Greetings! I am so glad you have joined me today. I know there are a lot of hard trials coming upon God’s people. I pray this post will help you overcome the darkness and stress you are facing. Eric

Proverbs 4:20-23 (NLT), “My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. 21 Don't lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, 22 for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. 23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Solomon’s words as written under the unction of the Holy Spirit, are important to us. Why? Let’s pull out these very meaningful phrases.. ‘Pay attention to what I say”; ‘Listen carefully to my words’; ‘Let them penetrate deep into your heart’; ‘they bring life and healing to their whole body’; ‘it determines the course of your life’. What dynamic verses!

Matthew 12:34b reveals, “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” We need to guard our hearts, paying close attention to what is in them. Psalm 19:14 (NLT) reads, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” We also read in Proverbs 18 that life and death are in the power of the tongue.

With the abundance of darkness filling the earth these days, it is very easy to fall into a trap of negative speaking. We speak discontent, fear, anger, doubt…and the list goes on. Today, we will be looking at and working on being aware that we are blessed.

The Word of God tells us that we are heirs of Abraham’s blessing. To begin to understand and really appreciate what that means, we will look at some definitions of what the word ‘blessing’ means. According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, when referring to “God blessing men, ‘blessing’ means, He speaks over them to cause to prosper, to make happy, to bestow blessings on, and to be favored.”

Wordnik defined ‘blessing’ as “something promoting or contribution to happiness, well-being, or prosperity.”

On dictionary.com, a ‘blessing’ is “a special favor, mercy, or benefit” and “a favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness.”

Then on biblestudytools.com, in the Old Testament, God’s intention was that, “The lesser is always blessed by the greater. The blessing of God was to endow power for prosperity and success” or that a ‘blessing’ brings “special favor to result in prosperity and success.”

My goal for today is that you realize the importance of confessing the blessings we have received through the Word of God, with our mouths. In doing that, we will be speaking life to others and ourselves.

We will begin by looking at Philemon 1:4-6 (NKJV), “I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, 5 hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, 6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.” The Greek word, energes, translated ‘effective’ means: operative, powerful and effectual. The acknowledgement of every good thing (which includes knowing His will and having the blessings in our lives which He has bestowed on us through Christ) causes the sharing of our faith to be powerful and effective! Therefore, it is vital that what we say about ourselves and other believers is in alignment with what God’s Word declares about us!

God’s Word is true, creative, alive, and active. When we read about the creation, God spoke and it was so. (Genesis 1:3-25). When God’s Word is spoken, it goes forth and accomplishes what it was sent forth to accomplish. Isaiah 55:11, “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

So, understand that it is vital that we read, meditate, believe, and confess what God’s Word says that He has accomplished in our lives through the Living Word, Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:1-9,13 and 14 reveals very plainly that those who have faith are heirs of the blessing promised to Abraham, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain--if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith-- 6 just as Abraham "believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"? 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed." 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. ... 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"-- 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”

Genesis 12:1-3, “Now the LORD said to Abram (whose name was changed to Abraham), "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Then we see in Romans 4:13 and 16 that those who share the faith of Abraham receives the promises (the blessing), “For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ... 16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring--not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,”

You will find many blessings the Lord promised (for obedience) to the Israelites listed in Deuteronomy 28, verses 1 through 14. I encourage you to read them when you can. Today, however, I will include the first six verses here in my post, “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.”

Through Christ, we have become the children of God and as His children, we are His family and His people. There are numerous Scriptures which speak of God’s desire to bless His people.

Looking at 1 Peter 2:9 in the Berean Standard Bible, we read, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

We see various Old Testament verses revealing we will be blessed if we trust and obey God.

Jeremiah 17:7 (NLT), “But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.”

Psalm 1:1-3 (NKJV), “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; 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.”

Psalm 119:2, “Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,”

Proverbs 16:20 (NASB20), “One who pays attention to the word will find good, And blessed is one who trusts in the LORD.”

Then we see where God instructed Aaron and his sons (those anointed to be priests) to bless His people by speaking this special blessing to them in Numbers 6:24-27 (NLT), “May the LORD bless you and protect you. 25 May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. 26 May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace.' 27 Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them." Barach is the Greek word translated as ‘bless’ in verse 24. According to Word Wealth in the New Spirit Filled Life Bible, “When God is giving a blessing, ‘He is the One who gives the capacity for living a full rich life. The first action of God toward Adam and Eve was to bless them.”

We read an account where Jabez prayed in faith for God to bless Him. God granted what he asked as we see in 1 Chronicles 4:9 and 10 (NLT), “There was a man named Jabez who was more honorable than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful. 10 He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!" And God granted him his request.”

I want to share one other Old Testament scripture which shows God’s desire to pour out His favor upon His people. Psalm 5:12, “For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield.”

The New Testament also contains God’s promise of blessings for His people.

Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.”

Luke 11:28 (NLT), “Jesus replied, "But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice." ‘Blessed’ from eulogeo means to speak well of. When the blessing comes from God to men - “He grants them favor and confers happiness on them.” (Word Wealth in the New Spirit Filled Life Bible.

John 20: 29, “Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Matthew 5:3-11 (NLT), “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. 4 God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth. 6 God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. 7 God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. 9 God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. 10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. 11 "God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.”

God’s heart desire is to bless His people!

God’s heart desire is to bless you!

We have to let God’s Word fill our mouth with what we declare over ourselves!

Declare your blessing!

By doing that, you are speaking life and not death to others and yourself!!

Unless otherwise indicated, scriptures are taken from the English Standard Version

NLT New Living Translation

NKJV New King James Version

NASB20 New American Standard Bible 2020