How do you take hold of your own
spiritual jackpot?
Everybody wants to win a jackpot,
right? When PowerBall numbers start to soar, even the most skeptical of us
consider going out to buy a ticket. “What would we do with a million or a
multimillion dollar jackpot?” we ask ourselves.
But what if I told you that a
jackpot was possible for you—not a financial jackpot, necessarily, but a
spiritual jackpot? It’s possible and accessible for you right now, today.
Would you believe me?
Abram is an example from the
scriptures of someone who embraced his spiritual jackpot. God chose Abram to be
the father of his people, to lead and shepherd them in a specific way, and the
way Abram responded to this call on his life made him the recipient of what I
would call a spiritual jackpot.
How do you take hold of your own
spiritual jackpot?
There are four things Abram did
really well, and I think we have a lot to learn from his example.
1.
Listen to God’s promises.
The first thing Abram did was listen
to the promises of God.
Check out Genesis 12:1-4 and you’ll
see how God promised to make Abram into a great nation, to bless him, and that
he would make him “a blessing.” These are some pretty huge promises! Yet Abram
doesn’t question God.
He doesn’t worry or fret.
He accepts the promise and expects
it to come to fruition.
How often does God promise us
something, and we refuse to accept it? Has this ever happened to you? Maybe you
sense God is promising you something, but it doesn’t seem logical, or it
doesn’t seem to line up with your current circumstances, so you dismiss it as
nonsense.
The first step to receiving God’s
blessing is accepting his promises as true. No logic or reason necessary.
It doesn’t matter if you think you
“deserve” it. He is able to do far beyond what we could ask or imagine.
2. Respond to God’s promises (without question).
In response to God’s promise, Abram leaves his father and family and goes out, just like the Lord tells him to, in the exact direction he was instructed.Genesis 13 tells us that God blessed his family as they went, which is always a happy benefit; but notice Abram doesn’t second-guess what God has asked him to do.
He doesn’t try to figure out all the details ahead of time.
He simply trusts that, if God has called him in this direction, God will provide.
This is so hard for us, don’t you think?
When God calls us to do something, it’s so easy to let fear get in the way. We fear a tainted reputation; we fear an empty bank account; we fear the pain we’ll encounter along the way. But what if we just trusted? What if we counted on God to provide?
3. Trust in God’s promises.
It’s not enough to listen to God’s promises, or to act on them. We have to trust in God’s promises.If you read the rest of Genesis 14, you’ll see how Abram’s trust in God didn’t falter, even when things didn’t seem to go as planned. At one point, Abram turns down what would seem like a huge blessing from the King of Sodom.
He doesn’t need the blessing from Sodom.
He’s expecting a blessing from God.
How many of us are willing to turn down what seems like a huge, earthly blessing in exchange for the heavenly blessing we know is coming?
Is our trust really in God’s promises, or is it in the financial or material “blessings”
4.
Give the credit to God.
At the end of the day, when Abram
receives his blessing, he doesn’t take the credit for himself.
Scripture says, “Abraham believed
the Lord and he credited to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)
Abram didn’t need to take any credit
for the blessings he had received.
He had hit the jackpot.
How many of you feel like you’ve hit
the jackpot simply by being in a relationship with Jesus?
Is it possible you’re missing the
power and blessing possible in your life because you’re looking for them in the
wrong place?
Maybe the “jackpot” you really want
has been right in front of you this whole time.
This
article was contributed by Scott Wilson
Scott Wilson is the Senior Pastor of
The Oaks Fellowship, ministering to about 3,000 people every week in Dallas,
TX. He is a frequent conference speaker, and provides mentorship for dozens of
pastors and church leaders through Scott Wilson Consulting. Scott is a loving
husband and proud father. Scott and his wife, Jenni, have three boys: Dillon,
Hunter, and Dakota.
