Abundant Blessings

A Devotion for Valentine’s Day

by Jane Robinson

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It’s almost Valentine’s Day. Adults celebrate the gift of human love. Children share cards and candy in school. God’s people can use this celebration of love to remember the greatest love ever shown—God’s own Son coming to earth to suffer, die, and rise from death to save us! That is true love—the greatest blessing ever!

Blessings. Most of us would  agree we’re blessed by God. How about you? What are the big earthly blessings you receive every day? We often thank God for these major, abundant blessings, but we enjoy an abundance of little blessings, too—blessings that make our lives easier and happier day by day. Can you think of some of them?

Blessings are peculiar things. We endanger our sense of contentment when we compare the blessings we receive with the blessings God has given to other people. One person has good health, a satisfying job, and plenty of food to eat; another person may not have any of those things, but enjoys a loving family, money enough to pay this month’s bills, and a compassionate health-care team that supports and encourages him or her in times of illness and pain.

We thank God for every blessing we receive. Yet we realize how fragile our lives really are. We may bask in abundance one day, only to find ourselves in need the next. A tornado, a fire, a traffic accident—the truth that these can happen without warning frightens us. It’s frightening to consider, but our earthly blessings can disappear in the blink of an eye.

From the beginning, this was not our gracious heavenly Father’s intent for us. He wanted life here on earth to be just right—to be perfect. When sin ruined his original plan, he sent his very own Son into our sin-blemished world to save us. He actively looks for ways to bless us moment by moment (2 Chronicles 16:9), and we have his promise that he has much more in store for us.

Consider the awesome truths of Romans 5:1: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Here we hear our Lord’s answer to the misery of the sinful world. Here we receive the assurance of eternal blessing.

Being justified by faith. It’s hard to take in, isn’t it? It seems we should have to perform some dreadfully difficult series of demands to make ourselves right with God. But these words straight from God’s heart to our hearts make it clear: our rightness with God is a matter of faith in Jesus, our Savior—and that alone! Even faith itself is a gift, a blessing from heaven (Ephesians 2:8)!

We have peace with God. What a scary thing—to live as an enemy of God! Without Jesus, that is what we were, but through Jesus and because of his death in our place, we have peace. We can talk to God as our loving Father. We can look forward to living with him forever.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ. The name Lord Jesus Christ means a lot for us. Lord means he rules over all creation. Jesus means he came to save us. Christ means that he  truly is the promised Savior of the Old Testament.

As if those aren’t blessings enough, the smallest word in this phrase, our, is the one that causes our hearts to brim over with joy. The word our makes this relationship a personal one. Because he’s our Lord Jesus Christ, we are his—his friends, his brothers and sisters. As friends of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have peace with God Almighty.

God promises these heavenly blessings to us, and the evil one cannot snatch them from us. God blesses us abundantly! Living in these abundant blessings, we recognize that further, related blessings surround us: forgiveness, love, the privilege of prayer, strength, joy, peace, hope, purpose and meaning for life, a refuge whenever life’s storms swirl around us, and eternal life, to list only a few.

Overflowing with abundant blessings—that’s our life in Christ.
As you celebrate Valentine’s Day this year, remember the peace with God that belongs to you in Jesus Christ. His blessings are for you, for your heart, and they are abundant! He loves you!

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Scripture quotations are from the King James or Authorized Version of the Bible.
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Used with permission grant #031108. © 2007 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this devotion is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026. www.CTAinc.com.