BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING

I am giving you the choice today between God’s blessing or God’s curse! There will be blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and a curse if you refuse them and worship the gods of these other nations.” Deuteronomy 11:26-28 TLB

The God of the Bible is the source of all blessings. He was the first to pronounce blessings on his creation, especially on the humans He created (Gen.5:2). After the Flood, He blessed Noah and his sons (Gen.9:1). When God began His redemptive work through Abraham, He blessed him and promised him that through his offspring the whole world would be blessed (Gen.12:3; 22:18). At Mt Sinai the Israelites entered into a covenant with God. Part of the covenant was the Ten Commandments or Law of God. The Law demanded obedience; otherwise, there would be a curse. When the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land, God told Moses to spell out the conditions for blessing or curse to the Israelites (Deut.11:26-28; Deut.27, 28).

God's blessing exalted a nation and secured successful cities and farming, blessings on children, food and livestock, protection and power against enemies, bountiful harvest of food, set apart as God's special people, feared by other nations, abundant prosperity, appropriate rain and freedom from debt, and leadership among other people and nations. The curse meant the opposite of all of these.

In the New Testament, Jesus added another aspect to God's blessing: the blessing of becoming partakers in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. At first, the conditions for the blessing do not look like a blessing at all. Becoming one with Christ means the fellowship of His sufferings, but it also means the unlimited supply from the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 6).

Matt.5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matt.5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Matt.5.5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Matt.5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Matt.5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Matt.5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Matt.5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Matt.5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matt.5:11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.

Matt.11:6 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.

Jesus authorised Christians to bless others, but He forbade us to curse anyone (Matt.5:44; Rom.12:14). If we want to have God's blessing on our lives, we have to be like Christ, who did not come to curse, but to lay down His life for the world.

PRAYER POINTS

ME: Present yourself to the Lord as a living sacrifice. Ask Him to cleanse your thoughts, emotions, tongue, mouth, and words from all curses, filthy language, coarse jesting, foolish talk, and corrupt and angry words. Ask Him to consecrate your lips and to fill your mouth with blessings.

US: Christians can sometimes be the cruelest, meanest, most malicious accusers of people in the world around us. Yes, we have to renounce sin. Yes, we have to expose sin. But we are not to accuse sinners before God. He has made us his ministers of reconciliation. We were born-again to be a blessing and witness to Jesus' grace and truth. Pray for the Church to be blessed by God to be a blessing to the world, and through us, to fulfil His promise to Abraham: your offspring will be a blessing to the whole world.

THEM: Deliberately seek to bless those people you come into contact with daily. Be kind, gracious, merciful, and compassionate toward them. Cover their sin with mercy. Keep your mouth shut when you want to curse. Depend on the Holy Spirit to use you to the glory of Christ.

Remember your John 17 memory verse.

"To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless."– Gilbert K. Chesterton