seek-the-bless-er-not-the-blessing-jerry-savelle

1. Seek The Bless-er Not the Blessing – Jerry Savelle
When I first began my walk with the Lord, I was told and believed some lies about
prosperity and God's blessing. I still hear many of those same lies being told today
by many Christians, churches, even entire denominations.
In this letter I'm going to share with you the biblical truths that set me free from the
religious lies that tried to keep me in bondage to lack and insufficiency. God is not a
respecter of persons. These same truths can set you free from financial bondage and
enable you to embrace the life God desires for you.
Through studying God's word I have discovered and am convinced that giving God
your all and living a life of obedience to Him will position you to prosper like never
before.
We are told in Job 36:11 that "If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their
days in prosperity and their years in pleasures." God's promise is that if we live a life
of obedience submitted to Him, we will be blessed with prosperity throughout our
lives.
Isn't it amazing how the devil and religion has lied to us about this? Don't let
religious tradition rob you of what the Word of God promises you.
God said that if I lived a life of obedience to Him, which I have endeavored to do for
the last 43 years, then I'm supposed to be blessed with prosperity throughout my
life.
Prosperity Ruins A Fool In
In 2 Chronicles, there is a story of a young king named Uzziah and it says of him:
And he sought God in the days of Zechariah who had understanding in the visions of
God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper (2 Chronicles
26:5).
Look at how The Message translation says it – "He was a loyal seeker of God…he was
well trained by his pastor and teacher Zechariah to live in reverent obedience before
God…as long as Uzziah lived a godly life, God prospered him."
Now, the sad thing about this story is, like so many Church members today, he
stopped being a "loyal God-seeker."

2. God had blessed him so much that it seemed that he could do no wrong but
eventually as The Messagetranslation says "…success went to his head…" (2
Chronicles 26:16). He became arrogant and proud and thought he could make it on
his own. He stopped seeking God. When he did, his life took a drastic turn for the
worse.
The religious lie says, "Yes, his prosperity destroyed him and that's why God doesn't
want us to prosper." But...that couldn't be further from the truth!
Read it again—it was God who made him to prosper! If prosperity was bad and made
him sin, God would have been complicit in Uzziah's sin.
Prosperity didn't destroy him—
his foolishness did.
It's foolish to stop seeking the One who has blessed you in the first place. The truth
is, giving your all to Him and living a life of obedience to Him will position you to
prosper like never before.
Seek The Bless-er Not the Blessing
Jesus said that one of the primary things that our Heavenly Father wills for us to do
is "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness…" (Matthew 6:33).
In other words, we never stop seeking the things of God.
It's not something you do one time and it's done—no, it's something you do your
entire life. I've been at it now for 43 years and I never get tired of it. In fact, it is the
greatest joy of my life.
What is the promise that Jesus gave us if we do seek first the kingdom of God and
His righteousness? Jesus continued, and all these things shall be added to
you (Matthew 6:33).
We must never just seek after blessings, but always seek the Bless-er. Scripture is
clear that when we seek God and live in submission to Him, we will be blessed.
In the tenth chapter of Mark, Jesus asked the rich young ruler to sell everything and
give it to the poor. This made the man very sad because he had many possessions.

3. The religious lie says that in order to serve God you have to be poor. But look at
what Jesus said after the rich man walked away:
Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or
father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, who shall
not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and
mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal
life (Mark 10:29-30).
Now, that's God's promise to everyone who will give their all to Him! This is Jesus
talking! If we can't believe Jesus, then who can we believe? All God really asks is
that we never allow the blessings to become more important than the Bless-er. We
must keep it all in its proper place.
Never allow anything to come
between you and Him.
He may ask at some point for you to give some of it away. If so, don't hesitate. To
hesitate and to refuse to give, shows that you really don't have it—it has you! That
was the problem with the rich young ruler. He didn't have his possessions, his
possessions had him.
Look at what the Bible says in these two passages about God's desire for you:
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the
path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the
Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by
the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not
wither; and whatever he does shall prosper (Psalm 1:1-3).
...Let the Lord be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His
servant (Psalm 35:27).
God is pleased when those who serve Him prosper.
Purpose To The Prosperity
God doesn't prosper us just for our own benefit. God's blessing, favor, and prosperity
in our lives is for a greater purpose than ourselves.

4. We are blessed to be a blessing!
The Apostle Paul understood this when he wrote to the church in Corinth: "And God
will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need
and plenty left over to share with others" (2 Corinthians 9:8 NLT).
Many Christians think, "I don't have enough. I don't have plenty left over to give or
share." Let me encourage you. There is a reason why God has blessed you with the
resources you currently have. And when you and I are faithful and obedient with
what we have, He is faithful to bless us with even more (Matthew 25:23). That's how
I got where I am today—God is faithful!
As I close, let me remind you to always seek the Bless-er and not the blessing. A
growing, thriving relationship with our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ is more
precious than gold and silver.
I'm praying for you and believing for God's best in your life!