“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace” (Num 6:24-26; NIV). This was the blessing that the Lord told Moses to speak over the children of Israel; this blessing is timeless and still applicable today. The Hebrew word for bless is barach and means to “increase in prosperity.” Prosperity doesn’t just apply to our finances but to every area of our lives. We learn more about being blessed in Deuteronomy chapter 28 where it says that, “blessings will overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God” (Deut 28:2; NKJV). Read Deut 28:1-14 and see how blessed you are! In Psalm 1 we read about the blessing that comes on those that delight in God and His word. Verse 3 says that person will be like a vibrant tree and “whatever he does shall prosper” (Ps 1:3; NKJV).

In the New Testament, Matt 5:1-11 we have the Beatitudes which means supreme blessedness. In each beatitude we have to behave a certain way in order to be supremely blessed. We are also told by the apostle Paul that we are, “blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph 1:3; NKJV). It doesn’t get much better than that! Of course, there is so much more in the Bible with regard to being blessed but I close with this verse, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29; NKJV). That’s us!

“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptations to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Cor 10:13; NLT). As Christians we are still tempted to sin (James 1:1:4). When we became a Christian only our spirit was made new (John 3:3, 5-8), our souls and bodies (1 Thess 5:23) were not renewed. Temptation does not come from God (James 1:13). Our unrenewed soul can respond to its own evil desires and be tempted to sin (James 1:14-15) and satan will tempt us as well (Matt 4:1-10; Gen 3:1-5). We need to renew our minds (Rom 12:2) and discipline our bodies (1 Cor 9:27). The apostle Paul described the struggle both he and we face between our renewed inner man or spirit and our flesh, our body and soul (Rom 7:15-25). However, he follows that discussion with the marvelous victory statement in Romans 8:2 (NLT), “And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.” The power of the Holy Spirit within us brings life to our spirits that were dead in sin, power to enable us to walk in victory (Acts 1:8), direction to recognize and counter sin (Rom 8:16; 9:1) and power to change and become more like Christ (Rom 8:11; Gal 5:22-23)! We need to allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. Let’s get in the word and see how God can keep us from temptation and lead us in victory. Finally, Jesus through His sacrifice and victory won forgiveness for us (Col 1:14), never forget that.

“Jesus answered him, go in peace; your son will live! And the man put his trust in what Jesus said and started home” (John 4:50; AMPC). This was the royal official whose son was sick. He went to Jesus to ask Him to come and heal his son who was dying (John 4:46-54). I love this verse, the man simply put his trust in what Jesus SAID and it came to pass. I think you would call that simple faith. Another example is the Syrophoenician woman who wanted Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter in Mark 7:25-30. When Jesus simply SAID, “the demon has gone out of your daughter” (v29) she believed His word and went home and sure enough the girl was delivered. In Luke 17:11-19 we read about the 10 lepers that Jesus healed; again, they simply believed what Jesus SAID to them, “go at once and show yourselves to the priest.” They were healed as they went because of their faith in the words of Jesus.

You might be thinking it was easy for these people because Jesus was right there in the flesh. However, we have the words of Jesus on every page of our Bible and we can still put our trust in every word that is written because God is faithful.

Are you dealing with an impossible situation as each one of these people were? Find yourself a “word” from the Lord that pertains to your situation and put your trust in that word. Keep rehearsing it and speaking it until you also receive the answer like they did.

In the book of Acts we read about the growth and spread of the early Christian church, driven by the power of the Holy Spirit. “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit:” (Acts 2:4; NKJV). We could call the early church the “normal” church and nothing in scripture indicates that the church today should be any different. What did this church, as described in Acts, look like? (Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-35; 5:12-16; 9:10, 13,14). It was characterized by a great unity; everyone was in one accord. Wealth and belongings were shared such that everyone’s needs were met. It was a loving, caring community or fellowship. The word for fellowship used here is the Greek word, koinonia. This describes an intimate, spiritual communion between Christians and between Christians and God. Time spent studying the Apostles’ doctrine, which we find in our Bible, was a priority, as was prayer, praise and Holy Communion. In the early days of the church the apostles were the primary ones sharing the gospel and this was accompanied by signs, wonders and miracles and literally thousands of new converts were added to the church. As the church grew and spread many new local churches were established by apostles such as Peter and Paul and these apostles provided oversight, guidance, mentorship and encouragement. Small teams of elders were appointed to oversee, shepherd or pastor and care for each new local church (Titus 1:5). When we think of the growth of the early church above it is truly exciting to realize that we as Christians are part of that same normal church today! “For I am the Lord, I do not change” (Mal 3:6a).