Open the box of blessings that far surpasses human thought and level.

They say that if you believe in Jesus, you will be blessed.
right.
But it is an unexpected blessing, a blessing that goes beyond expectations.
What blessings does the Bible speak of? What blessings did the biblical figures receive that we should strive to live like them? Abraham was blessed with a blessing that he left without knowing.
Isaac had the blessing of being repeatedly taken away.
Jacob was blessed to live with a disability.
In this way, God prepared blessings that surpassed human thoughts and standards, and people of faith enjoyed those blessings and lived blessed lives.


God said that we ourselves are a blessing.
Therefore, there is no need to try to seek blessings elsewhere.
Every experience a Christian has in life is a blessed event in itself.
Even if you suffer loss, it is a blessing. Even if you are framed, it is a blessing. Even if you are kicked out, it is a blessing. Even if you are sick, it is a blessing.
Because we ourselves have become a blessing.
That blessing does not stay with me, but flows through me into the world and transforms it beautifully.


Christians should no longer thirst for the blessings of the world.
When we seek the true blessings that God wants to give, we can become a witness of hope on this earth.
Sometimes we may face hardships that are beyond our comprehension, but in the end, we will see truly delicious, beautiful, and abundant fruits growing in our lives.

So what is the blessing God promises? He says that even though you don't have a son now, he will make you into a great nation.
He promises not to give you the blessing of becoming a tycoon, but the blessing of having your name remembered forever.
The important thing here is the covenant, “You will be a blessing.”
God not only blesses you, but He declares that He will make you a blessing, that you are a blessing.

I am a blessing. Who would I cling to for blessings? What in the world would I need to cling to? The core of God's new human project lies in this one truth: "I am a blessing."
Because I am blessed, I no longer seek blessings from anyone or anywhere.
This is the starting point of faith.
--- pp.20-21

Isaac lived a life unbound by the past, not dwelling on it even though it was taken away again and again.
He lived his life always looking forward to the future without looking back at the past.
This is what faith is like.
Being robbed again and again is not a simple case of theft or robbery.
It is an event of faith in which God leads Isaac on the path of faith.

Isaac does not look back at Esek and does not spare Sitnah, but goes to another place.
But surprisingly, whenever he dug a well, a spring came out without fail.
Isaac did not stop and dug a well, and he named it Rehoboth.
The name Rehoboth means 'wide place' and is a confession that God has expanded the territory.
It is a confession of faith that after believing in God and leaving with what was taken away, God gave us a wider well.

If Isaac had clung to Esek and Sitnah until the end, he would not have obtained Rehoboth.
Faith is the path of blessing that leads us to a wider place and a wider realm prepared by God, without fighting or arguing with those who would try to take what is ours.
--- pp.56-57

Q.
How can we distinguish between faith and belief?
It is necessary to distinguish between faith and belief.
But belief is also faith.
Belief is believing in an idea.
For example, the belief that 'making money makes you happy'.
When this belief becomes a collective trend, it becomes an ideology.

But faith does not come from human thinking, but from God.
Faith arises because of the life phenomena occurring within me.
Faith is not that important to me.
What matters is God, the object of our faith.
So, believing in God is experiencing a freedom that is gradually being released from me.
Some people find God while weeping alone, some find God while meditating quietly at their bedside, and some find God while traveling and visiting a very poor neighborhood.
God meets us in various ways and gives us faith.

There are also people who believe in Christianity.
If someone hits you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek as well; if someone asks you to go one mile, go two miles; if someone asks you for your coat, give them your shirt as well. This is the kind of wisdom that we must voluntarily follow and believe in.
People who believe in the Word have the idea that 'God must be like this, Jesus must be like this.'
Because they have never met God personally, they create images of God and Jesus through their own beliefs.
These people tend to lose their faith when they face hardship, or they become more arrogant as they go through hardship.
I am always critical of other people's beliefs because I do not accept a God who is different from my own.

Therefore, we must discern for ourselves whether our beliefs are not just our convictions or whether they are blind faith.
May we all have faith as a gift from God.

--- pp.13-114

It doesn't matter what we did in the past.
It doesn't matter how much you struggle and how discouraged you are.
God is important.
Faith is a life that knows that God is more important than I am.
Life is not about me, it is about God.
Life didn't start with me.
Life is God's story that began before the beginning.
I am one episode in that huge story.
It is a small thing like dust, but when God holds a magnifying glass over it, it becomes a story.
As I become less important and God becomes more important, my story begins to have meaning and value in Him.
When anyone has faith, they experience, amazingly, that their life begins to take on a new interpretation and meaning.

--- p.134

It is not a blessing to have no trials in life.
No matter how great the trials and tribulations, it is important to become a vessel greater than them.
This is the blessing that faith pursues and the true blessing that believers possess.
It is a blessing to forgive those who criticize and hate me, rather than to cry and whine day and night asking for this and that to be filled.
It is right to be angry, but faith is not to be bound by him, not to be obsessed with revenge, but to love and rely on God with all your heart and to hope for the kingdom of God.

--- p.191