The Lord Bless Thee

Numbers 6: 24-26.... "The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."

This has been called the Aaronic benediction because God had told Moses to speak it to Aaron and his sons. The first time I actually heard it was when, as I was watching on TV, Pastor Chuck Smith sang it to his Calvary Chapel congregation at the close of a service. I later learned that he did that every time. Isn't it absolutely beautiful? You can 'dig into' this benediction (study-wise) without spending a whole lot of time, and yet it is so rich. I want to bring it right to us today...

."The Lord bless thee"- To bless is to confer divine favor upon, and it is the Lord Himself who bestows His own blessings upon us, His beloved children. If you have received Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you are His child, and whether you realize it or not, you are the object o f His great affection...

Sometimes this truth hits me so hard, I can barely take it all in! Because of Christ, I am in His favor!...

"and keep thee"- The believer is 'kept' by the power of God. We sometimes fear that we will somehow fall out of favor with God as we hit the severe bumps and take the many blows that life has to offer, or when we feel less 'spiritual' some times than at others, or the times our behavior is not as it should be in every circumstance...

What keeps you at those times, and at every single moment of your life? The power of God! I love the way the Rev. R. Brant Baker put it one time, "If this or that or the other happens in my life, He will keep me, and if He didn't keep me, I wouldn't have been kept!" Brant understood the keeping power of the Lord in his life. Do we?....

"the Lord make His face shine upon thee"- in acceptance and favor, which, remember, we always have- Ephesians 1:6..."He hath made us accepted in the Beloved", and CHRIST is the 'Beloved"- we are accepted because of His sacrifice....

"and be gracious unto thee"- Every Christian is a recipient of God's grace- that means you and that means me!..."The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee"- bestowing upon us the beauty of His Glory and indescribable Presence....

"and give thee peace"- not the absence of turmoil, or of unsettling events, but His Peace...'And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:7)...'Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid' (John 14:27)......

Beloved, this benediction is my prayer for each and every one of you-

En Agape, pastor Jim