“…bless and progress.”

This morning, in my prayer time, God put it on my heart to pray that He would bless and progress me, my family and my church family. In response, He told me that in order for Him to bless and progress me, I must first bless and progress in Him. A wise man once told me “if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” That resonated with me this morning because I found myself coming to grips with the fact that I’d developed a sort of “comfortable Christianity”. There are several definitions for the word “bless” because it is multifaceted. For example, one definition says “to bestow good of any kind”, another “to protect or preserve”, and another says “to endow or favor”. I believe they’re all valid and reasonable definitions. The same goes for the word “progress”. One source defines progress as “growth or development” and another as “the forward course of action; advancement”. Again, valid and reasonable definitions. But in reading those, God spoke to me. He said how have you blessed others lately? You want me to protect, preserve, endow, and favor you – but how have you bestowed good on others? Then He flipped it and said, now how have you progressed in Me? You want me to grow and develop you into all I’ve called you to be, but how have you continued forward or advanced in Me? I was stunned. I was so convicted because I immediately began thinking of all the things I could be doing better in my life. I could definitely uplift people more often with kind words and gestures. I could give so much more to charitable causes. I could push the limits of my faith a little more. I could pray, study, Seek His face, and hearken unto His voice way more than I had been doing. There was so much more effort and time that I could give. While pondering these things, I was reminded me of how God chooses to bless and progress His people and He led me to Deuteronomy 28:1-14.

“The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.” (Deut. 28:8)

His blessings are supremely good but it’s unrealistic to think that God will bless and progress you if you have not been a blessing to His people or progressed in your walk and faith in Him. Babies must grow up and become adults that contribute to society. It’s silly to believe that they’ll stay babies forever. The same goes for us in Christ. We must grow from babes in Christ to mature Christians so we can become laborers and assets to the Kingdom of God. That, in itself, is the blessing that comes from progression, and that same progression can bless others. I pray you discover the ways you can further bestow good on others and how you can advance more in Him. You’ll find that He will protect, preserve, endow, and favor you amongst men and women. And not only that, He will reveal Himself more and more to you and His voice will become clearer as you mature in Him. I pray this helped you.

Praying always and love you dearly,
– The Praying Millennial

“The LORD will establish you
as a holy people to Himself, just 
as He has sworn to you, if you
keep the commandments of the LORD
your God and walk in His ways…” (Deut. 28:9)

Scripture references:
Deuteronomy 28:1-14
Colossians 3:17
Matthew 25:31-40

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