(no subject)
I stole this from __beautifulyou
I read it and decided to share it with you all.. hope she dont mind*
I remember the evening my son David asked me for a blessing. Our family was sitting in our living room talking quietly. I had just noticed that David, who was twenty-three at the time, hadn't said much for a while. Then he spoke up. "Dad, I want to ask you a question. Will you bless me?" His mom and sister stared at him. So did I. His request seemed to drop out of the blue.
"David, you know I do bless you." I said.
"No, Dad, I mean really bless me." Then he stood up, walked to the armchair which I was sitting in, knelt down on his knees, and bowed his head, waiting without even looking up. Do you know what flooded through my heart at the moment? I felt a tremendous desire to bestow, on him every possible good thing! Here was my own child waiting at my feet, telling me by word and action that what he wanted most was only I, his father, could give him.
I put my hands on David's shoulders and started to pray. I prayed for his mind, and health, and interests, and skills, for his friendships, for his work, for his ministry, for his dreams, for the future, for every part of his life. In Jesus' name, I poured blessing after blessing upon him. And I didn't stop until not only was he blessed, but until he actually felt blessed.
I'm sure you know why I'm telling you this Wilkinson family story. Living the Jabez miracle starts in a moment just like that one I've described. You are kneeling before your father. There's something you need, something you long for with all your heart. You can't make it, buy it, or find it anywhere else. Only your loving father can bestow it upon you - His divine blessing. And his heart is overflowing right now with an intense desire to give it you.
Jabez would never have considered coming to God for a blessing without understanding something essential about the God of Israel. This God wanted to bless his people. What about you? Do you feel that he wants to bless you or that he doesn't? You might be thinking, I'm not convinced that God wants to bless me, I don't think I've earned it. And I'm not really sure he cares about me. Today I want you to hear what God says about His nature. Then I invite you to let go of your misconceptions about Him, and accept as true what He says about Himself. When Moses asked God to show him more about Himself, God gave him this revealing self-portrait: "The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth"(Exodus 34:6). Now consider that Moses was God's best friend in the old testiment. He spent days alone in God's presence. So I think we can be sure that God's first sentence summed up what seemed to Him most important to convey.
Ask yourself how your portrait of God measures up to the truth about God. If you see God as stingy, callous, unmerciful, quick to anger, or slow to bless, you are living a cloud of error that has left you impoverished instead of blessed.
Friend, you don't have to let it be so a minute longer. You can put your crippling misunderstanding down and leave it behind forever. As you wait before Him today, remember who He is. He is your father - giving, compassionate, and faithful. And what he fills His heart right now is a deep longing to pour out His favor on your life. Will you kneel before Him and ask for His blessing?
I read it and decided to share it with you all.. hope she dont mind*
I remember the evening my son David asked me for a blessing. Our family was sitting in our living room talking quietly. I had just noticed that David, who was twenty-three at the time, hadn't said much for a while. Then he spoke up. "Dad, I want to ask you a question. Will you bless me?" His mom and sister stared at him. So did I. His request seemed to drop out of the blue.
"David, you know I do bless you." I said.
"No, Dad, I mean really bless me." Then he stood up, walked to the armchair which I was sitting in, knelt down on his knees, and bowed his head, waiting without even looking up. Do you know what flooded through my heart at the moment? I felt a tremendous desire to bestow, on him every possible good thing! Here was my own child waiting at my feet, telling me by word and action that what he wanted most was only I, his father, could give him.
I put my hands on David's shoulders and started to pray. I prayed for his mind, and health, and interests, and skills, for his friendships, for his work, for his ministry, for his dreams, for the future, for every part of his life. In Jesus' name, I poured blessing after blessing upon him. And I didn't stop until not only was he blessed, but until he actually felt blessed.
I'm sure you know why I'm telling you this Wilkinson family story. Living the Jabez miracle starts in a moment just like that one I've described. You are kneeling before your father. There's something you need, something you long for with all your heart. You can't make it, buy it, or find it anywhere else. Only your loving father can bestow it upon you - His divine blessing. And his heart is overflowing right now with an intense desire to give it you.
Jabez would never have considered coming to God for a blessing without understanding something essential about the God of Israel. This God wanted to bless his people. What about you? Do you feel that he wants to bless you or that he doesn't? You might be thinking, I'm not convinced that God wants to bless me, I don't think I've earned it. And I'm not really sure he cares about me. Today I want you to hear what God says about His nature. Then I invite you to let go of your misconceptions about Him, and accept as true what He says about Himself. When Moses asked God to show him more about Himself, God gave him this revealing self-portrait: "The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth"(Exodus 34:6). Now consider that Moses was God's best friend in the old testiment. He spent days alone in God's presence. So I think we can be sure that God's first sentence summed up what seemed to Him most important to convey.
Ask yourself how your portrait of God measures up to the truth about God. If you see God as stingy, callous, unmerciful, quick to anger, or slow to bless, you are living a cloud of error that has left you impoverished instead of blessed.
Friend, you don't have to let it be so a minute longer. You can put your crippling misunderstanding down and leave it behind forever. As you wait before Him today, remember who He is. He is your father - giving, compassionate, and faithful. And what he fills His heart right now is a deep longing to pour out His favor on your life. Will you kneel before Him and ask for His blessing?