When we first read this question, our default response is to look at our possessions at hand and our position in the society.  Don’t worry!  No one is exempted from thinking this way except those who are mature in their spiritual walk in Christ in which we, believers, are heading towards.  We are all a work in progress and because our God is merciful and gracious, He takes us from faith to faith, from strength to strength, from glory to glory one step at a time.
To start with, one of the simplest ways to know how blessed we are is to write down what we can see, feel or touch that we are THANKFUL to God for.  Go ahead!  Get a paper and pen and start writing ALL that you can think of.  Before we can even fill up one page, our hearts by then will be oozing with JOY as THANK YOU is the password to enter into His gates (Psalm 100:4 MSG).  When we set our focus on thanking Him for what we have instead of fussing with what we do not have, this allows us to see how blessed we are.

One of the things I was pondering on lately was how to get increase with regards to the Lord’s provision in my life.  Oh yes, I prayed, remembered the Lord our God and acknowledged that it is He Who gives us the power to get wealth in Deuteronomy 8:18. Yes, I have meditated on honoring the Lord with our possessions that our barns will be filled with plenty and our vats will overflow with new wine (Proverbs 3:9-10).  Yes, I am fully persuaded to bring our tithes and offerings into God’s storehouses (Malachi 3:10).  But do you know what He first made me realize?  He said, “What do you have right now that you can be thankful for?”  Hmmmm …

A few minutes later, I happened to listen to one of my favorite preachers and straight to the point she said, “Go to the website globalrichlist.com and see where you actually sit in comparison to the rest of the world by your annual salary.”  Hmmmm … I do not earn much but I do have a comfortable life.  Yet when it comes to travel, fine dine, and explore a-cut-above thing to do, it does require faith for me to be able to have them.  Thank God that He always causes me to triumph in Christ.

Yes, I did check the website and I was amazingly surprised to be on the top 6.53% richest people in the world by income.  My heart melted in deep gratitude with tears in my eyes, bowed my head and simply whispered from the very depths of my heart, “Thank You, Lord.”  How blessed I am in this area of my life and what I saw will forever be written in the tablet of my heart in which I will forever be grateful to God.

Then, the Holy Spirit took me into a spiritual journey that made me stop, think and meditate on.  “KNOW WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST!  YOU ARE HIS BELOVED!”

We had a startling start that I never expected!  He unveiled my eyes to see how the God the Creator of the heavens and earth, and yes, the Creator of mankind, hates sin!  Hmmmm …. you see, this is definitely not a love-filled start at all.  From the time Adam and Eve fell at the Garden of Eden after they disobeyed, sin put a separation between God and man.  Everyone who came after them till now carries the same.

But God Who is rich in mercy and abounding in love chose people to whom He can speak to and obey.  He chose Abraham, our father of faith to whom divine promises were given.  He chose Noah, Moses, David and a number of prophets to tell His people to humble themselves, pray and turn from their wicked ways so that healing and restoration will come, but the people were stiff-necked and stubborn.  Yet, all the while, God’s love for mankind never diminished and a promised Messiah was prophesied Who will save the world.

The slightest sin that one could ever think of can separate us from God.  Such can NEVER be paid by what we do.  In and of our own ability, reconciliation is an impossibility.  And if we do not know this truth, then we can never really truly appreciate how great His love is for you and me.   This is a deep thought to ponder on.  It took me quite a while to digest how passionate indeed He is to bring us back into His loving presence.

“For this is how much God loved the world—He gave His one and only, unique Son as a gift.  So now everyone who believes in him will never perish but experience everlasting life.

“God did not send His Son into the world to judge and condemn the world, but to be its Savior and rescue it!”  (John 3:16-17 TPT)

Jesus who is perfect came to this imperfect world.  He did not come from the lineage of Adam.  The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary therefore He was borne of God.  He was born to be the perfect High Priest fully accepted by God at the same time He was the perfect sacrifice fully acceptable to God.  At the cross, “God made the only One Who did not know sin TO BECOME sin for us, so that we who did not know righteousness might become the righteousness of God through our union with Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 TPT) The death that He died, He died to sin ONCE AND FOR ALL (Romans 6:10).  It was His shed blood that paid for ALL our sins and unrighteousness, from the least to the greatest, just as so we can be reconciled back to God our Father.

Jesus is THE WAY, the ONLY way for us to be saved and to have a restored intimate relationship with God.  Jesus is THE TRUTH that outweighs all the whispering lies of guilt and condemnation by the enemy.  Jesus is the LIFE!  Indeed, he who has the Son has LIFE!

Jesus powerfully demonstrated and revealed how great is the love of our Father.   “He proved God’s passionate love for us by dying in our place while we were still lost and ungodly.” (Romans 5:8 TPT).  He did not wait for us to live right for Him to love us.  NO!  He absolutely knows that apart from Him we CANNOT do it on our own.  We cannot pay for our own sins let alone live righteously by our own ability.  Thus, Jesus came.

The gift of free will is powerful.  When Adam and Eve exercised it by partaking of the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, mankind was separated from God.

The same way, we have the gift of free will to CHOOSE to RECEIVE God’s unique Son, Jesus, as a GIFT Who will set us free from sin and separation from God.   Always remember that a gift is meant to be received and not to be worked for nor paid for lest anyone should boast.  We have been saved by GRACE through FAITH and not by works.

This is the GREATEST BLESSING we can ever dare think, dream, desire or imagine, knowing how much loved we are and that is FOREVER!  Truly, the things that we do not see are ETERNAL and these can only be accessed by FAITH, by believing that we are greatly blessed, highly favored and deeply loved.

“As many as RECEIVED Him, to them He gave the POWER to become the sons of God, even to them that BELIEVE on His Name.” (John 1:12)

The word “POWER” (Exousia – Greek) means God gave us the sense of ability, privilege, a force, a capacity, a competency, a freedom, a mastery, a delegated influence, a jurisdiction, a liberty, a power, a right, a strength to become His sons.  And it is “the Holy Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” (Romans 8:16)

What blessing can be greater than us being the sons and daughters of the MOST HIGH GOD?  Nothing!  Who and what can come against us receiving the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father?”  Nothing!  Who or what then will be able to separate us from the LOVE of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord?  Nothing!

“I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” (Ephesians 3:16-19 NLT)