Blessing and Being Blessed

 

I love Thanksgiving. It is a holiday that reminds me of a biblical concept. The concept of blessing.

 

There are over 200 references in scripture to bless or blessing or blessings. Not surprising that most of these references are in Psalms which is a book of praising God. It is also a book that tells us how God has blessed us.

 

Psalm 29:11

May the Lord give strength to His people! May the Lord bless His people with peace!

 

The word bless means to speak a word of care or grace over us. God’s blessings to us are God gifting us with things all coming to us because of His grace.

 

You and I have nothing that is good that is not a blessing from God and all of it is given by God to us because of His grace and mercy. What God has blessed us with is not because of anything we have done. We deserve nothing that God has blessed us with.

 

Raise the Roof and Removing the Walls is recognizing that God’s blessings to us are about Him and not us and come to us through God’s grace.

 

Thanksgiving is a built-in time in our cultural calendar that allows us to take out time from our life routine to give thanks to God for all the ways He has blessed us.

 

James 1:16-17

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

 

The gifts that flow out of God blessing us are good and they will continue to come from God because God does not change.

 

The God that blessed:

Abraham

Moses

David

Isaiah

Peter

John

James

Paul

is the same God who is now blessing us.

 

2 Corinthians 9:15

Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!

 

The gifts that come from God blessing us are gifts that are so extraordinary that our words cannot express enough gratitude to God for them. We have to give God our lives to fully express our gratitude.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is expressing our gratitude to God for His blessings by giving Him our lives.

 

The Bible tells us about God’s blessings to us but the Bible also commands us to bless God.

 

Psalm 103:1

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.

 

We are to bless God with all that we are and we are to bless His name, who He is.

 

Blessing God means speaking a word about God’s many attributes. It is recognizing the real blessing of God toward us is that we get to know God and experience His presence in our lives.

 

Psalm 34:1

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

 

I will bless God all the time.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

 

I will bless God in all circumstances.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is blessing God because of who He is and doing it all the times in all circumstances.

 

I am writing this to remind not only you but to remind myself that even in a year of extremely difficult circumstances that we have never experienced before, we still have reasons to bless God and celebrate Thanksgiving. The number one reason we can bless God and celebrate this Thanksgiving is Jesus. 

 

I pray that you have a thankful and joyful Thanksgiving and you will use it as a time to bless the Lord with all that you are.

 

Thankfully Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

Joe