1 Peter 1:2b, “Grace and peace be yours in abundance.”

I think we really have missed out on a lot by dropping some traditions.  Obviously, there are traditions that could be dropped because not all traditions are good, but as we drop traditions that are from God, we miss out on His best. 

The Israelites did and many still do, speak blessings over other people.  Whether it is their family, or friends, or perfect strangers, they speak blessings over them.  I have seen a lot of things “spoken” over people and have even experienced it myself, over the years and many were far from blessings.  

Our words are powerful things and they can build up or destroy.  Not only must we choose wisely what words we use, but we must also recognize where hate-filled or negative words come from.  As out says in Matthew 15: 18-19, “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”  It is a heart condition and you can have victory by allowing God to work in your heart.  Give Him access to every area of your life without holding anything back and His spirit will give you the self-control you need.  It doesn’t usually happen overnight.  Change takes time and effort, but you can have victory.  One of the first things we all have to do in order to fully have victory in our lives and to live a life that is fully committed to Him is to let go of “self”.  We must daily decide that we aren’t going to make choices based on what we feel we are entitled to, but on what the word of God says.  It is a choice whether or not you will listen to God when He speaks to your heart.  He will not force you to say or do what is right, but He certainly would love to help and guide you.  He wants to have a closer relationship with you!  Remember this:  feeling entitled to have something in your life, at any cost is always the beginning of that slippery slide of satan’s to destroy you!  God wants to build you up while satan is trying to talk you into destruction.  It is amazing how tempting satan can make your demise….

It’s amazing how uncomfortable it feels to start speaking blessings over people.  It may be because we feel they will think we have lost our minds, but trust me everyone likes a kind word.  Maybe the place to start is to say it quietly to yourself when you see them, you don’t have to walk up to some stranger and throw out, “may God bless you and keep you and cause His face to shine upon your life.”  Hahahaha, you may end up being one of the few people these days who get “committed”, or you may “offend” someone and go to jail, so let’s not be crazy here.  Words and thoughts are powerful though, so you really don’t have to take it that far.  I have told this before, but I am going to throw it in here again:

I went to a conference years ago and the speaker wanted to point out how powerful not only our words were but how powerful our thoughts toward others are as well.  He picked 8-10 people out of the crowd, both men and women of different ages and races, and had them stand upfront. (One of those people was a friend of mine, so I know this wasn’t a set-up). He told us that he was going to have them turn their backs to us and he would either give us a thumbs up or thumbs down and we were to think good thoughts about the people up there if it was a thumbs up and angry and hateful thoughts toward them if it was a thumbs down.  When they would turn them around and ask them each time which way it went, they were right every single time!  My friend said it was amazing how powerfully she could feel it.  

What thoughts and words have a grip on your heart today?  What are they going to do to those around you and even to your own self-esteem?  Are you going to allow them to continue to destroy or are you willing today to give them to God and ask Him to help you turn your cursing into blessings?  Who will win today in your life ~ God or satan?  I would love to encourage you to ask God to help you begin to speak blessings over yourselves and everyone around you knowing that truly His best is yet to come!

Quote:  “It’s in the struggle itself that you define yourself.”  ~ Pat Buchanan