Tag: blessing

A New Year’s Blessing for You

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 1, 2021

May This Year Be Your Best Year Yet

As we move from one year to the next, may we put behind us the challenges, fear, and uncertainty of the past year and move into the new one with expectation.

Here is my New Year’s blessing for you:

May God keep you physically safe, emotionally healthy, and spiritually vibrant.
May God provide for you in abundance.
May God grant you favor in all that you do and with the people you meet.
May God grow your relationships with others, strengthening the good ones and shoring up the challenging ones.
May God draw you into a fuller, deeper, more meaningful worship of him. May you do so in Spirit and in truth.
May God lead you to those who are hurting and in need of help. May he show you what to do and give you the wisdom and ability to do it.
May God speak to you through Holy Spirit insight and endow you with Holy Spirit power.
May God give you strength to do what he calls you to do.
May God empower you to advance his kingdom.
May God speak to you as you read and study his Word. May you hear him when he speaks to you through his Holy Spirit.
May God bless you indeed!
May this new year be your best year ever.

May it be so.

Receive this New Year’s blessing in confidence, through faith.

Thank you, Father for your provisions. Thank you, Jesus for healing and saving us. Thank you, Holy Spirit for living in us and guiding us. Thank you for giving us another year of life and for the potential it represents.

May we honor you and worship you by making the most of what you have provided for us. May we celebrate you in this new year you have given us in all that we do, say, and think.

Amen.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Tags blessing, prayer

Bible Insights

Why Does God Sometimes Withhold His Blessings from Us?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date September 2, 2020
2 Comments on Why Does God Sometimes Withhold His Blessings from Us?

We Must Put God First Before Worrying about Ourselves

In the short book of Haggai, the prophet has a message for the people and an application for us today. God, through Haggai, chastises his people. They live in nice homes, while God’s home—the temple—sits in shambles.

It isn’t that God wants us to build great monuments for him as much as he wants us to put him first. It’s an issue about our priorities.

God has attempted to get his people’s attention for years, but they miss it. “Consider your situation,” God says. Then he reels off a list of realities for them:

Each year you plant much but harvest little.
You eat but are never full.
You drink but are still thirsty.
You put on clothes but remain cold.
You earn money, but it doesn’t last until your next paycheck.

“Contemplate this,” he says. God wants his people to put him first and think about their own needs second. When they do this, he will give them plenty.

Specifically, God wants them to rebuild his temple. Though we could assume this means he wants us to embark on a building project for our church—making it our number one priority—this misses the modern-day application.

Remember, Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament, so the need for a physical temple ended because we became his temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 and 1 Peter 2:4-5).

It May Be About Our Priorities

Instead, we can receive this Old Testament prophecy as a call to put Jesus first. That’s an easy enough lesson for us.

However, it gets a bit dicey when we dig into this.

Based on the lesson from Haggai, we can assume that if things aren’t going our way and we aren’t receiving God’s blessings, it’s because we have our priorities out of whack, and we aren’t putting him first in all that we do.

Though sometimes this may be the case, other times we may struggle and suffer because God is using our circumstances to grow us into the person he wants us to become.

In this situation, we may very well have our priorities correct and, for a season, still not enjoy his blessing.

If we feel we aren’t receiving God’s blessings, it’s up to us to determine why. Do we need to reorder our priorities, or do we need to allow him to grow himself in us, preparing us for the future?

May we wisely discern the reason why.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Haggai 1-2, and today’s post is on Haggai 1:2-11.]

Learn more about all twelve of the Bible’s Minor Prophets in Peter’s book, Return to Me: 40 Prophetic Teachings about Unfaithfulness, Punishment, and Hope from the Minor Prophets

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags blessing, Haggai, priorities, temple

Bible Insights

From Haggai: Lessons about Priority

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 19, 2020

Discover More About Haggai

In the short book of Haggai, the central theme is that God’s house (the temple) needs to be rebuilt. It lay in ruins. But the people have not done so because they are focused on their own houses and comfort.

As far as God is concerned, their priorities are wrong. They’re putting themselves first and not concerned about him.

Three times God points this out, asking them to consider the quality of their lives. Things aren’t going well for them.

Their efforts fail to produce the results they want, their plans don’t work out the way they expect, and they lack what they need.

After Haggai delivers God’s message to the leaders and the people, their response is to rebuild the temple. Then God promises to bless them.

When their priorities were wrong, things went wrong. When their priorities became right, God’s blessings resulted.

Although the conclusion isn’t absolute, it’s worth considering that when things are going wrong, it might be because our priorities are misaligned with God’s will for our lives and his desire for how we act.

Instead of blaming God when our lives are dissappointing, we might do better to blame ourselves, and then work to fix our priorities. It starts by putting God first.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Haggai 1-2, and today’s post is on Haggai 1:2-4.]

Learn more about all twelve of the Bible’s Minor Prophets in Peter’s book, Return to Me: 40 Prophetic Teachings about Unfaithfulness, Punishment, and Hope from the Minor Prophets

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags blessing, Haggai, priorities, prophets

Visiting Churches

A Simple Gesture (Visiting Church #32)

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 28, 2019

We ascend the steps of the church, and a gregarious woman approaches. She’s wearing a white vestment, and I spy a clerical collar underneath. We’ve never been received so cordially.

She thanks us for visiting and asks if we’re familiar with the Episcopal Church. We say no. She smiles broadly, “Here’s what I’m going to do.”

She quickly scans the sanctuary. “Our services can be hard to follow if you’re not used to them, so I’m going to seat you by someone who can guide you.”

52 Churches: A Yearlong Journey Encountering God, His Church, and Our Common Faith

She introduces us to a couple our age and explains the situation. I sit next to the husband, and he’s eager to help.

The choir starts our service, and he cues me on the liturgy as we bounce between two books, often in quick succession. Plus, we sing one song from the bulletin.

The priest also provides verbal cues when possible. My new friend takes his assignment seriously and performs it admirably.

The simple gesture touches me. It makes so much sense, but no one’s ever done this for us before.

After a short message is the Holy Eucharist. Open to all, the priest thoroughly explains the process. When we go up, if we just want to receive a blessing, we cross our arms over our chest and she will bless us.

To partake in the Eucharist we receive the bread (and it really is bread, not a cracker). Then we proceed to the wine, where we can dip the bread or drink from the cup. Most dip their bread and so do we.

Though we’re growing to understand liturgical services, they’re still daunting. Having someone to guide us is most helpful and much appreciated.

The service ends. I sincerely thank our guide for his assistance; today was good.

[Read about Church #31 and Church #33, start at the beginning of our journey, or learn more about Church #32.]

My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags 52 Churches, blessing, Eucharist, friendly church, liturgy

Christian Living

God Blesses Us So That We Can Bless Others

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 28, 2019

God Told Abraham That He Would Bless Him and Through Him Bless All Nations

How often do we ask God to bless us? It’s a request I make most every day. Sometimes more than once. I suspect you may often ask for God’s blessings too.

What do we mean when we ask for God’s blessings? Are we asking for the intangible, more joy, peace, and clarity? Or do we desire tangible things, like money, possessions, and power?

We might ask for his blessings in a vague way, not really knowing what we’re requesting.

When God blesses us, is it simply to make our lives better? More enjoyable? Easier? Could be. He does love us, and he may bless us simply because he loves us and wants to do good things for us.

Be a Blessing

To father Abraham God promised that he would make Abraham into a great nation and bless him. In turn he would be a blessing to others. Everyone on earth would be blessed through Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3).

So, God blessed Abraham so that he could bless others. I think this goes beyond placing our hand on someone’s head and saying, “I bless you in God’s name.”

Later God reiterates his promise of blessing. He tells Abraham that he will bless him and his descendants. And through his descendants, God will bless all the nations. He will bless everyone through Abraham and his family through the ages (Genesis 22:17-18).

Like Abraham, we can bless others. Whether we have received many blessings from God or a few—though we certainly receive more than we realize—these blessings aren’t just for ourselves. God blesses us so that we can also bless others.

Is that what we’re doing with God’s blessings? Or are we hoarding them for ourselves?

If we give freely, we’ll receive more. If we cling to what we have, we’ll receive less (Matthew 25:29). Remember that God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).

God blesses us because he loves us, and God blesses us so we can bless others. Are we doing all we can to be a blessing to others?

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Tags Abraham, blessing, love

Bible Insights

Is it Ever Okay to Lie?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 19, 2016

Telling the Truth May Not Be Absolute

The descendants of Jacob (Israel) are enslaved in Egypt. They are prolific and their captors fear their growing numbers.

To curb their population explosion the king of Egypt commands the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, to kill every baby Hebrew boy as he is born.

They do not. They fear God more than the Egyptian king.

The king confronts them. This may seem like a great time for them to boldly stand up to the king, proclaim their fear of God, and be ready to die for their faith. Many others in the Bible do this. Daniel and Esther come to mind.

This would be a great time for Shiphrah and Puah to proclaim God to the king. Perhaps their likely execution will rally their people. Their martyrdom could spark a revolution.

They might inspire the Hebrews to rise up and ultimately escape. But they don’t do this. Instead they lie.

They claim they don’t arrive in time, that the Hebrew women give birth too quickly. Therefore they are unable to do what the king commanded.

How does God react? He does not criticize them for lying. He does not punish them for missing this opportunity to confront the tyranny of their oppressors. Instead he rewards them for their reverence to him: he blesses them with families of their own.

Apparently it was okay for them to lie.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Exodus 1-3, and today’s post is on Exodus 1:15-22.]

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Tags blessing, fear God, Moses

Bible Insights

Do You Want a Double Portion?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 7, 2013

Prior to his birth, Samuel’s father would give Samuel’s mother a double portion of the meat from his sacrifice. This showed his love for her and affirmed her, despite her being childless. She was doubly honored.

Just before Elijah went up into heaven, Elisha requested to receive a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. He did; he was doubly blessed.

The Prophet Isaiah proclaimed that those once shamed would receive a double portion, making up for what was lost. They would be doubly restored.

Receive a Double Portion

Given these examples, wouldn’t it be great to receive a double portion?

Not so fast.

In Revelation, God proclaims a double portion of punishment on Babylon for all the evil she had done. She was doubly punished.

We’d all like a double portion of God’s goodness, but no one wants a double portion of his punishment. But when we follow Jesus and go all in for him, we can, in fact, receive his abundance and escape his punishment.

Thank you Jesus!

[1 Samuel 1:5, 2 Kings 2:9, Isaiah 61:7, Revelation 18:6]

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Tags blessing, follow Jesus

Bible Insights

Why Does God Bless Us?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 18, 2013

When God’s people were in Egypt, he promised to send them back to the land of Jacob, that is, the Promised Land.

God would give them the land because they deserved it, right? Surely God would bless them with freedom and a place to call home because they earned it.

Their endurance while enslaved in Egypt for four centuries must have secured this reward.

Certainly, they would receive the Promised Land because of good behavior and righteous living. They had garnered God’s favor and he was duty-bound to respond.

No, that’s not it at all.

Moses said God would not do this to reward Israel but to punish the nations they would displace. God had a bigger picture in mind and in order to accomplish it, he blessed one people in order to remove the wickedness of another.

The Israelites were the happy recipients of God’s unmerited favor.

When something good happens, we often assume God’s implicit acknowledgment of our character and conduct.

But before we pat ourselves on our back, we should recall Moses’ warning to the people of Israel: they were not to assume the Promised Land was a response to their righteousness.

We shouldn’t make incorrect conclusions about why God chooses to bless but instead just be grateful when he does.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Deuteronomy 7-9, and today’s post is on Deuteronomy 9:4.]

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Tags blessing, God

Bible Insights

Do You Bless God?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date July 17, 2008

Discover How to Praise God

I often say the word “bless.” In prayer, I frequently ask for God’s blessing on myself and others. In essence I am asking for God’s divine favor or grace to be imparted.

Other times I have seen one person bless another by “conveying well-being or prosperity” to them. Sometimes this is done in the context of a prayer, a commissioning ceremony, or a benediction.

Both of these examples make sense to me and are readily understandable—because in both instances a “person” of authority or power is blessing someone of lessor standing (Hebrews 7:7).

However, I recently heard someone “bless” God. Initially I assumed that he misspoke. When he said it again, I thought he had it backwards.

After all, it seems a bit arrogant to bless God in the same way that we ask him to bless us.

Then I began stumbling on this in the Bible. Some translations of Psalms 26:12 and 34:1, for example, talk about blessing God. Other versions instead use the words “praise” or “extol.”

Fortunately, the dictionary provides some help in understanding this seeming dichotomy. One of the definitions of “bless” is to “To honor as holy; glorify: Bless the Lord.”

So in expanding my understanding of “bless” to include honor and glorify, then, yes, I bless God! Do you?

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Tags blessing