Giving Blessings

Do you like weddings? Do you like to see the bride dressed in a beautiful gown? Do you like seeking the groom all dressed up and anxiously awaiting his bride? What parts of the ceremony are you favorites? What do you remember of your wedding?

Weddings can be very beautiful. We see the bride looking as beautiful as model in a magazine. The groom is handsome in his tuxedo or suit and would wring his hands if it weren’t for being told a million times not to do that. The young couple want to both enjoy the ceremony and for it to be over with.

Unfortunately, some of our weddings have become more about the pomp and circumstance than the couple. We put more effort into ensuring all the decorations are just right than ensuring the couple is prepared for marriage. Add to that the reception that is all about celebrating, while giving no blessing.

When Rebekah agreed to go with Isaac’s servant to be his wife, her mother and brother first ensured she was willing to go. Once they were sure, they blessed her. It was no mere, “Go with our blessing.” It was a blessing that she would be the mother of a nation and that her offspring would overcome their foes. In other words, they blessed her with a blessing of extreme bounty and prosperity. It was not some frivolous blessing, but a blessing that was well meant and well thought out.

Weddings are not the only time we should bless our children and siblings. We should bless them every opportunity we have. We should think about what blessing they need and how to give that blessing to them. Blessing others can have a significant impact on both those being blessed and those giving the blessing.

I pray we all look for opportunities to bless others. I pray we think through giving a blessing. I pray each one of us bless our family members and receive a blessing ourselves. Look for opportunities to bless. Bless your children. Bless your siblings. Think about blessing.

Genesis 24:58 And they called Rebekah, and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will.”

Welcome

What does it mean to be welcome? Who do you welcome into your home? Are you welcome everywhere you go? Is the church a welcoming place for visitors? How can we be more welcoming?

I’m sure many of us have heard the saying, “So-so has worn out their welcome.” We may have said it ourselves. It may have been said about us. But what does that mean? Being no longer welcome can be a harsh reality we face.

In one respect, Jesus is saying that those who welcome us are welcoming Him. That means the other person is welcoming God along with us. But is that always true? That is a question each of us should wrestle with.

The reason we need to wrestle with it is we may not be Jesus’ representative, or at least not a good one, at all times. We may be seeking retribution, repayment, or retaliation. However, if we are representing Jesus well, His statement is true.

Jesus was stating this to His disciples after having defined to them what it meant to be a disciple. He knew His disciples well and knew they were going into the world to be His representatives. He knew their hearts were in it. He knew they would not purposely misrepresent Him. We are to conduct ourselves in such a way as to have Jesus put His confidence in us the same as He did His disciples.

I pray we all represent Jesus well. I pray we strive to be His ambassadors in the best way possible. I pray each one of us are welcomed by those who greet us and they are blessed for having welcomed us. Be a welcoming person. Represent Jesus well. Be someone others welcome.

Matthew 10:40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”

Rewards

Do you like rewards? Do you participate in shopping rewards programs? Do you have a credit card that gives you rewards for using it? If you had a choice, what types of rewards would you choose? Do you know God provides rewards for those who do his will?

Most of us like rewards. Many of us have credit cards that provide rewards. Some of us participate in shopping rewards programs. We like our rewards. We use them in many different ways. Sometimes they pay off in a big way.

I have a rewards Visa card. As I make purchases with it, I receive points that can be used to purchase numerous things. We used those rewards to buy plane tickets for our family to take a vacation in California back in 2019. By using the points, it only cost us fifty dollars to purchase five round-trip plane tickets to Los Angeles. I was very thankful for those points.

Jesus tells us there are rewards, not just in eternity, but in this life when we do as God leads us to do. When He talks about welcoming, He is not merely speaking of saying “Hello.” He is talking about hospitality. A prophet is what we might call a preacher today. A righteous person is not some high-ranking Christian but simply someone who is doing their best to follow Jesus. A little one is anyone who has accepted Jesus as their Savior. In other words, Jesus is talking about welcoming our brothers and sisters in Christ.

A cup of cold water would have been very welcome in the heat of the summer in Israel. It also was not common. Think about it. There were no freezers or refrigerators. Ice had to be hauled from northern mountains, which was expensive. So, this means that our welcoming of one another should be unexpected, something a little out of the ordinary. All of this should be done out of the love we have for God and our brothers and sisters.

I pray we all seek the right rewards for the right reasons. I pray we seek to do what God desires us to do. I pray each one of us will welcome one another in unexpected ways. Seek to do God’s will. Seek God’s rewards. Welcome one another in love. Welcome one another unexpectedly.

Matthew 10:41-42 “Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

Free in Christ

Are you free or enslaved? Are you sure you know the answer to that question? Do you feel oppressed by the weight of bad decisions? Have you sought to leave them behind? Are you seeking to follow God’s plan? Have you awakened to your freedom from sin?

We often are enslaved without knowing it. There is a sin that has a hold on us that we just can’t shake. Maybe we recognize it, maybe we don’t. If we recognize it, it can weigh heavily on our mind. It can cause depression. It can be a dark cloud hanging above our head.

How do we free ourselves from our enslavement? We can’t on our own. We must turn our sin over to God. We must come to understand, not cursorily, but deep in our heart that Jesus has set us free. It can be a significant challenge to turn it over to God and ask him to remove it from us.

We may have accepted Christ as our Savior, but not turned everything over to Him. We may go to church every Sunday but continue to hold on to our guilt. We may pray regularly but fail to submit to God’s will for our lives. Only when we fully submit to him and turn our lives over to him will we finally experience the freedom of Christ.

Make no bones about it, it takes time. It is a maturation process. It requires us to continually go to God in prayer, asking for his help, asking the Holy Spirit to guide us. Following the path God wants us to follow and truly being free is difficult, but only because we want to be in control. Yet, it is when we give up control that we are truly free.

I pray we all recognize what enslaves us. I pray we turn everything over to God. I pray each one of us will continue to pray that God remove the sin that enslaves and experience the freedom of Christ. Recognize your sin. Give to God. Submit to God. Ask God for help. Experience true freedom.

Romans 6:22-23 But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Overcoming Weakness

Do you sometimes feel as though you are being controlled by something else? Do you have sudden urges to do things you know you shouldn’t do? Have you tried to stop yourself and been unable? Have you sought the power of God to overcome them?

Living in this world brings many temptations to us. Those temptations come in every variety imaginable. When we stumble and fall prey to them, we feel guilty. We may commit to not allowing that to happen again. We may pray that God forgive us. Neither may make us feel better.

How do we overcome these temptations? As we read through today’s passage, the Apostle Paul gives us sound advice. First, he tells us not to present ourselves to the temptation. That can range from standing firm and refusing it to not putting ourselves in a position for it to be presented to us. Staying away from situations where the temptation can come before us can be difficult, but it is easier than standing firm against the temptation. Most of us do not have a strong enough will to resist it.

Second, Paul tells us that sin has no dominion over us. This wonderful news! We no longer live by the law. We live in God’s grace. That means we can trust God to forgive us. Therefore, there is no need to feel guilty when we stumble. However, this can be a slippery slope. We can then take advantage of God’s grace and continue in our sin.

What are we to do? The best we can do is lay our lack of resistance at Jesus’ feet. We need to ask Him to remove the temptation from us. We need to ask Him to strengthen our will with His will. We may need to do this several times before we are truly willing to accept His help. Even so, we should continue to lay it as His feet until we have overcome sin with Jesus’ strength.

I pray we all recognize the temptations put before us. I pray we see our weakness in resisting. I pray each one of us will lay our weakness at Jesus’ feet and accept His help in overcoming sin. Overcome temptations. Lay your weakness at Jesus’ feet. Sin has no dominion over you. Live in God’s wonderful grace.

Romans 6:13-14 No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

God Knows

Do you wonder what is coming around the next corner? Are you currently facing an uphill battle? Are you facing opposition right now? Have you thought surely it cannot get any worse? What are you trusting in? Have you put your trust in God? Are you holding on to it?

It may seem as though we face challenges every day. But there are times when those difficulties are much more daunting. They can be financial, health, relationship, or job related. It can seem as though the entire world is against us. We can begin to lose heart.

It is in the difficult times that our faith can be tested. We may wonder if God has abandoned us. That is certainly the thought the Psalmist was wrestling with in Psalm 13. He starts the Psalm asking where God is. He wonders if God has turned his back on him forever. He cries out to God for help. But he ends this short Psalm with an affirming statement. He will not give up trusting in God.

We can learn a lesson from the Psalmist. When we face uphill battles or extreme challenges, it is alright if we cry out to God. It is alright if we ask God where he is. God knows our anguish. He knows what we are facing. And, because Jesus lived as a man, he also knows how we feel.

Yet, at the same time, we should continue to hold onto our faith. We should affirm our trust in God. We must remember that he is in control, and he has a plan for us. We can remember the good things God has done for us in the past. Struggles and challenges will come, but God will never abandon us. He will be with us as we go through them.

I pray we all voice our feelings to God. I pray we cry out to him when we are facing struggles or challenges. I pray each one of us will hold onto our faith and trust God to carry us through. Cry out to God. Voice your feelings to him. Hold onto your faith. Trust God to carry you through.

Psalm 13:5-6

But I trusted in your steadfast love; 

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 

I will sing to the Lord, 

because he has dealt bountifully with me.

The Right Place

How do you remember the name of a place?  Do you remember places by what happened there? Have you been to places that were named for an event? Have you given your own name to a place because of what you did while you were there?

We often remember places by what happened at that place or what we saw when we were there. Some places were named long ago. Others we may rename for our own reference. Naming them in a way that reminds us of something can be useful.

We use word association to jog our memory. This works great for naming places or giving places a nickname. For instance, most counties have a place called the fairgrounds. We may have never been in that county before, but we know at least one event that happens in that place.

When God provided the ram to replace Isaac as a sacrifice to him, Abraham called the place “The Lord will provide.” Many of us may not know that the mount on which God showed Abraham to perform his sacrifice is now the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. God continued to guide his people to a specific place. He also continued to provide for them so long as they continued to worship him.

We might take this lesson and apply it in our lives. When we continue to worship God, he continues to bless us. When we continue to attend worship services, we continue to please God. When we return to the place God has guided us to, he continues to meet us there.

I pray we all continue to worship God. I pray we continue to go to church for worship services. I pray each one of us please God in our worship of him and accept his blessings. Return to where God has called you. Continue to worship God. Please God through worship. Accept God’s blessings.

Genesis 22:13-14 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

Faith Tested

Have you gone through an initiation? Have you been tested to determine if you are a fit for an organization? Was it a physically grueling test? Was it a mentally stressful test? Did the test combine mental and physical requirements?

We may face some very difficult tests in this life. Personally, I have faced a couple of lengthy tests that included both mental and physical requirements. The first was boot camp and the second was Drill Instructor School. The second was tougher than the first.

Not everyone will face the same tests. Some face the test of giving up something or someone that is very dear to them. It may come in the form of the death of a loved one. It may be the time of retirement from a job in which you have given thirty or forty years. The last day can be very emotional. The following days, whether losing someone or leaving a job, can be challenging, and filled with grief or sorrow.

God tested Abraham’s faith. He sent him to a specific place to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. Abraham did not argue. He simply got up and went. He knew that God had promised him that he would have descendants as numerous as the sand by the seashore. He knew God had promised that he would be blessing to all nations. I’m sure he didn’t know how these promises would take place if Isaac was sacrificed, but he trusted God.

When we face testing that comes from God, we, too, should obey. We may not understand how things will work out. We may not know what lies beyond the next step. But when we put our faith in God, following his guidance, we can trust that he will provide just as he did for Abraham.

I pray we all put our faith and trust in God. I pray we follow God’s guidance when we are faced with a test. I pray each one of us obey God when he tests our faith in him. Put your faith in God. Trust God’s promises. Obey God’s command. Know that God will provide.

Genesis 22:1-2 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.”

Lose It for Jesus

What does it mean to you to lose your life? Have you given up something that is dear to you? Have you taken up your cross? Have you given up your preferences and accepted God’s desire for you?

Giving up something we like, and maybe addicted to, is very challenging. It doesn’t matter if it is an addiction to alcohol, drugs, food, attitude, or behavior. Giving up something we have been doing for a long time is difficult.

Jesus even tells us that we cannot love our own mother and father as much as we love Him. Now, that does not mean we cannot love them. It means just what Jesus says. We are to love Him more than them.

Giving up our own life also means giving up this world’s attitudes, behaviors, and desires. What are we prioritizing above God? What are we prioritizing above going to worship? What are we prioritizing above obeying God’s commands?

Giving those things up is giving up our life for Him. To truly find the joy in worshiping Him and to truly be a disciple, we must give it all up. Again, this doesn’t mean we cannot enjoy it. But it cannot be our priority. When we give those things up, we will live the abundant life Jesus promised us (John 10:10).

I pray we all make Jesus our priority. I pray we pick up our cross to follow Him. I pray each one of us is willing to lose our life in order to gain it in Jesus Christ. Give it all over to Jesus. Make Jesus your top priority. Choose Jesus over the world. Live the abundant life.

Matthew 10:37-39 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

Student and Teacher

Who is your favorite teacher? Have you had a wonderful mentor? Have you experienced a great boss? Are you now a teacher? Are you mentoring someone? Are you a manager or leader who has several people working under your tutelage and guidance?

We have many teachers in our lives. We may have had a mentor. We may have worked for a wonderful boss. Having people who can guide us down the path of a career is a great benefit. It is also wonderful to have someone who can provide us real life advice.

As we grow older, and hopefully wiser, we become the teacher, mentor, or manager. We have years of experience from which we have learned many lessons that we can pass on to others. But we must remember that a great teacher or mentor does not force the lesson, rather they allow the lesson to come about naturally.

Jesus is the greatest teacher of all. He teaches us lessons, not only of life, but of eternal life. He teaches about God, his law, his guidance, his desire, and his expectations. He tells us that we are not to think more highly of ourselves, but to strive to be like Him. The more we become like Him the bigger the impact we can have on the world around us, including our family, friends, and co-workers.

Each one of us can have a significant impact. It doesn’t require us to be in front of a crowd. Actually…it does. But the crowd consists of the people we interact with on a daily basis. Some of us have a far larger crowd we can reach. Others of us fewer. But all of us have a crowd we can teach.

I pray we all follow the Teacher. I pray we teach and mentor others we encounter daily. I pray each one of us strive to be like Jesus and continue to learn from Him. Accept Jesus as your teacher. Follow His guidance. Seek to be like Him. Teach others to be like Jesus.

Matthew 10:24-25a “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master.”