Sun, 2019-11-24 12:09
The Power of Blessing
www.victory.net.nz 24.11.2019
www.youtube.com/c/VictoryChristianCentre
We have been talking about the importance of training ourselves to always speak words of life instead of word of death, to maintain a “positive confession” instead of slipping into a “negative confession”.
Today we will discuss the power of blessing others.
In the OT, God instructed the priests on how to pronounce the blessing of God over the Israelites – He told them exactly what to say:
Numbers 6:22–27 (NKJV) And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: 24 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’ 27 “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”
God said to the priest:
- This is the way you shall bless the Israelites
- Say (these words) to them …
- And when you speak these word, you are putting My name on them
- And I will bless them
This describes the basic summary and function of blessing someone:
When we speak words of blessing to someone or over someone, we are putting God’s name on them, and God blesses them.
Deuteronomy 21:5 (NKJV) Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the Lord …
What is a blessing?
- A blessing pronounced by someone is a wish or a prayer for good things to come to pass in the life of the one being blessed
- To bless someone is to express a wish or a prayer that things will go very well with them
- For example, the Jews greet each other with the Hebrew word “shalom” which means: peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquillity
The content of the priests’ words of blessing consisted of:
- The Lord bless you - God’s goodwill towards you
- The Lord keep you - God’s protection over you
- The Lord make His face shine upon you - God’s favour towards you
- The Lord be gracious to you - God’s grace extended to you
- The Lord lift up His countenance upon you – God’s smile over you
- The Lord give you peace - God’s peace (Shalom)
By blessing other people, we become instruments of God to bring His blessing into their lives.
Many people can’t hear the voice of God, but they can hear our voice. Therefore, God tells us to proclaim His blessing over their lives. We invoke God’s blessing in their lives by proclaiming words of blessing over them.
Romans 12:14 (NKJV) Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Who can bless others?
Anybody can bless anybody, but those in authority have greater power to bless those who are under their authority.
Examples:
- Parents blessing their children
- Leaders blessing those whom they lead
- Pastors blessing those who are under their spiritual care
Genesis 49:1,28 (NKJV) And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days. … 28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing.
Jacob prophesied over his 12 boys and their families, and blessed each of them with their own blessing.
Sometimes people prophesy over their children unwittingly, and instead of pronouncing blessings, they ignorantly pronounce curses over them.
Words spoken by parents over their children are very powerful. This was understood & practiced by the OT saints.
Esau cried when he realised that his brother Jacob had stolen his father’s blessing (Gen. 27:34).
Interestingly, the Jewish people make up only about 0.2 % of the world’s population – yet they produced 22% of all the Nobel Prize Laureates.
Since the inception of the Nobel Prize in 1901 there have been 850 Nobel Prize winners - at least 193 of them were Jews. In the year 2013, six of the 12 individual Nobel Prize Winners were Jews. That’s an astonishing 50 % of the total number.
Example of the Jukes Family
Careful search has been made into the history of one criminal family known as the Jukes, and it is conspicuous as a long record of pauperism and profligacy, imbecility and insanity, prostitution and drunkenness.
A total of 1,200 descendants have been traced of this prolific family tree. Some 400 of these were physically self-wrecked, 310 professional paupers, 130 convicted criminals, 60 habitual thieves and pick-pockets, and 7 murderers; while out of the whole 1,200 only 20 ever learned a trade, and of these half of them owed it to prison discipline.
Example of Jonathan Edwards’ Descendants
(Jonathan Edwards was an American theologian and philosopher whose original sermons and writings stimulated the Great Awakening).
Jonathan Edwards was the son of a godly home. His father was a preacher and before him his mother’s father. Trace the history of the offspring of this godly man. More than 400 of the offspring of this godly man have been traced, and they include 14 university presidents, and 100 professors, 100 of them have been ministers of the Gospel, missionaries, and theological teachers. More than 100 of them were lawyers and judges. Out of the whole number 60 have been doctors, and as many more, authors of high rank, or editors of journals. In fact, almost every conspicuous American industry has had as its promoters one or more of the offspring of the Edward’s stock since the remote ancestor was married in the closing half of the seventeenth century.
New Testament Benediction (bene – well, diction – speaking)
Apostle Paul habitually proclaimed a benediction at the end of his letters to the churches:
2 Corinthians 13:14 (NKJV) The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Life Group Discussions: The Power of Blessing
Numbers 6:22–27 (NKJV) And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: 24 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’ 27 “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”
When we speak words of blessing to someone or over someone, we are putting God’s name on them, and God blesses them.
- The Lord bless you - God’s goodwill towards you
- The Lord keep you - God’s protection over you
- The Lord make His face shine upon you - God’s favour towards you
- The Lord be gracious to you - God’s grace extended to you
- The Lord lift up His countenance upon you – God’s smile over you
- The Lord give you peace - God’s peace (Shalom)
Romans 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Sometimes people prophesy over their children unwittingly, and instead of pronouncing blessings, they ignorantly pronounce curses over them.
Apostle Paul habitually proclaimed a benediction at the end of his letters to the churches:
2 Corinthians 13:14 (NKJV) The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen
Discovery Questions:
- What did the Holy Spirit emphasise to you during Sunday’s Message? What verse of Scripture or point seemed most applicable to your life? __________________________________________________________
- In the past, have you understood the power you have to bless other people?
__________________________________________________________
- How will you practice this understanding into you day to day life?
__________________________________________________________
Putting it into Practice:
- Always speak words of life instead of word of death
- Be purposeful (and wise) in proclaiming words of blessing over people
- Continue to pray for spiritually lost people (family, friends and acquaintances) to come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour
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