Blessed Increase_Deuteronomy

The increase, the fruitfulness, of the one who obeys God, is promised to the believer over time, since one's property cannot multiply over night. 

This verse reminds us that God will bless every living thing we have in our household as long as we follow His Word. 

I have found it is best to follow Him willingly and with my whole heart (all my love) than in increments. 

Blessed, to be envied, happy shall be the increase of your children,  your lands (including, but not limited to, gardens, fields), the increase of your cattle, the increase of your kine (four-footed animals not related to cows, i.e. horses, oxen, buffalo, yak, deer, etc), the increase of the flocks of your sheep. 

Not only do our souls prosper under the watchful guidance of our Lord and Savior God, but everything around us will prosper, as well. 

Blessed Workplace-Deuteronomy 28

Blessed Obedience_Deuteronomy

HEARKEN: to hear, to listen obediently, to hear and obey; to listen carefully and attentively; to make known, to proclaim, to summon. 

I used wind here to illustrate the breath of God, the voice of God, the Spirit of God. For it is wind that comes upon us, overtakes us and surrounds us. Though we cannot see wind, we are able to see what wind can do. 


God has spoken to us through His Written Word in the Holy Bible, the Holy Scriptures, what we are to do pertaining to same: Hearken. 

It is not enough to just listen to the Word of God, we must obey His Word, as well. Could we just hear our Mother or Father tell us how to behave? No. We had to obey, do what we were told to do or suffer the consequences. The consequences of not obeying God in this chapter of Deuteronomy are found in verses 15-44, which is a separate study. This month we are continuing THE BLESSED study. 

We are not to listen and obey just anyone, either. We are to listen obediently to the Voice of THE LORD our God. We recognize that He Is LORD of all, including us. And that He Is THE LORD our GOD, not just any god, but GOD ALMIGHTY. He Is the Forever, Eternal God. 

Almost 16 years ago I could no longer find it possible to just sit in a pew and do nothing with what I have heard. Nor could I just read or peruse my Bible. So I became a preacher, a minister of the gospel. I am compelled by the Holy Spirit of God to study The Word and proclaim the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ and none other. 

I want the Blessings of God to come upon me and overtake me. "Come upon" sounds lovely doesn't it? When we're outdoors in the summer heat, a gentle breeze 'comes upon' us. When we search and search for that one thing, suddenly there it is before us: we have come upon it. When the blessings of God come upon us, they rush to meet us, welcoming us into a closer relationship with our LORD. 

And when He overtakes us, He wraps Himself around us with the wings of His favor, enveloping us with His love. We are captured by Him, encircled by His joy and completely enraptured to be with our LORD GOD. It is a love like no other, an all-encompassing love, that takes our breath away........

I will hearken. I will listen obediently to God. I will endeavor to be more obedient than I have been. And God will bless me. 

Blessed Seed

This is a two-fold promise. The first promise is to all who are descended from Abraham through Isaac,  and Jacob, as confirmed in Acts 3:25.    
The second promise is to the faithful believers not of Israelite lineage, as seen in Galatians 3:8,9. 

The promise of this blessing was made manifest in another descendant of Abraham: Jesus Christ. While both Joseph and Mary were descendants of the house of David, it is through Mary's bloodline that Jesus was born, thus becoming the Son of David and, therefore, able to sit on David's throne. Galatians 4:4.
Furthermore, in Galatians 4:4-7, we who believe that Jesus Christ Is Lord, are now grafted into Him (John 15:4, 5; Romans 11:24) and have become of the seed of Abraham.  
Galatians 4:4-7
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 
To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 
Wherefore, you are no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
John 15:4-5
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in Me. 
I AM The Vine, you are the branches: He that abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without Me, you can do nothing. 
Romans 11:24
For if you were cut off of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?
Ephesians 2:11-13
Therefore remember that formerly you—the Gentiles in the flesh, the ones being called the uncircumcision by that being called the circumcision, made by hands in the flesh--
that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, not having hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you, the ones once being far off, have become near by the blood of Christ.

We are blessed through our faith in Jesus Christ. And as long as our faith remains in Christ, and we continue in obedience to God's Word, we will be forever receiving blessings of promise from God.

Blessed Is Israel

Blessed_Saved_Psalms

Blessed is that people, that is in such a case: Yes, blessed is that people whose God is The LORD. Psalm 144:15 

 
What case are these blessed people in?
People of Praise - verse 9
Salvation - verse 10
Deliverance - verse 11

They, we, are a joyful people because:
1 Peter 1:8
Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy.
My GOD Is The LORD. I know JOY.

Exuberantly joyful are those people in such a case: Yes, exceedingly happy are those people whose God is The LORD. 

Blessed Seeker_Psalms

Blessed are they that keep His testimonies, that seek Him with the whole heart.

Psalm 119:2

Each word on the signs in the above poster are synonymous with the word 'testimonies'. It is a covenant term regarding the requirements the LORD set up. 

• Psalm 25:10 All the paths of the LORD are Mercy and Truth unto such as keep His commandments.
• Deuteronomy 4:45 These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt.
• Deuteronomy 8:6 Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, and to fear (reverent fear) Him 
• Joshua 22:5 But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all His Ways, and to keep His commandments, and to cleave unto Him, and to serve Him with all your heart, and with all your soul.

In point of fact, when we read all the way through Psalm 119, we see that this whole chapter focuses on the thoughts that begin this chapter: Walking in the Law of the LORD. For instance, how many different times is each word that is synonymous with the word testimonies used? 

• LAW(S)
• TESTIMONIES/TESTAMENT
• STATUTES
• MERCY, MERCIES, MERCIFUL
• TRUTH
• PRECEPTS
• COMMANDMENTS
• WAYS 
• WORD
• ORDINANCE(S)
• JUDGMENT(S)

Now while this next word may not be synonymous with Testimonies, it surely refers to Who our Testimony Is:

• SURETY

I'm taking note of each time, but if you want to know, then I suggest you read through this chapter carefully. The psalmist is making promises to His God each time he says "I". It's personal. And when we are declared to be His people, The Blessed, then The Word of God becomes personal to us, too. It's more than a read Word, it's an applied Word, a daily living Bread Word, a spoken with power and authority Word. 

God's Ways are an important concept to live by, but can only be lived faithfully by believing in Christ for our Savior: He Is, after all, the Bread of Life. Psalm 34:8 "O taste and see that the LORD Is Good: blessed is the man that trusts in Him." John 6:33, 35 "For the bread of God is He which comes down from heaven and gives life unto the world." ...... "And Jesus said unto them, "I Am the Bread of Life: he that comes to Me shall never hunger; and he that believes on Me shall never thirst."

What are you going to do with this Bread? 

Blessed Undefiled_Psalms

Happy and to be envied is the man of integrity, who walks, lives his life, in the law of the LORD.
Psalm 119:1

The word WALK implies that the growth of being Christian is a forward process, a journey, a daily interactive Christ-centered life.

Undefiled: innocent, perfect, whole, complete, entire, sound; without blemish, what is completely in accord with truth and fact. (Strong's Hebrew #8549)

Paul's prayer for the Colossians, the church in Colosse (in what is now Turkey) gives greater detail of what it means to walk in integrity as believers. 

Colossians 1 (Berean Study Bible) 

Walking in integrity requires, first of all, that we have faith in Christ Jesus (v 4). Secondly, we need to strive (be hungry and thirsty for more of Him) to be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding (v 9). 

With the reminder that this letter was written to a group and not an individual the clarifications are to unity within the group, the church, and not per se to the individual, but should still be brought into the understanding of each individual on what it means to be Christian. 

Thirdly, walking worthy unto the LORD unto all pleasing (v 10a) means to live in the unity of the Spirit (Philippians 1:27; 1 Corinthians 1:10); being truthful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (Hebrews 13:20, 21). 

Fourthly, (v 11) Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness. Inner strength through the power of Christ. Joyful in our struggles because we have a hope and a reward in Christ. 

Fifthly, (v 21-23) And you, that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has He reconciled In the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight: IF you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven. 

Unless we are born again according to the Word of God, through Christ, we remain ignorant and unchanged. But IN Christ we are made holy, perfect, without blemish 'in His sight'! To remain in this faith  which brought us to Christ, grounded and settled and immovable, we must remain in His Word, daily reading and studying it; praying over it and in it (speaking aloud the Word of God into our lives and the lives of the people around us. Not just people we know either [Ephesians 2:19 "strangers and foreigners"].

Happy and to be envied is the man of integrity, who lives his life, in the law of the LORD.
Psalm 119:1

Blessed Delight_Psalms

Praise ye the LORD.

 

Blessed is the man that fears the LORD, 

that Delights greatly in His commandments. Psalm 112:1

Happy and to be envied is the person that reveres, has godly fear of, the LORD, that takes great pleasure in His code of wisdom. 

Psalm 112:1 

Are you happy in your salvation? If not, you need to repent of whatever is keeping you from God's blessings, and grab hold of what God is trying to give you. I can't do it for you. No one can. We can pray for you. You and I can pray together. I don't even need to know what it is you are praying for. Not my business. I'm just here to encourage you to draw near to the place where God is and pour out your heart before Him. He loves you and wants you to be happy in Him. 

Do the people around you envy what you have in Christ? Are you representing? being Christ's ambassador to the world? Am I? I'm trying. I love being in the Word every day. Something new every day is given to me. All I need is all I have. I have Jesus. 

Blessed Instruction_Psalms

The King James Version reads the word instruct as chastisement, which by implication means severe criticism, harsh rebuke, as well as corporal punishment. This is not how the Word is to be applied. For the Word of God is Jesus Christ, and He is to be applied willingly to the heart, not forcefully. God's Love is Mercy and Grace; Patience and Strength. We are not to wield such Love as if it were a paddle board, nor should we be meanly spoken with it or by it.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love studying with my KJV Bible and I love reading it because I know that the Holy Spirit will reveal to me what I need to know when I need to know it. But I love studying with the Interlinear Bible, too. It tells me the Hebraic word and pronunciation, as well as the Strong's reference, and specific meaning for a word in any verse, not just a general definition or description. 

Knowing also that "blessed" when referring to man means "happy" and "to be envied", we read with a better understanding the verses in which we are to be blessed. 

Psalm 94:12 Happy and to be envied is the man whom You instruct, LORD, and out of Your law teach. 

And don't be getting all feminist on me, either. When God's Word speaks of 'man' in general, He is not excluding women: it is mankind, or man-kind (Genesis 1:27): male and female. But the Word must be applied individually. While all blessings from God to us are for each of us and all of us, we must first believe not only that God is, but that His Word is Faithful and True. Only then can we seek, search out and find how God wants to bless us. 

Once we are living the blessing life, those around us will see the difference in us. Our blessings will indeed be enviable to those folks who are in our daily lives; they're going to wonder why we are like we are and what brought about this change in us. A few may even decide they want these blessings, too. That's when we tell them about our Jesus, the Savior of all mankind, who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead. Who even now is interceding on our behalf to His Father. 

Do you know what the Holy Spirit tells me, when I begin to judge the surface of a person? "I love them, too." Only God knows the heart of an individual, only God knows whether or not a person is truly saved when that person dies. It's not my place to know and I should be content with that knowledge. And, yet, occasionally I still hear the Spirit say, "I love that person, too". Contrition and humility are the catch words of the moment. I repent, am forgiven and move on. 

The second part of this verse "out of Your law to teach" means more than expounding the verse, whether personal study or teaching another. It is accusative. The Law of God reveals sin and shows us in it that it is impossible to obey said laws without the strength of God aiding us. We are taught by God that we need Him to help us obey Him. And we do. For our God is a holy God and demands us to be holy, too (Leviticus 20:7; 1 Peter 1:16).

Jesus did not abolish the law of God, He fulfilled it (Matthew 5:17). In Romans 3:31 Paul writes to the church at Rome the question of faith vs law and reminds them, and us, that our faith in Christ establishes, fulfills, upholds the law of God. Through our faith in Christ we recognize that the law of God reveals our sin and that without Him we are lost and undone. I would be lost, undone, alone and miserable if I did not know Jesus as my Lord and Savior. 

If you are lost, undone, alone and miserable I know Who can save you, keep you, befriend you and love you. His name is Jesus Christ. He died for you, fought death, hell and the grave for you, rose from the dead for you. And is seated at the right hand of the Father waiting to intercede for you. "I love the person reading this, too". 

Dear Jesus, 
I recognize that I am lost without You. Please forgive me of my sins, come into my heart and be Lord of my life. Guide me through Your Word as I read and study it. Holy Spirit fill me with Yourself and help me be who God wants me to be. 
In Jesus' Name,
Amen. 

Blessed Strength_Psalms

Blessed is the man whose strength is in You; In whose heart are the ways of them. --PSALM 84:5

Our physical strength comes from the food we put into our bodies and the physical exertion we indulge in.
But our spiritual strength comes from what we put into our hearts and how we exercise such as that may be. When we allow Christ to come into our hearts, then is The Word placed within us through the power of God's Holy Spirit.
And we exercise our faith in God when we apply this Word we have within us to the rest of our lives. By faith we live according to God's laws, God's Word and by faith we know that He is our Strength and in Him we trust.

Blessed Guests_Psalms

 This verse does not refer to the Levite priests who were assigned to the care of the temple, but to the invited guests who lived in God's dwelling place. And who are these invited guests? The righteous, the redeemed of the LORD, are the invited guests. Whatever the invitees did to please the LORD in the Old Testament assured them of an eternal dwelling with God, for they, unlike the New Testament Christians, did not live in a period of grace. No Jesus, no grace. 

If we read the verses preceding this one, we see how the writer of this psalm had a deep desire to with God forever in His dwelling place. Just like this psalmist sings: 

Better Is One Day by Kutless

He knew that they who lived in the habitation of God were living a much better life than the one we live here. That they were singing the praises of their eternal God in His court. He could Only Imagine what it was like up there, but he knew it was better and more beautiful than anything we could build for God down here. 

How beautiful it will be! I long for that day, too! 

All My Tears by Hayde Bluegrass

Blessed In His Presence_Psalms

BLESSED IN HIS PRESENCE

Blessed are those who know the joyful sound, who walk, O LORD, in the light of Your presence. --PSALM 89:15

The joyful sound? The sound of the sanctuary trumpets being blown in the sanctuary, perhaps for the Day of Atonement, as seen in Leviticus 25:9 "Then shall you cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall you make the trumpet sound throughout all your land."

Foreshadowing Christ's atoning work on the cross, the Day of Atonement was instituted by God to the Israelites, His chosen people. Today that day is known as Yom Kippur. The sacrifices made on this day were only temporary. But the sacrifice Christ made for all is permanent. Hebrews 9:13-14 "For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

To know this is to know the joyful sound, to make the joyful sound. For our God is with us at all times, encouraging us to seek His face, His Word, His voice. He woos us through the Word and into His presence. The light of His presence is Himself. As Jesus stated, "I am the Light of the world" in John 8:12, "he that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." But what is life? John 14:6 "Jesus said unto him, 'I am the way, the truth and the Life: no man comes unto the Father, but by Me."

Blessed am I, for I know the joyful sound, I walk, O LORD, in the light of Your presence.

(The) Blessed Chosen

Blessed (happy, to be envied) is the man whom You have chosen, 
And caused to approach unto You,
that he may dwell in Your courts:
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, 
Even Your holy temple. 
Psalm 65:4

But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call to Him. 
Psalm 4:3


“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool." Isaiah 1:18

I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more. Isaiah 43:25
How are our sins blotted out? Through the blood of the Lamb of God, as John the Baptizer said after he baptized Jesus, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" 

Who are people God has chosen for Himself? The ones who have answered His call to salvation. The ones who have been redeemed by the blood of His Lamb Jesus Christ. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” --Galatians 3:13

"God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." --2 Corinthians 5:21

And, lastly, that beloved Scripture which many of us learn as children and remember well into our adult years (though we have not always lived it):  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." --John 3:16

What makes us The Blessed Chosen? Answering the call of salvation sent from God to the world through the Holy Spirit. For it is the Spirit who quickens the soul and places the gospel within us, in a much different way than when He did so in Mary, Jesus' mother. 

Now, our souls are quickened and The Word of God grows in us so much that He is quickly poured out before all men when we testify of Him whom we have believed. 

Come,  As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.” --Hebrews 3:15

Tomorrow is not promised, but To day is here.