My heart responded with a heart-felt “Yes” to what I was
reading in the book, “The Grace Outpouring,” by Roy Godwin a few weeks ago. He talked about how God taught him to bless
people rather than pray against them.
Here are some quotes from the book:
“What exactly should we bless people with? What should we say? First we ask the Holy Spirit to help us with
the words to bless before we begin, so that the people receive the blessing
that the Father wishes to pour out on them: his insight, not ours; his words,
not ours.
We want to bless the whole person, and many people find the
well-used blessings acronym helps them be creative in blessing.
- B Body: health, protection, strength
- L Labor: work, income, security
- E Emotional: joy, peace, hope
- S Social: love, marriage, family, friends
- S Spiritual: salvation, faith, grace
So for instance, we may bless someone as follows: ‘I bless
you in the name of Jesus that the fullness of his peace may flood your heart
and mind, sinking deeply into every part of your being and life. I bless you that your body may be
strengthened and healed so that you are free to walk in the joy of the Lord.’
We need to be clear at all times that we are blessing in the
name of Jesus with his authority and anointing. All power and authority resides
in him, including the power and authority to bless.
Blessings can be spoken over people, whether present or
absent; home, towns, areas, regions, nations, land, businesses, livestock,
schools, etc.”
As I read these things, it felt so good to begin blessing
everyone in Jesus’ name that came to mind: my children, my husband, my church,
my pastor, our president, our government leaders, etc. Rather than griping and complaining, being
fearful, or lashing out in anger and outrage at people living in spiritual
darkness, we believers in Jesus Christ must begin to bless them, asking that
they will experience the goodness of God. We never bless wrong behavior, but we bless
the person, for whom Jesus died. We must
view them with God’s heart. For doesn’t
the Holy Spirit say that the goodness of God will lead people to
repentance? (Romans 2:4)
Other scriptures came to mind as I continued reading the
book. For example, I Peter 3:10 says,
“He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from
evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.”
James 4:9-10 (NIV) says, “With the tongue we praise our God and Father,
and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and
cursing. My brothers, this should not
be.” Remember the Golden Rule: “Do to
others as you would want them to do to you.” And Luke 6:38 says, “Give and it
will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running
over will be put into your bosom. For
with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Which measuring cup do you use: the cup of
blessing or the cup of cursing?
We need to keep on speaking blessing over others in spite of
what life throws at us. It may seem like
all hell tries to break loose against the saints of God to wear them out. The enemy of our souls wants to steal the
Word from our hearts so we will use our tongues to give him license to do his
dirty work. He uses the curses we speak
over people—curses like simply saying, “He’ll never amount to anything,” or
“She is a wretched example of humanity.” Sneering and speaking abusively
against someone is a curse over them. Curses
are works of darkness, and the devil is the ruler of darkness. Stay out of his territory, or you’ll get your
robe of righteousness filthy and he’ll clobber you! The more we say how awful people are, the
more they will stay that way, and we help the devil enslave them. People are not the enemy: the devil is! Speak words of blessing over others (and
yourself) so God can set them free!
Although there are days when life seems to assault us, there
are days when one senses, with gratefulness, the Lord’s presence and blessing in
profound ways.
One day the other week, I had to run some errands, and was
feeling tired and achy. I didn’t feel
like walking more than necessary, so I prayed for a good parking spot as I
drove into the parking lot at WalMart. To
my surprise and delight, another car was just leaving a perfect parking place
near the front door and next to a cart return!
I eased my car into the vacant space as he left. It was almost too good
to be true! I felt the Lord’s kindness
and favor and thanked Him from the bottom of my heart for the never-before-attained
parking spot!
It looked as though it would rain, so I grabbed my umbrella
and headed inside. I exclaimed to myself
with wonderment how my shopping cart felt like it floated along effortlessly, free-wheeling
and quiet—just perfect! I had strength to
do my shopping, and fellow shoppers were extra-nice to me, helping me reach
items on top shelves as I engaged them in conversation.
It was raining steadily as I wheeled my cart with purchases
to the car, holding the umbrella aloft.
Suddenly a tall, handsome black man appeared at my left, smiled at me so
nicely, and asked, “Where is your car?”
As I pointed to the 2003 champagne colored Chrysler 300 M a few feet
away, he said, “I’d like to put your groceries in the car for you.” For a split second, I wondered if he was for
real—if I could trust him—but his face was beautiful and he looked so clean-cut
that I replied, “Oh thank you; that’s so kind of you!” He set his own 2 small bags down on the
pavement in the rain (imagine that!) as I popped the trunk. I help my umbrella over myself and the cart as
he unloaded my purchases. After he
closed the trunk, I looked at him and said, “I bless you in Jesus’ Name! Thank you so much for your kindness!” He replied with a warm smile, “My
pleasure!” The stranger put the cart
away for me, then picked up his own bags, now dripping wet. Before I got in my car, I saw him walk down
the row of cars, and I thought I saw him turn right toward one of the cars, but
I don’t recall seeing him get in.
As I drove out of the parking lot, I was suddenly overcome
with weeping and could hardly see to drive as the realization of the kindness
and goodness of God engulfed me. It was
as if Jesus Himself had helped me, had taken notice of me. And who’s to say it wasn’t Him?
Then I drove to Staples and was immediately greeted warmly
at the door as the assistant promptly directed me to the correct aisle. I selected my merchandise, and came to the
register to pay. The girl who had
greeted me at the door was now at the register with a girl in training. The cashier enthused, ‘I really like your top
with the purple butterflies; you look so cheerful and sunny. Even your umbrella is pink!” Turning to the trainee, she remarked, “Look
at her – she’s all smiling and happy! I
want to be like her!” I was slightly
taken aback, and the question crossed my mind as to whether they saw something
of the previous God encounter at WalMart on me.
I smiled back and answered, “It’s Jesus in me!” The two quickly got busy doing something
else, and I turned and exited the door, praying silently, “Holy Spirit, I bless
those two and the seed that was sown in Jesus’ Name.”
After that, I went to Hancock fabrics and it was still
raining. The lady measuring some cloth
greeted me right away and said, “I just finished mulching last night, and now
God is watering it for me to settle it into place.” I told her how happy I was for her, and
agreed that God was indeed doing the watering for her, and then added, “I just
love Him! He is so good!” Later, I paid for my purchase and told her,
“I bless you in Jesus’ Name!” I walked
to my car with my cup of blessing overflowing.
God bless you, dear reader; may you sow seeds with a cup of
blessing everywhere you go!
* All Scripture references are from the New King James Bible
unless otherwise noted.
Copyright © 2015
Elaine Beachy
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