Why God Blesses And Then Blesses Again ! [NCC 16 Jan 11 - first 2 svc notes as EDITED]

Why God Blesses And Then Blesses Again !

[NCC 16 Jan 11 - first 2 svc notes EDITED with benefit of CD]

Summary.  The Bible says that we are already blessed with every blessing. However, it is right for us to ask God to bless us again and again. God will answer such seemingly “selfish” prayers.  God’s heart is to bless us — over and over again! We see from Jabez’s prayer and others in the Bible that it is even honorable to ask God to bless us and He is willing to keep blessing us. Let us dare to ask again and watch our blessings come to pass as we see our Father’s big heart!

TESTIMONIES

Many NCC youth from the Dead and Resurrected Eagles (“Dare”)  did very well in recent national O levels.

Top student from Dare scored 10 distinctions in O levels and is from Anglo-Chinese School [Editor: That's my alma mater as well] as he ends testimony with ‘the best is yet to be’ [Editor: the famous ACS motto]. This top student has anointed exam papers with oil.

Pastor Mark’s daughter is Kailing. Kailing’s weakest subject was Physics. F9 for prelims. Kailing prayed and asked God for favor. A few weeks with natural studies would not have any effect. Used anointing oil on her exam papers especially Physics. Scored B3 for her Physics paper.

Pastor jokes: We need to apply anointing oil to our brains so we can go from F9 to B3.

Church that emphasizes Jesus is THE ONE. So this emphasis ought to yield a good testimony. As Believers, we conduct ourselves with integrity for His glory and honor.

Some did worse for subjects they were good at in the natural, and well in those subjects that they were bad at in the natural because they trusted God.

God’s strength made perfect in weakness.

SERMON PROPER STARTS

Is it necessary to pray for or receive blessing even though we have all spiritual blessing ? The short answer is: Yes.

Eph 1:3

“Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ”

… Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing (NKJV)

“Every” – Greek – Pas – every type or kind of blessing

“Spiritual” – pneumatikos

“Blessed” – Greek – past tense

This means GOD has done it. The moment you are in Christ (source of all our blessings) – blessed with EVERY TYPE OF BLESSING.

Many know this verse but why is it we don’t see every blessing manifest all at once?

One person with smoking addiction took last Sunday’s sermon so seriously he saturated himself with NCC sermons and worship CDs and was delivered in one week. Shema Shema For nearly one week now he has not smoked. The deliverance came from hearing and hearing. Things we cannot do in the natural, by His grace we can.

Senior Pastor was a stutterer and stammerer as a teen and perhaps that is why God has made use of him to preach. Not of the natural but supernatural – so all we see is the grace of God.

The area of your weakness is where His strength manifests.

Economy of the world magnifies your strength but the Kingdom of God magnifies your weakness . Why ? Because God knows that in your weakness, if you turn to Him, His Grace can manifest — God can make something out of you. God gets the glory.

Paul said, where I am weak, there He is strong. Paul is telling us not to trust our smarts. Trust in God’s grace and favor.

Self reliance must come to an end at some point. When it happens, you will be transformed from a Jacob (someone who grabs) to Israel (a prince with God).

WHY IS IT WE HAVE TO PRAY FOR BLESSINGS EVERY DAY WHEN WE HAVE ALL THE BLESSINGS?

Do you bless your kids everyday? Some teachings say that you don’t need to bless your kid. Just teach them to receive themselves. The better practice is to ask God for blessings over us and our kids everyday! Bless our little loaves and fish.  Jewish bless their kids every Sabbath.

Example, if you have to wake up early, you pray that the little time for sleep is blessed and multiplied like the fish and loaves. You will be surprised when you wake up feeling so refreshed.

So even though God has blessed us with every blessings, you ought to keep asking God for blessings.
Reject the notion that when you ask for blessing or blessing for a particular area, you have less faith or negate your faith.

BLESSING INVOLVES SAYING OR SPEAKING

Barak is Hebrew for bless and is Eulogia in Greek – good (eu) speaking (logia).

Whenever you are speaking well, you are blessing.
You cannot bless someone by keeping quiet. Open mouth and speak. Not by telepathy.

Gen 1. God blessed them – saying – be fruitful and multiply.

If hoping for a child – spouses can speak over each other these words: “be fruitful and multiply.”

Blessings involves ‘ saying’

Speaking well is blessing

Even in laying on of hands, the power is in the speaking. See Jesus example. Matt 8:3. Mark 1:41

Ditto cursing. Speaking bad. Jesus cursed fig tree this way.

Apart from speaking God’s blessings over yourself, blessing also can be received from authority figures like Abraham to Isaac to Jacob, etc.

We are a ‘bless us ‘ club [who wants to be a 'curse me' club ! ] as we if we are not blessed, then nobody else is, because we are blessed to be a blessing.

Gen 12:2-3. First time God blesses Abraham.

God bless those who bless Abraham etc

Gen 12:2    “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:  “

Gen 12:3    “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. “

Gen 12:2 – ‘make thy name great’ is for the furtherance of God’s kingdom.    Making Abraham a great nation, blessing him and making his name great are GOOD things or else we have to conclude that God cursed Abraham!

Bless ‘those’ . “Those” is many.  Therefore, (1) God’s heart is in the blessing not cursing.  (2) Also, from this we can infer that there are more people blessing you than cursing you.
In fact, ‘curse’ is singular . Curse “him”.

God likes to bless (many), curses one (even if everybody who likes you, there is one – devil – who hates you).

Many Strong empires are no longer strong today because they ‘touched’ the apple of God’s eye – Israel (God has a covenant with them). Israel is a small country full of imperfect people but that is where God’s Grace comes in. Through Israel, all the nations are blessed.

Barack —.To endue with power for success , prosperity, fecundity , etc. Old Testament Theological Workbook.

Blessing is the empowerment or beneficial enduement to effect or produce shalom, WELL BEING, in every area of your life. Salvation for your spirit. Favour in all your dealings with people. Peace of mind that guards your heart and emotions. Family blessings. Health, peace, harmony, protection, fecundity.

Well being in your body is health.  Well being in your social life is favor.  Well being in your mind is peace. Well being in family is harmony (no constant quarrels, raising of voices).

When God blesses, there is no sorrow. When God blesses, it is completely pure goodness and unmixed.

Blessing is also fruitfulness or fecundity for those who desire it.

Little boy just looked to Jesus to bless his loaves and fishes. He did not need to understand the mechanics.

God seems to be blessing our NCC people in area of water like Abraham etc. Marcus first project was the Marina Bay Sands (“MBS”) sky park pool.

BLESSINGS FROM AUTHORITY FIGURE

Gen 14:18-20

Gen 14:18    And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he [was] the priest of the most high God.

Gen 14:19    And he blessed him, and said, Blessed [be] Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

Gen 14:20    And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

Blessings are sequential. After God calls Abraham out of his old country and blesses Abraham in Gen 12, God bless Abraham again in Gen 14. This time via the authority figure of Melchizedek.

Note that Melchizedek blessed by speaking.

If you have nobody to bless you, call upon God yourself for blessings.

BLESSING REPEATEDLY

God is blessing Abraham again in Gen 22:17.

At every stage, God blesses Abraham.

Gen 22:17    “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which [is] upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies …”

Why is God blessing Abraham again?

Yes, we are blessed already but God still wants us to ask to be blessed. Keep asking again.

Every time there is a new challenge or lack, ask God to bless you again in that area. The boy with the 5 loaves and fishes did not see a problem or lack when he presented these to Jesus. The boy saw an opportunity for Jesus to meet the need and for more blessings. Every need calls forth new resources from God’s inexhaustible supply.  The boy did not think the way the crowd was thinking. The crowd was thinking: grab everything you can set your hands to, lest others grab.

Church is pushing back the first service from 8 am to 8.30 am on Sundays. Church hears the people concerns. But there are rules. However, rules exist for the benefit of the people ! It is not the people existing for the benefit of the rules.
HONORABLE TO PRAY ‘BLESS ME’ PRAYERS LIKE JABEZ

1 Chron 4:9-10

It is honorable to pray ‘bless me’ prayers as God calls Jabez ‘more honorable’ than his brothers because of Jabez’s prayer .

1 Chron 4:9    “And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.”

1 Chron 4:10    “And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep [me] from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.”

Jabez’s name was not a good one. It means “sorrow”.  Why was Jabez more honorable? His history only in 2 verses pregnant with truth. Jabez prayed a ‘bless me’ prayer. If God blesses who can curse?! Prayer appears selfish. Religious folks would call this a selfish prayer. But in truth, Jabez looked to God, NOT man, to bless him. Prayed to be prosperous and to be protected from evil.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

There is always evil in this world and that is why Jesus taught us “give us this day our DAILY bread”. DAILY. “… Lead us NOT into testings / temptations but deliver us from evil.” Jesus taught us to ask the Father to protect us from evil days. Jesus taught us to pray for deliverance from evil. This must be God’s will (The Lord’s Prayer opens up with ‘O Father who … thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven …”) . God didn’t say there is no evil but that we can pray and ask to be delivered. It is God’s will for deliverance from evil.

Jabez also asked God to keep him from evil.

THERE OUGHT TO BE A CONSTANT ASKING

We don’t  tell our wife  “I love you”  once — i.e. perfect tense.  We don’t have our declaration of love only once and once only – once happened, completed forever. You tell your spouse you love her constantly. This is relationship.

Likewise we want to always hear God that he blesses.

WHY THE BLESSINGS DO NOT MANIFEST ALL AT ONCE

We are blessed with all blessings but not all blessings manifest at once. This is to protect us.

If God gives us a blessing and the blessing is ‘before its time’, it might hurt us.

Take the example of the gift of a car. A car is a blessing as it is a mode of transportation. But not in the hands of a 15 year old. Timing is not right although car is the same blessing.

God controls the manifestation of the blessing and releases at such time when we have attained the growth for it.

Another eg. The entire Inheritance is for a certain heir but the will specifies that it will be released in stages at every phase of the heir’s growth. Our heavenly father loves us like a rich father who creates a trust fund for his kid which regulates the release of funds over time. Note however that the kid is blessed already, the moment he is born into the rich family, he is blessed !

Some things God holds back because you are not ready for it and God is growing the person’s character.

There is also a relationship process as you ask God for the blessing in particular areas and so when the blessing manifests, you will give God the honor and glory.

JABEZ PRAYER IN NKJV

1 Chron 4:10 ‘ And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested ‘

“…keep me from evil that I may not cause pain” sounds noble in the NKJV but see the other translations.

” … keep me from harm that it may not pain ME!” – NASB

” … keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain”  – NIV

” … that thou wouldest keep [me] from evil, that it may not grieve ME! ” – KJV

God granted Jabez his requests.  This despite 15 personal pronouns (‘me’, ‘I’, ‘my’) in his prayer !  All seemingly self-centred.  But God honors these prayers .

We are honorable like Jabez as we look to God as source of our blessing. In contrast, others look to casino / lottery or the arm of their flesh or lie to get money or do business in underhanded way.

Religious folks warn against selfish prayers, but when was it the last time they asked god to bless them?  They are jealous when we ask God to bless us. But hey, it is their privilege to ask God to bless them as well !

See opportunity for more blessings. Every need calls out for new resources from God’s inexhaustible supply. Do not see the lack.

BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY

1 Chron 4:10 “… enlarge my territory … ” is a blessing !  Not just confined to procreation. It has many application including to companies. Every company ought to be fruitful then multiply.

When something is right, it’s big.  Look at the likes of IBM, Capitaland, etc. We don’t say that there’s something wrong with large corporations because they are big. Thank God for NCC being a mega church – we are fulfilling God’s plan – but of course don’t look down on small churches that are growing (however, they have to grow to where God wants them to be). God’s way is be fruitful and multiply. Be healthily growing. Every healthy thing ought to be growing. That applies to equally to business, ministry or procreation.  Never think that being mega means something wrong with the church !  It is something right when things are growing !
Don’t be intimidated when people try to make you feel small when you are a mega church. IBM does not apologise for being mega.
NO HOMILETIC STRUCTURE

Pastor’s sermons are blessed even if  they do not follow homiletic rules — no introduction, body or conclusion. But this is the way God has led him to preach.  No homiletic structure but even Holy Spirit guided ‘rabbit trails’ in pastor’s sermons are blessed.  The lack of homiletic structure is very much like apostles (Paul, Peter, etc) of the early church. E.g. Peter sermon with Cornelius had no conclusion because the holy spirit fell!

Pray for your children’s studies and watch how your kids start liking the subject they formerly were poor or disinterested in.

God’s empowerment helps us do well and helps us grow in the area He means for us to grow or flow in.

If there is nobody to bless you, you call upon God to bless you !

Don’t let anyone intimidate you and say you’re selfish because you are always asking God to bless you. They have the same rights to ask God to bless them as well.

In fact, God is so big. Doesn’t have to take from others to give you. He gives more than enough because He is perfect love. The most humble thing is to receive when it comes to man’s relationship with God. However in relationships between people, it is more blessed to give.

LEAVE THE DETAILS TO GOD IN BLESSING

God simply declared ‘Be fruitful and multiply’ and his creative power made the detailed specifications of the animals, etc. The details are in the MAJOR blessings. Just pronounce the blessing and leave the specifics to God. This was also the case with God’s blessing over Abraham. God’s general blessings resulted in the renewing of youth for Sarah, etc.

If nobody to bless you, call upon God yourself to bless you.

ISAAC BETTER !

Isaac is a better typology of the Believer because he is Abraham’s seed like us.  To Isaac, was given the promised covenant truth.

Gen 25:11. Isaac blessed.

Gen 25:11    “And it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac dwelt at Beer Lahai Roi.”

God already blessed Isaac when God told Abraham (when Isaac was offered on Moriah) that his seed is blessed. But God is blessing him again here !

PEOPLE ARE SAYING , REALLY ?

What is about us – we like to say ‘we said it before’  – when asked if we have prayed about a particular area.  We also frequently say ‘we have prayed so many times already’ — usually in truth, many of us have only prayed once or twice. People tend to exaggerate !

Also often when people come to you and declare ‘people are saying that … ‘  — usually the truth is that the ‘people’ are their relatives or their one friend over coffee. Not a large sample or good representative of the whole. Folk who use the phrase ‘people are saying …’ are usually not that good poll-takers. They use the phrase only as a means to add weight and reinforce what they are saying so as to be able to get you to make certain changes. The most it might be 3 or 4 but NOT the general popular view.  SO don’t believe EVERYTHING you hear in your work place or elsewhere when such a phrase is used on you.
Gen 26:12 . Isaac was blessed again. Isaac type of Believer

Gen 26:12    ” Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.”

We need to ask God in every stage and then ask God again. God loves us to communicate with him. And when manifestation comes, you know it is him.

Just because you are blessed by God, does not mean the land you are in, is not affected by famine or financial crisis . This was the case for Isaac. But watch how God blessed Isaac.

Gen 26:3  “Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father…”

Gen 26:3. Although Isaac was blessed by God, the land around Isaac was in famine. Isaac was told by God to stay in Gerar and not to go to Egypt. God said to Isaac stay in Gerar and God will bless Isaac. But isn’t Isaac already the heir to the blessings of Abraham? Isaac was so blessed but God blesses Isaac again!

We have all the blessings to our name but we can still come and ask God to bless us in a specific area.

The blessing of God – He loves us. So He Won’t bless us out of our place of peace and family.

PROSPER PROSPERING AND CONTINUE PROSPERING

Gen 26:12           Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.

Gen 26:13           And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:

Gen 26:14           For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.

Gen 26:15           For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.

Gen 26:16           And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.

Gen 26:17           And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

In the account of Gen 26:12-17, we see that  Isaac at this stage of his life only experiences financial and material blessing, and in the time of famine !

Gen 26:13           “The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous”

Prosper, prospering and continue prospering. 30, 60, and 100 fold. This blessings is for us in 2011!

If you are seeing blessings in some areas of our life, but not others, you can ask God to bless you in those other areas as well. For instance, it does not mean that if God has blessed us materially, you cannot asked to be blessed socially as well.

“Covet earnestly the best gifts … ” 1 Cr 12:31. This word “covet” usually has negative connotations or is used in conjunction with sin (e.g. ‘thou shall not covet’). It means, lusting after. What the message here in 1 Cr 12:31 ?  We can be spiritual gluttons to covet for more of God’s blessings like Jabez, a lusting after God’s best gifts. Ask God, and ask God again.

You can ask God for plenty of good days, just like Jabez did.

You can ask that the disease that afflicted your grandfather does not afflict you. You may asked God many years ago. Now, ask again ! God will be more than glad to give it to you as it has been paid for by Jesus’ blood.

Keep your eyes off the difficulty and keep your eyes on God. Blessings of God go up even as difficulty arises. Look to God. He is your father!

By the end of Gen 26:13, we see that Isaac enjoyed material blessing but no social favor or blessing yet (no good relationship with his neighbors — Abimelech told Isaac to separate from him).

God actually wanted Isaac to be in Beersheba but Isaac stayed in Gerar as he experienced 100 fold (100 fold means fullness of blessing) financial etc.

Gerar is not the source. God is. Isaac got comfortable in Gerar and dwelt too long there.

WATER FOUND IN ESEK – CONTENTION
Gen 26:13    “And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, The water [is] ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.”

Esek = strife or contention (in Hebrew).

The anointing to prosper remains with Isaac and he finds another well.

Gen 26:21   “And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.”

Sitnah = Animosity, Enmity, strife, accusation (in Hebrew).

Gen  26:22          And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

Rehoboth final well found.

Rehoboth = wide places or streets; or plenty of room for both of us (in Hebrew).

[When you put away and refuse strife (Esek) and accusation (Sitnah), you will enter a wide place and be fruitful (Rehoboth).]

Then Isaac ‘woke’ up to smell the roses and went to Beersheba. God had always wanted Isaac to be at Beersheba.

When Isaac went to Beersheba (Hebrew – well of the sevenfold oath) in Gen 26:23-33 — God says “I WILL BLESS YOU” again! God loves to bless!!

Gen 26:23-33

Gen 26:23 And he went up from thence to Beersheba.

Gen 26:24 And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I [am] the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I [am] with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.

Gen 26:25 And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.

Gen 26:26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.

Gen 26:27 And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?

Gen 26:28 And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, [even] betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;

Gen 26:29 That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou [art] now the blessed of the LORD.

Gen 26:30 And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.

Gen 26:31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

Gen 26:32 And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.

Gen 26:33 And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city [is] Beersheba unto this day.

Again Isaac was blessed again

God loves to bless.

Gen 26:25 is SIGNIFICANT as this is the first time he calls upon name of the Lord, apart from Gen 25:21 when Isaac entreats the Lord on account of Rebekah’s being barren.

CHANGE IN PRIORITIES OF ISAAC

NOTICE that at last, the priorities for Isaac have changed for Isaac.  At first. Digging well, planting, making money.

Now Isaac’s priorities (as should ours be today) were:

#1  Altar  – 1st priority is Jesus. v 24-25a.    Not for sacrifices of sin today as Jesus has done it all at he Cross but altar for sacrifices of thanksgiving. The Altar is the Church today where we can come in and unite.
#2  Tent – 2nd priority is Family. V25 b.  Some people have huge families but parents and kids have no relationship. Priorities are important.

#3  Well – 3rd priority. Business is last on his mind.  V25 c.  Career or ministry is third in the list.

Priorities changed.  Isaac had put digging wells first in Gerar. Now he put building Altar of the LORD first.

RESULT OF CHANGE IN PRIORITIES

Now social blessing manifests ! Abimelech says he sees God is with Isaac and that he is blessed (v28-29).  Formerly in Gerar, Abimalech had sent Isaac away. Abimalech had seen Isaac was mighty in the natural earlier at Gerar but now sees it as supernatural i.e. God’s blessings on Isaac  v29
Better for enemy to come to you then you go to him. Now Abimelech is jealous and afraid of Isaac.

Every blessing has its timing. Every blessing serves a will and purpose of God in your life.

We need to ask God for blessings socially and for our testimony, even for our church.

Every blessing has different timing and serves different purpose in our life.

Get your priorities right and ask God and watch the blessings flow.

Whatever you are able to believe God for, go ahead and ask. Peter was the only who asked to walk on water. God granted this. He loves us. One word of wisdom is don’t tell people you are believing God for as they might mock you or discourage you and bring down your faith

PEACE THAT DOES NOT COMPROMISE THE LAND IN GEN 26:29-31 IS OUR MODEL
Peace that didn’t compromise the land between a Palestinian and Israeli here.

Beersheba was the name given to the well. This well is still here in 2011 ! The other wells described above have disappeared into the pages of history.
Abimelech, a Palesintian told Isaac, an Israeli, you are now blessed of the Lord, and he was afraid of Isaac !

Here is a peace that does not compromise the land. We support this kind of peace treaty with modern-day Palestinians.  Like the Abimelech treaty, the peace treaty can be supported if no land is compromised.

Same for us today. Peace with our enemies but not at expense of God given ‘land’ .

When God blesses us materially, it is good, but we must get priorities right for his blessings to flow in us even further.
Gen 26:24-33

V33 is how Beersheba got the name.

It’s the result of following God blessings and being kind to enemy!

The wells of Esek and Sitnah are all gone. Only the well of Beersheba well is left today.

JACOB HAD A HEART FOR GOD’S BLESSINGS

Gen 27:41           “And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.”
Both Jacob and Esau are seeds of Issac. Esau had no desire for the things of God but Jacob desired the blessings.

Jacob is blessed . He had heart for God’s blessing. Honorable in God’s sight.  Although, Jacob is a grabber and conniving in his natural state.

Jacob is blessed again by his father in Gen 28:1-4. It is ok to bless your child today and bless your child again tomorrow.

Gen 28:1   And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

Gen 28:2   Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother’s brother.

Gen 28:3   And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;

Gen 28:4   And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.
In Gen 28:1 – 4, Jacob blessed by Isaac again but this time knowingly and being aware who Jacob was.

Padam Aram in Turkey.

Parents, it is good to bless your kids repeatedly as demonstrated in the examples above.
Then God blessed him again

ABRAHAMIC BLESSING

Notice that in Gen 28:4, Isaac again pronounces blessing of Abraham. Isaac transmits the Abrahamaic blessing to Jacob .

Direct heirs yet Isaac pronounce Abrahamic blessing.

We ought to pronounce blessings of Abraham on us

Dont take Abrahamic blessing for granted.

Jacob does not take God’s blessings for granted. He was blessed again in Bethel in Gen 28:13-22. In fact in Gen 32:29, he wrestles with God and asks for blessings again! God keeps blessing Jacob. That’s the kind of spirit God wants and which Jacob has.

BACK TO GEN 28:1-4

Bless your kids everyday and let them hear you bless them in the name of the LORD. So they will recall your blessing and recall it is of God when it manifests. If you want to give them a command or instruction- keep directive within the blessing. See the example in Gen 28:1-2. Don’t give imperative outside blessing, lest it becomes like a law.

Bless your children daily so when they are faced with trouble or are delivered, they know God has blessed and protected.

When you issue a directive to a child. Bless and direct in same environment like this: “Bless you child and marry a spouse who is Believer and has a heart for Jesus.”

If you take the directive out of its context, it become law and stirs flesh. Eg ‘don’t marry a non-Christian’ on its own may stir the flesh and ‘motivate’ the child to do the opposite.

Ask God even if you have secret prayers or secret desires. You can ask God for life partner and even go into the specifics. However, it is better to trust God and be general. Or else you are making it more difficult for yourself as you are likely to have to wait longer.

JABEZ KEPT ON CALLING

Jabez called. Imperfect tense. He kept on calling.

1 Chron 4:10 ‘ And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested ‘

12 words in Hebrew in Jabez’s prayer that changed the destiny of Jabez.

‘Called’ on God. Kept on calling. ( imperfect tense)

‘O that would bless’ —  ( imperfect tense )

Also it is repeated blessing. Barak Barak (Barak in Hebrew repeated twice) was translated into “bless me indeed” .  (Imperfect tense)

‘God granted’  ( Imperfect tense ) . This means that God kept on  giving and kept on blessing Jabez !

Jabez spoke 12 Hebrew words and more honorable than his brother. In the Hebrew he called on the LORD in imperfect tense – He didn’t call one time. He kept on calling – not a one time deal. Bless me and bless me indeed- also in imperfect tense (Barak Barak). “God granted” also in imperfect tense. God kept on blessing him continually.

Jabez had a big revelation of how good God is and that is why Jabez kept on asking and God kept blessing him. He knew that God’s hand is bigger.

KEEP ON ASKING

We can only be a blessing if first blessed by God. Keep asking

When Isaac entreated lord for Rebecca’s barreness. Imperfect tense. Kept on asking.

Prayer of faith (Mark 11:23-24) . Ask once. Believe you shall receive, and you shall have. Example: You can apply prayer of faith for healing.

But generic prayers like protection (e.g. lead me not into temptation or deliver me from evil) , you can ask repeatedly. Pray every day. Why ? Every day there are new evils, etc.

How often do you bless your kids? Do it often, perhaps, every day, every night. Reject that naggy voice that says ‘where is the word of faith in all this, are you saying words over and over again …. ‘

“Lead me not into testings” – that’s a everyday prayer. Manna principal. Everyday = fresh supply.  Last week’s prayer is not enough, ask God to bless you TODAY.

God’s hand is BIGGER. Keep on asking.

MARINA BAY SANDS SKYPARK

Marcus who runs the company which constructed the MBS skypark pool wanted a small business but ended up building the skypark pool as his first project !

You might not have the experience but God can bless you with favor and success. Don’t see that you are qualified or not qualified in the natural. Have the boy’s faith- I have little but I will just bring it to Jesus. His blessings will make a difference and multiply the loaves and fishes. The little boy saw opportunity for more blessings. Every need calls out new resources from God’s inexhaustible supply. Do not see the lack. His Blessing will make the difference.
Marcus is said to have said that, ‘lucky is once or twice but not daily’ as Marcus needed favor and blessing daily to complete the sky park pool.  The critics and competition say he pulled largest ‘con’ in world to win the bid to construct the pool but in the truth it is actually the blessing and favor from God !

Let the world (Abimelech) come to us and entreat us. Of course don’t marry them! But let world say you are blessed and we want to covenant with you !

Prayer of Jabez prayed by Pastor over congregation as closing benediction.

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