Blesses - iV

Entering Into God’s Presence

Knowing Who God Is: What He Does

God Blesses

To Study and Ponder

• Have you ever watched people at a busy marketplace and imagined what is going on in their lives?  What do they believe about themselves, what hard things do they carry?  If you look at their faces or how they are walking you can see they probably need God’s blessings.  From father to children and to their children, BLESSING is one of the things God does most often—because it is one of the things He loves to do.   

• Right from the very beginning God blessed, often talking about adding not just one or two good things, but MANY!

• His Creation: Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” Gen. 1:22 

• Adam and Eve: Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals...” Ge.1:28    

• Noah: Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth.” Gen. 9:1

• Abraham: I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore... And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me. Ge. 22:17,18

• Isaac:  ...the Lord appeared to him on the night of his arrival. “I am the God of your father, Abraham,” he said. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you. I will multiply your descendants, and they will become a great nation.” Gen. 26:24

• Jacob: Now that Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again at Bethel. God blessed him, saying, “Your name is Jacob, but you will not be called Jacob any longer. From now on your name will be Israel.” Gen. 35:9,10

• God wanted to bless his people but it meant that they had to choose to walk in his ways:  

• “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.”   Deu 30:15-16

• Jesus spoke words of blessing when he talked, and the writers of the New Testament books in the Bible were careful to point out that his blessings were often for those without status in the community:

• A widow: He saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.  “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.” Luke 21:2,3

• Children: “Let the little children come to me...for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” ..he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them & blessed them.  Mark 10:14,16

• Jesus commands those who follow him to bless others in his name:

• “May the Lord bless you and protect you.  May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.  May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 (Priests used this blessing)

• it might mean blessing those you don’t like or who don’t like you: I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.  Luke 6:27-28

• It is important to understand that bad words spoken over ourselves or others can become a curse with the power to hurt.

• We are told that “it pleased the LORD to bless” (Numbers 24:1,NIV)

• – he did not do it just because he had to. He really wants to bless!  For you bless the godly, O Lord; you surround them with your shield of love. Psalm 5:12

• We, like Abraham, are blessed so that we can be a blessing to others.  (Genesis12:1,2) 

• As God loves to bless us, let this theme help us not only receive God’s blessings by faith, but to also look for ways to bless others: to speak well of them, to attach high value to them, to praise, celebrate, to cause them to do well, to make them happy, for them to be favored by God, to treat them with honor and respect....in other words, to bless them in every way we can.  Who knows, God may use you to be a blessing to someone in that busy marketplace, changing the path of their life!

Memory/Meditation:

Lower Grades:

He will bless those who fear the Lord, both great and lowly. May the Lord richly bless both you and your children. May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth.  Psalm 115:13-15   (NLT)

Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them.  Romans 12:14 (NLT)

Middle Grades:

May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace. Numbers 6:24-26 (NLT)

But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you. Luke 6:27-31 (NLT)

Upper Grades:

May God be merciful and bless us. May his face smile with favor on us.     May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere.  May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you.  Psalm 67:1-3  (NLT)

Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.  1Peter 3:8-9 (NLT)