There are those in our world today who preach a material prosperity gospel. For millions of believers who live in poverty that is a very questionable doctrine. Jesus himself said we would always have poor people with us and he wasn’t just referring to unbelievers.

The largest percent of well-off people, Christian or not, had advantages that others did not have. They spent time working for the prosperity. There are too many materially prospered un-believers to accept the idea that following Jesus will necessarily bless you with earthly goods. God has blessed the faithful saints spiritually.

Not just some but all spiritual blessing; every single one. Think about it. All Christians who follow Jesus get all blessings. No one gets more or less. We get them all. Tell me that’s not awesome! God knows how to give his children good gifts. He holds nothing back. First, he gave Christ to die for us and then all the spiritual gifts of heaven.

Now notice where these blessings are. They are in the heavenly places.  In the spiritual world, no less. They are given to the inner man. These gifts do not show up in my garage or your marina. They don’t come as houses by the sea or cabins on the lake. They aren’t cars that run or pantries full of food. Spiritual blessings do not show up when I eat at a restaurant or go to a movie. Millions of people experience all or some of these blessings who don’t even know who God is.  None of the spiritual blessings are for earthly consumption. They aren’t given to elevate me in the world. They are not this-worldly.

Every Christian has these blessings. We are children of God, heirs of our father and joint heirs with Christ.  All that God has is ours. We have God, Christ and the Holy Spirit living in us, transforming us to be like God. Preparing our spirit to live in heaven in the presence of God for all eternity.

What God gives is much superior to mansions on a hill, houses on the beach, cabins on the lake or boats in the marinas. (These are examples only, substitute as you please.) I personally have more material blessings than I need, but they are nothing compared to the spiritual blessings I have in Christ. I must make sure I don’t confuse the two.

One more thing. Material blessings are to share with others, but the spiritual blessings are my personal gift from my father to bring me closer to him. They may well encourage me to share him with others.

We spend a lot of time thanking God for our material blessings because we have them. What if we didn’t? Why don’t we spend equal time thanking God for our spiritual blessings since we do have them? I hope it isn’t because we love one more than the other. The entire total of material blessings has much less value than one spiritual blessing. I believe God wants us to focus on his spiritual gifts so that whether we are materially well off, or in deepest poverty, we will see that we are rich beyond words.

The early church did not consider their material blessings theirs alone but shared with those who lacked them. A far cry from how many think of the material blessings today. Since all my brethren have spiritual blessings, that kind of sharing is not necessary. What is necessary is that we share the fact that those blessings, unlike material ones, are available to everyone who will follow Jesus.