The Overwhelming Importance of Christians Understanding the Need to Speak Blessings over God, Themselves and Each Other!

15 Jul 2026 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Today’s Scrip-Bit   15 July 2026   Numbers 6:24.

Numbers 6:24.        The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

So we’ve come to Wednesday, our second wind day, and it’s a completely different day to yesterday; not as hot and very cloudy, as though rain’s in the offing. And wouldn’t that be a wonderful blessing for the parched earth. Unfortunately though, with climate change supposedly in action, you can’t take anything for granted; the day might look one way and then turn out to be entirely different.

Oh, the duchess just informed me that the cloudiness outside was not a harbinger of heavenly blessings, but of smoke from wildfires burning in the province. Hn, Hn! And there I was ever so wisely forecasting rain. (smile) But regardless of what kind of day it turns out to be, let’s make sure and catch our second wind so that we can continue doing good work for Christ! And all God’s children said, ‘Praise the Lord! Amen!’

And today we’re going to look at an interesting topic, that of praying for Family and LOVED Ones, as set out in a prayer card from the In Touch Organization. So please pray with me: ‘God, please bless my family and friends. I trust them to Your infinite wisdom and LOVE. Provide for their needs and protect them. Draw them close to You. For those who don’t know You, Please open their eyes to salvation through Your Son, Jesus. Show me where I need to purify my heart or seek forgiveness. Make me a blessing to each one – LOVING, encouraging,, and helping wherever I can. Thank You for all the ways You tenderly care for us. Amen.’

Yes my brethren, praying for friends and families is one of our most important duties, entrusting their lives to God to look after them, like He looks after us. We’re also supposed to bless them. We ought to speak a blessing over ourselves, our families and our friends every day when and where possible. Please don’t allow any of your resident family to go out each day without praying a blessing over them.

And the scriptural basis for this prayer all began way back when the Lord instructed Moses about speaking blessings over the children of Israel. ‘And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee (look on you with favour), and give thee peace.’ (Num. 6:22-26)

Wow! Only a wonderful and LOVING God would ever detail that kind of directive to His people. And that’s the amazing kind of God we serve my people! Give Him thanks and praise for being so wonderful to us the undeserving children of men!

And the scholars offer an interesting explanation of that blessing. They say: ‘The special blessing of the Lord upon His people was pronounced by Aaron, the high priest, and by subsequent priests of the Lord. Known as the “priestly blessings” or “Aaronic blessing”, it was pronounced with hands lifted up (Lev. 9:22). In later Jewish tradition, the blessing was pronounced at the conclusion of the morning and evening sacrifice. The form of the blessing consists of three sentences of two parts each. The Lord bless you, and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you (look on you with favour), and give you peace.

Illustration:  The early church fathers viewed the blessing as a reflection of the Trinity. The first part the work of the Father, the second part the work of the Son, and the third part the work of the Holy Spirit. Application: The significance of the blessing indicates the special relationship between God and His people which is mediated by the one pronouncing the blessing, as can be seen in Jesus’ Beatitudes of blessing (Matt, 5:3-12; cf. Deut. 9:1).’  

And we certainly see the blessedness of Jesus in the 8 blessings of the Beatitudes, describing the spiritual characteristics of one who has been saved and attempts to live a godly life. And blessings were also important to Bruh Paul, who in every letter he wrote in the Bible, except in Romans, early on, he introduces a form of blessing like this: ‘Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Then He gave thanks for them being a part of the church and believers in Christ Jesus.

And there are many other blessings to be found in the scriptures, so let’s look at a couple of them, as space and time permit. And we all know this famous one from Bruh Paul to the Philippians: ‘And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep (guard) your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.’ (Phil. 4:7) Then in John’s third epistle, writing to his friend Gaius, he declares: Beloved, I wish above all things (I pray that in all things) that thou mayest prosper and be in good health, even as thy soul prospereth.’ (3 John 1:2)

Meanwhile Psalm 1 tells us: ‘Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly (wicked), nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law he doth meditate (ponder) day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers (streams) of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.’ (Ps. 1:1-3)

Yes my people, those who live and work for the Lord are indeed blessed, and we must also remember to pour out our blessings on God, on ourselves, our families and LOVED ones, and even those we don’t really know, for we never know what difference a simple blessing can make to a hurting or discouraged soul. Now, let’s declare our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know of our wonderful position in Christ Jesus.

As one strong and sincere voice. ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

And an even more than glorious future awaits those who endure to the very end with Jesus. I plead with us to be wise and do just that, so we can enjoy that more than glorious future together! Much LOVE!

…God blesses us…so that we can bless others…

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 15 August 2015 Psalm 67:1

15 Aug 2015 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 67:1. God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us.  Selah.

Well Friends, how goes the battle this Saturday morning in the middle of August eh? I hope we are all winning, primarily because of our strong and wonderful relationship with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for He is our mainstay, our anchor, our foundation, our rock of ages! 

Without Him we can do very little, but as Bruh Paul confidently declares to the Philippians: ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.’ (Phil.4:13) 

Yes my brethren, when we live for Jesus, He enables us to adapt to our ever-changing circumstances. The Lord puts us through our paces, and He also gives us the wherewithal to handle them successfully. 

So there’s no need to worry when various trials and tribulations come against us, for our wonderful God will either make a way for us to escape them, or help us to bear them and come out more mature and Christ-like on the other side. Oh glory to God! 

Yes my fellow believers, we do worship a most amazing and awesome God! There is none like Him anywhere else in this whole wide universe. And how could there be eh, when He is the creator and controller of it all? That’s why it’s very unwise for us not to serve and worship Him faithfully, for He blesses those who are obedient to His will and brings the proud and arrogant to destruction. 

Consequently the psalmist cries out in our Bit: ‘God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us.   Selah.’ However, it only makes sense to do that if we’re coming to Him with a humble and repentant heart, for those are the only pleas He answers. 

And for those of you who don’t know the origin of prayers like our Bit, but have only heard stuff like that intoned by a priest at the end of a service, here is a li’l history lesson. (smile) Not surprisingly, it all begins with our great God while the Israelites were travelling through the wilderness enroute to the Promised Land after their exodus from slavery in Egypt. 

‘And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, (the priests) saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put (invoke) my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.’ (Num.6:22-27)  

Yes Friends, that’s the origin of the priestly blessing we hear our priests use at the end of a service, and which we also ought to use with our friends and families, because a blessing is not a blessing until it is declared, spoken out loud. And believe you me, we all need plenty, plenty blessings in these very turbulent and troubled times. 

And talking about blessings mih people, the Lord left nothing to conjecture, He even spelled out the blessings obedience would bring. ‘And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.’ (Deut.28:1-2)  

Oh my people, my people, what is there not to understand about those statements eh? And since our God does not change, that means they are also applicable to us in these current times. And please note that the blessings will come upon us, will overtake us! That means we don’t have to go looking for them, but if we are obedient to the Lord’s statutes, they will run us down and overtake us. Glory to God! Now how can that not be something we take very seriously eh my people? 

Then listen to some of the particular blessings that have been promised. ‘Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shall thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body (offspring), and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine (cattle), and flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store (kneading bowl). Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shall thou be when thou goest out. (Deut.28:3-6) 

Ah Friends, how much more can you get than that eh? Not much. But there are 8 more verses of general blessings, like victory over your enemies, who ‘shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.’ (Deut.28:7) I like that, for it shows how successful we’ll be against our enemies, scattering them seven ways till Sunday. (smile) 

Everything we set our hand to will also prosper…we’ll be a holy people to the Lord, called by His name, and set fear in the hearts of the whole earth. But Friends, the great proviso is ‘if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways.’ (Deut.28:9b) So no wonder our societies are all going downhill, because we are not obeying the commandments of our God, and instead are forcing Him out of our lives. 

But you know what’s interesting and somewhat amusing about all the blessings of obedience and the consequences of disobedience? The former takes up 14 verses of chapter 28, while the latter runs from verse 15 to 68. And I’d suggest that we all read them, for they are indeed frightful, and it might just give us a different outlook on the situation. 

The scholars though have an interesting take on the great difference in space taken up by the curses. They say: ‘This is probably due to human nature. The threat of a severe judgement on the covenant-breaker seems to act as a stronger stimulus to correct behaviour than any promise of blessing.’ 

But clearly they did not take the very evil nature of this generation into consideration, for despite the many curses that are befalling us, we refuse to turn back to Almighty God, our Creator and provider, in humble repentance. We prefer to walk to the beat of our own false wisdom and the lies and deceit of the evil one, Lucifer. Therefore we shall pay the harsh price for disobedience my people. There are no ifs and s and buts about that! Much LOVE!

…if obedience brings blessings…and disobedience cursing…where is the wisdom in following the latter path…as we are currently doing eh…