Saturday July 7, 2012

Who can you bless today?

How can you bless them?

 

Read Deuteronomy 33-34

 

Just before Moses ascends Mt Nebo and dies in the Lord’s presence he pronounces a blessing on the tribes of Israel and on Israel as a whole. Tribe by tribe Moses announces the goodness, love and blessing of God upon the people of God.

 

You and I are called to bless others as well. In particular  we are called to bless those who persecute us and those who curse us. We are called to bless our enemies! Read Luke 6:28. Read Romans 12:14. Read 1 Corinthians 4:12. Such

blessing emanates from knowing that we our selves have been immensely blessed by the Lord Jesus Christ and His work on the cross on our behalf.

 

A part of being able to bless is being able to let go of the desire for vengeance and revenge. ‘Vengeance is mine,’ saith the Lord! God will repay. God will punish. God will take His wrath. It’s not up to you and I to give people what they deserve. Our calling is to treat people as they don’t deserve - just as God has treated you and I. No one who has ever walked this earth or who will ever walk this earth, apart from Jesus, has deserved to be loved and saved by God. We don’t deserve salvation but God loves us and freely gives us His love, His grace and His mercy. In love He adopts us into His family as precious children. When we deal with people who dislike us or make our life difficult, this is what we are called to do.

 

This was beautifully illustrated by a young school boy who was being bullied at school. At his 6th birthday party, the parents were astonished and overwhelmed to see the bully coming in the door. They pulled their son aside and chided him for being so foolish in inviting the school bully. But the young lad replied, ‘But Dad, you’re always telling me that we should love and bless our enemies’. Dad and mum were speechless! That bully was changed by the love of a young boy.

 

Prayer:

¥ Pray that each person in your congregation would be ready to bless and serve others tomorrow as we gather tomorrow. Pray that our spiritual gifts will be used to bless and edify each other and that our words and actions would also be a blessing to each other.

¥ Pray that our offering tomorrow would reflect the love and grace that we have received from the Lord. In particular, pray that we have enough offering to cover our costs and extra to be a blessing to those who are struggling and doing without.