April 29, 2020January 5, 2024

Be a Blessing

by in From The Desk of Pastor Gene
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Be a Blessing

How many of us have prayed, God please bless me and my family? What about, bless our church or bless our nation or bless our business? Of course, I assume we all have at some time or other. And, for that matter, it is certainly a good idea to ask for God’s blessing. But this is the problem. In comparison to asking God to bless me and mine, how often do we think about or take action to bless God and other people?

God is glorified when we give Him blessing and acknowledge Him. We acknowledge Him in the form of praise, adoration, thanksgiving and love. Isn’t that what He created us to do? The Hebrew word translated ‘bless’ or ‘praise’ means literally ‘to kneel,‘ that is, to kneel in worship. With that said, to bless the Lord means to exalt Him in worship. Worship comes in many forms but essentially we are giving or pouring out ourselves for His honor. After all, blessing God is done out of an understanding that He is our praiseworthy Creator and our heavenly Father.

Blessing God is our first priority but we are also exhorted to bless others. Obviously, if you think about it, blessing others blesses God. With that said, Doctor Luke, the human writer of Acts in the New Testament, recorded what Jesus had said, AC 20:35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

How can we bless others? Simply by giving of ourselves and of our material wealth to those in need.

  1. Help the weak:  AC 20:35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak. HE 13:16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
  2. Bless those who persecute you: RO 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
  3. Show compassion and support: RO 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
  4. Live in harmony with one another: RO 12:16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
  5. Do what is honorable: RO 12:17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
  6. Live peaceably with others: RO 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
  7. Don’t avenge yourself: RO 12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
  8. Serve the needs of your personal enemies: RO 12:20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
  9. Overcome evil with good: RO 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Now think about it. How often do we reflect and take action to bless God and other people? I mean really? Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t a bad thing to ask God to bless you and yours. I assume the majority of us routinely ask God to bless us. And it doesn’t stop there, we also ask God to bless our church, our nation and our business. However, as Jesus encourages us in saying “it is better to give than to receive,” let’s spend our time and energy focused on being a blessing by giving God His due worship and giving others our unconditional love and compassion.

A Work in Progress
Pastor Gene