"God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, that Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations." (Psalm 67:1,2)
When a disaster occurs, many evaluate the nature and ways of God in light of the calamity. In our passage, we see the true way that God desires to reveal His ways to the world. The psalmist prays that God would bless him and give him favor. As the people of God, we need His blessing and favor on our lives to be so outrageous that it unmistakeably reveals the goodness of God to the world around us. If His face is shining on us, the people around us will be able to look at us and see the ways of God in action. If we are not walking in His blessing and favor, they will look to earthquakes.
Asking God to bless us is the least selfish thing we could do. We need to shine with the ridiculous, over-the-top favor and blessing of God. We are called to be living examples of His goodness- the highest revelation of His nature.
What happens when He is merciful to us and blesses us? His salvation is known among the nations. Ask Him today to pour out tremendous blessing on your life. If you have a generous heart, He is glad to bless, because it reveals His nature to a lost and hurting world.
(This post is lifted almost exactly from a sermon by Bill Johnson, pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, CA. To view the sermon, visit www.ibethel.tv and visit the "free" section. The sermon is from March 13th.)
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