How to Receive A Blessing

DON’T FORGET THE OFFERING

MIDWEEK REVIVAL | September 25

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Genesis 48:9 NKJV

9 Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.” And he said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.”

Title: Blessing 101

Pray

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Illustration: Granny made us come get our Christmas present

We are going to be walking through the narrative of Genesis 48 as we talk about the last moment of communication that Joseph has with his father.

He brought his sons with him who had been born during Joseph’s time in Egypt.

This entire passage that we read is summarized by saying that Joseph entered into the room with the intention of having Israel bestow blessing upon his kids.

Many of us love the concept of being #blessed.

The massive square footage #blessed

The new car on the insta stories #blessed

The fresh kicks #blessed

But I think it would benefit us to come to an understanding early on in our conversation about what the word blessed actually is and what it means.

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Blessing is a posture

Israel tells Joseph to bring the boys to him because he is going to “bless” them.

We all assume this means he is going to speak destiny over them.

He is going to give land or fortune to them.

But the word bless in Hebrew is actually much more simplistic than that.

Bless = brk = kneel

The call to blessing is a call to submission.

Blessing in the biblical sense is not a gift to be acquired but rather a posture to be assumed.

When we understand that blessing is a posture…it makes us independent of our circumstances.

Deuteronomy 28:3 NKJV

3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.

No matter where you are…or what you’re going through, you can be blessed because being blessed is simply living in submission.

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Long story short this entire chapter is about Joseph’s steps to get his sons in position to be blessed by his father Israel. I believe this story has some parallel principles that we can apply in order to put ourselves position to receive a blessing from our father.

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1. I Have to be Present to Be Blessed Genesis 48:1

Genesis 48:1 NKJV

1 Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, “Indeed your father is sick”; and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

Joseph understood something significant about the blessing of the Father…

He will not bless something he does not have access to.

Joseph didn’t try and get Israel to instill a blessing on his children without bring his children and presenting them before the one of whom he was asking a blessing.

__________ Intentionality not Interuption

We pray for blessing but we want blessing to show up as interuption to our regularly scheduled programming.

We want God to bless us financially without taking any steps to present our finances to Him.

We want God to bless our families without taking any steps to present them to Him.

We want God to bless our marriages but never present our marriages to Him in the form of praying together.

Rarely is blessing an interruption, often it is a response.

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2. I Have to be Surrendered to be Blessed

Genesis 48:8–13 NKJV

8 Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?” 9 Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.” And he said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.” 10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, “I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also shown me your offspring!” 12 So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him.

When Joseph brought Ephraim and Mannasseh before Israel, he was still in charge of them.

At the end of the day they were still Joseph’s sons

But in order for Joseph’s sons to experience the paternal blessing of Israel…Joseph had to yield to the paternal authority of Israel.

Joseph brought his sons to Israel…and then Joseph bowed down.

This was a symbolic gesture of surrender. He was giving Israel the right to bless his kids from the perspective of a paternal authority

We are asking God to bless something that is not his property.

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You can’t improve what you do not have rights to We made a lot of changes to this property since we took possession of it in September of 2022.

We didn’t let one paint brush touch the wall until we had a signed lease that gave us an element of ownership.

If we want God to change our situation…we have to exercise surrender!

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3. I don’t get surveyed for what I’ve surrendered

Genesis 48:14–17 NKJV

14 Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 And he blessed Joseph, and said: “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day, 16 The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” 17 Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.

I have no problem surrendering things to God

I have a problem leaving things surrendered to God.

When we surrender something into the hands of God, we have a preconceived notion of how we believe God is going to use our surrender.

I have been following Jesus for almost thirty years now…I have yet to see him do what I expected Him to do.

The blessing of God is always beautiful but rarely predictable.

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What do you do when God chooses to bless you in a way that you were not expecting.

We all love the concept of unexpected blessings…

But I believe that unexpected blessings are frustrating sometimes because unexpected blessings have a tendency to be unnoticed blessings.

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I prayed for a ministry…I didn’t pray for the road

We prayed for God to help us know how to arrive a place to do ministry in the way we are now.

In January of 2018 I felt the Lord speak to me about giving us the desires of our heart.

That is a call to blessing

The road to that blessing was paved with brokenness

Loss that we didn’t want to go through

Turmoil in ministry

Financial hardship and uncertainty

But we have seen the goodness of God come out of the badness of some of those seasons.

Because God blesses us in unexpected ways sometimes.

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We can’t forget that his unexpected blessing is how we got here.

Joseph’s current prosperity is a result of unorthodox blessings.

The fact that Israel has the position and means to bless in the way we read about is the result of an unorthodox blessing.

Esau’s birthright, Esau’s blessing, Laban’s wealth

The fact that Joseph is able to bring his sons for this blessing is unorthodox

Joseph is not the firstborn of Israel

We love the unexpected nature of God’s favor when it benefits us…but when it goes against our preconceived notion we back off of our trust.

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4. I Have to Trust the Plans of My Father

Genesis 48:18–20 NKJV

18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’ ” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

Ultimately, Joseph had to realize that Israel knew what he was doing.

The blessing he was bestowing was not exclusive but it was in order.

He intended to bless Manasseh as well as Ephraim but he had an intended order that went against the assumed intended order.

We have an unspoken list of priorities that we think God has for our life…but sometimes I don’t understand the priorities of God.

Isaiah 55:8 NKJV

8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

The thing you want blessed is going to be blessed if it is surrendered.

The only parts of our lives that God doesn’t bless when we walk in surrender are those things that are actually burdens.

The key to living in blessing is learning to walk in a high level of trust.