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Pray is such as special gift from the God of our creation.

We may not have instant and direct access to the President, the governor, the mayor, the CEO, the Athletic Director, your pastor or even one another sometimes…

But, we always have direct access to God through our Lord and Savior Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ).

the Bible teaches us through prayers and supplications to make our requests made known to God…

Philippians 4:6 (NKJV)

⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

There have been times that after I have finished praying, I have wondered…did I miss something?

I thanked God.

I asked for forgiveness of my sins.

I prayed for provision, protection and other things.

I prayed for others…

Did I forget something?

But, then I remembered that we are created in the image of God. That means that we can have His character…His essence.

We can love like Him. We can nurture like Him. We can take care of our children the way He takes care of His children.

So, our children don’t have to make a point to specifically ask every day for us to:

Feed them…

Protect them…

Provide the things they need.

The fact is that many times if they simply come to us, unsolicited…

If they approach us ‘out of the blue’ and with obvious sincerity expressing, I LOVE YOU…and we know that it’s real.

That sincere and unselfish expression of love provokes us to WANT to do something to show them how much we love them. Sometimes it makes us want to do something special for them.

I think we have that reaction because we are created in God’s image. Maybe He sometimes reacts the same way towards us when we bow heads prayer or lift our hands in praise and unselfishly, sincerely express I LOVE YOU! I TRUST YOU! I BLESS YOU! And, I JUST WANT YOU TO BE PLEASED WITH ME!

Remember, prayer isn’t only giving God a laundry list of our needs, but an opportunity to express our love for Him.

Every now and then, just thank God and tell Him that you love Him.

Psalm 103:1-2 (NKJV)

Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
² Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:

BE BLESSTIFIED!

Sometimes it’s unsolicited. Sometimes it’s because of something you said or did. Sometimes it’s a response to something you posted…

An insult is hurled at you!

It happened to Yeshua the Messiah often. They called him…

A glutton…

A drunk (winebibber)…

Crazy…

They accused him of being possessed by a demon.

He was mocked the night before He was crucified. He endured all that foolishness for us.

And, He warned us that we would be treated the same way too for speaking up for Him…

John 15:18-25 (NIV)

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’^[a] If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.²¹ They will treat you this way because of my name,for they do not know the one who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ Whoever hates me hates my Father as well.²⁴ If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’^[b]

So, what do we do when someone insults us? Do we insult them back?

The Lord made it very clear what we are to do…

1 Peter 3:9
Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing,because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

We are to bless them.

“God bless you.”

“Peace to you.”

“I love you with the love of Christ!”

Even though it’s not your intention to offend them, it usually frustrates people when you respond to their insult with a blessing. The demons that are provoking the insult get irritated, just as they got restless when Yeshua, Jesus, approached them in the Bible.

Matthew 8:28-29 (NKJV)

²⁸ When He had come to the other side, to the country of the ^[a]Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

After blessing them, pray that God softens their heart to His love, will, and word.

And remember this…

Matthew 5:10-12 (NKJV)

¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. ¹² Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Respond to ‘Eff You!” with ‘Bless You!’

BE BLESSTIFIED!

In our society today, many people consider blurting out exactly what’s on your mind equates to strength and assertiveness.

How many times have you wished that you could have some visceral response back and ‘unsay’ some words that you released?

Many people claim that…

“I couldn’t help it!

“I couldn’t hold it in!”

“I just had to say it!”

In doing so, many people have embarrassed themselves or ruined their name, reputation, career, relationships or sown discord and driven a wedge between close friends or relatives.

Or, worst of all we can ruin our testimony for Christ.

Sometimes it’s best to just HOLD IT IN!

The same people who say they can’t hold in their verbal response will hold in their flatulence.

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No one is going to blurt out a loud, smelly fart that will embarrass them in public.

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Holding in the hot air that comes from your mouth and behind both take the same level of restraint!

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Even the word of God tells us that it’s best to sometimes ‘keep it to ourselves’…

Proverbs 13:3
The one who guards his mouth preserves his life;
The one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

Proverbs 21:23
He who guards his mouth and his tongue,
Guards his soul from troubles.

Proverbs 17:9

He who covers a transgression seeks love,
But he who repeats a matter separates friends.

James 3:1-12

My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. ² For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a ^[a]perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. ^3 [b]Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. ⁴ Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. ⁵ Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.

See how great a forest a little fire kindles! ⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of ^[c]iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of ^[d]nature; and it is set on fire by ^[e]hell. ⁷ For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. ⁸ But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the ^[f]similitude of God. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. ¹¹ Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? ¹² Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? ^[g]Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.

As we ask God to help us to guard our tongues, let’s remember that SELF CONTROL is a Fruit of the Spirit.

BE BLESSTIFIED!