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Tuesday, February 11, 2014

The Art of Blessing

How many of you realize the difference, in blessing something, take your food as an example, and praying over it? I never really did think about it, until last Sunday at church. Brother John Kilpatrick preached at our church the Sunday before last, and preached a sermon on blessing. He himself stated that he never realized there is a difference until the Lord revealed it to him, so don’t feel bad if you didn’t either. 

He went to the book of First Peter, to get the Biblical text, for this teaching sermon.
1Peter 3:8-9  Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: 9  Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

Bro. Kilpatrick seemed to use this verse in a dual way. The first being how we should act, especially toward one another. Even in the world that we live in the Christian folks can tend to get sideways at times. Sometimes, we allow the cares of this world, to take our like-mindness, and toss it into the garbage can. We can live in a pretty pitiful way toward each other, not like this verse says to live.

I want to get right into the part, about blessing the things, in our lives. We can bless our loved ones. We can bless our homes, and other inanimate objects, that we use in our lives. We can bless our food, and this is where I want to hang out for a few words.

I have had several body dysfunctions, over the years like high blood pressure. I have also had two strokes, and a heart attack. Although, these calamities, in my life didn’t slow down my addiction to nicotine one bit, it did change the way, which I pray over my food. This was a typical prayer for me no matter what the occasion. It could have been Christmas dinner, or a fruit salad. It really didn’t matter.

“Father, in Jesus name, I come to you humbly, thanking you, and praising you for another day of life, and all the good things that you have given me. Thank you for this food, and I ask you to bless this food to the nourishment of my body. Father, if there be any part of this food that you simply can’t bless to my body, I ask you to not let it hurt me. In Jesus name, these things I do pray. Amen.”

Most folks found this to be quite humorous at pig roast!! I always thought that this was blessing my food that is until last Sunday. The way that you bless a thing is that you place the object, whether it is a person, object, or food in front of you. It is better if you can place your hands upon whatever it is. I know that most folks don’t want anybody touching their food, that they are about to eat, so touching the table will suffice. Once that is done, you start to speak a blessing, over the object.

This is what I found really cool in God’s world that I live in. I eat a lot of fruit. I love fresh fruit, and really don’t care too much for the stuff in the cans. It is not nearly the same thing. I was eating a banana the other day, when I was fairly new at the blessing deal. I took the banana into my hand, and started to peel the banana. While I was peeling the layers back I began to speak to the fruit.  

This is what I said;

“In the name of Jesus I bless you banana. To fulfill the course of life in which you were made to do. I bless you banana to be a blessing to the nourishment of my body. Give me the energy, and the strength to fulfill the will of the good Lord in my life today.”

This is the way that Pastor taught us to bless our food. Although, I really got a shock when I did this in this manner. Holy Spirit went to talking to me, and He always knows what He is saying, and the effect that it will have on me. He asks me a question. “Where do you think that this banana was grown?”   Not sure was my reply, probably Guatemala, Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, or some other country in South America.  Did you realize that, this particular banana was grown, that far away from you, with the intention of nourishing your body?  That was the sole purpose of that banana’s existence. That banana was meant for you, as soon, as that tree started to grow.

Ok, y’all should know by now, that I strongly believe, that nothing happens by accident in God’s world. I thought that was one of the best examples, of how the Lord takes care, of His children. Pastor John did go into detail of some of the effects, that blessing had in his life when he blesses things. He talked about objects, his home, and his family. I can’t go into the details that he did. However, you can go to the church website, and watch the video for yourself.

Actually, if you have never heard Brother John Kilpatrick preach I would recommend that either you go to my church’s website, or go to YouTube. He is on there preaching several different sermons. He is really a great preacher, and makes what he is talking about clear and understandable.

As Christian people I believe that we need to learn how to add blessing to our life. The best way that I know how to do this is to be a blessing to others. Please watch this sermon to figure out how to do this. He finished up that night, and I wasn’t there, and I have not seen the video yet myself. I need to get to the library where I can see the night service. I have been plagued by several problems this week. There is nothing that Jesus, and me can’t fix!!       Ain’t God good?

                 ….Much Love     

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