Num 6:24-26
24 The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. ESV
- Lord, I ask that your blessing would be on myself and upon my family. I pray that it wouldn’t just be my famil, but the 180 and all its leaders, Res and all its members, upon those who follow you far and wide. I ask that as we seek you, your blessing would be poured out on us that we may be a blessing to those around us.
Ex 1:17
17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. ESV
- Prov 8:13; Fearing God changed the way they lived. What was right was more important to them then what Pharaoh wanted them to do.
Ex 1:21
21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. ESV
- Ex 1:17; Prov 8:13; God rewarded them for fearing him. Along with obeying God comes his blessing.
- This doesn’t mean that if you follow God everything will be a cake walk. They still had to face an unhappy pharaoh. Joseph out of fear of God refused to sin with Potiphar’s wife Gen 39:9. This choice wasn’t easy, in fact it took him to jail for a few years, but even in the midst of a mess God’s favor was on him. The character that got him in prison opened up doors for him to be over all the rest of the prisoners and eventually set him in charge of Egypt. Following God is filled with a different set of challenges. You will have opposition, but you will have God’s blessing and his favor when you do things his way.
Gen 13:2
2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ESV
- Gen 12:2; God said he would bless Abram. In Prov 10:22 it says the blessing of the Lord makes one rich. People tend to either reduce God’s blessing to finances alone or try to completely cut them out of God’s blessings. Both extremes are wrong and out of balance. Prov 17:1 tells us if all that you have is what money can buy you are missing out. It shows us that peace and healthy relationships are worth more then status and the things money can buy. In 1 Tim 6:17 we are reminded that God is our provider for everything we need, not money.
Gen 12:1
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ESV
- The call of Abraham. The first part of his call was instructions to leave things behind. I think that following God always requires leaving something behind. Are you willing to leave things behind? It may be your friends, it may be your pride, it may be your time, or habits that you have had or just simply doing things your own way. Are you willing to leave behind your old life? 2 Cor 5:17;
Gen 12:2
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. ESV
- “And” is a conjunction. It ties Abraham’s leaving to his receiving the benefits of the promise. If we want to receive the blessings God has for us we to will have to leave some things behind.
- God will bless you. Gen 13:2;
Gen 39:3
3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand. NKJV
- Ps 128:2; God’s blessing didn’t come in the form of hand outs. Everything that he did was blessed. God blessed his work. Are you giving God something to bless? Do you work with all you have? If God’s blessing comes after you exert all your strength would you ever see God’s blessing? Are you working with all your might as unto the Lord or waiting for God to do everything for you? Col 3:23;
Ps 128:2
2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. ESV
- Even in God’s blessings there is work. It is in your labor that you will be blessed. Gen 39:3 Every thing Joseph put his hand to do was blessed; Deut 28:3 “you will be blessed in the city and field”, that is the place selling and growing, that is in your work. Deut 28:8 says he will bless all that you undertake. Deut 28:12 says He will bless the work of your hands. God’s blessing isn’t so you don’t have to do anything. He wants to bless what you are doing. If you are doing nothing blessed hands don’t help you.
- Laziness Prov 26:13
