#Blessed
The “bless” word family (“blessed,” “blessing,” “#blessed”) is usually used to mean, “I’ve got something good and I like it.” Maybe some, when using it, would include God in what they’re saying, such as, “I’m grateful because God has given good to me.”
That definition of “blessed” (the state of having something nice and liking it) or “blessing” (the nice thing that I have and I like) doesn’t work in a lot of cases when the Bible talks about “blessing.” The Bible frequently uses “bless” to refer to something someone says--for example, James 3:10 says, “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.”
This is another definition of “bless”: say a good word. This kind of blessing happens in personal relationships sometimes, though not very frequently--the experience of giving or receiving a verbal blessing can be awkward and humbling. It’s vulnerable.
Blessing with words comes more naturally to my wife than anyone I’ve ever known. When a friend of hers was about to leave on a missions trip, she wrote a beautiful blessing for her friend. It said things like, “May God protect you. May you have the joy of being a channel of God’s grace to others. May you know God more deeply and experience His goodness in new ways through the things you will do and suffer.”
Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians by saying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…”
I’m not surprised to be reminded that God has blessed us--I’m used to that idea (James 1:17).
But Paul blessed God. That sticks out to me. God is invulnerable to threat or harm (Psalm 2:1-6), but His image-bearers, His children, those whom He created to reign over creation as His agents, can bless Him.
How do we bless Him? With our mouths, I think, though there are heart implications for what our mouths say (Matt. 12:34). We express our desire for God's good with words like, “May Your Kingdom come and Your will be done. May Your name be set apart. May people know You as who You are, and may those who spread false representations of You be put to a stop.” We also express praise to Him (Psalm 34:1), which Paul goes on to do in Eph. 1:3-14.
One of God’s favorite ways to describe the relationship between Him and you is as Father and child (Eph. 5:1). My dad cares about what I say about him. It makes a difference to him that I care about his well-being. In the same way, I think God takes joy in our praise and our desire for His good and for the success of His reign.
That definition of “blessed” (the state of having something nice and liking it) or “blessing” (the nice thing that I have and I like) doesn’t work in a lot of cases when the Bible talks about “blessing.” The Bible frequently uses “bless” to refer to something someone says--for example, James 3:10 says, “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.”
This is another definition of “bless”: say a good word. This kind of blessing happens in personal relationships sometimes, though not very frequently--the experience of giving or receiving a verbal blessing can be awkward and humbling. It’s vulnerable.Blessing with words comes more naturally to my wife than anyone I’ve ever known. When a friend of hers was about to leave on a missions trip, she wrote a beautiful blessing for her friend. It said things like, “May God protect you. May you have the joy of being a channel of God’s grace to others. May you know God more deeply and experience His goodness in new ways through the things you will do and suffer.”
Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians by saying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…”
I’m not surprised to be reminded that God has blessed us--I’m used to that idea (James 1:17).
But Paul blessed God. That sticks out to me. God is invulnerable to threat or harm (Psalm 2:1-6), but His image-bearers, His children, those whom He created to reign over creation as His agents, can bless Him.
How do we bless Him? With our mouths, I think, though there are heart implications for what our mouths say (Matt. 12:34). We express our desire for God's good with words like, “May Your Kingdom come and Your will be done. May Your name be set apart. May people know You as who You are, and may those who spread false representations of You be put to a stop.” We also express praise to Him (Psalm 34:1), which Paul goes on to do in Eph. 1:3-14.
One of God’s favorite ways to describe the relationship between Him and you is as Father and child (Eph. 5:1). My dad cares about what I say about him. It makes a difference to him that I care about his well-being. In the same way, I think God takes joy in our praise and our desire for His good and for the success of His reign.
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