BLESSINGS
27th Jan 2021
I have a friend whose response to the question, “How are you?” is always, “I am blessed!” That does not mean that there are no problems, no stress, no sadness, no imponderables - she is a child of God, in living relationship with Him, and it is because of that she boldly declares, “I am blessed!”
In Genesis, God declares a covenant blessing on Abraham, to bless him and through him to bless the generations to come. The relationship itself is a blessing, but favour spills over into every aspect of life. In Genesis 26:5 God declares, because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands the blessing continued.
The King of Gerar, Abimilech recognises the blessing on Abraham, he declares, “God is with you in everything you do.” He later saw it in Isaac. It was considered essential that the blessing pass on to the next generation, so Jacob cheated his brother Esau to receive a blessing from Isaac. He then flees to a foreign land, but we read Jacob’s father-in-law Laban says, “I have learned that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” (Genesis 30:27)
In Daniel 4:9 we read that Nebuchadnezzar sees the Spirit of the Holy God is on Daniel. Pharaoh sees the same in Joseph (Genesis 41:38) The blessing was seen but invisible, tangible but indefinable. The blessing is reaffirmed by the angel’s announcement to the shepherds in Luke 2:14, A Saviour is to be born and because of Him, God’s favour rests
on all of mankind.
In Jesus we are the recipients of God’s grace and mercy; we are able to obey Him because of the new heart and spirit He gives us when we are born into the family of God and connect with the Godhead through the Holy Spirit.
So this invisible blessing and favour can be experienced and given away as we bless others by loving and serving them, read Matthew 25:34-40. Jesus Himself grew in favour with God and man, even as He experienced hatred from those who were jealous of His obvious God connection, but great love from those who responded to His amazing teaching and touch resulting in a demonstration of ‘God with us’ Emmanuel.
You and I are blessed and we need to live with an expectation of favour in every situation, and we also to see ourselves as a potential source of blessing to others. Who can I bless today? How can I encourage others, give to others, pray for others? What would you have me to do today to be a blessing?
by Joyce Sibthorpe
