Who is the blessed person? Is it the person living in a multi-million dollar home along Malibu Beach, or is it the young woman in Iran who is imprisoned and beaten and shamed for her faith in Jesus Christ? Is it riches or what is it? A blessing is a spiritual thing. In Genesis 18:18God said that through Abraham every nation would be blessed. That didn’t mean that the Jews would give money to all the nations. It meant that blessing would come through spiritual experience. What we receive from Christ is salvation and eternal life. We get blessed when someone gets saved through us. Revelation 5:12 mentions blessings separately from riches. We are of the blessing of Jacob. Even though his father-in-law and brother were against him, and everything seemed to be taken from him, God blessed him, and from him we have blessed generations. Multiplication is part of blessing. Pastor Arthur told a story of a woman who had two other children and was going to have an abortion because her husband died. Pastor Arthur ministered to her, and his church supported her and her children. Today that youngest child is one of the lead dancers in the Russian ballet. Blessing is creative. Determine and choose what a true blessing is. You will have battles and persecution, but desire to be a blessed person. The church is to bring the truth of spiritual blessing. Be blessed and be filled with the Holy Spirit. 

Arthur Simonyan, a pastor from Armenia, preached on Romans 8:28. The number one thing for believers is to love God, and secondly, to love our neighbors. Loving one another and God means to take care of one another and to protect one another. Pastor Arthur shared several examples of people who were serving God and bad things happened to them, but in the end, it turned out for the good.  For instance, their church started out as a Bible School in a park, but they were banned. Later they applied for a loan to build or buy a building, but the bank told them they don’t finance religious organizations. The good that came from that is that they own, debt-free, a beautiful 3500 seat church building. Peter caught no fish after a night’s fishing, but because his boat was empty, he connected with Jesus, who brought a boatload of fish to him. We have many Goliaths who want to break down our faith, but your “Goliath” can become a blessing. God is with us and victory belongs to us.