Blessing - God Speaks Well of You

People use the word "bless" all the time. They bless food, ask for God's blessings, and bless people who sneeze. If you ask most people what they think "bless" means, they would probably say, "To do something nice for someone." If you look a little closer at the word you will find a different meaning though.

The Greek word used in the Bible that we translate into "bless" is eulogeo. (We derive our word "eulogy" from this.) In its simplest and truest definition it means to praise or speak well of. How does this change the way we view our relationship with God? Well, let's break down a couple of ideas.

1. God speaks. He spoke to create the world. (Genesis 1)
2. He did not labor with His hands to create.
3. Creation obeyed his voice and came into being.
4. When God speaks it has to be true. (Titus 1:2)

When God blesses you He starts by speaking well of you. Remember that God does not lie, so what He says about you must be true or it must come true. This reality ensures that the blessing will come to pass. Let's look at some examples.

In Genesis 12:2, the Lord says to Abram, "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; (and here is the blessing) I will make your name great and you will be a blessing."

The Lord spoke something about Abram and it was true because God does not lie. We know that physically speaking the nation of Israel, who came from Abram, did become very numerous and spiritually speaking we are in the same nation through faith in Christ.

Notice that God told him, "I will make YOU into a great nation." The he said, "I will bless You." Since Abram became the nation and we are apart of the nation through faith in Christ, we have the same blessing. God is speaking well of us.

Now let's look at a blessing that the Lord has promised us in Ezekiel 34:25-31 (Paraphrased):

"I will bless them (the land we will live in) and the places surrounding my hill (Zion). (Here comes the blessing) I will send down the showers in season; there will be a shower of blessing.

• Trees will yield fruit
• Fields will show crops
• We will be secure in our land
• God himself will break the bars that are holding us back and rescue us from slavery
• We will live in safety
• Our land will be renown for it's crops
• We will not be victims of famine
• We will know the Lord.

What a blessing! God speaks well of His people and their situations. And God does not lie!

How do we receive? Here's the good news: We have received every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3) For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "yes" in Christ. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Please know that God is speaking well of you and your situation! Now we should speak well about God. He is better than we think.

Giving Biblical Grace - Audio

Here is the teaching I did at Oasis Granger - 2-20-2011

How Do You Give Grace?

Jesus is amazing. Even in the midst of teaching and fulfilling the Law, he is able to show us the extent of God's love & favor (grace).

"He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends the rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." - Matt 5:45

This is a passage that has been used for many years to say, "Sometimes God sends good things and sometimes He sends bad things." But if you look at the context of this passage it really has nothing to do with that.

Think about the time period in which this was written. Agriculture (farming) was everything. They needed the sun and rain for their crops. They needed their crops to survive (read the story of Joseph and see the devastation of famine).

You see, the main thrust of the verses surrounding this passage is "Love your enemy." Consider who is speaking - Jesus. He is the exact representation of God (Hebrews 1:3). So whatever we see Jesus say and do is exactly what God would say and do.

This is God's attitude toward His "enemies" - "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." -Matt 5:44

God sends His blessings and provision (sun & rain) on the people who would be considered His enemies. This is truly giving grace. Grace is defined as unearned favor. When you favor someone, they are essentially your "favorite" and you treat them like they are special.

"If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?" - Matt 5:46

These aren't just instructions for us. God himself loves those who don't love Him. God isn't exempt from His Word. His word is who He is. He doesn't expect us to have a higher moral code than Him. He gives us favor and He extends the invitation to His "enemies".

Grace isn't being lenient with people. That is called mercy. This is how you give grace the way God does; giving people favor and blessing them when they don't deserve it.

Jesus in Context Part 2

In Matthew 5 - 7, Jesus preaches the most challenging sermon ever. It is harder than the 10 commandments and all of the rest of the Law. He says things like...

Don't say "you fool" or you are in danger of hell fire.

Don't even look at a woman lustfully.

Love your enemy.

Don't worry.

Don't judge.

Be perfect just as your Heavenly Father is perfect.

And many other things that people (even Christians) fail to do every day. In fact, some of the things He says cause people to have great fear.

"Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven."

"I will tell them, 'I never knew you.'"

I have heard many people use this section to slam Charismatic Christians because it talks about prophesying and driving out demons. I have heard people use this to warn people who aren't "holy" enough. I have seen people use it to make themselves feel better, like they are elite in God's eyes.

But there are three things you need to understand about Matthew 5 - 7.

1. Jesus is talking to Jews in this Gospel. Matthew 5 - 7 is one sermon in all. Through this sermon, Jesus gives the intent of His ministry. "I have not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it." Christ brought the Law back to an unobtainable standard.
2. Jesus gives the solution to life with God in this sermon. "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness..." God's righteousness comes by faith alone. It comes by faith in Christ.
3. Christ will say, "I never knew you" to those who didn't seek to be justified by faith. It's pretty simple.

There are people who blindly misquote the Bible and use passages like "God will judge each man according to his own work" or "impartially" to condemn people and make people afraid.

But we need to visit Gospel 101 before we quote passages and use them as universal truth. Everything happens in the context of the Gospel. We need to realize that if we accept Christ, we won't be judged according to our works but by Christ's righteousness. And why would we be judged according to what we do?

"God saved us not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace." 2 Timothy 1:9

and

"He saved us not because of the righteous things we have done but because of His mercy."

Titus 3:5

God already saved you apart from your good or bad behavior. The judgement has past. As Jesus would say, we have passed from judgement into life.

We are all walking testimonies of God's good work. When we are ministering to people we need to show them the truth of the Gospel. Use your words and actions to draw them to God. Don't scare them away.