The Creative Power of Blessing!

A friend who is a pastor recently shared some things the Lord had revealed to him in the area of cursing and blessing.  Then I was studying and sharing with my kids about God's blessing over Adam and Eve.  The Holy Spirit began to reveal to me that fruitfulness and multiplication follow blessing, God did not command Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply He blessed them which actually gave them the power to carry it out.  I believe we would all agree that God is the most poweful being that exists, it is through His Word that not only are things created but given their enablement to carry out their purpose.  I began to see that blessing is also the creative power of God's Word being released bringing about what is spoken.  We are created in God's image and according to  His likeness (Genesis 1:26), so since Adam named the animals like God named us then we must be able to bless as God blesses.  We see that throughout the Old and New Testament blessing is a powerful theme that shapes people's destinies.  Isaac was called on by Hebraic tradition to bless his first-born son (Genesis 27:27-29) but he is deceived by his wife and Jacob for Jacob to receive the blessing instead of Esau.  When Esau found out that his father only had one blessing to give, this big hairy tough man went out and wept.  Why?  Both Isaac and Esau understood that the blessing had the backing of God to bring about what Isaac, inspired by God, spoke over his son.  In other words without a blessing Esau's life was going to be cursed and miserable no matter how hard he tried, Isaac even goes on to prophetically tell Esau what was going to happen in his life.  In the New Testament this theme of blessing is continued, one place we see this is when Jesus tells his disciples and others to not only love their enemies but instructs them to do this through blessing them (Matthew 5:43-45).  The Holy Spirit through Paul instructs us to bless and not curse those who persecute us (Romans 12:14).  In another place Jesus (Mark 11:21) speaks a curse on the fig tree because it was not fruitful and then the disciples later notice it is dead.  What follows curse is death, whereas what follows blessing is life and fruitfulness.  Yet we live in a culture where we are constantly cursing (not swearing) but speaking bad over someone or something.  We often curse ourselves because of past failures, out of our discouragement, or because of fear inside.  We often curse others because we pridefully look better, or we speak out of our own fear, or simply because we are relying on human wisdom and not the wisdom of God.  What follows these curses but the very thing people have been speaking out, Proverbs reveals this theme when it says that death and life is in the tongue (Proverbs 18:21).  Listen to this amazing verse in Ephesians 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ..."  If you are a new creation "in Christ" that the Father has already blessed you with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.  Understanding that Heaven is a superior reality to our created earth because Heaven created this one.  Therefore if we removed whatever was in the way we would experience every spiritual blessing which would translate into our life on earth.  What is in the way:  an active curse blocks us from receiving the blessing that God has already bestowed on us but we are unable to receive.  Have you cursed yourself or others?  Repent and turn toward God and His way, begin to speak blessing over those who you have cursed and speak the blessings the Lord speaks to your heart over yourself.  David encouraged himself in the Lord by rebuking his own soul, I believe many of us could learn from David.  This is not just the power of positive thinking because true blessing comes from the Lord but it is us who speak it out.  I recently saw a marriage that was in trouble and the Lord began to show me that it was because of the word curses they had been speaking over each other and themselves, they were breathing the very atmosphere of curse that they had released like a toxic cloud of gas.  Heaven is releasing blessings even over those who are not believers, are we going to agree with Heaven and bless those around us from our new nature united with Christ or are we going to let the flesh have it's way (curse).  In James 3 we are warned of the power of the tongue but can you imagine the power of a tongue yielded to the Holy Spirit's words and power.  Jesus often broke off bondages, the demonic, and even illness through the words released from His mouth.  I believe Jesus is not just someone to look at in awe but our model for living this new life.

Blessings,
Bret