BLESSINGS OF THE LORD
Dearly beloved in Christ,
I greet you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Lord blesses us and fills us with all kinds of good blessings. In Ephesian 1:3, we read: “
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” To inherit these blessings, we must be worthy. As the Lord has promised, He would fill His people with His immeasurable blessings. But we should become worthy for those blessings.
The word ‘Israel’ itself means people who please the Lord or those chosen by the Lord or one who has been transformed by Him. Only when we are transformed, we are made worthy to receive those immeasurable blessings. But very often we do not realize that. When we study the life of Jacob, we know that he had done various kinds of mistakes and evil things. He was narrow minded. He could not even love his only brother. He had no love for his brother and was conformed to the ways of the world and sought only worldly blessings. When his brother Esau was terribly hungry one day and requested him to give him some of his porridge, Jacob made him sell his birth right for it. For that simple food, he made him sell his cherished birth right. Such a person with no fraternal attachment was he. For winning worldly blessings, he had no love for his brother. Today also we see such people who strive for worldly things. Even though born in the same family, they remain divided and pursue cases against one another if they have a large ancestral wealth.
I am very often reminded of the three brothers who jointly ran a hotel. They established the business by hard work. The business flourished. The hotel supplied very good food. But soon the hotel had to be closed as they quarrelled and fought against one another. They filed cases against one another. The case went on for more than 35 years and the place where they ran the business became a mound of sand. None of them could benefit out of it. Even today it is so. Jacob bought his brother’s birth right for some bread and stew of lentils.
His mother listened to what his father had told his elder son Esau. Isaac had told him to go and hunt and bring it to him for him to bless Esau before his death. She reported the matter to Jacob. Not only that. She said that she would prepare food for him to take it to his father and to receive his brother’s blessings from his father. Jacob was afraid that he might make him out as his brother was hairy. But she told him that he could wear the skin of the lamb and act as his brother. He also accepted her idea and cheated his father saying that he was Esau and took away his blessings. The same things happen even today for children are ready to do anything to receive blessings of parents. By cheating and lying, Jacob received the blessings of his father. Isaac felt him and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau." And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like Esau's hands; so he blessed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him. Thus Jacob cheated his own father, who had lost his sight, for the blessings. Even today you can find people around who fake documents or forge signatures to seek placements at higher levels.
Esau having lost the blessings of his father was angry at his brother. He thought that he could kill him soon after the death of his father. On knowing his thoughts, Rebecca and Isaac sent him away from the place. It is said: what we sow, we would reap. That happened in the life of Jacob. He was cheated by his father-in-law in giving him Leah instead of Rachel in marriage. But he married her also and to labour for her also.
He was blessed by the Lord also as he had committed himself to inherit His blessings. He was afraid of his brother when he returned that he might kill him and his family. At night when he was alone he fought with a man in the image of God. He would not leave unless he blessed him. It was about to dawn. Then he inquired about his name. He revealed his real name as Jacob. At that time, he was renamed to be called thereafter as Israel. "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed" (Gen. 32:28).
Dearly beloved in Christ, this Jacob got transformed as Israel. That is why it pleased God to bless Israel. If our life is also transformed as in the case of Jacob by being born-again in Christ into a new being, we will be blessed in God.
Dear Brother/ Sister, do you find that you are not able to enjoy the blessings of your hands? Have your expenses more than your earnings? Has all that you earned vanished in no time? Do you put everything you earn into torn bags? If you submit yourself to walk in the path of Jesus Christ, you would eat the efforts of your hands. Not others, but the members of your family alone will enjoy it. You will be so blessed.
It is also said, “Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, your children like olive plants all around your table.” (Psalm 128:3). In hilly areas where there is rain and chillness, the vine is planted. This is planted near houses in places like Israel. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in the family. She will love the family and bear fruit for the family. When we fear and walk in His ways, the wife who occupies an important place in the family will be a virtuous woman building the house. Moreover, the children will be like olive plants around the table. Their peace will be great. They will be abundantly blessed. The olive oil gives beauty to the face. It heals wounds. Such will be blessings of children. They will add to the prosperity and peace in the family. In the same Psalm it is said that you will see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life and see your children’s children. There would be peace in the family. Thus a person’s life is blessed if he fears the Lord.
If there should be greater blessings in a family or church or fellowship, there should be unity and oneness of spirit. But this is rare to find these days in families and fellowships. In the Bible the Lord Jesus Christ assures us, ‘"Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them"’ (Matt. 18:18-20). So if the husband and wife in a family is united and ask anything, their prayer will be answered and they will be blessed. In the second chapter of the Book of Acts, we read that the disciples gathered together in one spirit and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and gifts of the Spirit. When we also work together in unity, the Lord abundantly blesses us.
In the Bible, we do find that the presence of the Lord descends in any place where we proclaim Him. His is the name above all other names. When we lift up His name, He comes in our midst and blesses us.
“...Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!” (Daniel 3:28).
Dear Brother/ Sister, as you lift up the name of the Lord, you will receive blessings in the family and on your descendants. You can find from the Bible that the trust in the name of the Lord glorifies the name of the Lord. The three youths, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, disregarded the order of the king and the image set up by the king Nebuchadnezzar. They did not fall before it or worship it. So the king was furious. The king commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually done and gave them another chance to fall before the image he set up. But the youth stood firm and said, “If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up." Then they were put into the burning fiery furnace. The king Nebuchadnezzar was astonished to see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire. They were not hurt and the fourth was like the Son of God.
Dear Child of God, if a person’s life belongs to Christ that He would say about him, “You are mine”, He would bless and exalt him. They were not affected by the fire. The verse, “When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you” (Isaiah 43:2) was fulfilled in their lives. The king was astonished and asked them to come out. When they came out, they examined them and found that they were not harmed. There was even no smell of flame. The king understood that the three youths trusted in the Lord fully and so disregarded the command of the king. So God sent His Angel and delivered His servants. Then the king himself proclaimed throughout the kingdom that no one can speak against the God of these youths as “. . . . there is no other God who can deliver like this.” Their trust brought about a revival in the kingdom.
In the life of Peter, his speech reflected Jesus Christ. The soldiers caught Jesus Christ and brought Him before the palace of the Chief Priest. He was questioned on various things and was accused of having said so many things. Peter was following Jesus from a distance. He was observing everything. There was a servant maid who can easily identify him as one who was with Jesus for his speech betrayed that. But he denied that. Later, another person also could find him out as one of His followers for his speech betrayed that. The word of Peter who was not educated was like the speech of Jesus Christ and that revealed who he was.
When a man is closely associated with Jesus Christ, his speech is transformed because of this relationship. This you can observe even in children.
I know a family which lives in the US. Their children could speak the Tamil language well. But after residing there, they began to speak like Americans. They even forgot Tamil. Their accents, character and qualities changed to match the local people there because of their association with them. If our life is also associated with Jesus Christ, we will also be transformed like Him. Our speech would like His. People would easily identify you as a Christian. People were astonished at the speech of Peter who was not at all educated. It is written in Acts 4:13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” Many listened to him and accepted Jesus Christ, got baptised and were admitted into the church. His words came with authority and reflected those of Christ. When he was invited by Cornelius, he went and spoke about Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit came upon all those who listened. This we read in Acts 10:44. Power was revealed in his words and the name of Jesus Christ was glorified.
The man who was delivered from demon-possession wanted to be with Jesus Christ. But He sent him away saying, “"Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you." And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.” He went and proclaimed Jesus in all the cities around there. He became a witness to Christ. He spoke about what Jesus Christ had done to him. Many accepted Jesus Christ with joy. A large crowd turned up to receive Jesus Christ when He came again there.
When a man is with Jesus Christ, he begins to witness about Him. Jesus also said, “And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.” (John 15:27). Today if we live in Him, we are His witnesses to proclaim about Him.
When we receive the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are transformed to declare His glory. In Acts 1:5, the disciples were asked to wait in Jerusalem “for the Promise of the Father.” Jesus Christ said: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Acts 1:8).
Daniel’s life was a living witness to the king and God. When he was cast into a den of lions, he was a witness to the power of the living God. He said, “My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you." (Daniel 6:22). He was thus preserved by God and was taken out of the lions’ den. The Bible says, “Now the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God.” (Dan. 6:23). The name of the Lord was glorified.
The face of Stephen shone like that of an angel. The appearance of a person should be enough for others to make the confessions and to be astonished. Psalm 34:5 says, “They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed.” Similarly as you look to Him, your life gets transformed and radiant. The face of Jesus Christ is radiant and shines upon us. In Exodus 34, we read that the face of Moses shone because he was talking with the Lord God. The people were afraid to talk to Moses as it shone. It is said that he would put a veil upon his face.
As you are filled with the love of Christ, you would begin to glorify the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that Peter denied three times that he knew Jesus Christ. Once Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan.” Such a person began to love Him. In John 21:17, Jesus Christ asked him three times whether he loved Him. It is written, ‘“Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep.”’ Jesus Christ rises up a servant to succeed Him. That was Peter. He was not educated. He was not successful as a fisherman. But he loved Jesus so much as to lay down his life for Him. So he was given a great responsibility to carry on after Him.
If you have trust in Jesus Christ, and are transformed in your appearance, conduct, speech, witness, and love, you can also begin to glorify His good name and be blessed.
May the Lord bless us!
In the service of Christ Jesus,
Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul.