Monday, March 16, 2009

You Shall Bless Them

"Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.' "So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them." Numbers 6:23-27 NASB

I love this blessing dictated by God himself for Aaron, the high priest, to bless His people. I have used it on many occasions to end gatherings. As I have meditated on this blessing I see that Jesus, our great high priest, is the fulfillment of this blessing in every way.

The LORD bless you, We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Ephesians 1:3
and keep you; Jesus did not lose one of those his Father gave him. John 18:9 In 1 Peter 1:5 we are told that we are being kept by the power of God. We are secure in his nail scared hand.

The LORD make His face shine on you, For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6
And be gracious to you; The very fact that we are His is according to God's gracious choice of us. Romans 11:5 God’s grace flows to us from the cross that Jesus willingly embraced.

The LORD lift up His countenance on you, to lift up the eyes or the face is to pay attention. When you read about Jesus encounters with people he paid attention. Jesus looked at him, and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter). John 1:42 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said^ of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" Nathanael said^ to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." John 1:47-48 Jesus said "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them. John 10:27a The Lord of the entire universe is intimately acquainted with his people. I am captivated when I hear testimonies of how he speaks to others. I have an extremely left brained friend and the Lord will speak to her in ways that are tailored to her. I have a friend who loves to sing. She often wakes up singing and she knows He is speaking to her through the message of the particular song.

And give you peace He bequeathed his peace to us. It is part of the inheritance our Prince of Peace left us."Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you.” John 14:27a

So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them. “and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” Acts 11:26b What a privilege to be called by the name above all names.

MY PRAYER: Captivate us Lord Jesus with all that you are. We can never plumb the depths of the riches that we have in you. You are the Blesser and we are the blest. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

MY CONFESSION: You placed your hand on children and blessed them. I am your child and your hand of blessing is on me this day. I stand on your Word!


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