Complaint can hinder the BLESSING

Living in the Blessing Lesson # 9 Quiet the Complaint & Murmuring part 1

2 Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that [pertain] to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption [that is] in the world through lust.

The heart of the Father is for His children to be partakers of the exceedingly great and precious promises. His word calls us to believe His divine influence and union with Christ is great.

Ephesian 1:3 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, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

The Blessed one is blessing and has blessed and will be blessing His children. All the spiritual blessing in Christ are ours. Chosen, adopted, accepted in the Beloved; called to live with the blessed mindset!

Hebrews 6:17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed [it] by an oath,

God’s heart beat is for our soul to be anchored to the strength of His word and the work of Jesus Christ as our forerunner into His presence. The enemy cannot curse what God has blessed; but, if he can get you to compromise your covenant, he can have a foothold into your life and interrupt the blessings. Complaint and murmuring is one of the greatest tools of satan; has he lured you in?

Exodus 15:22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they [were] bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24 And the people complained against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"

The people complained against Moses … “What shall we drink?” The water was bitter.

Exodus 15:25 So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast [it] into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, 26 and said, "If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I [am] the LORD who heals you."

Cast the tree into the bitter water and God will heal the circumstance. The tree is symbolic of the tree of Calvary. Bitter waters can be made sweet only by the cross. What a promise, heed his voice and you will know Him as the LORD who heals you. Bitter water and sweet water should not come from the same source; put the cross in the source and the bitter water can be made sweet.

Numbers 11:1 Now [when] the people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard [it], and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed [some] in the outskirts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the LORD, the fire was quenched. 3 So he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had burned among them.

The children of Israel complained again; under the law it they faced the wrath of God with Moses to mediate for them.

Numbers 17:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and get from them a rod from each father's house, all their leaders according to their fathers' houses--twelve rods. Write each man's name on his rod. 3 "And you shall write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi. For there shall be one rod for the head of [each] father's house. 4 "Then you shall place them in the tabernacle of meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you. 5 "And it shall be [that] the rod of the man whom I choose will blossom; thus I will rid Myself of the complaints of the children of Israel, which they make against you."

Israel had complained when they were hungry, complained when they were thirsty, and complained against leadership God had chosen. God had a plan to put the complaint the away from Him.

Numbers 17:6 So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and each of their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron [was] among their rods. 7 And Moses placed the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. 8 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds. 9 Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD to all the children of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod. 10 And the LORD said to Moses, "Bring Aaron's rod back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die."

The children of Israel were complaining against the leadership and God wanted to demonstrate His will. Aaron’s rod budded when all the other leaders did not bud. God was indeed calling them to put away their compliant.

1 Corinthians 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for [their bodies] were scattered in the wilderness. 6 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.

Imagine God let Israel be a bad example for our learning instrument; hear the word and receive the instruction to live in the blessing.

1 Corinthians 10:7 And do not become idolaters as [were] some of them. As it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." 8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; 9 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

The children of God complained and were tempting God via their complaint. They complained and were destroyed for it. What shall we learn from them?

Philippians 2:14 Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

I love the Jesus solution to the complaint. It is not enough if we just rebuke the behavior! There is a word of God to dislodge the complaint. Hold fast to the word of God rejoicing in It. Put a praise in your mouth and rejoice at the goodness of God. More on quieting the complaint and murmuring next lesson.