Verse of the Day 2/5

Ezekiel 34:26  And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing.  English Standard Version (ESV)

Yesterday we considered how God "directs our steps".  If we walk in His steps, following as He leads we will be blessed and part of being blessed will mean that we will be a blessing to others.  The thoughts bring to mind Genesis 12:3 where God tells Abraham that he will be blessed to be a blessing.

Genesis 12:3The Message (MSG)

^2-3 I'll make you a great nation
        and bless you.
    I'll make you famous;
        you'll be a blessing.
    I'll bless those who bless you;
        those who curse you I'll curse.
    All the families of the Earth
        will be blessed through you."

Charles Spurgeon states that "None of us can bless others unless God has first blessed us.  We need divine workmanship.  God makes His people a blessing by helping them. What can we do without God's help?"  He goes on to say " I can say myself, that I never did anything which was a blessing to my fellow creatures, without feeling compelled to do it."  As God directs our steps, we are compelled to do His will.  It comes from Him, and He works through us, to be a blessing.

Spiritually, the world around us is barren parched and dry but God brings showers of blessing to this thirsty world when God directs the steps of His children.  The same applies to us as it did to Abraham, as it did to Charles Spurgeon.

Galatians 3:9-10 So those now who live by faith are blessed along with Abraham, who lived by faith—this is no new doctrine! And that means that anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure. Scripture backs this up: "Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the law."   The Message (MSG)

Instead of being "doomed to failure" in following our own plans and desires, when we live by faith, in His steps, we will be blessed and others will be blessed through us.

1. • Channels only, blessed Master,
     But with all Thy wondrous pow'r
     Flowing through us, Thou canst use us
     Every day and every hour.
2. Just a channel full of blessing,
   To the thirsty hearts around;
   To tell out Thy full salvation,
   All Thy loving message sound.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Ezekiel 34:26-27The Message (MSG)

^25-27 "'I'll make a covenant of peace with them. I'll banish fierce animals from the country so the sheep can live safely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest. I'll make them and everything around my hill a blessing. I'll send down plenty of rain in season—showers of blessing! The trees in the orchards will bear fruit, the ground will produce, they'll feel content and safe on their land, and they'll realize that I am God when I break them out of their slavery and rescue them from their slave masters.