Author: rbeaird

SPIRITUAL PROSPERITY – The Blessing of the LORD – – (Part Two) …


Numbers 6:22-27 – “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:  24 The LORD bless you, and keep you; 25 The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 26 The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’  27 “So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”  NASB

If we go back to Zechariah 2:8 – “…for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.”  Think about that! The apple of God’s eye.  If you get something in your eye, all activity stops until that problem has been dealt with.  Right?  You can scratch your arm, stub your toe, bruise a rib but if you get a speck in your eye the entire body shuts down until that is removed or dealt with.  Here God says, “He who touches you, touches the apple of My eye.”  Wow!  That means All of Heaven rallies together to protect us!

That is marvelous comfort.  The only problem is, we do not always believe it.  We do not always believe that we are Kept.  We live with too much doubt, unbelief, question, and even suspicion that God won’t do what He said for us.  Imagine a situation where All of Deity and All of Heaven rallies to our protection.  That’s the Covenant, the Blessing!  We are that special to God but too often we do not truly believe it.

This incredible concept is taught in the Bible in Psalms 23 and Psalms 27.  They are both based on the concept of keeping.  David wrote them at a traumatic time in his life.  It appeared just a matter of time before the net and noose would be around his neck and Saul would capture and destroy him.  It was there, in that horrific situation with the smell of death in the air that David wrote Psalms 23.  What a revelation and comfort.

He said, “The LORD is my shepherd.”  David had been a shepherd and he knew what it meant to be a shepherd and what it meant to the safety and care of the sheep.  The shepherd was “The Door” to the sheepfold and here he sees God as “His Keeper, His shepherd, and the Door of Protection for him.” 

In the midst of the pressure, trouble, and tribulation David sang this Psalm to God – “You are my shepherd.”  Because you are my shepherd I will not want, and it is impossible to lack or fear because You are my shepherd.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death – You are there protecting and keeping me!  I have no justification, reason, or capacity to Fear because I am Kept by God!  He cries out, “LORD, in the middle of all this You are preparing a banquet table for me.  Here in the midst of my enemies, with them looking on, you are giving me a heavenly banquet!”  Hallelujah! 

Then we come to the last verse which is super powerful.  He said, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”  Catch each word and examine them, please.  The word “surely” would possibly be better rendered “only”.  I suggest that because “only” means, “I know what I see and hear, but when all the facts are in there is ONLY goodness and mercy following me.  I don’t see the enemy, I see YOU!”

Goodness is at work and Mercy is being bestowed – They are following me!  The word follow, could possibly be better understood as a “relentless pursuing.”  It is not just tagging along behind it is actively pursuing.  It is the determination that says, “I’m going to get you!”  Make it so, LORD, make it so and GET ME!

David is declaring, “I am being relentlessly pursued by God’s Goodness and Loving Kindness.”  When I came to that understanding of what David was saying I said, “Seriously?”  I thought, it sure doesn’t look like it.  I thought that is what Saul was doing, “Relentlessly Pursuing Him.”  But that’s what David saw.  That’s what we need to understand, “God is relentlessly pursuing us to Bless us, Protect us, and Keep us.”  David was declaring, “There is someone closer to me than Saul.  There is someone between me and Saul – IT IS GOD!” 

It was at the end of the encounter that David wrote Psalm 27 and it is a Psalm of Triumph in the midst of adversity.  He shouted, “God is my Light and my Salvation, whom shall I fear?”  He wrote it in a time of mental darkness, danger, and emotional paralysis.  He was essentially saying, “This trouble is great, but the LORD is my Light.”  It looked as if capture was imminent, but he says, “NO!  The LORD is my salvation and deliverance.  The LORD is the defense of my life, I cannot Fear or Dread because God is with me, keeping me.  Even though there is a host encamped against me, my heart will not Fear!”

David looked at the circumstances, but he didn’t look at them, he looked beyond them.  He knew that God was his “Keeper.”  He knew he was a Covenant man and he could fully rest in The Blessing of Covenant.  Thus, “The LORD bless you and keep you.”  He was Kept and we are Kept!

I want to take this up again, but we will pause here and pray that the LORD will be with you and encourage you as you enjoy this wonderful day in Him! 

Have a Great Day!

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SPIRITUAL PROSPERITY – The Blessing of the LORD…


Numbers 6:22-27 – “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:  24 The LORD bless you, and keep you; 25 The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 26 The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’  27 “So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”  NASB

We have considered The Blessing of Covenant and how that relates or translates into daily living.  I desire to be a little more specific in this discussion.  I feel we need to understand exactly what is being said in this passage and what we can expect in terms of “The Blessing of Covenant.”

The Covenant Blessing was prayed for the Children of Israel every day.  The Priest would raise his hands and invoke these Blessings on the people in the morning and evening sacrifices.  It was daily!  It was never casual or simply an expression.  There was expectation involved, or there was supposed to be an expectation.

Not to belabor or rehearse too extensively but “The Blessing” is a conveyance of power using words.  Words are spoken and those words convey power.  The people hearing those words were endued with power and that enduement enabled them to be successful.  They were successful in material things, but we must never forget that success always begins on the inside.  It is Spirit success and flows from the inside to the outermost extremities of life. 

It means “To Be Prosperous.”  Tragically, too many view prosperity as being what we have but the Biblical understanding is that it begins on the inside.  It is “Prosperity of Spirit” that moves from inside to outside.  It means to enjoy physical health and spiritual health.  It means to have a long life and to know the active Goodness of God operating and being manifest in our daily lives.  It means that we have an aurora about us that can is noticed and sensed.  The world will never understand this and too much of the church fails to fully grasp it as well.  It is that enduement from God that causes our enemies to flee before us.  THAT IS BLESSING!

Hopefully, we will not belabored the point to extensively, but I would like to ask that you consider this in more detail with me.  In verse 24 we read, “The LORD Bless you and Keep you.”  That is the beginning of The Blessing – “The Lord Keep you!”  

The Covenant person enjoys the Blessing of the LORD, walks in an alien world, and has success, prosperity, and peace.  We live in a world of darkness that is hostile toward us.  The devil and his demons are real, and they are incredibly hostile toward the children of God.  The world hates us, so we are encompassed by hostility.  Yet, God promises that as we walk in this hostile environment we are “Kept by God!”  Hallelujah!

The word “Keep” is an interesting old English word that used to mean something entirely different than we understand it today.  If you visit parts of Europe and go into the castles you always go through what is called “The Keep.”  It is the first gate of the castle.  You have to walk through it to get into the castle proper. 

The “Keeps”, called that because that was designed to “Keep the Castle” safe from invading forces breaching their walls. If you could stop the enemy there, you remained safe.  There were many ways of doing that.  As an enemy would enter those guarding the castle would be on little balconies high above.  They would hurl arrows, stones, hot pitch, oil, and tar at the invaders.  It was incredibly difficult and costly to get through “The Keeps.”  The word came to mean what we understand today – “I am Kept!”

Therefore, when we hear, “The LORD Keep You” we understand that God is our “Keeps”.  Before the enemy can touch us, he has to go through God.  If he can get past God, he can touch us, but only if he gets past God.  You cannot get past God that’s what the person in Covenant enjoying The Blessing has “perfect peace” – WE ARE SAFE!  We are KEPT!

Hopefully, this whetted your appetite for more, and we will take a step deeper into understanding and detailing in the next devotional.  But until then we say, “Go with God and He will go with you.”

Have a fantastic day!

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PROSPERITY and SUCCESS…


3 John 2 – “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.”  NASB

In keeping with what we have been discussing regarding God’s Covenant and “The Blessing of Covenant” the subject of Prosperity and Success naturally surfaces.  It is unavoidable and some have grossly misunderstood prosperity and pushed it beyond what God intended and made it something other than the biblical promise.  Oh, I believe in prosperity and success, but there are some needed truths that must be brought to the table for us to walk in the fullness of God’s Promise and walk pleasing to Him in all things.

I have long believed and taught that the words “Success” and “Prosperity” can only be understood in the context of the entire Bible.  We can never use Webster’s dictionary to define some biblical words and truths.  Likewise, we must never allow our 21st-century American understanding to define biblical truths regarding Prosperity or Success.  I say that because a large portion of America and the world defines prosperity in terms of dollars and possessions.  That is right and that is wrong!  Maybe I should say, that is incomplete.

The Bible never speaks of Prosperity or Success in that manner.  It says, in essence, “If you have all that money and those possessions, UNLESS you have peace on the inside, then it is a curse, not a blessing.”  The Bible teaches that being Prosperous is first and foremost an Inner Prosperity.

We are at Peace with ourselves, God, and the world.  We live in God’s Inner Blessing.  Our mind is at rest.  Our emotions are under control.  Our Body is healthy.  Additionally, we have the Power to Get Wealth, but it begins deep on the inside and works its way out to the extremities. 

Success, from a biblical view always begins as a Spiritual Success.  It describes the man or woman who has arrived at that place that God intended man to be.  It means you are a person walking with God.  You are a person who knows how to talk with and hear God.  That’s Success in the biblical sense.

The Prosperity and Success of the Covenant Blessing are Powerful.  There is a power upon us which endues us, establishes us to be all that God said we are.  It takes place in the midst of the pressures of life.  I argue that those pressures are there to help bring us into and bring forth these Blessings.  In a sense, it is the negative that brings forth the positive.  The negative enables us to see the positive.  We know sweet because we have tasted bitter.  We know hot because we have experienced cold.  We know light because we have seen darkness.

God has placed us in a world that is full of trouble, difficulty, strife, tribulation, and pressure.  James said, “Count it ALL JOY when you fall into many temptations.”  The Phillips Translation renders it, “Welcome trouble like a brother.”  Why would we do that?  Because it brings forth the positive. 

When we encounter difficulty, we discover God and His Blessings powerfully.  Every miracle that Jesus performed was always an emergency.  Even in the Old Testament, it was always a crisis.  Remember the lady in debt and the prophet had her borrow vessels to fill with oil.  She was in debt, had endured the hassle of creditors, and was desperate and out of that state, that crisis, that emergency God worked a miracle.

I must remind everyone, that as we learn our Promised Blessings and the Principles of God, we are enabled to become the administrators of Blessing rather than the one always needing a miracle.  We are receivers of the Blessing of God.  We can expect His Blessing.  We can and should become channels through which those Blessings flow out to others.  Remember God’s word to Abraham, “In you, all the nations of the earth shall be Blessed.” 

Let me convey it this way and hopefully, it will help bring greater understanding.  The Blessing is designed to become heavy on any person.  It is designed to be so abundant that we cannot contain it.  It is not just for us, but so that we can give out to others without losing any that we have.  It is a river flowing constantly, always giving but never running out of water.

The Bible says that God blessed Potiphar’s house because of Joseph.  Your employer should see such value in you that they would be willing to pay you double just to keep you around because of God’s Blessings.  Why?  Because of the aurora of Blessing that is upon and within you.  It should and can drip from your life.  You have the unusual power given by God to be successful and prosper.

Therefore, in the midst of life’s struggles, we can look at the negative with a Triumphant View.  If we understand this truth, we will live with no sense of Fear or Lack.  The Believer who is resting in the Finished Work of Jesus HAS NO FEAR!  We expect God to cause our enemies to flee before us.  We expect God to supply our needs. We expect the Life of God to be manifest in every situation.  That translates into Prosperity and Success and the total absence of Fear.

We need to become the people that are sought after for us to pray for others.  It should be, “Hey, pray for me because I know God hears you.”  We can ask, No, we must ask.  The Blessings are not automatic, we have to Ask, Knock, and Seek.  Through you and me, can flow all the Blessings of the Fullness of God to our world.

I encourage everyone to begin acting like God is Telling the Truth! Live in the Victory of Jesus’ Victory!

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THE BLESSING OF THE LORD – (Part Five) …


Numbers 6:22-27 – “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: 24 The LORD bless you, and keep you; 25 The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 26 The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’  27 “So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.” NASB

In contrasting the Old Covenant and the New we must not overlook that in the Old Covenant some sins were not forgivable.  What I mean is that concerning sins like adultery or murder the individual could not repent and be allowed to live, they were stoned to death.  But when Peter stood on the Day of Pentecost, he announced that they could now enjoy a “Complete Perfect Forgiveness” and that it included everyone and ever sin.  He was announcing something that even Jesus, under the Old Testament Economy could not say.  This was Greater Works!

Jesus could only point to it because He had not yet died and arose.  But, on the Day of Pentecost, it was an announcement that had never been announced before.  The New Covenant and Full Salvation and Total Forgiveness. 

I hope you are with me in this discussion.  There is NOW! This is the Final Sacrifice for Sin!  Thus, the Blessings of the New Covenant declares, “Your sins and iniquities, I will remember No More!”  That was not a reality until the Day of Pentecost. 

Let me offer a comparison of Covenants. In the Old, they had the temple with its Holy of Holies, but we live in the Holy Spirit, God’s Holy of Holies.  They had a priesthood, but we have the Final High Priest, Jesus.  We are known to God.  He knows us personally and intimately and we fellowship with Him being made one with Him.  They had the prophets, now we have the Final Word, Jesus!  They had a series of kings, but we have the King of Kings.  They had the Law which told them, “Thou shalt & shalt not” we have the Law written in our heart and the Holy Spirit urges us from within. 

They could talk about Healing, but we can not only talk about the healing of our bodies but the entire universe.  We have the New Heavens and the New Earth in the New Covenant. 

The New Covenant included the physical, but it goes far beyond the physical.  The New Covenant declares, “We are Blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”  That is Awesome!

We never discard the Blessings of the Old, but we go beyond them.  They were very physical and material, but we have those and the spiritual as well.  We have the Better Covenant established on Better Promises.

We can rightly say, “We are the People who can say – THE BLESSING OF GOD is upon us!”  He is in our spirits (where we fellowship with God).  He is in our minds, our wills, and our emotions and He is in our bodies.  It is the Will of God that every area of our lives is endued with His Power, the Power that enables us to walk, work, and live in this world as very different people.  We are set aside.  We are different!   Embrace your difference in Jesus!

I ask that you look in the mirror now and remind yourself that You are a Very Special Person!  You have the uncanny, unusual and unique Blessing of God upon you and it enables you to have the Power for health, long life, success, and prosperity.  The prosperity that begins on the inside.  That is a totally different subject that we will deal with in a different format, but for now, YOU ARE BLESSED so BE A BLESSING and RELEASE BLESSING ON OTHERS!

God bless you as you enjoy this wonderful day in Him!

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THE BLESSING OF THE LORD – (Part Four) …


Numbers 6:22-27 – “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: 24 The LORD bless you, and keep you; 25 The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 26 The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’  27 “So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.” NASB

Every miracle in the Old Testament is simply one of the Blessings of Covenant being manifested in a particular situation.  Everything God does is based on Covenant and What He Has Said.  God spelled out the Blessings and any miracle in the Old Testament simply occurred because somebody said, “God You said You’d Bless, and I ask You to Do It Now!”  That’s it!

The foundation of Covenant and an integral part of Covenant are these Blessings.  Anyone in Covenant who took hold of the Promises and Provisions looked to God and said, “Thank You!”  At that point, a miracle transpired.  That’s Faith, it is simply taking God at His word and saying Thank You!

The Lord Jesus Christ was the Last Adam, the final man of the Covenant.  The New Covenant took place when Jesus rose from the dead.  He is the Grand Finale of the Old Covenant.  Every miracle that Jesus performed was simply bringing into substance one of these Blessings of the Old Covenant. 

Miracles do not just sort of happen.  No, No, No!  They happen for a very definite reason and based on a very definite provision of Covenant.  In the New Testament, just before Jesus died on the Cross, He took the cup.  He said, “This cup is the New Covenant in My blood.”  He is saying, “Everything that we did in the Old Covenant is now OLD.”  At that time, He said, “The works that I do, shall you do also, and greater works than these shall you do, because I go to the Father.”

Those are incredible words, but there is a massive problem for the church and has been for a long time.  What did Jesus mean?  After all, how could we possibly do anything greater than what Jesus did?  How could we do that?  It is Impossible, right?

I ask that you rehearse in your mind that Jesus lived under the Old Covenant.  He said, “The works that I do…”  That is, “I’m living to the fullest possible the Blessings of the Old Covenant.  You can do the same.”  That means, that whatever they had, we can and should have and do.  We have, legally, every Blessing.  That is nothing short of amazing! 

Jesus said, “The works that I do in bringing to pass the Blessings of the Old Covenant, you can do also.”  That is an incredible promise.  In the Old Covenant Blessings, there was physical blessing, economic blessing, and everything we put our hands to is to prosper.  In your secular work you can have prosperity.  In terms of enemies, you are more than a conqueror.  It covers our emotional, physical, and material lives. That is Staggering and that is Old Covenant!

Then when we call to mind the words of Hebrews 8:6 that we have a ‘Better Covenant’ that is based upon ‘Better Promises’ we should be beside ourselves with anticipation and joy.  I find it powerfully amazing that there are more Blessings in the New Covenant than in the Old and it is not all Spiritual.  Let’s be honest, when the chips are down it is more than a little nice to have healthy bodies, right?  It is nice to have some extra cash, right?  The New Testament tells us that God Blesses us in every area of life, the physical, material, and spiritual.  HALLELUJAH!

     Jesus said, “The works that I do…”  I find that in the Book of Acts there are more physical healings in one chapter than the entire Old Testament.  Therefore, God is clearly concerned with the Physical and Material as well as the Spiritual.

Jesus did not stop there, He said, “…And greater works…”  Greater?  There are works that Jesus, as man could not do because He had to die to bring them into reality in the Covenant.  He had to rise again and ascend to the Right Hand of the Father for them to become legal guarantees.  He said, “You will do Greater Works BECAUSE…”  Because of what?  I go to My Father.  Simply, “When I’ve gone to the Father, you will do Greater Works through the Power of the Holy Spirit and on the Authority of My New Covenant!”  HALLELUJAH!

The Old Covenant did not have the power to bring us into the oneness of relationship with the Father.  The Old Covenant offered a limited fellowship.  The blood of an animal was required, but when Jesus rose again that need was gone, and man could enter into a Perfected Relationship with God! 

At the risk of over laboring on this subject we will approach it one more time, but until then rejoice in Who you are and What you have been invited to participate in – THE NEW COVENANT!

Have a Great Day!

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THE BLESSING OF THE LORD – (Part Three) …


Numbers 6:22-27 – “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: 24 The LORD bless you, and keep you; 25 The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 26 The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’  27 “So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.” NASB

In discussing the Blessing, what the word means and the power that is inherent in it we must look at the foundation upon which this truth is established.  It is Covenant!  Covenant is the basis of all of God’s dealings and relationships with mankind.  Blood Covenant is a bond that cannot be broken short of death.  If we go back and review the cutting of the covenant with Abraham and see the various parts and their meaning we will move forward greatly in our faith and expectation.

We have all heard the term, “Blood Brothers,” have we not?  Some have made that a strong natural brotherhood, but it is more than that.  It exists today and the saying in the Arab world is germane, “Blood is thicker than milk.”  I know most of us have heard, “Water” but “Milk” is the way they say it.  Why?  It means that you might be a “milk brother” but that relationship can be shattered.  However, if you ‘cut the wrists in covenant’ and blood has been mingled, then Blood is stronger than Milk.  This is a brotherhood that is for all time and there is no back door, no exit ramp.  It is permanent!

Blood Brothers are friends with a Capital “F”.  It means that from the time of cutting the covenant on, they will live in a state or condition that is called “Loving Kindness” (Hesed).  It means a Loyal Love or a Tenacity of Love.  It means that I will spend my day planning and plotting ways to carry out the terms of the Covenant and Bond.  I won’t wait for you to ask, instead, I will think up ways to surprise you Blessing You.  This is Loving Kindness or Covenant Love.  There is nothing casual about it.

The Amazing Story of the Bible is Covenant and that truth was understood by all the Hebrews.  Sadly, in America, we have a Contract Mentality rather than a Covenant Mentality.  We have long forgotten Loyalty. 

If you examine American history, you will quickly realize that the American Indians were Covenant People.  They would enter a Covenant with the White Man only to have him break his word time and again.  The Indians could not understand how anyone in Covenant could do that.  Covenant was a Life or Death arrangement.  It was permanent not like a Contract.  All Primitive Tribes understood Covenant, but we do not. 

It is Amazing that God, the Living God, would come to man using a vehicle that everyone understood – Covenant.  Then, He would enter into Covenant with man.  God entered into Covenant with Abraham and when He did, He said, “I will Bless you and I will Bless those who Bless you.”  

God entered into Covenant with the entire nation of Israel at Mt. Sinai.  It is not simply, “I will Bless you as a greeting or salutation.”  God details the terms, blessings, and curses of the Covenant.  It is defined in Legal terms.  That is spelled out prolifically in Deuteronomy 28:1-14.  Please read it.  Please devour it.  Please meditate upon it.  There was not one area of life that was omitted.

But there is more.  Read Leviticus 26:3-12 and you discover the great emphasis on life.  It is about fertility.  They are blessed in their bodies, their flocks, and their herds.  The focus is Life!  It was a Covenant of Life and whatever God touched would burst forth with Life.

Not to spend a great deal of time enumerating each Blessing but they were Blessed in their Bodies and enjoy health, healing, and long life.  They were Blessed in their Cities, the seat of their economy and finance.  They were Blessed in their Fields, the source of their sustenance and food.  They were Blessed in their Baskets, their capacity to bring home the bacon.  They were Blessed in their Kneading Bowl, the capacity and ability to utilize that supply.  They were Blessed in their Going Out and their Coming In. 

If we understand the simple message of the terms of Covenant it is that whatever they did and wherever they went the Blessing of God was upon them.  They possessed this unusual enduement with Power.  Their enemies would flee before them and anybody that touched them would find the Power of God surging in their defense. 

This is Incredible!  They were kept and protected by the Power of God. They were the head and not the tail.  They made the choices and did the wagging of the tail, not vice versa.  They would not be ‘underneath their circumstances’ but ‘atop’ them.  That is what God offers us through His Blood Covenant.  I must deal with this at least one more time but until the next time, go with God and He will go with you. 

Have a Fantastic Day!

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THE BLESSING OF THE LORD – (Part Two)


Numbers 6:22-27 – “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: 24 The LORD bless you, and keep you; 25 The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 26 The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’  27 “So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.” NASB

The spoken Blessing of the Covenant is powerful and important for Christians of every age, especially today.  We have lost much of its importance and power and thereby have given an advantage to the devil. 

There is a verbal conveyance in Blessing.  We use words!  Out of our mouths are coming Words of Power!  Through these words, issued in understanding and faith, we are releasing the power to enable those Blessed to attain the stated blessing.  We are giving something to someone through words.

The question must immediately be, “What are we giving?”  We are giving Power!  We are releasing the ability for them to enjoy the work of the Holy Spirit and God’s Covenant and be successful, prosperous, healthy, and have a long life.  All of that is inside the word “Bless” and that is exactly what the Hebrews understood when the Blessed.  It was not simply a greeting it was a release of something powerful and wonderful.

When a Hebrew said, “God Bless You” it meant I endue you with the Power of God to be able to receive from God, long life, health, success, and prosperity.  It was releasing the Goodness of God into the lives of people.  That is powerful and makes me hungry spiritually.  I hope I am whetting your appetite for more knowledge and in that knowledge the release of God’s Blessing in our lives and others around us.

We must not just view Blessing but consider the Fall of man in the Garden of Eden.  Why?  Because in the Fall, man entered a state of curse.  Throughout the Bible, we have the contrast of Blessing and Curse.  It is unavoidable and vital that we see the contrast.  When man entered the state sin, he walked into the curse.  This Blessing is a word that will Reverse the Curse!

Man, in the Fall, was living in a state of curse and now God says, “I’m going to walk into that situation and condition and Reverse it!”  The result is that we are going to be Blessed!  That is incredibly drawing to my heart and makes me desirous to be able to release it to others so they too can be Blessed.

In the Old Testament God separated a people (Israel) and entered a Covenant with them.  Specifically, He entered a Covenant to Bless them.  God entered a Covenant or Relationship in which He would Reverse the Curse.  I hope you are following this train of thought.

These people are now going to Know God’s active goodness in their lives.  They will be Endued with an unusual and uncanny power to live a healthy long life.  Whatever they touch will be successful and prosperous and there is no natural explanation it is not natural it is supernatural.  It is not their ability it is God.  They have been Endued with power from God and they have been Blessed. That is what Covenant is all about!

Let me caution you.  Now that the terms of the Covenant have been given and once this Blessing has been spelled out and released there is a condition.  Unless they walk away from it, reject it, give it back to God, nobody can touch it or revoke it.  It is theirs and the devil nor man can annul it.  They would have to walk away from it for it to become null and void. 

Let me illustrate it this way and hopefully, it will resonate more deeply with you.  Remember Balaam?  His donkey had more sense than he did.  He was offered gold to curse Israel.  He didn’t seem to be able to resist the gold even though he knew there was little chance of achieving the desired curse. 

He went to a high mountain with the king that hired him to Curse Israel.  But when he opened his mouth rather than a Curse came Blessing.  He could not curse them.  Finally, he said to the king who hired him, “God is not a man that He should lie or the son of man that He should repent.  Has He said and will He not do it? Has He not spoken, and will He not make it good?  When He has blessed, I cannot revoke it.” 

That’s it, Balaam could not Curse Israel because God has Blessed them.  The Blessings of God cannot be removed by man or the devil.  Israel and we in Christ are surrounded and shielded by God’s Blessings.  That is incredibly apparent in Psalm 91 and throughout the New Testament. 

I must not stop here, but for the sake of space and time will pause and address this a little more next time.  Until then, go with God and He will God with you and Bless you!   

Have a Great Day!

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THE BLESSING OF THE LORD…


Numbers 6:22-27 – “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: 24 The LORD bless you, and keep you; 25 The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 26 The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’  27 “So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.” NASB

We have all read or heard this declaration countless times.  We have heard it in religious gatherings, but I have a question I want you to consider.  “Did We Catch It?”  What I am asking, is do we perceive that this Blessing is at the very heart and foundation of the Old Covenant.  It is the dynamic that made the Covenant work.  It is incredibly powerful and important.  If we grasp that reality, it will impact how we approach life and blessing.

It was at this time that God has laid out the Covenant and now He is declaring that there must be someone (the Priest), who would daily invoke this Blessing over the people.  In so doing, the Covenant would be made to work.  That is why this is so important and so powerful.  It is not just words it is power.  This prayer is what brought the Covenant into people’s lives.

This prayer was given, at least twice each day.  It would be spoken in the morning and evening sacrifice, and the Priest would lift his hands over the people and give them this specific blessing. 

This is an expression of God’s desire for His people.  This is God saying, “This is what I want for you.  I want to keep you, lift my face toward you, and give you all that I AM!!!”  Out of that reality, God instructs them to pray this prayer and it was to be from the heart and in faith believing that it was and would be or become a reality in their lives every day.

I don’t know what that does in your spirit, but it causes me to want to shout.  It is incredibly exciting to realize that this is God’s desire for me and you.  This is what God wants to be a daily reality in our lives.  I am convinced that once we know this truth we can and will pray with a renewed or discovered anticipation as we have never had.  We will expect it to come to pass because it is God’s Desire!  He says, “Invoke My Name upon the people and in through this vehicle I will Bless them!”  That is incredible.

With every promise, there is a problem and there is a major problem in today’s Christian community.  One of the most used words among many Christians today is “Bless.”  It is a terribly misunderstood word or maybe more accurately, it has never been understood. 

For most of us, one of the first prayers we were taught was to Bless.  We bless our food, our parents, siblings, friends, relatives, etc.  I have discovered that many times when people are at a loss for what to say, they fall back on the word “Bless.”  Whenever we meet someone we say, “God bless” or “Bless you.”  Nothing wrong with that, but if it is just a greeting with no anticipated or understood meaning and power it is an impotent word.  That is not God’s desire for the Blessing!

I believe that most people are largely clueless as to what the word “Bless” really means, biblically.  The world “Bless”, is at the center of understanding God’s Covenant.  I believe that for us to obtain a firm grasp on the reality, power, and meaning of the word we have to go back to creation. Remember in Genesis we are told that when God created the world and humans it says, “And God Blessed them”?  Remember?  The word shows up at the Dawn of Creation and is unique in its meaning.

In context, it means to be favored by God.  It also means to live in joy that is enviable and everlasting.  Behind that, it means a verbal conveyance and enduement with power, enabling the one blessed to be successful, prosperous, healthy, and have a long life.  That’s the word!  It is not just a “Hi, how are you?”  It is a releasing of power to bring something to being in the lives of those who are recipients of the Blessing.   That changes everything or should.

I want to dig a little deeper into Blessing but will pause here and pray that the Lord will Bless you as you go through this wonderful day He has made. 

Have a great day!

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SEEING PEOPLE, THE WAY GOD SEES THEM – (Conclusion)


Acts 10:38 – “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him.”  NASB

We talked about the word “Lost” and its power and importance in our last devotional. In Luke 15 we see the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son.  The Pharisees saw people as Sinners, because of what they did.  Jesus was saying, “Go deeper and see who they are and who they were intended to be.” 

If we learn to view people as creatures made in the Image of God. If we see them as those who has gone off course, become separated from God and each other and Lost we will treat them differently.  If we view people, all people, as having great value to God that they are worth the shepherd searching for them, we will treat them differently.  If we see them as worth the woman turning her house upside down to find, we will treat them differently.

In the Lost Son, we find the father waiting for the son to come home.  He looked through the pig muck, the rags, the stench, and the filth and said, “I’m waiting for my son to come home.”  The elder brother who represents the attitude of religion and the Pharisees was not waiting for a son or a brother.  As far as he was concerned this person was unworthy to be called a son or a brother.  Remember when the prodigal came home the reaction of the elder brother?

I find his words impactful and revealing.  He did not say, “my brother, but your son.”  In his mind, the younger brother had excommunicated himself from the family.  He had become such a sinner there was no coming back.  The father saw him as LOST, but the brother saw him as a SINNER!

I hope you see the difference.  The father said, “He’s my son, therefore he can come back home.”  The elder brother said, “No, look at what he has done!”  The elder brother focused on what he had done, the father on who he was.  The elder brother’s focus was the outward, the father on the inward, the person, the heart.  The father said, “He’s my son!  He was dead but now he’s alive again!”

Jesus, in this parable, was communicating how He looks at people and giving us and pattern to follow.  The view of Jesus is communicated in His question, “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?”  He was making it clear that one soul is worth more than the entire material world or the universe for that matter. 

Jesus is communicating value and the worth God places on every human being.  The Pharisees could not understand that. They focused on the outward, but Jesus looked beyond the faults and saw the need.  He saw people as Lost, Separated from God, and need to be Saved. 

It was because of that view that Jesus was never afraid of people.  The church is often afraid of the Lost.  Why?  Why is religion threatened by the Lost?  Why does the church often find it difficult to sit and talk to people like this?  Let me illustrate it this way and hope it resonates and possibly convicts us.

I had a person tell me once, “You can’t hang around those kinds of people.  They curse and swear, they smoke and drink, and do terrible stuff.”  I had a person tell me that some people that had come to the church, lost, that they didn’t act right and didn’t dress in the prescribed religious mode and needed to clean up before coming.  One said, “We want quality people.”  That caused me to become furious inside.  I calmed myself down and asked, “What quality were you before Jesus saved you?”

We can look at the outward and miss the person and the purpose of God failing to be examples of His Love, Mercy, and Grace.  If you will keep looking beyond the outward, you will discover the person on the inside and that one who is created in the Image of God.  Jesus was never offended by how people dressed or acted. He never condoned it, but he never acted religious.  I can say that because they wanted Him to come to dinner with them and they would never have invited the Pharisees! 

There is much more to say but I will end this consideration of “How Jesus Viewed People” and “How We Should View Them” by saying, can we see people as Lost not as Sinners?  Can we look beyond what they do or how they look and see their need?  Can we look, as God does, and take what we have received and share it with them in Love?  If we can learn to do that, we will win far more souls than we will ever win with our view of our personal piousness and superiority.

God bless you and may this day be joyous for you!

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SEEING PEOPLE, THE WAY GOD SEES THEM – (Part 3)


Acts 10:38 – “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him.”  NASB

When Jesus saw a person, He saw them as separated from God, bent and twisted, but rather than looking at what they did and their outward presentation, He saw their potential.  He saw them as ‘persons.’  He was not focused on what they did or were doing but the inner man.  He was focused on who they were in their bentness, distortion, separation from God and man.  He looked beyond their faults and saw their need.

What did that do?  If you can receive it, that mindset is one step away from manifesting compassion.  Compassion is a very strong word in the Greek.  It is a combination of “anger” and “love.”  It is not just Love it is more.  It carries in it, almost a pounding of the fists and a stomping of the feet.  When you look upon another human being no matter their state or condition you are saying, “There is a human being.”

This is the view that the person you are looking at, regardless of what they are doing is a human being created in the image of God and you see them not what they are doing.  It is here that the anger rises up and says, “In the Name of Jesus, this shall not be their reality, because they are worth the Blood of God.”  That is compassion!  It says, “I Love you too much to leave you in this condition.”  It says, “I cannot live with leaving you as I have found you, you are worth too much to God and therefore to me.”

When Jesus looked at people and when He looks on us, He is not hung up on what we do, the outward presentation.  We are, but He is not!  He is moved with compassion and focuses on who they and we are, through God’s Grace!  He sees someone who is made in the Image of God and they are separated from themselves.  They don’t even know who they are.  They are separated from fellow humans.  What a Waste!

A person was created to contain God.  A person was created to radiate God’s Glory.  But, through sin and the fall, they have become a waste.  The ones meant to walk in the Radiant Light of God are walking in darkness.  That’s what Jesus sees and what we need to see!

That is evidenced and articulated in the parables, especially Luke 15.  Jesus talked about human beings in contrast to the Pharisees who saw people as “Sinners!”  I find it amazing that as I read through the Gospels, I never find Jesus calling anybody a sinner.  They were but His focus was on what they could be not what they were.  Jesus saw them as Lost rather than focusing them as Sinners! 

Jesus, to the disgust of the Pharisees, ate with Tax Collectors and Sinners.  The meal was probably in an open courtyard because the Pharisees were gathered close enough to see and they were mumbling that this was Scandalous.  How dare he do that?  In their minds and words, I can hear the disgust, “He is eating with THOSE kinds OF PEOPLE.”  To them, it was bad enough that He even talked to them, but now He is eating with them. 

The Pharisees always looked at what people DID and viewed what people did as what people are.  They contrasted them to what they (Pharisees) were doing.  To them, those people were SINNERS and because they are not like us, we cannot associate with them.  Jesus, on the other hand, looked beyond what people did to who they were and who they were intended to be.  The Pharisees looked at the outward appearance and Jesus looked at the heart.

Hear me carefully.  He was not saying they were not lost and in a sinful condition.  He concentrated on who they were intended to be.  He said, “They are Lost!”  He was not accusing them, as were the Pharisees, He was describing their condition and need.

The word Lost is a powerful and important word and understanding.  I was given a Mont Blanc pen, but I use cheap pens most of the time.  I have never lost a cheap pen.  They have gone missing by the dozens, but if my Mont Blanc came up missing, I would turn the office and house upside down to find it, it would be LOST!  The reason, you only lose something of great value to you.  Jesus designated these people as Lost, and in that designation, He was ascribing great value to them.  He was saying, “They have significance, worth, and value to Me.”

It was an announcement that an alert has been issued in the spirit realm – You Are Lost and must be Found!  He was saying, “I Value These People!”  I hope I am not spending too much time on this, but it is important that we learn how Jesus viewed people so we can change our vision of them and thereby become more effective in reaching them for God.

I want to pause here and take this up again in the next devotional.  God bless you as you enjoy this wonderful day in Him!

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