A friend of mine gave me the Passion translation of Genesis that just was released, and I was struck immediately in the introduction by something that was said about blessing. Genesis is full of talk of God’s blessing, and yet I realized I had a bad definition of blessing. I had always thought of it as the “good stuff” like riches, power, freedom, etc. You know, sort of like the opposite of a curse.
But Brian Simmons defines God’s blessing this way: “to empower for abundant living in every sphere of life.” (The Book of Genesis, Passion Translation, pg 3) And yes, sometimes that includes financial provision, authority, relationships, success and the like. But the blessing of God goes deeper than those fleeting pleasures in which you will find no contentment.
We often confuse the external evidences of God’s blessing with the actual blessing. We think we need the money, power, etc to be able to have abundant life. But really, God is saying that He has empowered us for abundant living regardless of what circumstance surrounds us. So, the nice effects that we enjoy are not the empowerment—we are empowered regardless of what the situation is!
I think this is incredibly important for two reasons. One, it means that it isn’t up to us to be enough for the place in which we find ourselves today. God has bestowed on us His blessing of empowerment through the life of Christ within us, saying that we have been made complete (Col 2:9-10). Do you believe that you already have everything you need for today when you acknowledge your Source is Jesus’ Life rather than your own determination or self-will? You don’t need to add anything or attain anything—He is already available to be exactly enough for everything today. You just get to ask for Him to be as you lay down your own trying in your own strength.
The second reason I think this is incredibly important Is it reminds us that the state of being in which we wake up this morning is not to be our definition. Whether it be physical illness, depression, a challenging relationship, anxiety, poverty or any other hard situation—they do not get to define us. We are empowered by God, and we are more than conquerors already in whatever circumstance we face. That is our definition. So, rather than walking in a defeated mentality while allowing the painful or fearful things to dictate our days, let’s look expectantly to Jesus each moment for the provision and empowerment and thank Him that it’s already within us.
Everything we could ever need for life and complete devotion to God has already been deposited in us by his divine power. For all this was lavished upon us through the rich experience of knowing him who has called us by name and invited us to come to him through a glorious manifestation of his goodness. As a result of this, he has given you magnificent promises that are beyond all price, so that through the power of these tremendous promises you can experience partnership with the divine nature, by which you have escaped the corrupt desires that are of the world. 1 Peter 1:3-4