Have you thanked Him?
Have you praised Him?
Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?
Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?
1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)
The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.
Beth and I were killing a little time on Saturday while our son Ian was at a swim meet. If you don’t know much about swimming your athlete and you have a lot of down time in between events that can take as little as 25 seconds or as long as 7 minutes as Ian can attest. He had to swim a 500-yard swim (20 laps) this past Saturday.
But when your son swims Event 2 in a meet and then doesn’t reenter the water until Event 14ish you have a second or an hour or two to run an errand.
So, Beth and I wandered over to a nearby Meijer and among the usual purchases, Beth picked up a little calendar for the house. It is a “JESUS” themed calendar.
And January’s encouragement is, “Be a Blessing”.
Such a simple proposition.
bless—that’s your job, to bless.
You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.
Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good,
Here’s what you do:
Say nothing evil or hurtful;
Snub evil and cultivate good;
1 Peter 3:9-10 (MSG)
Today is my 53rd Birthday and already this morning I have EXPERIENCED the benefits of a BLESSING. As I pen this at 6:21am I have received dozens of FACEBOOK “Happy Birthdays”. It does warm my soul. It was about a decade ago that the prospect of one more birthday seemed far-fetched let alone 10.
And while I know it doesn’t take much to type those 13 words into the phone or laptop, the BLESSING is noted.
I know I am intentional to wish those who pop up on my feed a Happy Birthday because it does indeed BLESS me too.
And while BIRTHDAY wishes are nice, how about we take January’s little calendar encouragement a step or two farther.
Is there a shelter you can serve nearby to bless others?
What about a worthy cause to invest in?
What is your local church doing to bless folks? Could your talents be leveraged?
Read that little passage from 1 Peter closely. I use it A LOT!
Why?
Because I hope it shows folks that there is NO RISK in BLESSING others only BENEFIT!
I was just on the phone yesterday with one of the most influential servant leaders to our addicted and trafficked populations. And she I were lamenting as to how so few folks wish to wade in and help our addicted and disenfranchised. She shared her experiences with the 30+ women who were incarcerated in a nearby county facility and how DESPERATE she and they were for someone to JUST DECIDE to BE a BLESSING.
She shared a POWEFUL “WHAT IF”.
What if 30 ladies from the local congregations decided to BLESS those women with their time, their interest, and their love? I am confident the outlook for those incarcerated would be intensely improved and those who decided to bless would be FOREVER CHANGED for the BETTER!
You see friends when we choose NOT to bless WE ARE MISSING out on the SUPERNATURAL promise of BLESSING from our FATHER.
Joyce Meyer sums up today’s little thought well when she says,
“If we give and we are a blessing to other people…God promises in his word that he will take care of us. Actually, says he'll open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing so great that we can't contain it.”
AND WHO DOESN’T WANT THAT?
Be a BLESSING today!
Love ya all!
OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE
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