The 4 Daily Blessings We Often Overlook

0:00Welcome to Followed by Mercy with Austin Gardner. This is where we talk about God's grace and mercy that meets us and follows us even in our lowest moments and lifts us to hope again. No matter what's been broken, his love still heals. So let's move from pain to praise together because surely goodness and mercy does follow me and pursue me all the days of my life. God is a blessing God. Blessings are everywhere in the Scripture. I've been talking to you about God being a blessing God now for a couple of days and I hope that it is encouraging you. You know, he wanted his preachers, his priests, his prophets, his men of God to give blessings. And they're all through the Bible that's everywhere you turn. Old Testament, New Testament. God is a blessing God. When you read the Bible from beginning to end, you begin to notice something remarkable.

1:02From the beginning of the chapters of Genesis to the closer revelation, God is revealed as a God who delights in blessing his people. God delights in blessing his people. But sometimes we miss this because we ought to think of blessings as money and comfort and easy circumstances. But the Bible shows us God's greatest blessings are he guiding us, his courage and he gives us a protection and restoring of our soul. So look what the Muslim says in Psalm 348. O taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusted in him. So I would like you to taste with me today. God is good. I use three things all the time in my mind when I consider what's going on in the Bible. God is love. God is good. And Jesus is the perfect revelation of God. I know what God looks like. I know what God acts like because we have Jesus. And so I would invite you to come experience the goodness of God with me.

2:08John Newton said everything is necessary that he sends. Nothing can be necessary that he withholds. In other words, you can trust that God is taking good care of you. God knows what real blessings are and what we truly need in our life. So I want to just kind of run over four passages with you and show you how God blesses us every day. In Psalm 328, the Bible says, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine. That's one of the greatest blessings that God would direct our paths that God would direct our steps. So many people feel lost. We wonder, what path should I take? How do I know what God wants? How do I make wise decisions? Well, there's the answer. God will instruct us. And there are three great promises here. God instructs us as we go. I will instruct thee. When God instructs us, God teaches us through Scripture, wisdom and the Holy Spirit.

3:12Then it says that God teaches us the way to walk. Teach us in the way we should go. God doesn't just give information. He shapes the direction of our lives. I am so glad. Even when I didn't understand him, he still was helping me. God and me and directed me. He personally guides us with his eye. That's a very powerful picture. It's a very personal picture. It means that God's very close and just a glance in our direction directs our lives. Elizabeth Elliott said, the will of God is not something you add to your life. It's a course you choose. God is from God is a tremendous blessing. I look back over my life and I didn't understand who God was and I was coming in. I was raised in and steeped in legalism, but even in all of that. He's been guiding me all along. I didn't just stumble on this. He brought me to it. To help me understand how he is.

4:12Then he also blesses us with courage. Joshua, in Joshua chapter 1 and 1, is stepping out into a massive job. Something that God has for him to do. It's an enormous responsibility. He's going to lead the entire nation of Israel. He's taking Moses's place. That is so big. And so God gives him a powerful promise. Have not I commanded you? Be strong and be of good courage. Be not afraid. Neither be thou dismayed for the Lord. Thy God is with thee wither. Forever thou goest. Nothing could beat that promise. Notice something important. God does not say, Joshua, you will not face any difficulties. That is not at all what's going on here. He says to him, be strong. Be courageous. Do not fear. And the reason is because the Lord God is with you. The blessing is God's presence. George Mueller said, the beginning of anxiety is the end of faith.

5:15And the beginning of our true faith is the end of anxiety. What we know is God's with us. Encourage begins to replace fear. I just want to challenge you to get a hold of what God's doing in our lives. I just want to challenge you to understand how he is working in our lives. His presence, but then his protection. Psalm 127 verses 7 and 8. The Bible said, the Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, even forevermore. You see, life is unpredictable. You just don't know what's going to happen. You don't know if you're going to get cancer or not. You don't know if you're going to be like Robert. Kelly can't feel facing Pompeii disease. But scripture reminds us that God watches over his people. He preserves us. He preserves our soul. He preserves our daily life. He preserves our future. He will preserve your going out and your coming in.

6:17He's watching over all of us. In our daily routines and our work and our travels and our home. You understand what a wonderful God we have. The Omoody said, trust in yourself. And you are doomed to disappointment. Trust in God and you are never to be confounded in time or eternity. God not only is present, but God is protecting us. God's protection is one of the greatest, quietest blessings that surrounds us every day of our lives. Now, the next verse I really want to quickly share with you is Psalm 23. One through three, you know how much I love this. If you haven't listened to season two, I challenge you to go back and listen to season two where I spend like 50 episodes talking about Psalm 23 and how God used it in my life. This is one of the greatest passages in all the Bible. It radically changed my life.

7:17But here's what it tells us. He provides for us and he restores us. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. See the shepherd provides everything their sheep need. And God provides what is truly necessary for life. And you know, we got to get a hold of that. That God is meeting our needs. God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to him. Andrew Murray said that. So God provides. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. And I told you then I remind you it means I have never wanted. I don't want now. And I will not want tomorrow because it's a word. It just means always. And then God gives peace. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me besides still waters. God leads us people to places of rest and all the chaos and all the messups. And when you're a mess, he's still going to do that. And then he restores your soul. He restores my soul.

8:17Life can leave people exhausted and wounded. But God restores the inner life. God breaketh not all men's hearts alike, Richard Baxter. God knows how to restore every soul personally. Everyone is different. Everyone is facing different things. But God knows how to handle you. And then God knows how to lead us forward. He leads me in the paths of righteousness. He doesn't just restore you. Encourage you. You're exhausted. You're beat up. You're whipped. You're life's over. And he'll restore you. But he'll also lead you. And pass. You don't even know how to tread. And what you don't know how to do, he'll take care of you. So I just want you to get ahold of this fact that God's leading and taking care of you. God's blessing us. So when we bring it all together, we just do a wonderful picture of how God blesses his people. And we are his people. He blesses us with direction and guidance. He blesses us with courage. He blesses us with protection. He blesses us with provision and restoration.

9:19But the greatest blessing of all is he blesses us with himself. You know, he moved in and took our presence in us. I think that's probably the biggest and greatest blessing you can ever imagine. And you know what? He is most glorified when we are satisfied in him. When we walk with God, we begin to see his blessing. And his blessing surround our lives and ways. We often overlooked. And the more we trust him, the more clearly we begin to see how good he truly is. Now, you know, I've been walking with the Lord for a long time. And this has been such a blessing. But he has shown himself to me more now than ever. But then I look back and I realize, you know, he's been bringing me to this. No matter how much I was rigid and hard, no matter how much I was tough on people, he was working in my heart to bring me to where I would be more like him. And I just want you to know he's a blessing God. He blesses his people. We started this little series talking about his blessings and we're still working our way through it. But don't you forget, he blesses us.

10:21He's a God of blessing. He's blessing you. He's working in your life. I want you to go and I want you to know that you are blessed. I want you to know that God is praying for you and he blesses you. There's nothing more beautiful beyond that. God loves you and God blesses you. And so you are challenged by God to step forward believing him. And I pray you'll do that today. Believe that he's blessing you. And as pastors believe that we want to tell people about his blessings. We want to tell him God loves him. We want to tell him God blesses him so they can know how good and sweet our Father is. Well, I love you. And I thank you for taking the time to listen. And I hope this will be a blessing to you. Share it with somebody if it is. Thanks for listening to Followed by Mercy with Oscar Gardner. If today's message spoke to your heart, share it with someone who needs to know God hasn't given up on them. Remember, your pain is at the end of your story.

11:21In Jesus, it can become praise. Thank you.