This is the 100th episode of the Experiencing His Victory Audio blog. One hundred! That is exciting and definitely a big deal. Wahoo!

I have absolutely no desire to become so famous where people recognize me in public and seek me out for autographs. I do have a desire to impact the world around me. I want to leave a legacy behind that will continue past me and go down through the ages.

Just think about all the people you’ve come in contact with over the years? Was it a good experience or bad? Of course, I want to be a blessing to people and touch their lives and see them grow in the Lord.

I would love to know how many people I’ve touched for the Lord over the years and then those who have touched others because of my touch. My guess would be that the number would be astronomical.

We touch many more people than we know. People are always watching. We’ll probably never know the depth of our impact on the world in which we live.

I was talking with my buddy, Vince, in church on Sunday and he was telling me all the various people that he forwards these post to all across the world and the ways that people are using them. I asked him to write up what he told me and here is what he said:

What is happening? A  tiny spark came down from heaven and touched a few people, but from them the rich kindling that had been in waiting ignited. It began to spread in more ways than can be counted. It touched years, changed souls, was communicated, translated, digitized, personalized, written, spoken, sang, danced, played and is now being transmitted all over the world.

How could such a thing happen? A handful of people read or listened to a series of lessons from Experiencing His Victory. From each one of these, conversations with friends, family, and coworkers, developed. Those spread these teachings, and soon, people were sending them all over.

From just one of these people, these teachings have reached many of states in the US, several countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America. Some of that person's friends speak other languages, and have friends and relatives far and wide. Freedom is priceless, and yet, an immeasurably great price has been paid to set all the captives free.

Wahoo ! Join the fun !

I agree Vince. I love it that he said wahoo. I think I’ll join him. Wahoo!

Today we want to look at a person who God promised would be a blessing to all the families of the earth. Now that is quit the impact.

The Story of Abraham

Now the Lord said to Abram,
“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
(Genesis 12:1-3)

God spoke to Abraham and asked him to leave his country, his relatives, and his household. God had a new plan for him. If Abraham would believe God, then God would show him a new land, make him a great nation and bless him even to the point of blessing all the families of the earth. That’s huge.

I only want to focus in on one aspect of this passage, that Abraham was blessed by God so he could be a blessing. When God wants to pour out His blessing upon the world it usually comes through a person.

I believe there are many principles that we can learn from the story of Abraham that apply directly to our lives today. God is still looking for people to bless and pour out His blessing through to touch the families of the earth.

Blessed to Be a Blessing

There are six key concepts in the words God spoke to Abraham. The truths revealed here are not only true for Abraham, they are true for us.

1. Blessings are Received Through Obedience

There is only one way to receive the blessings that God so freely gives and that is through obedience. Some struggle with the concept of obedience. It can cause something on the inside of us to rise up and say, “You’re not the boss of me.”

A lot of the problems in our lives come about by trying to get what God has already given to us by another way. God’s blessings only come through Jesus. God’s blessings flow into our lives as we walk in simple obedience to His word.

God commanded Abraham to leave his country, his relatives, and His family and go to the land He would show him. The promise from God to receive the land as an inheritance came from God after Abraham obeyed him and traveled to the land.

Blessings come through obedience. A lot of time we connect obedience with earning something or deserving something, which is totally wrong. Obedience just proves we believe what God has said and we are willing to do it to receive the promise.

Suppose I say to you, go to the bank and pick up a check that I wrote for you. You reply, “Don’t tell me what to do. I’ll go to the bank if and when I want to. The check is there and you will never receive it.

Suppose I say the same thing and you go to the bank. You walk in and receive the check and cash it. Can you take any credit for going to the bank? I earned this money by going to the bank. I deserve this money because I believed what you said.

We can see the foolishness behind this type of thinking. The check was already there. You did not earn it or deserve it because you chose to believe me and go to the bank. Your obedience resulted in you receiving the free gift I gave to you.

2. God Wants to Bless You

God has proven His love for you and His desire to bless you. He has done everything that is necessary for you to receive His blessings through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I’ve mentioned these Scriptures before, but I want to repeat them again so we can see the abundance of blessings that are available to us as we learn to walk in God’s ways. God has given us such clear direction on how we can receive and walk in these blessings.

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 (Ephesians 1:3)

3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. (2 Peter 1:3-4)

If you want to picture it this way, the blessings of God are sitting in a bank account for you to experience. The only way to get to the bank is by obedience to the Lord. He has already blessed you with them. He has already granted them to you. He is waiting for you to walk in His ways and receive them.

3. God Has a Specific Plan to Bless You

Jeremiah 29:11 is a favorite verse of many. It says:

For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

These words were spoken to the children of Israel as they were being told they would be carried away to Babylon for seventy years because of their disobedience. After this time God would bring them back into the promised land because God knows His plans for them and He wants them to be blessed and He wants to prosper in His promises.

These words also hold true to you. God has a specific plan for each of our lives. Of course, there are so many general blessings that apply to each believer, but He has some unique blessings that will only flow into your life as you obey the voice of the Lord and fulfill the specific things He has called you to do.

There is only one Abraham, Moses, Joshua, John the Baptist, and Jesus. Each had their own unique call and plan of God for their lives. Each was blessed to the fullest as they obediently follow God’s purpose for their lives. The same is true for you. As you walk out God’s plan for your life His blessings will pursue you and overtake you.

4. God Wants to Make You Great

God’s purpose in making Abraham great was so he could be a blessing. I think the same is true for you. God wants to make you great in the eyes of people so that they will come to God and receive his blessings.

God wants you to increase in favor with God and man so that people will see the glory of the Lord in your life and be drawn to God. God will probably not exalt you by giving you a new land and making you a new nation or giving you Jesus as a descendant (that’s already been done). But God does want to elevate you in the eyes of the people around you to impact their lives and bring them the blessing of the Lord.

5. God Wants Your Life to Bless Many Around You

God calls believers the light of the world. Our lives shine brighter than we think. We influence more people than we think. Even when we think we are just living life normal and doing our job, others watch and see what we are doing.

This came to light for me when a person I was working with on a secular job looked at me and said, “You’re more like Jesus than any person I’ve ever met.”

I was blown away. She knew that I was a pastor. I never preached the gospel to her. From time to time she would ask me to pray for her. I never knew that I had that kind of impact in her life.

So often we think that it is the big things that we do that make people stand up and take notice. More than that it is the little things as we live life and simply walk out the truth of the Gospel day to day.

God wants to raise you up as a lighthouse to those with whom you have contact. It’s not so you can say, wow look at me, I’m awesome. It's so God can draw people to Himself so He can bless them.

Let your light shine.

6. God Will Expand Your Blessing from Now to Eternity

We will never know the amount of people that we have touched while we are here on earth. Who knows if the Lord will let us see those we have had an impact on when we get to heaven. It would be fun, not so we could boast, but so we could see how important our life was while we were here on the earth.

I just want to let you know that your life impacts many more than you think. You are important. When you impact another person’s life you impact those they come in contact with and those they come in contact with.

They have a saying in my circles. Change a pastor’s life and you will change the life of the congregation. The idea is that if you touch the heart of the pastor, it will affect everything he says and does.

What you do matters. Your touching others in the name of Jesus is accomplishing more than you know. I remember someone telling me one day that something I said to them twenty years prior changed their life forever. I never knew.

You may never know how many you touch. Just know that you do. I even pray the Lord would have one or two of the ones you touched contact you and let you know how their lives were changed because of you.

A Blessing as I Go

I want to bless you as we finish this post.

May your light shine brightly in the darkness.
May the Lord open your eyes to see how many people you touch with your life.
May He give you insight into the little things you can do to bless those around you.
May God make you great and increase your area of influence.
May those you have blessed come back to bless you.