The Blessing of God
The Blessing of God
Takes you
From Success to Significance
8/14/2004 and 8/15/2004
Review and Introduction
Several weeks ago I talked about going from survival to success to significance. We defined success as;
A tool but success isn’t the end.
-The dictionary defines success as; /favorable or desired outcome; also : the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence[1] /
It is reaching goals and getting to the place where you have options in life. Choices and decisions made when you reach goals.
More money brings choices.
Then we talked about significance;
True vision lights the way beyond success to eternal purpose.
-The dictionary says significant means; having meaning;
“Moving from success to significance means understanding that everyone must benefit from your vision.” (Full Steam Ahead)
John Maxwell: “Success is when I add value to myself. Significance is when I add value to others.
Find something worth dying for and then live for it!-PT 7/04
-Today I want to build on that some more.
-God’s blessing is what takes you from Success to Significance but you have to be in position to receive that.
1. What is the Blessing?
-We say God bless you and bless our food.
definitions:
1385 II. בָּרַךְ (barak): v.; ≡ Str 1288; TWOT 285—1. LN 33.470-33.475 (piel) bless another, commend, i.e., speak words invoking divine favor, with the intent that the object will have favorable circumstances or state at a future time[2]
thank for greatness/goodness, i.e., speak words of the excellence of an object[3]
2127. εὐλογέω eulogeō; from 2095 and 3056; to speak well of, praise:— bless(9), blessed(25), blessing(3), giving a blessing(1), praise(1), praising(1), surely*(1).
2128. εὐλογητός eulogētos; from 2127; well spoken of, i.e. blessed:— blessed(8).
2129. εὐλογία eulogia; from the same as 2127; praise, blessing:— blessing(11), bountiful gift(2), bountifully(2), flattering speech(1).
[4]
Webster’s: bless•ing noun
(before 12th century) 1 a : the act or words of one that blesses b : approval, encouragement
2 : a thing conducive to happiness or welfare[5]
-That is all good but unless we place it in the context of Scripture we don’t get the whole picture.
Genesis 12
/The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” [6] /
(Abraham received a blessing of something from God.)
Proverbs 10
22 /The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it. [7] /
(Abraham had something on him that even his neighbors recognized. He became very wealthy and powerful.)
-Jacob and Esau both wanted it. They saw it as something that could be passed on.
Galatians 3
13 /Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” f 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. [8]/
(This Scripture says it is the promise of the Spirit. I want the power and presence of the Holy Spirit on me, do you?)
Hebrews 11
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
/[9]/
-My definition of God’s blessing:
A deposit of Divine grace in your life. It is an unexplainable, undeniable release of God’s favor and help into a person or church. It is God’s purpose, presence and power being released for a reason. It is the vehicle for a positive and fulfilling future.
-I want to close with an example of someone who went from success to significance because of God’s blessing.
-We are going to look at Abraham’s grandson and Isaac’s son Jacob.
Background for Jacob
· Jacob and Esau were twins. Their mother Rebekah had them and they jostled in the womb. Jacob came out holding on to Esau’s heel. He was a striver from his birth.
· At a certain time Jacob enticed his brother to sell him his birthright. (A birthright is the privilege of the eldest son. He takes the place of the father as leader and inherits a double portion.)
· When Isaac was old he wanted to bless his son Esau and Jacob tricked him again. He received the blessing from his father who thought he was blessing Esau. (They thought it was something worth having.)
· Jacob has to run away to his relatives where Rebekah came from.
-If there is anything you can say about Jacob; he was a trickster.
-He worked hard and did it his way. He was always working a deal and climbing the ladder.
-You might say he was consumed by success.
-He was driven to be somebody and prove that he was worthy.
-With Jacob’s best efforts and 20 years he became wealthy and outwardly successful. He had left some bodies along the trail like his brother and father-in-law.
-He even tried to work a deal with God. He stopped for the night on his way fleeing from Esau and had a dream.
Genesis 28
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway a resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it b stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel, (house of God) c though the city used to be called Luz.
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord d will be my God 22 and e this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”
/[10]/
· Notice that Jacob said that if you bless my life I will give you 10%. He was just trying to cut a deal. As if God was rubbing His hands together saying wow! This could be a lot of money, we could get those gold streets fixed!
· Jacob had an experience with God. He had a future and a hope. But something was still wrong.
· We pick the story up as Jacob is coming home and he has all of his family and herds with him. He hears Esau is coming with 400 men.
· Jacob has a crisis. He knows there is nothing He can do.
Genesis 32
7 In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, b and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8 He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group, c the group d that is left may escape.”
9 Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups. (He is saying; Lord, you have blessed me.) 11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. (It isn’t just about him anymore. He has prioritized his life and put the most important people closest to him.) 12 But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”
13 He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.”
17 He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?’ 18 then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’”
19 He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: “You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. 20 And be sure to say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’” For he thought, “I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.” 21 So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, a because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.” (Overcome is “and my soul has recovered” from Edersheim and German citics.)
29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, b saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, c and he was limping because of his hip.
/[11]/
Receiving the Blessing
· Jacob was in a situation he couldn’t win by himself. The first key is to acknowledge your powerlessness. (Humility)
· Jacob was alone. There is a time when it is you and God.
Matthew 6 The Message
“And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?
“Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.
“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense.
/[12]/
· Jacob was desperate. He couldn’t be talked out of it. He said I won’t let you go until you bless me. He was very determined. He wasn’t praying one of those “if it be thy will” prayers.
· Jacob had an encounter with the truth about himself. God said; “What is your name?” God knew his name. He wanted him to focus on the fact that he had been a conniver and swindler.
· Jacob had an encounter with God and was changed. He became Israel, prince with God.
Verse 31 gives us a great picture.
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, c and he was limping because of his hip.
-Jacob was limping into the future as he passed Peniel (the face of God) and the sun rose.
-It was a new day.
-He had come to the end of his own rope.
Edersheim-“Symbolic of Jacob’s past/present/future. The “man” was Jehovah. Jacob had wrestled with God-sought to attain by his own strength. He had really been contending with God-not just man in all of his devices. Jacob was now helpless in the presence of Esau. Jacob must encounter God before his enemy. The Lord could not be on his side until he had been disabled, and learned to use weapons other than his own. Now Jacob resorted to prayer and at the break of day-attained a new name-Israel-prince with God.”
Summary
Jacob’s journey to significance was realized when he stopped depending on himself and began to seek God. That is where the prayer movement fits in. Only God can really bless you. Only the deposit of His divine grace can take you where you need to be.
The key to your future is the release/activation of God’s divine blessing and grace in your life. Get desperate.
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[1]Merriam-Webster, I. (1996, c1993). Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary. Includes index. (10th ed.). Springfield, Mass., U.S.A.: Merriam-Webster.
v. verb
Str Strong’s Lexicon
TWOT Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
LN Louw-Nida Greek-English Lexicon
piel Pi˒el
[2]Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.) (HGK1385). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[3]Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.) (HGK1385). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
* An asterisk (*) indicates that the key word represents two or more Greek words. Refer to the English concordance listing of the key word for the additional Greek word numbers.
i.e. id est, that is
[4]Thomas, R. L. (1998, 1981). New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek dictionaries : Updated edition (H8674). Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc.
[5]Merriam-Webster, I. (1996, c1993). Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary. Includes index. (10th ed.). Springfield, Mass., U.S.A.: Merriam-Webster.
[6]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Ge 12:1). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[7]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Pr 10:22). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
f Deut. 21:23
[8]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Ga 3:13). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[9]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Heb 11:20). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
a Or ladder
b Or There beside him
c Bethel means house of God.
d 20,21 Or Since God... father~s house, the LORD
e 21,22 Or house, and the LORD will be my God, then
[10]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Ge 28:10). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
b Or camps; also in verse 10
c Or camp
d Or camp
a Israel means he struggles with God.
b Peniel means face of God.
c Hebrew Penuel, a variant of Peniel
[11]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Ge 32:7). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[12]Peterson, E. H. (1995). The message : New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs (Mt 6:1). Colorado Springs, Colo.: NavPress.
c Hebrew Penuel, a variant of Peniel