StudyNote - The Blessing (1) When God wanted to create light He said, “Let there be light, and there was light” (Genesis 1:1-3), what He said came to pass because His words are powerful. The rest of the creation story reveals to us that the Omnipotent God spoke everything He wanted into existence, except man. The Bible tells says, “…the LORD formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). As soon as God finished creating Adam and Eve He pronounced the blessing. The first word that God spoke to man was the blessing. Our progenitors were blessed because God wants the whole human race to experience the blessing. Genesis 1:26-28 26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the bird in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Adam and Eve were blessed because they were made in the image of God and the blessing was part of God’s plan for mankind. As a matter of fact, it takes the blessing to rule in this world. This means that rulership is an end result of the blessing which God pronounced on mankind. Furthermore, fruitfulness indicates that a man is blessed by God. Let me tell you the story of a man who was blessed by God, his name is Martins. This man started business at a young age, and He had a quest to reach for the skies. His dream was to be rated as one of the best publishers of academic books. Though his start-up capital was small he knew the blessing of God upon his life can turn something small into something big. Therefore, he made contacts with some authors, typesetters, graphic artists, proof readers, printers, and marketers. When the first three books were published he sold hundreds of thousands of copies that was why he became a wealthy businessman to reckon with. Martins’ efforts were richly rewarded – he was a blessed man. Penury became a thing of the past in the life of this young man to the glory of God. Barrenness makes God sad; He does not like to hear that you are unfruitful. Mathew’s gospel has an account that shows us the consequence of unfruitfulness. It says one day Jesus was hungry, “Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered” (Mathew 21:18, 19). I thought Jesus was supposed to overlook the fruitlessness of that fig tree, but He didn’t. Jesus cursed that tree because it was not serving purpose. A fruitless fig tree is useless as far as Jesus was concerned. It is written: “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever the do prospers” (Psalm 1:1-3). A blessed man bears fruit in due season, he delivers at the proper time. There is no delay or disappointment for a blessed man this is why he has no reason to be downcast. Berakah is the Hebrew word for blessing. The blessing changes people’s lives for the best. Just like Martins you do not have to struggle to achieve your aims in life when you are blessed. A man who is blessed is highly favoured or fortunate. Divine grace and providence distinguishes a person who is blessed from other people. The blessing makes you different. In the twenty-sixth chapter of the book of Genesis we are told about the blessing of God upon Isaac’s life. The blessing made him different from everyone else around him; they were counting what they lost while Isaac was counting his gains. Isaac was so blessed to the point that the Philistines began to envy him. Scripture says: “Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him” (Genesis 26:12-14). Isaac had ever-increasing wealth because he was highly favoured by God. He experienced an unusual increase as a confirmation from God that he was blessed. Famine made everyone else poor but Isaac’s wealth kept increasing. That is exactly what you will experience when God showers His blessing upon you. You need to have a quest to be blessed by God. Don’t forget that God has the power to grant you the desires of your heart. This is why what you want is what you will get. According to Proverbs 23:18 the Bible says, “For surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off” (NKJV). The King James Version says “…thine expectation shall not be cut off.” What you expect will determine what God will give to you. It is as good as God has given you a blank check feel free to write what you want on it. I don’t know about you, I desire to be blessed by God.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:06:17 +0000