Blessed/Blessings

Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses and disappointments; but let us have patience and we soon shall see them in their proper figures.—Joseph Addison

The word for bless in the Hebrew is barak.  It means “to bend the knee.”—Dr. Bill Gothard in How to Conquer Habits and Addictions

It is when we give ourselves to be a blessing that we can specially count on the blessing of God.—Andrew Murray inWith Christ in the School of Prayer

Blessed are those, then, who hold their earthly possessions in open palms. Blessed are those who, if everything they own were taken from them, would be, at most, inconvenienced, because their true wealth is elsewhere.  Blessed are those who are totally dependent upon Jesus for their joy.—Max Lucado in The Applause of Heaven

The condition for obtaining God’s full blessing is absolute surrenderto Him.—Andrew Murray inAbsolute Surrender
In some twisted way, God’s blessings to us can become our greatest hindrances to seizing divine moments.—Erwin Raphael McManus in Chasing Daylight

If you yearn deeply enough, if your prayer ministry is constant enough, if you are living in the Spirit and praying in the Spirit, you mediate God’s blessing as truly as if you were there in body.—Wesley L. Duewel inTouch the World through Prayer

God does not assign blessings based on our good behavior.  He distributes blessings according to His kingdom purposes.—Tom Capps in Pray and Plan

We are not blessed because we are wealthy; we are wealthy because we take time to bless.—Wayne Muller in Sabbath

All the great blessings of God are finished and complete, but they are not mine until I enter into relationship with Him on the basis of His covenant.—Oswald Chambers in My Utmost For His Highest

If you have become bitter and sour, it is because when God gave you a blessing you clutched it for yourself; whereas if you had poured it out unto the Lord, you would have been the sweetest person out of heaven.—Oswald Chambers in My Utmost For His Highest

Enthusiasm means, to use the phrase of a German mystic, “intoxicated with God,” filled to overflowing with God, no spasmodic spirituality about us but a perennial source of freshness making us a delight to our Lord and a channel of blessing to all with whom we come in contact.—Oswald Chambers in God’s Workmanship

As we participate in the light and the Son of God is manifested in us in our particular setting, there will be marvelous blessing to all the people round about.—Oswald Chambers in Our Brilliant Heritage 

Exodus 32:29.  We are not here to win souls, to do good to others; that is the natural outcome, but it is not our aim, and this is where so many of us cease to be followers.  We will follow God as long as He makes us a blessing to others, but when He does not we will not follow.  Suppose our Lord had measured His life by whether or not He was a blessing to others!—Oswald Chambers in The Ministry of the Unnoticed  

Whenever God has given us a blessing, we must take time to meditate on the blessing and offer it back to God in a deliberate ecstasy of worship . . . If God has blessed you, erect an altar and give the blessing back to God as a love-gift.—Oswald Chambers in Not Knowing Where

I do not doubt that we would become more useful if we praised God more, and others would join us, for they would see that God has blessed us.—Charles Spurgeon

When you do have to give advice to another, God will advise through you with the direct understanding of His Spirit; your part is to be so rightly related to God that His discernment comes through you all the time for the blessing of another soul.—Oswald Chambers in My Utmost For His Highest

The greatest blessing a person ever gets from God is the realization that if he or she is going to enter into His kingdom it must be through the door of destitution.—Oswald Chambers in He Shall Glorify Me

The tendency to rest in any of the blessings that are the natural outcome of union with God is the beginning of backsliding.—Oswald Chambers in The Philosophy of Sin

. . . if we mistake that sweet sense of the blessing of God for being right with God, great harm is done to spiritual character.—Oswald Chambers in God’s Workmanship

When we no longer seek God for His blessings, we have time to seek Him for Himself.—Oswald Chambers in The Moral Foundations of Life

Men may partake of the blessings of God and yet never come into relationship with Him (see Matt.5:45-48).—Oswald Chamber in The Place of Help 

God often blesses those who, in our opinion, seem most unworthy.—Jerry Bridges in Transforming Grace

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in the world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.  Amen--A Franciscan Benediction

A blessingis defined as “not only saying something good about someone, but also as a declaration that empowers him or her to prosper.”--The Kenneth Copeland Word of Faith Study Bible

One of the most serious threats to future blessing is past blessing.—Watchman Nee in Twelve Baskets Full Vol. II

Everything in our service for the Lord is dependent on His blessing . . . The meeting of need is not dependent on the supply in hand, but on the blessing of the Lord resting on the supply.—Watchman Nee inTwelve Baskets Full Vol. II

If we will gain God’s greatest blessings, we must embrace His highest purpose.—Francis Frangipane in The House of the Lord

None can claim blessing for himself in his own right. Blessing does not come from good works or great heritage.—Myron C. Madden in The Power To Bless
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God did not intend our blessings to stop with us but to flow through us.--David & Jason Benham in Living Among Lions

For it is certain that whatever seeming calamity happens to you, if you thank and praise God for it, you turn it into a blessing.—William Law in A Serious Call To A Devout & Holy Life

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