God has blessed you so that you can bless others in their walk with him. When you bless others, you know that God’s favor is resting on you!
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a word to bless you today.
Actually, the word is from God’s Word, Genesis 22:17-18, where God says to Abraham, our father in the faith; the Lord says, “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as… sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
Friend, don’t be thinking that promise was only for Abraham; it’s for you and me. And it’s why you will often hear me singing when I’m wheeling down the hallways of Joni and Friends; I’ll be singing that old Sunday school song: “Make me a blessing, Make me a blessing, Out of my life may Jesus shine; Make me a blessing, O Savior, I pray, Make me a blessing to someone today.”
I can’t pretend to sing real good, but here’s my point: would you like to have assurance that you are enjoying the Lord’s favor? Well, there is a way to know, and it’s simpler than you realize. The clue is in that verse from Genesis and the song I just sang. Because God is basically saying, “I am blessing you so that you in turn can bless everyone around you. They will receive something through you, and it is in this way that you will know my hand of favor is upon you.” There you go! For us, the surest evidence that the Lord’s hand of blessing is upon us comes when others are blessed through us. When we are able to encourage friends and family in the midst of our trials, when we hold our tongues from complaining and persevere while others are watching, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God’s hand of favor is on us. The best part is that those who are being blessed are at the same time being drawn closer to the Lord.
To be blessed by God means being drawn deeper, higher, and further into his heart. Being blessed means experiencing his favor, his pleasure, his delight. It means understanding him and his ways. To be blessed by God is to have the ability to choose a rigorous, rugged, lively, and lived-out reliance on Jesus Christ, no matter what the hardship. And what a gift it is to pass that on to others! I experience this all the time just by hanging around my quadriplegic friend, Vicky Olivas. She became a quadriplegic years ago when she was shot in an attempted rape. She fell to the floor completely paralyzed. But it is what drew her to Christ, and even after all these years without use of her hands or legs, she lives out this beautiful constant preference for Jesus Christ and that blesses me to no end! I look at her, and I want to do the same. I want to honor the Lord like Vicky does and I know that as I do, I’ll be blessing others, just as she has blessed me and that serves as an assurance that I have the favor of God.
Is the joy of your relationship with Jesus overflowing to those around you? Is their walk with him different because of you? Is their prayer life growing because of you? Has their witness gone up a notch because something about you has rubbed off on them? If so, rest assured God’s blessing is upon you. By the way, I would love to hear what you are praying about, or a favorite Bible verse that you are memorizing. Tell me about it! Just go to my radio page today at joniradio.org. Or you can always write me at Joni and Friends, P.O. Box 3333, Agoura Hills, CA 91376. If the Lord has answered some prayer of yours today, guess what? Stop right after we’re done here and tell him “Thanks!”
© Joni and Friends