Guest Blog by: Alexander Lopez Jr.
Galatians 3:9 The Passion Translation (TPT): ‘And so the blessing of Abraham’s faith is now our blessing too! ‘ What is the blessing of Abraham’s faith? What is blessing period? I would like to answer those questions with scripture. First how does the Lord decide who will be blessed or does He want to bless? In Deuteronomy 30:19 English Standard Version (ESV) it says: ‘I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, ‘. So we see that God gives us the choice to have blessing or not, and further He even tells us to choose the blessing. So if it was a test question He already gave us the correct answer, but still gives us the option to choose wrong. This also answers the question: Why are some of God’s Children (Christians) not blessed? Because they have not chosen it. Maybe through ignorance, in other words because they don’t know how to choose it or don’t know it is a choice. Deuteronomy 30:20 (AMP): ‘by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding closely to Him; for He is your life [your good life, your abundant life, your fulfillment] and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord promised (swore) to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”’ So to choose the blessing we love the Lord, obey His voice and hold fast to Him.
1 John 5:3-5 New Living Translation (NLT): ‘Loving God means keeping His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.’ So to chose God’s blessing we obey God and achieve this victory over sin by our faith in Jesus as the Son of God. The reason why His commandments are not burdensome is because the power to obey is God’s power in us when we believe. So you have the power to chose blessing. 2 Peter 1:3-4 (NLT): ‘By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the One who called us to Himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.’ So if you have faith in Jesus, He provides the power to obey as we trust in Him. Don’t disqualify yourself from the blessing by believing you cannot obey or live up to the standards of a holy God. You cannot meet His standards in your own strength but according to Philippians 4:13 (ESV): ‘I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. ‘For God shows no partiality. ‘ (Romans 2:11) so if He is strength to one He is strength to all.
What is the blessing of Abraham? Genesis 12:2 (AMP): ‘And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you [abundantly], And make your name great (exalted, distinguished); And you shall be a blessing [a source of great good to others]; ‘ And how does the bible define blessing? Proverbs 10:22 (NLT): ‘The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.’ and Psalms 128:1-4 (TPT): ‘How joyous are those who love the Lord and bow low before God, ready to obey him! Your reward will be prosperity, happiness, and well-being. Your wife will bless your heart and home. Your children will bring you joy as they gather around your table. Yes, this is God’s generous reward for those who love Him.’ and Deuteronomy 28:11-12 (NLT): ‘“The Lord will give you prosperity in the land He swore to your ancestors to give you, blessing you with many children, numerous livestock, and abundant crops. The Lord will send rain at the proper time from His rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them. ‘ There are many more blessings in the Bible, including the blessing of divine health, among other wonderful promises. I will not go into anymore of them in this blog. The main take away I hope you receive from this blog is: God wants YOU to chose His blessing and His blessing is GOOD!
