House of Hope Online

February 9, 2025

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As Christians, we talk a lot about blessing.  We encourage each other to be blessed, and we refer to the lovely things in our lives as blessings.  Acknowledging our blessings is important because it is a prerequisite to entering the presence of God.  Psalms 100 says we must come with a grateful heart, a heart filled with thanksgiving.

Psalms 100:

 4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving, [And] His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name.

So, what does it mean to be blessed?  In the New Testament, the Greek word for “blessed” means fortunate, well off, happy, and joyful. 

Scriptures teach us the pathway to blessing.

Time in His Presence

Psalms 65 and 84 emphasize that time sent in the presence of God will lead to being blessed.

Psalms 65:

 4 How blessed is the one whom Thou dost choose, and bring near [to Thee], To dwell in Thy courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, Thy holy temple.

Psalms 84:

 4 How blessed are those who dwell in Thy house! They are ever praising Thee. Selah.

 5 How blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee; In whose heart are the highways [to Zion]!

It is interesting that acknowledging our blessings leads to thanksgiving, which allows us into His presence.  Once in His presence, we are further blessed.  This means sometimes we must force ourselves to acknowledge our blessings.  Our flesh may not feel like thanking God, especially during the storms of life, but if we can be thankful, we are admitted into His presences, where blessing resides.

Trust the Lord and His Word

The scriptures also teach that trusting the Lord and delighting in His Law will lead to blessing.

Psalms 84:

 12 O LORD of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in Thee!

Psalms 1:

 1 ¶ How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.

 3 And he will be like a tree [firmly] planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season, And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.

If we walk in a relationship with Jesus, and we truly trust that He is there and loves us as His word says, then we will be blessed.  Even in the face of difficulties, trusting Him will lift stress and defeat fear.

Instead of walking in the counsel of this world, or sitting as a scoffer, if we delight in His law of righteousness in all our dealings, Psalms 1:3 says we will be blessed with prosperity in all things.

Walk in Forgiveness

Another pathway to blessing is acknowledging that we are forgiven. 

Psalms 32:

 1 ¶ ([A Psalm] of David. A Maskil.) How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered!

It is amazing how we can underestimate the significance of our salvation and the work of the cross.  By the cross, we are forgiven, and the wrath of God will pass over us.  The Tribulation is for others who refuse to yield to Jesus, not for those of us whose sin is covered.  The mark of the Beast and the coming antichrist economy will be avoided by those who are forgiven by the Lamb who was slain.

By the same token, just as the Lord forgives us, we must forgive those who have sinned against us.  If you remain in unforgiveness, you are still connected to the sin.  Forgiving others releases us from the circumstances of the evil perpetrated against us and therefore is a blessing for our lives.  Don’t think of it as letting someone off the hook.  Think of it as letting yourself off the hook.

Our forgiveness by Jesus, and our forgiveness of others, will get us invited us to the marriage feast where Jesus takes His bride, the Church.  The cross punches our ticket to rule and reign with Jesus when He comes again.  And that, my friends, is all a blessing of forgiveness!

The Jesus Way to Blessing

And finally, Jesus teaches us in the Beatitudes many pathways to blessing.

Matthew 5:

 1 ¶ And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.

 2 And opening His mouth He [began] to teach them, saying,

 3 ¶ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

You might think of “poor in spirit” as discouraged or depressed, but John Wesley’s Commentary indicates that phrase refers to those who are humble and penitent, convinced of their sin; who see and feel the state they are in by nature, being deeply sensible of their sinfulness, guiltiness, and helplessness.  In other words, the poor in spirit realize they are not worthy except for the mercy of Jesus.  Pride is found nowhere within them.  They are blessed by inheriting the kingdom of heaven.

Here are the other ways that Jesus says lead to blessing.

Matthew 5:

 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Some of us fail to mourn the sad events of our lives, but Jesus encourages us that mourning will lead to blessing.  I remember mourning when my older brother Nick died years ago.  The Holy Spirit stepped in and comforted me.  It was a blessing to realize that God could and would do that.  I was truly blessed by the move of the Spirit in my life.  If I hadn’t mourned, I would have missed that blessing, and that was a blessing that uplifted my faith, just knowing He loved me enough to comfort me by His Holy Spirit.

Matthew 5:

 5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

 10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 11 “Blessed are you when [men] cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me.

 12 “Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Being gentle leads to inheritance of the earth.  A gentle spirit will put you on a white horse that rides behind Jesus when He comes again to establish His rule and reign, and when He establishes the new Heaven and earth.  What a blessing that will be!

Jesus promises we will be satisfied whenever we hunger and thirst for righteousness.  Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness?  Are you repulsed by the evil in this world, or have you grown accustomed to it?  Do you have a tolerance for variance from the Logos word of God?  Don’t go there.  Continue to seek righteousness and truth in a fallen world and Jesus says you will be satisfied and therefore blessed.

Matthew 5:7 promises that when we are merciful, we will receive mercy from Him.  On the other hand, if we judge others, we will be judged by that same standard.  If we remain pure of heart, and do not allow the evil in this world to turn us into a callous, hardened heart, then we will see God.  If we make peace instead of enmity, strife, disputes, dissensions, and factions, we will be blessed and called sons and daughters of God.

And finally, verses 10-12 promise if we are persecuted and insulted on account of our faith in Jesus and His righteousness, we should be glad because our reward in heaven is great.  Many of us complain when we perceive we are being persecuted because of our faith, but Jesus tells us to rejoice and be glad.  When you get a chance to walk in His sufferings, that is a blessing for all eternity!

In other words, be blessed in the face of persecution.  Rejoice and worship Jesus.

Worship Is What We Can Give

In closing, worship is the key to blessing. 

A couple of weeks ago, we studied Revelation 5, which promises we will be in heaven when Jesus breaks the seals to open the scroll that will unleash God’s wrath upon evil in the earth, leading to Jesus’ establishing of His rule and reign forever.  We talked about the awesome worship of myriad of myriads and thousands of thousands in heaven.

Revelation 5:

11 And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands,

 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”

 13 And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, [be] blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

 14 And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

(NASB)

When we honor man, we stand and applaud and cheer.  But, when we honor Jesus, we fall to our knees and worship.  Worship is what we can give Jesus. It is the only thing we can give Him.  We cannot give Him good works or sacrifice.  When we worship Him, we are joining in the victory that He achieved on the cross.  We join in the victory that qualifies Him to break the seals of the scroll in Revelation 5.

And when we worship Him, we are blessed.

Let us pray.

Father God, thank You for the pathway to blessing, and thank You for the blessing of Your presence.  We thank You that we can trust You and the Word.  Help us to realize the blessing of forgiveness and give us the anointing to forgive others.  Bestow upon us a humble spirit, a hunger and a thirst for righteousness, and a willingness to dispense mercy toward others.  Help us to be pure in heart and guide us as peacemakers.  Quicken us by the Holy Spirit to rejoice in persecution, knowing that our reward in heaven is great.  And finally, Father, draw us into worship by Your Spirit, in Jesus’ name.  Amen.