The Story of God: The Power of Blessing

Every one of us craves approval, acceptance and love. We were created this way. And my guess is that most of us know what it’s like to live with the lack of approval, acceptance and love. That’s why as we return to the Story of God, I want to take a closer look at the blessing Isaac gave to Jacob. For there is power in the blessing. There is power in the blessing to make a difference right now in all your relationships: whether that be your relationships with your children, your grandchildren, your spouse, and even your friends. What Esau lost and Jacob received all those many years ago, is what every one of us needs… and what every one of us CAN GIVE. So if you brought your Bible with you today, let me encourage you to return to Genesis 27, where we’re going to unpack this blessing and see the potential we have to bless others.

Here then is the first way we can give blessing to others. By Giving Meaningful Touch                     Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”

Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank.  Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.” So he went to him and kissed him.

When Isaac invited Jacob to kiss him, he began his blessing in a very tangible way, by giving him meaningful touch.  The Hebrew word for “come close” is very descriptive. It is used of armies drawn together in battle. It is used to picture the overlapping scales on a crocodile’s skin. The idea behind this word picture is “a very close connection.” A hug! A Kiss! What I love about this is that Isaac wants to give a hug to his son who is forty years old. And the meaning for us is significant.   We still need hugs as adults.

This past week, Becky and I went to Phoenix to meet with a few other church planting pastors in Arizona. When my coach, Eric, greeted me, he didn’t just shake my hand, he threw his arms open and gave me a hug. I was struck by that. There’s just an acceptance, a welcome that’s communicated when a hug is offered. As I was digging into this two weeks ago, it struck me that I hadn’t given Courtney any hugs lately. But one thing I’ve noticed when I give her a hug, its always received, a she always leans in. It’s like her soul is nourished when her dad hugs her.

But think about it: Meaningful touch is one thing we all need. In a recent study done at UCLA, it was found that just to maintain emotional and physical health, men and women need eight to ten meaningful touches each day. This study estimated that if some “type A driven” men would hug their wives several times each day, it would increase their life span by two years. Men you want to live a couple more years? Start hugging your wives more, hold their hands more, kiss more. Giving meaningful touch is powerful. By it we can give blessing. Through it we can give approval, acceptance and love.

The early church had a good handle on this. Paul often urged brothers and sisters in Christ to “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” 1 Corinthians 13:12. Peter encourages us to “Greet one another with a kiss of love.” 1 Peter 5:14. Did you know that for the first generation of Christians, greeting one another with a kiss was a sign of the transmission of the Holy Spirit. During their practice of the Lord’s Table, after they had given thanks, the words spoken were “pax vobiscum” “peace to you”, after which members of the body of Christ would kiss one another. Thus they recognized that they became one in the Spirit, enabling them to receive communion as “one body and one soul.”

There is power in meaningful touch. I am becoming more and more convinced that one way God would have us be a blessing to others… one way He would have us help unbelievers experience the accepting love of Christ, is through the welcoming power of a hug or a kiss.   That’s one way we can give the blessing to others: through meaningful touch. Now, here’s the second way:

2. Expressing Words of Worth  When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.”

Smells are powerful things. Every time I smell freshly mown grass I am immediately reminded of growing up at Salem Golf Club. That smell was the smell of spring time, the smell of fresh air, the smell of life.   It’s a great smell. Here, Isaac uses this word picture to speak value into his son’s life. The words, “The smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed,” was meant to impart great value to his son. A picture that comes to mind when you think of a field the Lord has blessed is that this was a fertile field that has produced a bumper crop. It’s the very picture of God’s blessing. They were an affirmation that God was with Him and that God had already abundantly blessed him.

But the funny thing most of us struggle speaking this way. We’re afraid if we tell someone how great they are, they’ll get a big head. And that can happen. But God doesn’t want us to be stingy with our words. Paul says it this way: Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11.

In Proverbs 16:24 we are told: Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Gracious words, affirming words, build us up. They don’t puff us up and give us big heads; they build our hearts and give us courage to live for Jesus. That’s what Isaac was doing here. He was building up his son by letting him know that God’s favor rests on Him.

Each one of us need this kind of blessing! Each one of needs to hear that we are approved, not perfect, but loved. Even Jesus received similar words of affirmation. In Luke 3:22, before Jesus gave a single sermon or performed a single miracle, the Father spoke these words over Him: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”   If Jesus needed to hear gracious Words from His Father, how much more do we?

So I want to encourage you to try this this week: Speak gracious words to a friend, your son, a grandchild this week. Perhaps its as simple as picking up the phone and calling your granddaughter and telling her that you see the kindness of her mother in her, or your grandson and tell him, you believe God can use him to great things. Maybe you could send a note of encouragement to a friend. Maybe you could invite a neighbor for dinner and tell him some of the good things you see in his life. Try speaking words of value and see what happens. There is power in your words: gracious words give life! Encouraging words give life! What an opportunity we have to bless others with our words!

Expressing words of value is a second way we can bless others. Now Isaac shows us a third way we can bless others, By Picturing a Promising Future  Isaac now speaks to his son and paints a picture of a special future for him, saying: “May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness – an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”

When Isaac spoke these words, much of his son’s blessing lay in the future. Jacob was not swamped with people wanting to bow down to him, and he had no land or flocks of his own that God could bless. Yet the picture of a fulfilling future was a powerful gift. The picture gave him the security of knowing he had something to look forward to.

Months before coming to Arizona to plant a church was ever on my radar, God gave me a picture of a promising future from Peter’s encounter with Jesus on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was a master at giving a picture of a promising future. Listen to this encounter from Luke 5: One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God.  He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.”  So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

What God revealed to me from Peter’s encounter was this: That if risk following Jesus, he will lead me to a Church that has already seen its best days, a community that’s been fished out. But if I follow Him and lead them to follow Him, He will blow the doors off the place with a harvest like this!

Then after coming here, that picture evolved. I began to see from God’s original promise to me that He was bringing me to be part of a generation that’s been fished out. But if I take the risk of following Him here, and I help you learn how to follow Him here, He’s going fill our boats! He’s going to not only give us a harvest, but right now and in the days ahead many of you will experience the most fruitful ministry of your lives.

We have a promising future! Not only has God brought us to be part of His working at Robson Ranch, but He has also given you children and grandchildren, friends and neighbors to bless in the same way. There is power in picturing a promising future for a son or grandson, a daughter or granddaughter. We live in a day where looking at the future from a worldly perspective is quite uncertain. But we have a different perspective. That’s why we’re walking through the story of God. We know how the story ends! It ends with Jesus on the throne and every knee bowed. We have this hope, but so many do not. If there were ever a time where we learned how to bless others with words of a promising future, its now!

There is power in blessing. And we’ve been blessed to be a blessing – through meaningful touch, through gracious words, by bringing hope, and finally by… Bringing God Into The Blessing

When Isaac began painting this picture of a promising future for Jacob, he introduced someone to the equation: GOD! He said, May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness – an abundance of grain and new wine.

By bringing God into the blessing, Isaac was acknowledging that any ability that he has to bestow such a blessing comes not from him, but from an all-powerful and gracious God. He was teaching his son, what we’ve learned from the New Testament, that Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like the shifting shadows. James 1:17

By bringing God into the blessing, Isaac was teaching his son that God is personally concerned with his life and well-being. At this point we can assume that Jacob had an intellectual faith in God, but to believe that God was truly interested in prospering his life in the ways of this blessing – well, this remained to be seen. So by bringing God into the blessing, Isaac was awakening his son to his own need for a personal faith.

By binging God into the blessing, Isaac was imparting a sense of security that he himself could not give. Imagine how comforting it was for Jacob to realize that God was for him, and God was going to be with him. It may not have sunk in at the time, but it was about to.

So here’s the point with this final act of blessing: When we bring God into the blessing we want to impart on others, we bring the power, grace and the personal reality of God’s love for us into the equation. Think about it this way: When you say to a friend: “May God bless you with His peace, His love and a long and prosperous life” how do you think that friend will respond? Let’s try that out. I want you to take the next two minutes to say just that to three people around you. Take a moment and think about what you are about to say. Take that persons hands, look them in the eyes, and if you can say it like you mean it, then say it. Okay, let’s do this. Please stand and bless someone near you.

So now go and be a blessing! But before you go, I want to share God’s blessing on you:

“May the Lord bless you and keep you;  May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; May the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ Numbers 6:24-26