Be Blessed

“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.” (Numbers 6:24-26)

Good morning, my friend…

It is my honor to be with you again. Today just “feels” different. I woke up this morning with this scripture running through my mind, so I would like to share it (again) with you.

This is known as the Aaronic blessing and was given by God Himself. Moses and Aaron were given the mission of speaking this blessing over His children – the nation and peoples of Israel – frequently. They were told to speak this, to prophesy this over them as a people and as a group, but each is to take it to their own individual lives and hearts. So I encourage you today as we go through this briefly to meditate upon the words, allow the Spirit of God to massage it into your heart, until it becomes the very essence of your life and experience.

This blessing was given at a time when the nation of Israel were wandering through the desert between Egypt and the Promised Land. I would call it Canaan (that was officially it’s name); however, the Canaanites were at that time an ungodly people. They worshipped idols, they lived according to their own rules and standards, and they were under the condemnation of God. I would call it Israel (for that is it’s modern-day title); however, at that time it was not yet established under the name of Israel. We are forced, therefore, to call it simply the Promised Land. It was a land full of richness, of resources, of beauty – although it was wild and untamed by the God of heaven. It was the calling of God to the Hebrews for them to go in, take the land, and consecrate it to Him. Keep that in mind.

The Hebrews were following closely their God in this arid place. They relied upon Him for everything. They had only the food He supplied, they had only the water He gave them, they were disoriented mentally and geographically and relied solely upon His very direct guidance in their steps. We have been told that this trip, taken directly by foot, would have only taken about a week or so; however, they wandered around this patch of desert for forty years. In retrospect, we know it was because of their disobedience and hard-heartedness that God caused them to circle incessantly in order that they might learn this obedience as a way of life – not just of survival.

We have, especially here in America, every resource we could possibly want. We have fresh water, we have medical treatments available, we have an abudance of food, we have fresh air to breathe. We have it all. That’s one reason why we are known as the land of opportunity and a shining light to the world. Plus, we have the freedom to live as we choose. We have become much like Canaan of old. And yes, sadly, I fear we have come under the scrutiny of heaven and are awaiting His judgment much like they were.

Many Christians today, however, find themselves wandering around this land of richness, this land of beauty, of resources, seemingly lost. We haven’t learned yet how to follow God in all times. See, it is easy to turn to Him when things spin out of control for us. It is another thing to turn to Him when all is well. When the wheels fall off our lives we love to turn to God and ask, “Why?” We haven’t learned to ask the same question with the same passion when things are going well. We are wandering just as surely as the Hebrews in the desert. He gives us His Word and His Spirit to guide us, yet we have become blind and fat – unable to discern His Presence in our midst.

We often hear of the love of God and how He shares it unconditionally. That is not entirely true. We have been deceived in that point. Yes, Jesus died for the world. Yes, He extends that salvation, grace, etc. to all people. But there ARE conditions. In order to receive His salvation, I must acknowledge Him, I must come to Him, I must confess Him as my Savior, I must submit to Him as my Lord, and I must do His will. Granted, He may choose to give me life and provision as an unsaved person. But there will come a day when His grace will have reached it’s end and His offer of salvation will have expire. In that day I will be forced to confess that He is God, but it will be of no saving power for me. The time for judgment will have come.

Much like we’ve been discussing, this blessing is also conditional. God will not bless that which does not honor Him. I can’t ask God to bless my bottle of liquor. I can’t ask Him to bless my cigarettes, my drugs, my torrid sexual affair, my ungodly lifestyle. Oh, I can ask, but He won’t honor that request. If I am to experience the fullness of God’s blessing, I must follow the God of the blessing. I pray that is your walk today, my friend. Run to Him, fall before Him, submit yourself to Him, and let Him guide you, direct you, command you, honor you, and yes, bless you.

My prayer for you is that as you come before Him, may you hear His voice over you and feel His Presence within you stir as we read, again, the words given to Moses that still ring out for us today:

“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.”

Be blessed.