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.
(Gal 1:15 KJV) But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,
(Eph 1:6 KJV) To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
(Eph 1:7 KJV) In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
(Eph 2:7 KJV) That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
(Titus 3:7 KJV) That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
V. That the Lord show you His favor.... (We are joint heirs with Christ; created for every good work)
(Rom 8:17 KJV) And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
(2 Cor 9:8 KJV) And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
(Col 1:10 KJV) That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
A. As I grow older, I care less what people think about me and more what God thinks of me. I expect to be with him much longer than with you.
B. The higher people are in the favor of God, the more tender they are. Martin Luther
VI. That the Lord give you His peace.....(Peace that passes all understanding, -- a perfect peace)
(Isa 26:3 KJV) Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
A. Christ as Savior brings peace with God; Christ as Lord brings the peace of God.
B. You cannot have the peace of God until you know the God of peace.
C. When the Christian stays his mind upon Christ, he develops a wonderful "calm-plex."
D. In this confused world, some people have peace while others go to pieces.
E. The practice of peace is the practice of Christianity.
F. Peace rules the day when Christ rules the mind.
G. A person cannot be a peacemaker until first he finds peace for himself.
H. In the care of God means to be in the peace of God.
Speak this blessing over someone today. God looks over His Word to perform it; and His Word will not return unto Him void, but will accomplish the purpose for which it was sent. Be a blessing by giving a blessing.
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