Don't Waste Your Blessings! - Free Indeed - Ep. 42

Summary

Barry Bennett teaches that Christians are already blessed through what God has provided in Christ, but they need to recognize those blessings, value them, and put them to work. He compares God’s promises to a packet of seeds: their potential becomes visible when someone plants and cultivates them. In his view, faith and action help make spiritual blessings tangible in everyday life.

He begins with Psalm 103:1–5, highlighting benefits including forgiveness, healing, redemption, loving-kindness, mercy, and renewal. He connects this to Ephesians 1:3 and 2 Peter 1:3–4, arguing that believers have been given spiritual blessings and promises they can draw on by faith—not merely hope to receive in the afterlife.

Blessings Believers Should Put to Work

• Time: Bennett interprets “redeeming the time” (Ephesians 5:15–16) as using each day purposefully. Like a farmer planting seed, people can use their time to encourage others, pray, give, love, and pursue God’s purposes. In his illustration, time works in a person’s favor when they act on what they have been given, and is wasted through passivity.
• The ability to hear God: Citing Jesus’ words, “My sheep hear my voice” (John 10:27), Bennett says believers can receive spiritual guidance, warnings, encouragement, and understanding. He describes this as the Spirit quickening something inwardly, rather than necessarily hearing an audible voice. He urges believers to remain receptive instead of becoming spiritually dull or closed off, referring to Matthew 13:15. He also links hearing God’s Word with faith (Romans 10:17).
• Words: From Proverbs 18:20–21, he emphasizes the influence of speech: words can produce life or death and affect a person’s outlook and circumstances. He encourages speaking words of faith, blessing, and encouragement rather than complaining, criticizing, or speaking from self-pity.
• Faith: Bennett presents faith as a blessing believers can choose to exercise. He cites Jesus’ statement that “all things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23) and connects faith with the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23). He encourages choosing belief in God’s Word rather than yielding to unbelief.
• God’s love: Drawing on Romans 5:5, he says God’s love has been poured into believers’ hearts and can flow through them to others. He describes love as a way to encourage people, improve relationships, and influence the atmosphere around them.
• Forgiveness: Ephesians 4:32 calls believers to kindness, tender-heartedness, and forgiveness. Bennett’s point is that Christians need not rely only on their own emotional capacity: they can draw on God’s love to forgive and move forward.
• Giving: From Luke 6:38, he presents giving as a way to bless others and participate in multiplication and increase. He stresses giving as an expression of love, while noting that believers may fail to experience the value of this blessing if they do not put it into practice.
• Serving: Citing Galatians 5:13, he says Christian freedom should be expressed through serving one another in love. Service, like other acts of love, sows into other people’s lives.

Practical Approach

Bennett’s central application is to:

1. Recognize what God has already provided.
2. Value those blessings rather than dismissing them.
3. Believe God’s promises and remain receptive to spiritual guidance.
4. Actively use time, words, faith, love, giving, and service.
5. Expect these actions to bear fruit in one’s own life and in the lives of others.

He concludes that believers should not waste their blessings but should treat them as seeds to be planted, with the intention of seeing lives changed.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Barry Bennett — speaker and Bible teacher.
• Biblical passages cited: Psalm 103:1–5; Ephesians 1:3; 2 Peter 1:3–4; Ephesians 5:15–16; John 10:27; Matthew 13:15; Romans 10:17; Proverbs 18:20–21; Mark 9:23; Galatians 5:22–23; Romans 5:5; Ephesians 4:32; Luke 6:38; Galatians 5:13.
• Andrew Wommack — mentioned by Bennett in the closing remarks in connection with the booklet You’ve Already Got It; he does not speak in the excerpt.