By Bro John Albert Arul Devanesan fsg, Local Superior
God has a special blessing for you as an individual which we are told in Genesis 49:28. All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their Father said to them when he blessed them, and giving each the blessings appropriate to him.
Don’t try and receive other people’s blessings. We may see charismatic leaders and speakers and want to be like them but God has designed us as individuals and has given us unique, individual giftings and characteristics. It is good to have positive role models but we shouldn’t seek to be the same as others.
We are each made in God’s image and show varying facts of His character and personality.
God designed us to accomplish His unique purpose for our lives. Instead of looking to other people’s talents and wanting them for ourselves, we should ask God to reveal His unique plan and purpose for us. We will become frustrated and discouraged if we seek after other people’s talents and blessings.
God has a unique and special blessing for each of His children. When we live under the Father’s Blessings, we will be affirmed, encouraged and protected. We will be fruitful and have a sense of purpose. We can’t earn the Father’s Blessings; He gives it to us simply because we are His children and He loves us.
However, we can pursue the Father’s blessing as many stories in the Bible shows us. Jacob wrestled with an Angel all night to receive a blessing from God. (Genesis 32:22-28) Likewise, Elisha would not leave Elijah alone but followed him everywhere until he received his blessing from his spiritual father.
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane wrestled in prayer seeking the Father’s Will and Blessing before he stepped forward for his journey to the Cross. So too we need to ask God for the faith to receive His blessing and the tenacity to keep on asking. Never grow weary of asking for the blessing of God, for God take great delight in showering blessings upon blessings. His love never comes to an end, his treasury of blessings cannot be exhausted in time or in eternity.
One blessing that is often used in tradition of blessings in the Household of God is Numbers 6:22-26.
The LORD said to Moses, “Tel Aaron and his sons, “This how you are to bless the Israelites, Say to them: “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give your peace.”
This is the blessing that God wants spoken over His people and it applies to us. Another scriptural passage telling us of the Lord’s blessing to Israel is Deuteronomy 28:1-14
Blessings for Obedience
If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands, I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.
The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk-in obedience to him.
Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.
The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The Lord will make you the head, not the tail.
If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.
Sometimes to receive God’s blessings there are conditions we need to fulfil, such as in Malachi 3: 8-10.
“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
I would now like to pray a blessing from God on each of you. I bless you to know your Heavenly Father in every way he wants you to know him. I bless you to know and experience your Heavenly Father’s love for you every day of your life. I bless you to know the way your Heavenly Father wants you to go and have sense of purpose and direction. I bless you to fulfil the destiny your Heavenly Father has planned for you from your creation.
A Blessing from your Heavenly Father
Your Heavenly Father blesses you with a sense of belonging and know you are loved as His beloved child. He blesses every area of your life with his protection and His presence. He gives you every blessing. Everything He has is yours as you are co-heir with Christ Jesus. He blesses you with eternal life His favor rests on you simply because are His Child – His Beloved Son – His Beloved Daughter.