. It is in His nature to bless. He loves to bless. And the reason that He remember us is so that He can bless us.
Right now, in this moment. God is thinking about you and me. What is He thinking? He is thinking about how He might bless us. He is thinking, “What good gift can I give to my child today? What special provision do I have for my daughter on this beautiful day? What protection do I want to offer my son today?” This is how God thinks. He is not a God who sits in some faraway place waiting to punish or destroy. He loves to bless His children.
C. H. Spurgeon unpacks the meaning of Psalm 115, in his book, “The Treasury of David”:
“The repetition of the word "bless" adds great effect to the passage. The Lord has many blessings, each one worthy to be remembered, he blesses and blesses and blesses again. Where he has once bestowed his favour he continues it; his blessing delights to visit the same house very often and to abide where it has once lodged. Blessing does not impoverish the Lord: he has multiplied his mercies in the past, and he will pour them forth thick and threefold in the future….It is his nature to bless, it is his prerogative to bless, it is his glory to bless, it is his delight to bless; he has promised to bless, and therefore be sure of this, that he will bless and bless and bless without ceasing.”
Because it is in God’s nature to bless, He blesses the small and the great. The poet chose some very general words here because God blesses the young and the old. He blesses the weak and the strong. He blesses the new believer and those who have known Him for decades. He blesses the leader and the follower.
So, where does the blessing of God begin? In the mind of God. And where does blessing come from? It comes from His heart. It is the nature of God to bless. And who does He bless? Anyone who calls upon and fears the name YEHOVAH.
The idea of God’s blessing is that it is repeated. It is continuous. There is always more. If He blesses you once, He wants to bless you again. When He blesses you again, He will bless you even more. There is no end to the blessings of God that flow from heaven. God stores up His blessings and He pours them out on His children. He shovels them out of the storehouse of heaven, and He heaps them upon us.
Who could possibly not want to be a part of the amazing kingdom of God? Who could possibly not want to go to the throne to receive the blessings of the King?
The blessing of the kingdom of God reminds me of a man I met when I first moved to Lucca, Italy. When he discovered that my wife and I wanted to live in Lucca, he proclaimed, “Of course. Lucca is the center of Tuscany. Tuscany is the center of Italy and Italy is the center of the world. In Lucca, we have everything. We have mountains. We have hills. We have beaches. We have food. We have wine. We have everything.” He was a man who understood abundance because He was surrounded by it.
The blessing of God overflows from heaven, from the throne. It begins in His mind, emanates from His heart, goes out continually to His children, more and more, over and over again, to those who fear Him and follow Him and to their children. There is no end to the blessing of God that flows from His throne. Don’t you want to go there and go often?
WORSHIP: Worship the God who loves to bless His children beyond measure. Look up to heaven and let yourself feel the blessing of God overflowing. He cannot contain it. He cannot hold it back. It is in His nature to bless. Worship the God who loves to bless His children until every thought of God as punitive is gone. His desire is to bless you with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
PRACTICE: Take some time to listen today. Remember, God blesses His children through His voice. He speaks promises to fulfill them. He gives instructions knowing that when we obey, we will receive a beautiful blessing. Ask the Father a simple question, “Father, what do you have to say to me today?” Listen with the intention of understanding and obeying what He says. Then, be ready to receive His promise or to follow His instructions.
MEDITATION: Take some time to meditate on the throne as a place of blessings. Close your eyes and imagine God in heaven sitting next to a massive storehouse where all His blessings are stored. Picture Him sitting on the throne, waiting for you, anxious to take from His unending storehouse of blessings and give you the ones that you need the most in this very moment. Picture the smile on His face and the joy bursting from His heart as you arrive, and He gets to bless you. Receive the blessing of God.
ABIDING: By this time, it is very possible that the Father, your Spiritual Director, has led you to a place in Scripture where He wants you to abide. As you go back and read through this teaching one more time, ask the Father if there is anything in these passages specifically for you. Look for the things that reinforce what God is teaching you at this time. Write down anything you hear from Him. Spend some extra time listening to see if the Spirit has anything more to say to you or if there is a deeper teaching for you today. Write down whatever you hear. Ask the Father if there is someone, He wants you to share this with and follow through with His assignment.
© John Santaferraro, 2020