God's Love, Blessings And Protection!

GOD’S LOVE, BLESSINGS AND PROTECTION!

"May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace." (NUMBERS 6:24-26)

These verses contain a six-fold blessing. The writer has declared the Word of God and asked:

I. That the Lord bless you.....(release his many benefits into your life)

A. We can be blessed as we bless the Lord!

Psa 103:1 KJV A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Psa 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

Psa 103:3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

Psa 103:4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

Psa 103:5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

A. A person who is to be happy must actively enjoy his blessings.

B. God doesn’t bless us just to make us happy; He blesses us to make us a blessing. -- Warren Wiersbe

C. He cannot bless us unless he has us. When we try to keep within us an area that is our own, we try to keep an area of death. Therefore, in love, He claims all. There’s no bargaining with Him. -- C.S. Lewis

D. God is more anxious to bestow his blessings on us than we are to receive them. - Augustine.

II. That the Lord protect you.....(His name is a strong tower, we run to it and we are safe)

A. He gives us divine protection.

Prov 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

(Psa 91:1 KJV) He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psa 91:2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. :3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. 91:9 because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 91:10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. (Psa 91:11 KJV) For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

A. You defend God like you defend a lion--you get out of his way. -- Bill McNabb

B. When three are shut into a furnace and three become four, that is enlargement through pressure. -- Watchman Nee

C. One Sunday in church, members were praising the Lord for what he had done in their lives that week. Mr. Segault had said that the roof of his house had caught on fire, but fortunately, a neighbor had seen it, and the possible disaster was averted with only minor damage. A minute later, a woman stood up. "I have a praise, too," she said. "I’m Mr. Segualt’s insurance agent."

D. In the morning, prayer is the key that opens to us the treasures of God’s mercies and blessings; in the evening, it is the key that shuts us up under his protection and safeguard.

III. That the Lord smile upon you....(and Jesus beholding him, loved him)

(Mark 10:21 KJV) Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

IV. That the Lord be gracious to you....(His grace is sufficient for each day; His mercies are new every morning)

(Lam 3:23 KJV) They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

(Acts 14:3 KJV) Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

(Rom 3:24 KJV) Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

(1 Cor 15:10 KJV) But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.