BEING BLESSED & BEING A BLESSING

By: Hannah Hazel Morales
Lighthouse Bible
Baptist Church
Tatalon, QC

“(We) exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.” I Thes. 4:1 (KJV) In my first few weeks in Canada, I went church-hunting a lot, visiting up to 4 Baptist churches. Of course I was looking for a church that teaches sound Biblical doctrines and practices. But in addition that, being so church-homesick, I guess I was hoping to find a carbon copy of what I was used to back home. I figured out that was quite impossible, since all congregations are unique. So, I resorted to trying to find a spiritual home that seems to have the best “package”, humanly speaking. I keep on watching the internet webcast of LBBC services to keep in touch with my home church. One time, something Pastor Reuben Abante said struck me: “A Christian should not be always at the receiving end.”.” I remembered the Dead Sea: all inlets, no outlet, and no life (except for salt-loving bacteria). Being concerned only with gain, it became stagnant and, well, dead. I don’t want to be like that. The Bible likens us Christians as growing trees that flourish and bear fruit for our Lord as He gives grace, supplies our needs sufficiently, and nourishes our spirits abundantly. However, with that message, I realized that others ought to appreciate our growth. There should be a time when we are not just the ones who are blessed; rather, our lives have become a blessing.

With that recognition, I became less concerned for my gain and more yielded to God’s leading. I still miss how things are back home, but I believe that I am now a part of a congregation where He wants me to be. As I have learned from this episode, may all of us then regard our church not just as a place of worship and fellowship where we can grow and be blessed, but also a place of God-given opportunity to help build others up and be a blessing in return.