BE HAPPY. YOU ARE BLESSED!

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come, let me take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there."

And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland. Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me." Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not resort to sorcery as at other times, but turned his face toward the desert. When Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came upon him and he uttered his oracle.

Numbers 23:27-30, 24:1-3a

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After Balaam arrived in Moab, we saw how the king, Balak, tried twice to get the diviner to curse the Israelite people and in both instances, he was thwarted by Israel’s God who would not allow anyone to curse His people unless He approved it.

At the end of Chapter 23 and into the beginning of chapter 24, we see how Balak still refused to give up on his desires. And so he takes Balaam to yet a third location, "the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland", where Balak once again built seven altars and "offered a bull and a ram on each altar" as requested by Balaam. Of course, this was all done with the hope that maybe Israel’s God would change his mind and let Moab’s king be successful in bringing down a curse through Balaam. Through his actions, the Moabite ruler shows clearly that he still refused to understand that Israel’s God could not be manipulated so to carry our any man’s will. Rather, the one and only true God reigned supreme over all and every man and woman were expected to serve Him in complete, uncompromising obedience.

Well, after the altars were built and sacrifices made, Balaam once again goes before God and for a third time receives a message to share but this time was different. For we read where Balaam "saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel" and so "he did not resort to sorcery as at other times” but “turned his face toward the desert". Here, right before our very eyes, we see a radical change happen inside of Balaam, all brought about by the God of Israel. It may have taken two prior encounters to  make it happen but Balaam learned a very important lesson and one we need to learn as well:

God expects us to bless others, not curse them

Notice that when Balaam’s heart saw how blessing others would please the Lord, then the "the Spirit of God came upon him". And the same will happen for any of us too.

Indeed, the spirit of blessing others is rooted in the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, Spirit who dwells within anyone who places their belief in Jesus and serves as a Counselor and Friend. He is a member of the Trinity, sent from God the Father to guide and lead us through life, ever guiding us to live as Jesus did.

When we are filled with this Spirit, we can’t help adopt a life attitude that is filled with love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, reconciliation, righteousness, and a committed willingness to edify others through all of these. In other words, we become a blessing to others, just as the Lord is a blessing to us. We seek to bless others because He ever seeks to bless us.

And what a joyous life we gain when we live a life of blessings. Consider the words of Jesus as He opens His Sermon on the Mount, His first significant teachings in ministry. Here’s what He had to say about being blessed:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in Heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Matthew 5:3-12

These verses form what has widely been called the Beatitudes and as we see, each statement from Jesus begins with the word “blessed”. The Greek word used here is also translated as “happy”.

Once, I hear a pastor preach on this passage and refer to these verses as “Be Attitudes" with "being happy" as the main theme. Thus, we could refer to them as the “Be Happy Attitudes".

In other words, the first Beatitude would read, "Happy are the poor in spirit for theirs is the spirit of heaven."

And this would be followed by "Happy are those who mourn for they will be comforted."

In other words, no matter what our life circumstance might be, there are reasons to still feel blessed and happy because we have the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit always with us. They’re ever ready to guide us, protect us, heal us, comfort us, and love us. We need to never lose sight of these truths and seek to show a "Be Happy" attitude within every day that the Lord gives us for when we do, we will truly find our way to rejoice and be glad in life (Philippians 4:4).

Friends, it’s my prayer that you realize this in full measure today and in every day yet to come.

Be happy. You are blessed!

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.