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The promise – May the Lord bless you from Zion; May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. [Psalms 128:5] And the blessing – The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. [Numbers 6:24-26] The blessing of God is the light of the knowledge of who He is – For the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts, to give us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. [2 Corinthians 6:4] It is a progression, that begins with revelation. Revelation –> relationship –> realization. A realization of what He has in store for you in the coming days and months of this year is His blessing, and it would be a small foretaste of the goodness of heaven and your eternal home. The chief aim of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, which is how the teaching of the Bible can be summarized, regarding his creation and his God-given purpose. May this coming year be one that is enjoyable in your life and mine and not one that we need to endure, in order to see the end of it.
Knowing HIM- in revelation & wisdom:
It is the blessing of God, as He causes His face to shine upon you, reveals Himself to you, and in the process helps you to realize all that He is. And in this context, the apostle Paul’s very specific prayer to the church at Ephesus is that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your heart enlightened that you may know the hope in which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints. [Ephesians 1:16,17] A realization of His presence and all that He has for you comes only as He reveals Himself to you. It is why Jacob waking up after sleeping on a river bed, with a stone as a pillow, and hearing from God in an angelic vision, called the place Bethel, for it was the house of God, and he had not realized it until then. Even today, it is because, the wish of God is that you may know Him personally and specifically, that He blesses you with the spirit of revelation and wisdom. For more than knowing that Lord Jesus is God, being able to say ‘Lord Jesus is my God’, makes all the difference when it comes to knowledge of God. It is built on a relationship.
Experiencing the revelation of God –
In this digital age, there is no lack of academic knowledge of the word of God, for at the click of a button there are many channels available, that preach the word. Bibles too are so readily available, giving access to the written word of God in abundance, a privilege that can so easily be taken for granted. But, it is on experiencing the revelation of God in His word to you, that it can touch you, to remove anything that is lacking in your life.
Faith in God – the key:
Having faith in God is the key that unlocks it all, and God wants to help you, be built up in your faith, especially in the gathering of saints on a Sunday, so that you will not miss out on anything that He has prepared for you this year. It is not the dictates of money, that needs to be your priority, in determining your daily schedule but God needs to be the God of your life, to be led by Him in revelation and realization that comes from Him. Wilderness will then become a sanctuary, as it was to the Israelites in their journey to the promised land.
Your help from God – the Holy Spirit:
And God wants to help you in your journey of knowing Him by giving to you the Holy Spirit whose action is threefold –
He reveals –
He reveals, relates, and reminds,from the word of God to speak into your heart. His grace is new every morning, and the Bible is very relevant when you know that you are relevant to God! It is ancient words, that He makes relevant, by His revelation. The God of Genesis 12, is the God of your life in 2023. The God who parted the Red Sea is also the God who brought the waters back together. And today He can bring a divided family together, for He has killed hatred on the Cross of Calvary.
He relates –
The word of God is relevant. For when you are related rightly to the One who wrote it, His word relates to every aspect of your life, to speak specifically and personally concerning it to you. For it is not a storybook or a literary piece that you are reading, but life itself, and every word that comes from the mouth of God will cause you to live, and not merely survive. Man shall not live by bread alone; but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, is the declaration of the scriptures. And your attitude towards the word of God matters so that you may see whatever you do prosper. For it is when God brings the right things into your hand, that what you do prospers. The psalmist describes the one in whose life it happens, as the one who meditates upon the word of God day and night, to be as a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in season, whose leaves do not wither. [Psalms 1:3] It is the imagery that the Lord connected with on the last day of the feast, as He cried out with a loud voice, ‘Whoever believes in Me, as the scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. Now, this He said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him, were later to receive. [John 7:38,39]
He reminds –
And you are blessed when you receive what the Spirit speaks to you, to write it down that you may be built up to be the tabernacle, that is His dwelling place, even as He instructed Moses to write down the intricate design of the tabernacle in the wilderness. He reveals, relates and He also reminds you, bringing to your remembrance what He has spoken to you, even when your mind goes blank because of the pressure of your circumstance. In your sickness, the Holy Spirit will bring to your remembrance, a verse that promises, and brings healing to you. He will remind you of the word that is the key so that you are led and enabled to not miss out on all that God has for you, that you may experience fruitfulness, all because of His faithfulness.
The revelation that leads to rejoicing –
Abraham, the father of faith was tested, as he proceeded in obedience to God toward Mount Moriah. And it was ultimately a revelation of the Cross that he received, a foreshadowing of it, that made him rejoice, to declare his God to be Jehovah Jireh, the One who in your need will see to it, and provide for it. And today you can rejoice even more, for the revelation of the Cross is now a majestic reality. You have a wonderful Savior who wants you to experience the revelation in your life. When seen in relation to the two spies who returned from the promised land carrying a huge bunch of grapes, you are the one at the back, attesting to the goodness of the fruit of the Cross, that the man ahead is declaring to be. And as you partake of the Lord’s Table, you become a part of all that has been made available to you. Therefore, acknowledging that He is all that you need, may you be led to a realization of all that He has for you. In Christ, the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form. You are complete in Him. May it be your prayer to know Him more and more, experience Him more, to be renewed and transformed, shining for His glory. And giving grateful thanks unto the Father, for the gift of His Son, and His perfect work of redemption on the Cross, may the Lord’s Table be a celebration of its wonderful realization in your life, in Christ. In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
