Blessed

Blessed

Psalm 1:1-2: - Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.

What does the word bless conjure up in your mind? Hopefully a positive thing. The Bible shows 287 references to the word in the Old and New Testaments. There may be other references in different forms.

I read Psalm 1 this morning. A song, surprisingly enough (NOT) has been going through my head for days now. I was humming and whistling it all morning...everywhere I went. I'm still humming it. I believe I've been blessed! And there was this word in the Psalm.

The words to the song, in part, go like this: We're blessed in the city, we're blessed in the field, we're blessed when we come and when we go... We sing it occasionally in church. It comes from Deuteronomy 28, specifically verses 3 and 6. What Deuteronomy 28 tells us is that if we keep ourselves focused on God, obey Him, follow Him, He will bless us in many ways and the chapter lists them. I'd love to share them all with you but you can read for yourself! You will also see a list of the curses incurred....

I'm sure we all know the general meaning of the word blessed. It's a good thing. Some like to say they're lucky or a marvelous thing happened to them. Maybe some even cringe when they hear others say they've been blessed by something. The biblical meaning: invoke divine care; preserve, protect, endow; cause to prosper, make happy, favored of God.

We can be grateful for a good job, nice home, loving family, abundance of things, but God has actually allowed us to have them. 1Corinthians 10:26 reminds us that the earth is the Lord's; and everything in it. He has given us these things for our pleasure because He loves us. Let us not forget that. Let us not pat ourselves on our backs for something we should be giving the Lord credit for.

In the Old Testament fathers blessed their sons. They received birthrights and inheritances. In the same way, only in greater measure because it comes from above, our Father blesses us if we adhere to His commands and treat Him with the respect and reverence He deserves, if we don't push Him aside for what might seem more important things. If our hearts and minds are stayed on Him, He will shower us with blessings.

We might not always recognize blessings. They might come in the form of strength in dire situations...we might not recognize it at first, but looking back...you see God's hand on the situation. They might be small and seemingly insignificant but I believe an abundance of small blessings might be just as good as one great one. They can come in the form of an encouraging word, a good report, inheritance, protection, even a sunrise or sunset, nature at its finest. Our God is not limited in His ability and creativity to bless.

One of the greatest blessings is is our inheritance in Christ...and the ultimate birthright. We can become children of God and receive these things. Before man sinned, there was an assurance of our inheritance and birthright. We are not physically born into this inheritance. Because of man's sin, it is now offered to us as the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ alone. But we need to receive it. We need to realize our need for it and Him.

If you've been seemingly in a period of joylessness, things not going your way, call out to our Father in Heaven. Ask Him to search your heart and see what might be askew. Confess your troubled heart to Him and ask His forgiveness for whatever it might be that is causing the troublesome heart. If you are sincere, He will reveal something to you.

He is most willing to bring joy and blessing if you honestly seek the best of Him.

Psalm 112:1-2 - Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed.