Traditionally, most Christians consider the things they possess - cars, houses, clothes and money - as "blessings." To be honest, I used to think material things were blessings, too. But thank God for revelation from the Holy Spirit. Through Scripture, He showed me that these "things" are not blessings at all. Instead, they are simply the results, or the effects, of His blessing.

Now most study tools define the words bless, blessed, and blessing as being "happy or fortunate." Others say it is a "form of pleasure" or "an emotional, physical or financial condition." They focus more on the effects of the words rather than the words themselves.

For example, some people define the wind by what they see and hear. We've all heard the sound of wind chimes and seen tree leaves rustle. We've even heard the wind howl. What you're hearing and seeing, however, is not the wind, but the wind's effect. You see what I mean? They only represent the manifestation of the wind's presence and not its nature.

The same is true of the word blessing. Happiness, money and pleasure are only by-products of the blessing. It's fine to show me the results of the word, but I want to know its nature and origin. Show me what it's made of, because the substance of a thing is greater than its effects. Therefore, in order to understand the true meaning of what a blessing is, we must see it from a biblical perspective.

The Bible says, "The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it" (Prov. 10:22). A more accurate definition of the Lord's blessing is "an endowment of power, resulting in prosperity and success; a sign of special favor." To endow means "to bestow, to clothe, the crown and to lavish upon." Therefore, the Lord's blessing is the nature of His power, ability and anointing to bring about prosperity, success and favor. In clearer terms, the blessing is God's empowerment to prosper.

Think of God's blessing this way. It's His ability on your ability. It gives you the ability to do what you could not do before. Simply put, it is His super on your nature, giving you supernatural ability to do anything. I like that! Circumstances and situation can only change for the better when the blessing shows up!

The question is, what does the blessing make rich? Whatever is needed at the time. For example, when the blessing shows up in a poor man's life, it maketh him rich with money. If the blessing is activated in a sick person's body, it maketh him rich with healing. If a marriage is falling apart, the blessing maketh it rich in whatever that marriage needs to prosper and succeed. The blessing can take on any form and manifest itself however and whenever it's needed. Now that's powerful stuff!

The Blessing Vs. the Curse
The blessing is a positive force. It has an opposing force, however - a curse. I call it the backside of the blessing. Unlike a blessing, a curse is "an empowerment or endowment to fail." When someone is under a curse, he experiences more than the loss of material goods. He experiences failure in every area of life - finances, family, work, etc. Simply put, the negative force of a curse works against everything! On the other hand, when people live under God's blessing, they experience more than an increase in material goods - everything goes well for them. So the blessing of God makes you excel beyond your natural ability.

God has placed before us a decision concerning His will for our lives. He tells us to choose life. You see, God's perfect will is for you and I to operate under His blessing. The implication is that blessings are compatible with life, and curses are compatible with death. In essence, when we choose life, we choose God's best. As a result, we live in His perfect will.

Isn't it interesting that as He talks to the children of Israel, God mentions His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Although He was talking about the oath He swore concerning land, the heart of what He said is very powerful. The key issue here is not the land, but the promise. It's not about the tangible, but the intangible. And that's what we need to zero in on - the intangible promise of God.

Now a promise is "an assurance that one will or will not do something specified." When the Lord makes a promise, you can best believe He'll keep it! It's just not in His nature to go back on His Word. And Scripture says God can't lie, and His Word will always accomplish its purpose (Numbers 23:19 and Isaiah 55:11). This gives us the assurance that God always makes good on His covenant promises.

The origin of God's promise (or covenant) to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob can be found in Genesis 12. Notice God promised to "bless" Abraham. In other words, He promised to endow him with the power and ability to prosper, succeed and excel in every area of life. God didn't promise to give Abraham "things" or to make him happy. God swore to transfer to give Abraham the blessing - the ability, anointing and power to excel in everything he did!


Now there are three basic ways for the blessing to be transferred: inheritance, invocation and impartation.

As for inheritance, the Lord's promise to endow Abraham with power wasn't for Abraham alone. In Galatians 3:16, the scripture says Jesus is Abraham's Seed - the heir to the blessing. But it doesn't stop there. When you got born again, you, too, became Abraham's seed. In other words, you were adopted into a blessed family (see Eph. 1:3-5). Galatians 3:13-14 tells us that Jesus redeemed us from the condemnation so that we could be endowed with the blessing. Our born-again status in Him makes us equal heirs or the promise (Rom. 8:17 and Gal. 3:29).

The invoked blessing is different. It is transferred through spoken words or through physical touch. For example, according to Genesis 26:1-12, although Abraham's son, Isaac inherited the blessing by birth, God spoke the blessing over his life. And like his father, Isaac made an exchange of obedience for the endowment of power. Not only that, Isaac pronounced his blessing over his son, Jacob (Gen. 28:1-4).

Not the imparted blessing comes through association or connection. When Jacob worked in Laban's fields, the harvest increased. Genesis 30 tells us that because of Laban's association with Jacob, he experienced the effects of the blessing in his own life. You see, the blessing was made manifest as favor in Laban's life because he hooked up with Jacob - a blessing carrier.

That's why you can't afford to associate with folks who aren't blessing-minded. By this I mean, those who allow the spirit of poverty to operate in their lives. They are the ones who always have the poor, nothing-ever-seems-to-go-right-for-me mentality. Instead of looking for the blessing, they confess curses over their lives and see the results.

Now something else is very interesting about God's promise to Abraham. He said, "I will make of thee a great nation...and make thy name great..." think back to Proverbs 10:22, which says the Lord's blessing maketh rich. We see that in Abraham's life. Genesis 13:2 says he was very rich in cattle, silver, and gold. Read it yourself. The man was loaded! You see, the evidence or result of the blessing was Abraham's wealth. God's wind of blessing blew strong in his life, and its sounding chimes (or effects) were visible. In other words, Abraham possessed the intangible root to the fruit.

Now you should be asking yourself. What does that have to do with me? How can I get the root to the fruit?

Make the Exchange for the Blessing
Although God supplies the blessing, Abraham had to clothe himself with the anointing. He had to put on the blessing coat. It wasn't going to magically overtake him just because God liked the man. Abraham had to tap into the power in order to benefit from the blessing made available to him. Genesis 12:1 tells us what Abraham had to do: "... Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred...unto a land that I will show thee." In other words, "Abraham, get away from your folks and obey Me!" Abraham had to make an exchange for the blessing - his obedience for God's empowerment to prosper and succeed.

Honey, you already have the blessing! But, like Abraham, you must first make the exchange of obedience in order for the blessing to become operative in your life. When God asks you to do something, obey Him right away. That's the key to withdrawing the power that's already deposited in you. Therefore, don't be defeated by the devil, or your circumstances for that matter. You already possess the "stuff" to make positive things happen in your life. You have the blessing... you have the advantage. So go ahead, make the exchange today!

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