“The Lord bless you and watch guard, and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you; the Lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually).” (Numbers 6:24-26)

The word “blessed” is tossed around in Christian circles very much.  Statements such as “I’m blessed and highly favored” and “be blessed” are just a couple of them.  Even on this blog, I say “blessings everyone.”  What exactly does the word “blessing” mean?

Google to the rescue and I found it means “God’s favor and protection.”  The Amplified Bible defines blessing as “happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous–with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor, regardless of their outward condition.”  I know that is a mouthful, but just look at how much this one word has in it!

So when we say, “I’m blessed” we are really putting some strong faith out there!  God is the issuer of blessings and He issues blessings based on our relationship with Him personally AND our character and behavior–our choices in life.  Jesus showed us on the mountain in the Beatitudes:

** BLESSED are the poor in spirit (the humble), for theirs is he kingdom of heaven!

** BLESSED are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted!

**BLESSED are those who hunger and thirst for righteous (more of God), for they shall be completely satisfied!

**BLESSED are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy!

**BLESSED are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!

**BLESSED are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they shall be called the sons of God!

**BLESSED are those who are persecuted  for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!

**BLESSED are YOU when people revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you falsely on My account.

There are many blessings that go along with a godly character.  Jesus even used exclamation marks behind each one of these statements.  That shows how passionately the Father WANTS to issue blessings to us!

When we bless someone else, we are really asking God to work in their lives to bring them into more of Him.  Who knew this one little word could bring so much into the world?  Bless, bless, bless others people of God!  It is intercession in action and it invites God into the lives of the people you love the most–and even those who hate you.  Jesus said to bless those who hurt us.  Bless and not curse.  Strive to make each one of these beatitudes part of your character and just watch God bless your socks off!

BLESSINGS everyone…