The Blessing of the Lord! By James Lantz
God’s will is for every person to experience his grace! The very first thing God did upon creating his man was to bless them. Gen. 1:28 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. God’s great desire for us to be blessed has not diminished. When he made us in his image he wanted a family to love and fellowship with. We know that Adam and Eve did not continue to walk in the blessing because of disobedience but that did not stop God from continuing to bless his people. God pronounced his blessing on Noah, Shem, Abraham, David and many more through the years. Elijah complained to God, that he was the only righteous person left, and God corrected him, saying that he had seven thousand other righteous ones who refused to bow the knee to Baal. God said that he would bless every family in the earth through Abraham and his seed. We now know that God would not settle for anything less than his blessing being on his man, even at the cost of sacrificing his Son Jesus for us. The blessing of Abraham has come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ. Gal. 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree: vrs. 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. This blessing that was given to Abraham and to his seed and to us through the Lord Jesus Christ, is the same blessing that Adam lost! This blessing is God’s grace, it is his favor on his people, it is his divine empowerment to live free from sin. We do not deserve this grace, we can not earn it, but, thank God, we can receive this grace through faith. This blessing will make an enemy of God into a friend of God, it will make a sinner into a saint, it will cause the unfaithful to become faithful, the weak to become strong, the sick to be healed. The blessing of the Lord will cause the poor to become rich, the single to find their spouse, the brokenhearted to rejoice, it will provide every good thing!
John 1:12&13 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
1 Cor. 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
Joel 3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
Heb. 12:12&13 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Pro. 10:22 The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.
Ps. 68:6 God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
2 Cor. 1:20&21 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath annointed us, is God
The curse has come because of sin. God gave every one of us a choice and then he told us to choose life! Deut. 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: The Lord had laid out the blessings and the curse in great detail just a couple of chapters prior to putting them on record. The blessing includes a relationship with the heavenly Father, a good family, a healthy body, prosperity, protection, and every good thing. The curse is threefold, spiritual death, sickness, and poverty, but the blessing delivers us from it all!
We see the blessing at work in the early church! Acts 4:33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace (the blessing) was upon them all. As we unite together to advance the gospel, loving one another as they did, all of us will experience great grace. If you are missing out on the blessing of God, then may this be the day that changes! Repentance will bring you into that blessing place! We need to understand that God does not hold grudges. Remember, you do not have to feel like God will forgive you to be cleansed from sin and empowered to change. You can repent by faith! Now don’t misunderstand me, there is no such thing as receiving from God without faith. What I am talking about is repenting before you feel like God will be favorable to you. If you are not born again, your next step with God is to give your life to him. You do this by faith with your words! If you are a child of God and out of fellowship with Him (no peace), it is vital that you repent. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Perhaps the biggest reason some do not repent and confess their sins is because of pride. Pride says, if I confess my sin everyone will think less of me, or I will lose everything I have, or God will not be gracious to me. In reality everyone who has received the Lord’s forgiveness will think more of you, you will gain much more than you lose, God will be more gracious to you than you would be to you. Judas realized his great sin, of betraying Jesus, and threw the thirty pieces of silver unto the temple floor and went out and hanged himself. Apparently he was to proud to stand before Jesus and the other disciples and confess his sins to them and receive forgiveness. Jesus said it would have been better for Judas to not have been born. Pilate acted like he had not sinned when he turned Jesus over to be crucified. Pilate’s sin was the sin of omission, failing to stand up for the innocent. Pilate valued his paycheck and position of power more that he valued a relationship with Jesus. Peter repented and confessed his sin not knowing if he could ever be one of Jesus closest disciples again. Peter knew that being with Jesus in any position would be better than being without him. Peter also had read the Holy scriptures. Pro. 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Because he humbled himself before the Lord, the Lord was able to save him and fill him with his mighty Holy Spirit and use him mightily on the day of Pentecost. James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Do not think that your sin is to big for God to forgive. The blood of Jesus is more powerful than any sin, powerful to forgive and to cleanse. The only sin that Jesus blood can not cleanse is the sin of refusing to humble yourself and repent before Him. If there are things that are not right in your life, humble yourself before the Truth, repent and get it right. Being righteous is being right. We are not made righteous by doing what is right, but rather, we do what is right because we were made righteous. 2 Cor. 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. This is the blessing of the Lord!
