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December 30, 2020 1:00 am

The Power to Bless

If Not For God / Mike Zwick

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December 30, 2020 1:00 am

Blessing is a biblically grounded, positive, affirming vision spoken over someone's life with faith, shaping their identity and destiny. It's a gift that comes by God's grace, not reserved for the deserving, but available to all through the merits of Christ. By speaking blessing over others, we can release their potential and help them live a life of productivity, transformation, and spiritual growth.

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That's PRCUA.org. Welcome to If Not For God, stories of hopelessness that turn to hope. Here is your host, Mike Zwick. If Not For God with Mike Zwick. We have a real special blessing today. Pastor Alan Wright back with Mike and we got some really cool stuff to talk about here in 2021. It's there already, Mike? It is there already, and Dr. Alan Wright, he is the lead pastor of Rinaldo Church EPC in Winston-Salem, and he has written several books, and we're excited about a new book that he's got coming out on February 2nd of 2021.

And it is The Power to Bless. As a matter of fact, when I was looking at this book, I was actually reminded of a story, and it was on Paul Harvey, the rest of the story. It says, years ago, a teacher in Detroit asked Stevie Morris to help her find a mouse that was lost in the classroom. You see, she appreciated the fact that nature had given Stevie something no one else in the room had. Nature had given Stevie a remarkable pair of ears to compensate for his blind eyes. But this was really the first time that Stevie had been shown appreciation for those talented ears. Years later, he said that this act of appreciation was the beginning of a new life. You see, from that time on, he developed his gift of hearing and went on to become, under the stage name of Stevie Wonder, one of the great pop singers and songwriters of the 70s. And so when I look at that story, and that was the first thing that I thought of when I was looking at your book, Pastor Alan, but we were talking about just a minute ago, what does it mean to bless? Well, thank you for having me to be with you to talk about what is perhaps the dearest life message that I have been living by and parenting by and trying to build my marriage on and has been fueling everything I do as a pastor, the idea of blessing that I began learning about 25 or 30 years ago. And the story about Stevie Wonder is a great example, Mike, that is exactly what the power of an affirming word, like, hey, to a little kid, you've got great hearing.

And that could really be useful. What happens is that that does something to shape a child's identity. And it is out of our identity that destiny is released. I think the world has it completely backwards. We tell people, hey, don't let anybody tell you who you are.

You just look inside yourself and you'll be able to figure it out. No, the scripture says exactly the opposite. The scripture says that it's like we've got sin-tainted spectacles on, as John Calvin put it. We're all born in sin and we don't see the truth about ourselves.

And instead we're prone to believe lies about ourselves and get a wrong identity and live out of that, a wrong identity. And so what God has given to us is the power to bless. Blessing is, simply put, a biblically grounded, positive, affirming vision spoken over someone's life with faith. When the blessing becomes very powerful is when—you know how someone—think of someone that you love and you see a virtue in that person better than he or she sees it themselves.

It can be a very simple thing. But in the beginning, God made it clear this is the way He wants to fuel our productivity in the world. Because God blessed Adam and Eve and then He said, be fruitful and multiply.

I think most of my life, Mike, I was just looking at it just completely the opposite of that. I feel like that the world was telling me, if I'll be fruitful, if I'll be productive, if I'll do well, then I'll be blessed. And it creates a life of strife. But with God, the blessing comes first. He blessed, He affirmed, and then He said, out of that deep sense of your identity, out of that deep affirmation of who you are and what you're destined to be, from that you will find the power to be productive in your life. And so to bless someone is to see into their life according to the Scriptures and according to the uniqueness of the way that God has made them, and to affirm a vision over their life, speak it out. And I believe, Mike, that when we do that, that something greater than a mere compliment, something much more than wishful thinking, and something different than prayer happens. I think what happens is a mystical release of power for transformation and productivity and life. In other words, I think that the power to bless is the key to all growth and transformation if we're going to do it God's way.

Amen to that. In your book, you actually talk about the whole blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh, is that right? Yeah, I became fascinated by this seemingly obscure story of these obscure boys, Ephraim and Manasseh, years ago, because it's probably the most important family blessing in the history of Israel. Because every Sabbath, Hebrew fathers, to this day, Hebrew fathers, bless their boys saying, may God make you as Ephraim and Manasseh. Well, that's strange, because Ephraim and Manasseh are so obscure. You would think if there was going to be one blessing that God wanted to be spoken over children every single week, you might think it would be, may God make you like Elijah and Elisha, or may God make you like David and Solomon, or may God make you like Abraham and Moses, or something like that.

But Ephraim and Manasseh. And so it drew my attention, and many years ago, I believe the Lord gave me an insight about this strange story in a very short way, because it's a beautiful story, and to really get it, you need to look at almost the whole story of the life of Jacob. But to give a real quick synopsis, and maybe some listeners know the story, Jacob was the second born of twins, and he always felt like he was trying to get in first place. In fact, he was grabbing a hold of his brother's heel when he was born, and he connived and deceived. He stole his brother's birthright, and then in a moment of unbelievable deceit, Jacob actually pretended to be his brother Esau, so that he could pretend to be the firstborn, so that he could get that very special blessing that everyone in Hebrew culture understood was reserved for the firstborn son. The firstborn son in that culture would get a double portion of the inheritance, would be set apart by the patriarch of the family for a very special destiny, and on the whole, just the firstborn son got all the attention. Well, Jacob was the second born, and he felt like he could not be blessed unless he was in first place. So he put on some of his brother's clothes and put on some animal skins to make him feel hairy like his brother Esau, went in before his aged father Isaac, who was blind by that time, and tricked him. Now, the thing that's incredible about this story is that Isaac blesses Jacob, thinking it's Esau, and then Esau comes in and looking for the blessing. And Jacob has stolen it, Esau deserves it, and you would think, you know, the way we think in Western culture is, well, okay, no big deal, it's just words. Just take them back and say, I bless the wrong kid, I'll bless the right one now. That's not what happens.

Instead, what happens is striking, shocking. The text says that Isaac, when he heard this news and realized he'd blessed the wrong son, the text says Isaac trembled violently. And Isaac said, I have blessed him, I've blessed Jacob, and indeed he will be blessed. Mike, when I read that text and really went down into my depths of my soul some 30 years ago, it stunned me because what I realized is it is a proclamation, it is an affirmation that blessing has irrevocable power. You can't take a blessing back. You know, interestingly, curse can be broken, but blessing cannot. And even the sins of the parents go to the third and fourth generation, but there's a limit.

But the blessing of God goes on to generation and generation and generation and generation and never stops. So Jacob runs for his life because Esau wants to kill him. Jacob lives a life of striving his whole life. If anyone knows the story, of course, his son, beloved son, Joseph, is sold off into slavery by his brothers. And Jacob thinks that his beloved son Joseph is dead, but Joseph actually rules in Egypt.

And eventually there is a reunion in which Jacob realizes that Joseph was alive and an emotional scene of reunion and Joseph welcomes Jacob into Egypt. Well, during this period of time that Joseph was in rule as sort of prime minister of Egypt, God blessed him with two sons, Manasseh, the firstborn, which means in Hebrew something like forget. And the text says they named him Manasseh because God had made him forget all of his troubles. And then he had a second son while he was ruling in Egypt and they named him Ephraim. In Hebrew it would be Ephraim. And it's an interesting word because in Hebrew there is not only singular and plural, but there's also a double form. Ayim is the double form. It means twice. And Ephraim, Ephraim, means twice fruitful. So I had these two boys.

One was named forgotten all my troubles and the other was named twice fruitful. And when Jacob came to die, very much like when Isaac was nearing his death and Joseph found out about it, he rushed over and the main thing on his mind was he wanted his father Jacob, who is now called Israel, he wanted him to bless Joseph's boys Ephraim and Manasseh. So he brought him in and he put him before Jacob. And the first thing Jacob did was said I want to adopt them. This is part of the story.

We don't have time today to talk about it, but oh my it's beautiful. He adopted them so that they got a share of the promised land. They got a share of the inheritance. And then he proceeded to get ready to bless them. Joseph came and did the appropriate thing. He put Manasseh under Jacob's right hand because Manasseh was the firstborn and Manasseh deserved the firstborn blessing. And he put Ephraim, the second born, under his left hand because that's the sign of the lesser blessing.

But Jacob did a most odd thing. He crossed his his arms over and put his right hand on the younger son Ephraim's head and put his left hand on the firstborn's head. Well Joseph of course very respectful of his father and thought maybe his father just couldn't see well and didn't understand. So he literally took his father's hands and moved them back said no my father this is Manasseh he's the firstborn your right hand goes on his head and the left hand and the text says that Ephraim crossed his hands again and said I know my son I know.

Jacob essentially was saying I know what I'm doing. Unlike Isaac who didn't know what he was doing and when he blessed the wrong son Jacob said I know what I'm doing this is not an accident I'm putting my right hand on the undeserving second born's head to give him the strong firstborn blessing. So it's a story about the same way Jacob did about a undeserving son getting the blessing that should have been reserved for the firstborn son. Well why in the world does this become the blessing that Hebrew fathers are mandated to speak over their sons every single week? And it's so interesting to look and read all the rabbis throughout history who've tried to suggest why Ephraim and Manasseh.

You know the most prevalent answer amongst the rabbis the rabbinical literature is that Ephraim and Manasseh unlike the other siblings in the Bible they got along well together. Well that might be an impressive thing where there's no sibling rivalry indicated but surely there's something more than that that's going on and I think it's this Mike and this is what drew me into the story and thrilled my soul is that 2000 years or so 1500-1700 years later there was a firstborn son his name was Jesus Yeshua the messiah and he lived a sinless life and he deserved nothing but the right hand of blessing of his father but there came a moment in sheer obedience to his father's will to save the world that firstborn sinless son went to the cross and there he experienced God-forsakenness he experienced what it was like to feel the right hand of blessing in those moments as if it just lifted off of him and he cried out Elie Elie lama sabachthani my God my God why have you forsaken me and in that moment the unthinkable happened a great exchange for anyone who trusts in Christ the second born that's all of us the ones of the Ephraim the ones that are undeserving anyone who trusts in him God extends his right hand he crosses his hands and extends his right hand of favor and blessing to us as if we were the firstborn so Jesus took our curse and we got his blessing and I believe that God all those thousands of years wanted Israel rehearsing the gospel so every week in a Hebrew home when a father says may God make you as Ephraim and Manasseh and he blesses his sons he blesses his children without realizing it he is announcing the gospel long before Jesus ever came so Mike thanks for letting me to share with one of the dearest stories I think in the Bible Jacob in the end I think understood grace he understood that blessing is not something reserved for the deserving but blessing is a gift that comes by God's grace so in the book the power to bless we go all through that story and what else is symbolized in this Manasseh he's forgotten all my troubles I've forgotten all my troubles Ephraim twice fruitful all of this is pointing I think to some of the essentials of what we do in our blessings every day with one another we want one another to know that you can live a life and I want you to live a life in which you're not shaped by the troubles of the past you don't live out of the woundedness of yesterday but the forgiveness of God and the redemption and restoration of God so complete you can live live as if you've forgotten your troubles and to be twice fruitful is to have the power of God at work in your life by the gospel and maybe for some of our listeners right now you just need to hear this word you can be twice as fruitful as you ever would be by your own strength and power and to bless someone is to speak out the favor of God like Ephraim and Manasseh to speak about a future of favor that you haven't warranted but because of the merits of Christ you can receive all of that and so much more is in the power to bless Mike it's as you can see I get talking too much but it is a it is a thrilling journey to move in life from feeling unblessed to knowing yourself blessed ultimately we can become like Paul who says we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ and that blessing shapes our whole our whole destiny it really does and you know pastor Allen I could listen to you speak all day so don't worry thank you Mike thank you but but you know to make it a little bit personal you actually have a story from your own father is that right yeah well I had a wonderful dad who was very intelligent and gifted a tv newsman won the Edward R Murrow award for broadcasting was a pioneer in investigative reporting and was well known everywhere in the triad because he was on tv and of course I love my dad very much he coached my peewee football team and but when I was in fourth grade he left home he struggled off and on throughout his life with alcohol and so it limited the interactions you know that I had with dad and he like so many fathers in that generation I would hear stories all the time about how he would talk about me and my brothers to other people he would brag I mean almost obnoxiously I think talk too much about us but when it came to him actually looking me in the eye and saying son I'm really proud of you and here's why like so many in that generation I didn't ever hear that and there was a time in which dad had actually gone through some some therapy of his own and was doing well and we were meeting with a counselor together and I said dad I said there with my brothers and the counselor I said I'd like you to to bless me and you know it's interesting the counselor didn't really know what I was talking about my others didn't either so I explained much like I have with you how the Hebrew patriarchs blessed their sons how powerful it was to hear from a father a positive vision over his life and dad said he would when he came back to our next counseling session the blessing he had written was simple it wasn't it wasn't super spiritual or profound but I cherished those words as if they'd been spun with gold it is an incredible thing to have a person that's important to you to speak a life-affirming vision I wish it could have been more for me and so one of the things Mike I did was I sought out spiritual fathers and others who could speak blessing into my life and then made it the point in my life when I became a father I told my wife I said we're going to build our house and ground it on blessing and you know Mike I just would love for a listener so no this is not complicated it is deep it is mystical it is incredibly powerful but it is not complicated and in the book I actually have a blessing worksheet that anybody can learn to craft a blessing and and you can make it just part of your daily life you know maybe I could give an example I remember back when Bennett was little our son and we played golf together so much and he loved golf and I remember one day he was young maybe he's 10 years old we played golf and the very first hole he double bogeyed it he was a good golfer as a junior and so you know make a double bogey and you feel like oh I've ruined around already golfers can understand and I saw him I saw his face get a little red I know he felt like getting mad and just there's a thing that can happen in golf like you like in life if you get frustrated early on it ruins the whole rest of the thing and you got to find a way to move on so he did find a way to move on he played a good round and on the way home um here's how blessing works it's this simple uh we're just riding home I said Bennett I said you know I saw something today I said I'm really proud of you I said that first hole you botched it has a bad hole and I know you felt mad I know what it feels like you feel like getting frustrated just throw your clubs in the lake but you didn't and you pulled it together and then ended up shooting a really good round and I said um you know the bible's got a a phrase for that it's called self-control and I said you're young you're very young I said but I already am seeing in you a lot of self-control and in my experience of observing people men who have a lot of self-control go very far in this world I think you're going to go far because you have self-control well that self-control well that took about 30 seconds you know at most I was thinking back I don't remember my dad ever saying one single thing like that to me um I think most people hadn't heard those from people that they love and trust but you see how that can go in and shape an identity um Bennett went on to uh have extraordinary self-control in his life become one of the most disciplined kids academically ever seen he just graduated from duke law school uh and near the top of his class and I think part of it was he just can sit there and practice their self-control to put away other things you know and and study in the books well I think that's the way it works I I think it's it's a it's something that's very simple and we don't realize how powerful it is but parents can learn this coaches teachers uh and um and certainly we in our marriages and our friendships we can learn to bless and it's not hard it's not complicated but it is exceedingly powerful and far far reaching for the people we love yeah and I I saw where you said it was in the introduction or the beginning of the book and you said if somebody's reading the book or if they're they're listening to this and if they haven't encouraged other people or blessed other people you're not doing this to shame them and I've actually heard people say before that to look for the best in other people it's not what necessarily comes natural to us it may be something that we have to work on and it may not happen overnight is that right exactly because you know as soon as I start talking about this and I know there's a parent listening right now going oh no I I didn't raise my kids like that it's too late well the first thing you say is shame off you this is not about hey we didn't do it right this is about learning a new way that we can start today and it's about a proven process that's biblical that works and that anyone can learn to do and here's the beautiful thing remember all curse can be broken and blessing has irrevocable power so anybody listening and you want to start learning a life of blessing you can start today and I promise you it's not magic but it is God's way and it will start shaping others and it is to say for any of us who missed blessing and we needed it that we can learn to receive and and the book is designed Mike to not just teach people how to bless but also to actually bless them so it's it's a it's a book that others who have read and endorsed the book say this is a book that when you read it you're you're you're not only inspired and blessed but you learn to bless others and so I believe that the book will help people to do to do both so shame off you if you've if you've not been blessing others and shame off you if you haven't received a life of blessing let it all start today let it all start today and if people want to go ahead and pre-order the book there are a couple of websites is that right you can go to thepowertobless.com and there if you pre-order with our instructions then the pre-ordering process from Amazon we will be able to get you also a free audio book so a big value there it really helps the launch of the book for there to be lots of pre-orders so anyone that wants to help get this message out that really does help and there's some other perks as well thepowertobless.com and if you forget that you can always learn more about it and all of our resources at pastorallen.org. Well Pastor Allen I want to thank you so much for coming on the show today it's always a blessing to be able to talk to you you're so encouraging I first heard you on the Truth Network so if anybody's interested as well go check out Rinaldo EPC and definitely pick up a copy of the book The Power to Bless. Mike thank you so much for having me it's always always a privilege to be with you. You know if you're listening to this today and you're thinking gee I would like that second blessing on me right I want that right hand switched over and you've never done that I mean what an opportunity right now to pray with us Allen would you give us an example of how they could join in that second blessing? Yes in fact maybe better yet if you'd let me listeners let me speak this blessing over your life. May God make you as Ephraim in Manasseh knowing yourself in Christ adopted and secure safe in him forevermore being assured that by the merits of Christ that you have been redeemed and the past is over and the future is ahead of you you're not shaped by yesterday's mistakes and God's intention for you is to be fruitful by the power of the Spirit may you walk in the power and the fruit of the Spirit as he shows favor over your life today and every day with the right hand blessing of God. Wow amen if not for God Mike. If not for God thank you so much.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-01-10 02:00:11 / 2024-01-10 02:10:27 / 10

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