What Causes God’s Blessings to Flow to Us

(Part I)

by

Pastor Leroy Rankin

God the Father has prepared great “Goodness” for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Psalm 31:19) His plan is
to “Release” those good things into our lives as precious gifts from Him. James 1:17 distinctly declares,
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom
is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” God is a giver of gifts and He gives them richly. I Timothy 5:17
declares, “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches,
but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.”

God already knows everything that we need to make our lives abundant. He has gifts that perfectly fit every
life need (Family- Health-Financial-Social). They come down through Christ as He releases them to us. His
desire is for us to receive them and enjoy life. Christ came for the very purpose of our having and enjoying an
abundant life. ( St. John 10:10)

Our Faith, then, lies in the knowledge of the specific good gifts that God has prepared to be sent to us. The
purpose of the Holy Spirit is to reveal them to us. St. John 15:13 declares, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of
truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.”

God makes known what He has prepared to come though His Promises, revealed by the Holy Spirit. (II
Peter 1:3-4) Knowing God’s promises causes us to develop what is called, intelligent expectations from Him.
Any promise given produces an expectation in the heart to receive. The promises that God gives us in Christ
bind Him to perform them for us. His integrity will not allow Him to lie to us and not fulfill them. Numbers
23:19 declares, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he
said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” However, we cannot expect
from God what He has not prepared and promised to send us. If we did, it would only be wishful thinking,
and we would never see good come.

God’s Requirements - Added to our knowledge of God’s Promises must be the requirements that He has of
us to be positioned to receive them. When we understand and meet God’s requirements, we maintain
confidence that good prepared things are on the way to happen for us. One of those requirements is that we
Fear the Lord.
The Fear of the Lord –Exactly what is the thing called, the Fear of the Lord? Proverb 15:33 declares, “The
fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honor is humility.” Notice from this passage that the
Fear of the Lord is an Instruction. Instructions are designed to direct movement or behavior. Therefore, the
Fear of the Lord is a specific spiritual awareness and attitude that produces wise behavior that pleases God.
Behavior that gives Him Pleasure causes Him to release His Blessings into our lives.

Pastor Leroy Rankin

www.ChristAbundantLifeMinistries.Org
What Causes God’s Blessings to Flow to Us

(Part II)

by

Pastor Leroy Rankin

Components of the Fear of the Lord - The Fear of the Lord, which causes the Blessings of God to flow into
our lives, contains specific components. They are outlined in Proverbs 8:13 which states, “The fear of the
Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” We note three
areas here: (1) the heart, (1) the mouth and (3) behavior. The Fear of the Lord is the “Reverence” or respect
for God and His Holiness. It begins with the development of hatred in the heart for the evil things that exist
there, which God also hates. God is good and gives good gifts. Evil in our hearts, then, prevents His
goodness from flowing to us.

The Heart before Christ - Before Christ comes to dwell within hearts, all types of iniquity or uncleanness
dominate them. This uncleanness shaped our Lifestyles. Mark 7:21-23 state, “For from within, out of the
heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness,
deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and
defile the man.” When individuals are in a defiled state, their lifestyles oppose God. As such, God is
prevented from releasing His Covenant goodness in to their lives.

Therefore, to be positioned to receive God’s Blessings, we must first become undefiled or cleansed. The
cleansing blessing must come before natural blessings can manifest. The Fear of the Lord, given by the Holy
Spirit, facilitates this cleansing because it is clean. Psalm 19:9 states, “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring
forever:” With the Holy Spirit’s clean mindset, we develop a desire and motivation, or will to remove
ourselves from everything that defile us. This behavior pleases God. Philippians 2:13 declares, “For it is God
which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

Specifically, the Holy Spirit working within our hearts guides us into the truth to walk in and be cleansed.
Psalm 119:1-3 declare, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are
they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in
his ways.”

The Blessed Position - The Fear of the Lord becomes the wisdom that directs our movement from all evil to
the required position for Blessings flow. Psalm 34:11-15 instructs in this wisdom. It state, “Come, ye
children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth
many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guild. Depart from
evil and do good; see peace and pursue it.”
God’s instructions of wisdom are given to us to follow them. As we do, we will move to the spiritual state of
Good and Peace. These are two attributes of God’s Kingdom in which we must walk. God is good, not evil.
The Blessings that flow from Him are good and they flow upon those who reach the state of good.

Pastor Leroy Rankin

www.ChristAbundantLifeMinistries.Org