Being Blessed by and Blessing God

We humans tend to focus on our own need for blessings from God and don’t usually think about returning the favor and blessing God. The Bible is full of passages that refer to blessing God. It seems that blessing God is a way of praising Him.

God is happy to send His Love and Grace to us at all times. Whether a personal need or a need in our mission as His apostles in the world, God is certainly blessed when we turn to Him and seek His Will in the world. So it seems that in taking His blessing upon us and using it to help Him build His Kingdom, we are blessing Him and praising His name in all the world.

In Psalm 16:7 we hear the psalmist saying, “I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.” In blessing God the psalmist is praising Him. The psalmist goes even further in Psalm 103:1in saying, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!”

Our challenge is in asking the question, how do I get into a relationship with God so that I feel His blessings and I praise and bless Him? How do we begin to feel like the psalmist when he says in Psalm 103:22, “Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!”?

As we know through our experiences in seeking the Lord in our lives, it is difficult to turn our attention to God in all things. We must first recognize how great He is in our lives when we turn to Him as did the psalmist say in Psalm 104:1, “Bless the Lord, O my soul!
    O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,…”

The discipline required of us is essential for reaching out and inviting our Lord and God into our lives in all things. In Proverbs 28:9 we hear, “If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” We have trouble accepting and relating to each other. This is true also in our relationship with God, but the stakes are very much higher. We must allow the influence of the Gospel of Jesus to mold us and change us so that we can relate to the world through His guidance.

 I have a lifetime friend named Chuck who continues to have full awareness of his role in life even in his retirement years. He recently said, “My life has been a very humble miracle. I have tried to be there for my family and true friends. Amen.” He never quits thinking about how to please, bless and praise the Lord. He mirrors our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in forgiving and accepting all who seek the Lord in their lives and might come to him for help or advice. He is a mentor, a coach and an advocate for the Lord.

St. Paul blessed and praised the Lord. In Ephesians 1:3 he says,  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”….. We may think that we don’t deserve the blessings of God because of who we are, but this is a giving up without playing the game.  We don’t expect our favorite football team to think this way. Why should we give up before we live life wholly and Holy.

The Good News is that through the blood of Christ we are forgiven. Through Christ, God gives mercy to all who turn to Him. We need to expect the same from ourselves as we sometimes expect from others; whether mothers, fathers, children, spouses, workmates and friends. To bless the Lord means to praise in all things. If we can truly praise Him, we will impact the world.