Skip to main content

🙌🏾 Blessed

 I keep hearing people talk about what we need to do in order to get God to bless us. “If you do this, God will bless you.” “If you just obey here, you’ll finally be blessed.” The implication is always the same: blessing is something we earn.

But lately, that line of thinking has started to rub me the wrong way—and here’s why.

🌱 The First Blessing Came Before the First Act

In Genesis 1:28, God creates mankind in His image. And before they do anything, it says:

“And God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion…’”

This blessing wasn’t earned. It wasn’t the result of righteous behavior. It was simply given—because they were made in God’s image. That blessing became the foundation for their purpose: to be fruitful, to multiply, to replenish what was empty, to subdue what was wild, and to steward creation with God-given dominion.

In other words, God blesses in alignment with identity and purpose—not performance.

And Paul echoes this in Ephesians 1:3:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.”

That means if we are in Christ, we are already blessed. We're not striving for blessing—we're living from it.

Jesus came to restore us fully into the image of God. As we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33), we are not chasing after blessings—we're aligning with the very image and purpose we were created for. The result? Everything else is added.

💰 A Gift, Not a Wage

If you can behave your way into a blessing, then it's no longer a gift—it becomes a wage.

But Paul says in Romans 4:4:

“Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation.”

And that's not how God operates. His blessings are grace-based, not performance-based. His mercy is not transactional. He gives and withholds according to His will—not according to our works. And before anyone accuses this of being a license to live recklessly, let’s be clear: this isn’t about living however you want. It’s about realizing that nothing we do earns us what only God can give.

🌳 Blessed to Be Fruitful

When God promises in Joel 2 to repay the years the locusts have eaten, it’s not just a promise to feel better or to make up for the pain. It’s a restoration of fruitfulness. It’s about reclaiming purpose. It’s always about restoring the image of God in us—so that we can walk out the blessing, not just receive it.

The blessing isn't for us to hoard—it’s for us to multiply, share, and plant.

🧭 Abraham: The Pattern Continues

Take Abraham. In Genesis 12, God tells him:

“Go to the land I will show you.
I will make you into a great nation,
I will bless you,
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.”

Notice the flow:

  1. Go – movement toward purpose.

  2. I will bless you – God-initiated blessing.

  3. You will be a blessing – fruitfulness with impact.

Later, in Genesis 13:17, God tells him:

“Walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”

This echoes Genesis 1:28 all over again—step, see, subdue, and take dominion. Not for ego, but for expanding God's presence on earth through faithful living.

👑 Jesus: Restoring the Blessing

Christ didn’t come just to bless us in a material sense. He came to remove the curse (Galatians 3:13) so we could again walk in the blessing—fruitful, purposeful, restored to the image and likeness of God.

So when we pray for blessings today, we should ask ourselves:
Am I asking to feel better? Or to fulfill the purpose for which I was made?

Because He’s not just blessing us for us. He’s blessing us to:

  • Be fruitful 🌾

  • Multiply 🌍

  • Replenish what’s been emptied 🧃

  • Subdue what’s out of order 🕊️

  • And walk in the image and authority of the One who made us 🙏🏾

🔁 Final Thought

We’ve spent too long thinking the blessing of God is a reward for behavior. But the truth is, it’s a gift rooted in identity—given so we can live in alignment with the One who created us.

So yes, you are blessed.
Not because you did everything right.
But because He is good.
And in that blessing is a call:
Go. Be fruitful. Walk in it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

You Are Mine

There are few things more powerful than being seen —truly, deeply seen. And there are few words more affirming than the ones God speaks in Isaiah 43:1: “But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.” This verse hits with the force of a knockout punch. It’s God stepping in and declaring: “I don’t care what you’ve been through. I don’t care what name you’ve answered to. I don’t care what’s tried to claim you—I ALREADY DID. YOU. ARE. MINE.” Let’s break it down. Jacob vs. Israel: Who You Were vs. Who You’ve Become God doesn’t just call one name in this verse—He calls two. Jacob and Israel. This isn’t accidental; this is intentional. 🔹 Jacob (Ya‘aqov - יַעֲקֹב) means supplanter, deceiver, heel-grabber. Jacob was the struggler, the one who grasped at what wasn’t his, the man who schemed his way through life. His name was tied to his flaws, his past, his reputati...
Post a Comment
Read more

Breaking the Lock and Key: A Call to Transformation

  1. Introduction: The Invisible Chains of Conformity “Do not be conformed to the image of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). This verse is not just a spiritual call—it’s a radical challenge to every system that seeks to mold us into something we’re not. Conformity, whether to cultural norms or religious rules, often feels inevitable. Yet, it can trap us in a cycle of dependency, where access to fulfillment, purpose, or salvation seems locked away by those in power. But there is another way. Transformation through the renewing of the mind is the antidote to conformity—a pathway to reclaiming the freedom Christ offers. To break free, we must recognize how the "lock and key" dynamic operates in the world around us. 2. The "Lock and Key" of Cultural Conformity The Chains of Expectation: From the moment we enter the world, we’re handed a script: achieve success, accumulate wealth, look perfect, and conform to society's defini...
Post a Comment
Read more

God's Desire for Us to Thrive

When we hear or read the words, “For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope,” we often stop at the comfort of the promise—but those thoughts aren’t vague. They’re visible. They’re written into the entire story of Scripture. From the Garden to the Kingdom, God’s intention has always been for His people to thrive. In Genesis 2, God didn’t create man and then look for a place to put him—He prepared Eden first, a place of beauty, abundance, and provision. Then He placed man in that garden. That is the heart of the Father: to position His children where they can thrive. Later, when delivering His people from Egypt, He didn’t just bring them out—He brought them in. Into a land flowing with milk and honey, a land He handpicked for them (Deuteronomy 8:7-10). Just like Eden, this land was a reflection of His desire to see His people not just survive, but flourish. We see this truth echoed throughout Scripture. Th...
Post a Comment
Read more