FRIDAY MARCH 14TH: #blessed

We've all seen this hashtag before: #blessed.  Maybe we've even used it.  We take a picture or post a status about a blessing that God has given us and we just want the world to know so we #blessed.

It's not a negative to acknowledge blessings.  It isn't bad to give God glory for what He has given us.  But we have to make sure we are doing just that - glorifying God.

Blessing, like repentance should be a word or idea that propels forward.

In the Bible, we come into contact with the word blessed in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5).  The definition of the word beatitude, according to dictionary.com, is supreme blessedness or exalted happiness.  The structure of the Beatitudes is like so:

Blessed are the ___________, for theirs is the______________

or

Blessed are the ___________, for they will _________

In the Beatitudes, Jesus says that "Blessed" are the poor, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.  We don't often think of the poor as blessed - especially in our society.  But Jesus does.  Jesus knows that blessing or blessed is not just a noun - it is meant to be action oriented.  Blessing is a verb.

When we receive gifts, grace, mercy, love, anything that comes from the Father, we are meant to live it out.  We are meant to spread it as far as we can.  True, the world will know we are blessed if we tweet it or instagram it.  But they will see we are blessed if we live it out.  If we have a lot, we are called to give.  If we have a little, we are called to give.

One of my go to sites when writing my blog is Open Bible Info.  If you search "What does the Bible say about _____," it pulls up a bunch of verses on the subject.  So I asked this morning, "What does the Bible say about Blessings."  Looking through the verses, almost none of them actually incorporated the word blessed.  Here are a few of the selections:

Philippians 4:19: "And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus."

James 1:17: "Every good gift 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."

Philippians 2:13: "For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."

2 Corinthians 9:8: "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."

These verses are good reminders of the source of our blessings and why they are given to us - so that we can live them out.

And we must always, always, remember the source of our blessings and give Him praise.  #blessedbyGod

He is our blessed assurance.  The fount of all our blessings.  The One from whom all blessings flow.

~SP