Be a Blessing

Copyright © 2015 by Gloria Sua.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2015910183

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5035-8115-9

                Softcover        978-1-5035-8114-2

                eBook             978-1-5035-8113-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 07/06/2015

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

712633

Contents

Chapter I: Be OBEDIENT

A Prayerful Life

Chapter II: Be TEACHABLE

The Word Became Flesh

Chapter III: Be WILLING

Chapter IV: Be PATIENT

Chapter V: Be LOVEABLE

Chapter VI: Be TENACIOUS

Reviews

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible New International Version (NIV). © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, © 1983 by the Zondervan Corporation.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (Holy Bible English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible New Living Translation, © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Website

Scripture quotations marked AMP are from the Amplified Bible Old Testament, © 1965, 1987 by the Zondervan Corporation. The Amplified Bible New Testament, © 1954, 1958, 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All glory, power, and praise is to God! My heart is filled with gratitude and humbled for the opportunity to be used of God to put this book out for many to read for the glory of God! My amazing parents, Aposetolo Tufuolemataafa and Piliota Failauga (both deceased). My awesome husband and best friend, Hans Su’a Jr. My beautiful men of God, Kingsten, Kobe, and Kaleb.

Special thanks to my mentors: Senior Pastor Dr. Isakara Sataraka and First Lady Elizabeth, my family church Good Samaritan Worship Center, Elder Aofia (deceased) and Silafaga Faleafine, GrandpaTanu Taumua (deceased), Pastors Mo and Fa’anati Failauga, Ofisa Failauga (deceased), and Pastors Leafe and Flo Amosa.

My beautiful siblings Pastor Vaeoleto’oto’o and Leano Failauga, Pastor Sam and Sila Ioane, Aliitaeaomai, Ofisa (deceased), Toe and Faifili Taliulu, Mavaeao (Tonu) and Ana, Monike (Nikk) and Ake, Aposetolo Jr. (T-Bone) and Melissa. My dear cousin, Rikk Lepule, my partner.

There is something about the title of this book that intrigued you to pick it up and read it. Now that you are reading it, please allow it your full attention. This is not a coincidence that you are curious to know what this book is about. You are that peculiar person that God foreknew would be obedient to him. He wanted you to find the golden nuggets that he needs you to understand.

How to look at your life in a whole NEW perspective!

To see and understand living life on earth through God’s eyes. There are many people who continue to exist thinking that they are living life, but in reality, they are not. To live is Christ and to die is gain is a verse that many Christians so loosely quote at funerals or whatever time we find convenient to state it, but what does that verse actually mean to you? It simply means this: if we are living our lives without God in the equation, then we are merely just existing! That’s a bold statement, you say? Yes, it is!

Granted, we may have our dreams and our possessions and oftentimes be happy on the surface, but the reality of the whole life deal is that we are struggling individually, trying to figure out why we are placed here on earth. It’s not just to be happy, have what we need, and one day pass on.

Material possessions will only make us happy temporarily because happiness is subjected to happenings. When something good happens like falling in love, purchasing a dream home, or landing the ideal job with superb benefits, then we’re happy. Who wouldn’t be? Our happiness is reliant on our current statuses. The media paints a picture that we must live like the Joneses. Many fall into that trap and end up spending beyond their means. It’s like a dog chasing its own tail. We try to keep up with a lifestyle that’s falsely painted for us and many times find ourselves drowning in debt.

God’s principles are very clear and precise. If we can follow them, we will be prosperous! There are many habits that we have picked up along the way of growing up that have become impossible to break. They say it takes twenty-one days to break a habit. That means anything done can be redone. The prefix re is to return something to its rightful state of being. Repent, in the Greek language, is metanoia, meaning a change of mind. Pente is a French word for slope. In the English language it is penthouse, a room at the top of a building typically luxuriously fitted, offering fine views. Man at its highest point. In the book of Genesis 1 and 2, God designed the world and gave dominion to man, Adam. Man’s rightful place was with God, but in Genesis 3, man fell. Since the time of creation, God has been redeeming man back to his rightful place. The dominion that God removed from man and gave to the serpent that was once on four hinds in the Garden of Eden was later restored in history through the death, burial, and resurrection of his only son, Jesus Christ.

That is the good news that you and I can hold fast to. We are with void when we don’t comprehend the true meaning of life. I want to know Christ-yes, to know the power of his resurrection and the participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death (Phil. 3:10 NIV). Let’s strive to uphold what God has already promised for you and me. Our only security is in Christ.

We work hard to accomplish countless goals, but is it truly satisfying? Yes! To some extent, but is that it? No, God designed us, you and me, with a void so enormous that only he can fill.

What is it to Be a Blessing?

In reading the Be-attitudes (God’s attitudes) on what it is to be blessed, I gained insight on what God has been pressing in my spirit all along. We are blessed by God (the one who blesses us) with all things to be a blessing to others! People cannot see God, but in the things that we do, God should be portrayed. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16 NKJV). My understanding on what that text is saying is that everything we do and how we live our lives should cause others to see God. In verses 14 and 15 of that same chapter, they speak of us being the light of the world and that no one lights a lamp and then puts it under a bowl. The light shows the way. You and I need to show the world Christ; and when we continue to be a blessing by pulling out a chair, holding a door open for someone else to walk in, or just smiling simply to brighten someone’s day, they will see the light.

Many think that we are blessed to keep it stored up for ourselves. But answer this question: are you able to take everything with you when you leave this earth? The answer is no. I once read a story of a famous man named John D. Rockefeller who was the richest man in history. At the age of twenty, he owned his first company. He was very wealthy but acquired a rare condition called alopecia, and the doctor’s report was that he wouldn’t live to see his fifty-fourth birthday. At the age of fifty-three, he started giving most of his riches to medicine, education, and scientific research. He funded University of Chicago and later started Rockefeller Institute Medical Research (RIMR) in New York. From these institutions, they were able to discover penicillin, cure for cancer, and serum for syphilis. He continued to increase his giving to charitable foundations and his home church, and miraculously, his health began to improve. He became healthy and happy again. He was known as a successful businessperson and a famous philanthropist. The doctors said he wouldn’t live to see his fifty-fourth birthday, but he lived till he was ninety-seven years old. It was almost like the story in the Bible of the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:13–21 (NIV):

Someone in the crowd said to him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. ¹⁴Jesus replied, Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you? ¹⁵Then he said to them, Watch out Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. ¹⁶And he told them this parable: The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷He thought to himself, What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. ¹⁸Then he said, This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹And I’ll say to myself, You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry. ²⁰But God said to him, you fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? ²¹This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God."

The many things that our lives are enriched with are not just to enjoy but to witness and shed light to the world about successfully living life through Christ. We are able to live life thoroughly in Christ. He is our source of life.

This book of the law shall not depart from thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein, for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good success (Josh. 1:8 KJV). That passage gives us guidelines to success. We have to read, study, and live the word. It will allow us to prosper and give us success.

The Beatitudes (Matt. 5:1–12 NIV)

¹And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. ²Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

³"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴Blessed are those who mourn,

For they shall be comforted.

⁵Blessed are the meek,

For they shall inherit the earth.

⁶Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

For they shall be filled.

⁷Blessed are the merciful,

For they shall obtain mercy.

⁸Blessed are the pure in heart,

For they shall see God.

⁹Blessed are the peacemakers,

For they shall be called sons of God.

¹⁰Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹"Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. ¹²Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The devil comes only but to steal, kill and destroy but Christ came that we might have life and have it more abundantly (Jn. 10:10 NIV). Our minds are the playground of the enemy. If we are enslaved by negativity, then our lives will resemble that; but if our minds are transformed and renewed daily, it will become great. We can be told over and over that we are awesome, but until one believes it for themselves, it will just be something great to hear.

It’s urgent that we hold on to the fact that if God is in our hearts, changing our lives and trusting us to be stewards of his most-prized possessions—number one, people, and number two, finances—we need to do life his way. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others (2 Tim. 2:2 NIV).

We must pave the way for the next generation. What we do today will impact others either in a negative or in a positive way. We cannot skip a generation. We cannot afford