BLESSINGS

BLESSINGS

Blessings come in so many ways, and for so many reasons can a person be blessed, throughout the bible are so many.  One interesting blessing is made by Jacob upon his son Joseph.  "Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: the blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren." (Gen. 49:25 - 26)  Eloquent, yes?

Then there are the blessings promised to Israel for obedience; "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: and all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.  Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.  Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.  Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.  Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.  The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.  The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and He shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.  The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto Himself, as He hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in His ways.  And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.  And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.  The LORD shall open unto thee His good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in His season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.  And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: and thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them." (Deut. 28:1-14)  How thoughtful God is in illustrating the many ways He can bless anyone!  And Joshua read this and more before the people so that they wouldn't forget either!  "And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law." (Josh. 8:34)  It's too bad we as a nation are so divided among the believers and unbelievers, that we do not strive for these promised blessings as of one accord!
David rejoiced in blessings of goodness in Psa. 21:3; "For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head."  Prov. 10:6 tells who shall receive blessings as well; "Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked."  So if we practice being just, blessings can be expected, and why wouldn't we rejoice as David did?

Ah, the many ways to acquire blessings!  Prov. 28:20 says; "A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent."  When we work faithfully at eventually acquiring wealth, we will abound with blessings, for we acquire it honestly.  But those who acquire wealth hastily generally do so through dishonest dealings, and so is the meaning of this proverb.

Consider the blessing of Abram (Abraham); "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." (Gen. 12:2 - 3)  How deep is this blessing?  God blesses Abram temporally, spiritually, and with a fame that has been passed down through the ages, has He not?  This passage is also a Messianic prophecy, because all believers, Jew and Gentile, are blessed by the salvation available to us in Abraham's seed, Christ Jesus!

"So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.'" (Gen. 1:27 - 28)  So another of God's blessings is our fertility, those of us who are.

Can you imagine blessings as of a shower?  Consider this passage; "And I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing." (Ezek. 34:26)  Now this is a future prophecy, but indeed, those named in it will be literally showered with blessings, according to this Scripture.

Did you know that blessings should not be expected to automatically follow someone's repentance of sinfulness?  So it is written!  Joel called Israel to a repentance that comes from the heart, that peradventure the Lord might be willing in His time to return to blessing them..."Therefore also now", saith the LORD, 'Turn ye even to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.  Who knoweth if He will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind Him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?'" (Joel 2:12 - 14)

Want a BIG blessing?  Malachi talked about blessings, and how the use of what money one possessed being as a scale of spirituality.  His Scripture on tithing and offerings was a precursor to the New Testament law of reciprocity; "Will a man rob God?  Yet ye have robbed Me.  But ye say, 'Wherein have we robbed Thee?'  'In tithes and offerings.  Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation.  Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith', saith the LORD of hosts, 'If I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.'" (Mal. 3:8 - 10)

And that law of reciprocity I spoke of?  With the same measure of blessings you give unto others, so it will be meted unto you.  "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.  For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." (Luke 6:38)  See if this isn't a call to generosity!  Kindness given breeds kindness received!  Goodness generously applied deems goodness generously received!

Jesus Himself named 8 ways to be blessed when He spoke the sermon on the mount.  "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." (Matt. 5:3 - 12)

"And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me." (Matt. 11:6)  Verily I tell you, fewer and fewer people are collecting this blessing, as time marches on.  As wickedness and hate cover the earth, and goodness and righteousness are beaten down and suppressed, that they might be fearless in the pleasures they find in their own eyes, we are fewer who receive this blessing.  I've mailed Christmas post cards to the Philippines, and it disappears as soon as it gets there.  I mailed three there last year, and not one made it.  Someone in the post office there obviously doesn't deserve their paycheck!  They don't even have love or peace in their heart to deliver a Christmas post card!  Don't misunderstand me, there are many Filipinos who DO possess His love and are not offended in Him, I would like to think many of them would be reading this as you do.  What a beautiful demonstration of love and faith many of them demonstrate during resurrection Sunday when they carry a cross and go through most of the passion HE did to show their love for Him!  According to Jesus' words here, blessed are those Filipinos, because they have demonstrated not offense, but so much love, they would emulate His passion during His work with the cross!

Know how Christians nowadays pray for a blessing on their food before they eat it?  You know who did that before we did, right?  "And He commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, He blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude." (Matt. 14:19)  That's right!  Jesus gave us example that we should pray for a blessing on our food when we eat!  At the last supper, too, He gave us ensample; "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body.'" (Matt. 26:26)  God also commanded we pray after we eat, and bless the Lord!  "When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which He hath given thee." (Deut. 8:10)

Jesus also said that a person can be blessed simply for believing; "Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." (John 20:29)  So each one of us who have not seen, yet believe in Him, are blessed, so He has spoken, and we know that God cannot lie!  Think not this promise is only for the Jews, for it is written it is for the Gentiles, called 'heathen' in this text, as well; "And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, 'In thee shall all nations be blessed.'  So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." (Gal. 3:8 - 9)

Would you believe you can be blessed for patience?  Does not temptation try patience?  "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him." (James 1:12)

So here we have many ways to receive blessings from God; the most important is believing in His Son, Christ Jesus, that we may get the crown of everlasting life, but we may also get them for tithing and generosity, for having faith, obeying Him, for being just, when you repent from sinfulness, when you're unashamed to claim Christ and be His witness, and those who are in the condition Christ spoke of in His sermon on the mount!  Collect as many as you will, for those you don't receive here, you receive in heaven, and they cannot rust, nor be destroyed by moths, nor be stolen by thieves!