The Blessing of God

Over the past several weeks our pastor has preached a number of sermons about our risen Saviour. This Sunday morning we looked at Jesus Ascension as recorded in Luke 24.

Luke 24:51-52 "And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:"

He blessed them. The blessing of God naturally leads to worship and great joy! The words which Jesus used to bless the disciples are not recorded here, but we can be sure that there was power in the words he used. We do not know the words Jesus used then, but we can look at other scripture to get an idea.

Numbers 6:22-27 "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them."

What a great blessing of God that he will keeps us. What a great blessing of God it is that he is gracious to us, for by the very definition, we do not deserve it. And what a great blessing of God it is that he gives us peace. Not only peace with God, but also the peace of God!

Comforting as these blessings of God are to us, there is also another verse to consider when we study this subject.

Matthew 5:44 "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"

We all need to work a little harder at this one!