Cherish God's Blessings

Standing on the Promises of God • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

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I will cherish my spiritual birthright and the blessing God has for my life. God's purposes will be accomplished regardless of human attempts to thwart them.

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Cherish God’s Blessings

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Genesis 25:33–34 KJV 1900

33 And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

Lesson Connection

One of the most interesting things about human existence is the amount of things we gather and accumulate over the course of a lifetime. Walk through anyone’s garage or storage building and you will see all kinds of stuff that people consider valuable, or at least did at one time.

Even more interesting is going to a yard sale or an estate auction. Well… I should say, interesting to SOME PEOPLE. But the people who go to these things are typically looking for a bargain. They are hoping to find something that has some secret value of which the seller is not aware (or perhaps knows but simply does not care).

My granddad is the world’s most prolific yard sale shopper.

But these events bring to mind a couple of sayings:

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

“One man’s loss is another man’s gain.”

It’s amazing that what one person quickly discards as having no real value can just as quickly be snatched up by someone else who things it is a rare treasure.

There was an Ohio family that discovered an old baseball card in their attic that turned out to the highest valued card of all time: north of 2.8 million dollars!

In life, nothing is more valuable to us than the blessings God sends our way.

Psalm 68:19 NKJV

19 Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah

On a regular basis, God blesses us beyond measure!

YOU ARE BLESSED!

And He entrusts us to realize and appreciate the value of the blessings He gives us. It is our responsibility to cherish each and every blessing from God and not to bargain His blessings away to the world for things that have no lasting value.

Jacob Was a “Heel Grabber”

Names and their meanings in the Bible are pretty interesting. Jacob’s name, in particular means “supplanter”.

Supplanter - “someone or something taking the place of another, as through force, scheming, strategy, or the like:” (dictionary.com)

At Birth, Jacob Tried to Supplant Esau as the Firstborn

From the moment of his birth, Jacob started living up to the nickname he was given, which was “heel grabber.”

In Rebekah’s womb, there were twins growing. And as the time of delivery came, the twins were fighting for position as they moved around preparing for birth.

Esau, who came out of the womb first, was in line to receive the birthright that belonged to the firstborn. You say, “Well, what is the birthright? What does that mean?” It simply means that Esau would receive the authority to one day lead the family after Isaac had passed away.

And interestingly, at the moment of Esau’s birth, Jacob’s hand was holding onto the heel of his older brother. And so, the nickname was given. And as time went on, Jacob kept living up to that name in other ways.

Jacob Coveted Esau’s Birthright

Now, Jacob could not get over this fact that the birthright would NEVER be his. You can’t reverse who was born first! And even though he was well taken care of, he coveted that birthright of his older brother.

“Jacob, you’ll be doing well! Why should you worry about the birthright???”

But isn’t it amazing that no matter how much some people are blessed by God, they still covet the blessings other people have! Constantly desiring more than they have! That was Jacob!

1 Timothy 6:6 NKJV

6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain.

Esau Despised His Birthright

But now let’s look to Esau. I think that the other side of this story is important to see, as well.

Esau did not realize the true value of the birthright.

The choices he had made in life put him into a position of allowing other things to become more valuable to him than the things that really should have mattered.

In fact, Genesis 25:34 tells us,

Genesis 25:34 NKJV

34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

And this literally means that he disesteemed it, or made it of less value than other things in life.

Jacob Conned Esau Out of His Birthright

So, all of this is happening all of this time. And on one particular day while Esau was out hunting, Jacob was at home cooking. When Esau returned from this hunt, he was exhausted and hungry.

He took a deep breath in, and as he did, he could smell the aroma of a fresh stew. One look in the pot and his appetite grew even stronger.

So Esau said to Jacob, “Let me have some of that stew.”

And THIS was the MOMENT that Jacob had been waiting for. THIS was the OPPORTUNITY to get the birthright he had hungered for from the very beginning of his life.

And Jacob quickly responded to him, “Before I will let you eat anything, you are going to have to sell me your birthright.”

This should feel like some outrageous and ultra-heavy price. But to Esau, the birthright had become trivial and of no value. After all, if he died of hunger, he figured, what good was the birthright to him anyway?

And so, in his mind, Esau was like, “Hey, I’m about to die. What good is the birthright to me? I would rather have a bowl of stew than a birthright!”

In that moment, a bargain was struck that would alter the course of both men’s lives forever. The “heel grabber” finally conned his brother out of the one thing he wanted more than anything else in life. Talk about playing the long game!

This little exchange they made speaks to us today. It is teaching us about character.

As Children of God, We Must Refuse to Surrender Our Birthright

Listen to me this morning: It is absolutely critical that we appreciate the birthright we were given when we were born again of the water and the Spirit.

At that moment, God placed His Spirit - the most valuable possession you will ever have - inside of us!

And along with His Spirit came a birthright to all the privileges of being a child of God!

I think that it’s very, very, very important what Proverbs 23:23 tells us. Let this sink into your spirit today...

Proverbs 23:23 NKJV

23 Buy the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.

There is no possession, no material thing, no job, no relationship that is worth trading away our spiritual birthright!

A Dysfunctional Homelife

Now, understand that I don’t want to take away any of Esau’s responsibility for his own decisions. BUT, we need to keep in mind that he grew up in a dysfunctional home. And the influence of the tension in his home would have greatly affected him.

The Word of God is filled with guidance about how to raise godly children and to maintain a godly home. And I would say that with the number of dysfunctional homes in the world, the need for families to be raised in a spiritual environment is greater now than it has ever been.

The foundation that you preparer in your home is going to determine how children view the blessings God puts in their lives. If the parents don’t value the things of God, there is a very great chance the children will not either.

And in relation to the story of Jacob and Esau, if parents are biased in their love for one child over another child, they may create a Jacob and Esau situation in their own homes.

Isaac Love Esau While Rebekah Loved Jacob

It may be that this type of biased love was part of the reason for the selling of the birthright.

Isaac loved Esau because he was an outdoorsman and a hunter. He was more inclined to earthly efforts. But Jacob, on the other hand, tended toward intellectual and spiritual things, which caused Rebekah to love him.

So this type of upbringing can sort of make us wonder if maybe, perhaps… Isaac and Rebekah did not speak to each boy on equal terms. For instance…

Did they ever take the time to teach Esau about the spiritual side of life and how valuable it was?

Did they teach Jacob what it was to work with his hands and to appreciate hard work and the outdoors?

Did they really recognize and appreciate the differences between their two sons, while at the same time teaching them how important it is to submit themselves to God?

When parents become divided in their love for their children, they unknowingly create conflicts that can naturally lead to anger and bitterness. And there are siblings - who are adults today - that still have deep-seated bitterness toward each other and their parents.

Rebekah and Jacob Deceived Isaac

When the day started getting close for Isaac to depart from this world, he made a decision to bestow the blessing on the firstborn.

Isaac asked Esau to kill some fresh game and prepare it for him. Hearing that, Rebekah met with Jacob and conspired to steal the blessing before Esau could return with what his father wanted. She quickly fixed up some fresh kid goat meat for her husband. Then, she wrapped the skins of these goats on Jacob’s forearms and hands to deceive Isaac and make him think Jacob was Esau.

And when Jacob approached Isaac with the mean, his dad asked him, “Who are you, my son?” Jacob answered, “I am Esau, your firstborn.” With that deceptive answer, the “heel grabber” fooled his father and got the blessing that was supposed to be for Esau.

Esau Lost His Blessing

And just moments after Jacob left his father, Esau came in with fresh venison prepared for Isaac. The Bible says that Isaac trembled at hearing the voice of Esau.

And Isaac spoke the words that Esau did not want to hear: “Who are you? What happened to the man who just brought me venison and received the blessing? I have already given him the blessing.”

Can you imagine how Esau must have felt???

He had known his father was getting weaker with each new day. He knew it wouldn’t be long before his father would draw his final breath. But Esau knew that before his father died, his he would lay his hands on Esau and give him the blessing that belonged to the firstborn son.

But now, that had been taken from him. Stolen! Right out from under his hands by his heel-grabbing brother! It was bad enough that Jacob had bargained to get the birthright in exchange for a bowl of stew, but to steal the blessing was just unthinkable and unforgivable!

We Must Be Protective of God’s Blessings and Promises

You know, we’ve all been given blessings like that. The greatest treasures in your life are the blessings that God has given you.

And hear this four-eyed preacher today: The Lord does not bless us with no expectation of us being good stewards of the blessing.

I’m talking about good stewardship.

Good stewardship involves protecting and preserving the blessings that God imparts to us. We should NEVER allow these blessings to become cheapened as we go about living life. We should never take for granted all God has done and is doing for us.

Esau Begged for His Blessing

Esau realized what had happened. And he was filled with pain. All of a sudden, instant bitterness and despair washed all over him!

Genesis 27:34 NKJV

34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me—me also, O my father!”

But the problem was - IT WAS ONLY AFTER HE HAD LOST WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN VALUABLE TO HIM THAT HE REALIZED WHAT HAD BEEN TAKEN FROM HIM.

And he was reduced to begging for a scrap of a blessing after it was all too late.

I’m telling you right now… we had better value this Pentecostal blessing!!! You had better let it sink into who you are! This is not some club! It’s not some social group! It’s not just another flavor of Christian truth - IT’S THE ONLY CHRISTIAN TRUTH!!!

Isaac Blessed Esau but Not with the Blessing that Could Have Been His

Now, Esau was not left without a blessing. BUT, he was given a blessing that was far less significant than what was first prepared for him.

What he finally received was only a shell of what could have been his. He was weeping as his dad pronounced a blessing on him:

Genesis 27:39 NKJV

39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, And of the dew of heaven from above.

He went on to tell Esau that he would live by the sword and serve his brother, and there would come a day when he would be given dominion and break the yoke off his neck.

I Will Cherish My Spiritual Birthright and the Blessings God Has for My Life

When it comes to cherishing our spiritual birthright and the blessings of God in our lives… we each bear the sole responsibility!

That birthright of being born again is the greatest experience you and I will have this side of Heaven! When you really get a revelation that the God of all glory has forgiven your sins and placed His Spirit inside of you - it’s almost beyond comprehension! Knowing that the very presence of God - which in times past could only be experienced at a distance - is now living in us should impress upon our spirits just how much we should cherish what has happened to us.

I’m trying to wake somebody up today! Wake up in your spirit! You’ve got some things that you need to rejoice in and get happy about!!!

What Esau failed to realize - and we must never forget - is there are some things that once lost can never be regained. I’m not saying this morning that we can’t be forgiven for sins we may commit in the future or that a backslider can’t be restored. It is saying that there are some blessings God has given us that if through our careless disregard we bargain them away, God is not obligated to ever restore them in our lives!

Like Esau, there can be other blessings. But also like Esau, they will never be as great as the ones we had originally.

We have all heard the saying “Some things are just not for sale.” THAT… has got to be the sign we hang over every blessing God has ever given us!

My family… IS NOT FOR SALE!

My salvation… IS NOT FOR SALE!

Oneness… NOT FOR SALE!

Holiness… NOT FOR SALE!

IT’S MINE! IT’S MINE! IT’S WHO I AM!!!

Internalizing the Message

I want to read you some Scripture that declares just how much God wants to bless us. Listen to this:

Deuteronomy 28:1–3 KJV 1900

1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. 3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.

Listen to me: if we will be faithful to the Lord and listen to His voice, He will overtake us with blessings.

Actually, we have all been overtaken by the blessings of God. Some blessings we prayed for; most of them, we did not. Psalm 68:19 says:

Psalm 68:19 NKJV

19 Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah

Every day, He loads us down with blessings - both seen and unseen!!! “Ever’ day!”

It’s our responsibility to cherish every single blessing. It’s our responsibility never to take those blessings for granted or to allow them to tarnish in our eyes. We can’t allow that Esau attitude to take root in our spirits. The things of this world should never be more valuable to us than the things of the Lord!

There’s always going to be someone looking to cheat us out of the blessings God has planned for us. They will always have something that’s savory and appealing to offer - if we just give up those blessings.

I think that there is a spirit of cherishing in the house today. I believe that there are roots that are starting to grow deep into truth and deep into being Apostolic!