PowerPoint

Guest (Male): Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham. God invites us to pray boldly and to pray in faith, believing because the blessing of God means that we have his provision. On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about God's promise to provide, protect, and give peace. Now, here's Dr. Graham with his message, "The Blessing."

Jack Graham: Take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Numbers, chapter six. That's the sixth chapter in your Old Testament, the book of Numbers. Bless you, God bless you. We say it, we say it a lot. We sing it. We hear it often. We post it. We text it. What does that mean? What is the blessing of God? In the Hebrew language, the word blessing is used over 300 times in the Old Testament. The Greek language, *Makarios* is the word. It's used multiple times, many, many times, including from the lips of Jesus when he said, "Blessed are you when..." and he gave us those magnificent blesseds or beatitudes.

In front of us today is one of the most important blessings in history. It came to the Hebrew people through the priests, but really it came from God himself because God advised, counseled, commanded Moses to tell Aaron, the head of the priest, to deliver this prayer and to bless the people of God. And while this was a prayer delivered to Israel as a nation, as a people, it certainly includes us as Christians because we are now a part of the family of God. And according to Ephesians 1:3, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Jesus Christ. We have these blessings, so the blessings of God certainly we cherish and we claim them as well.

The Lord bless you and keep you, says verse 24. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. So then they shall put my name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them. And again, God says to you today because make this personal, not just national. God is saying, I will bless you. What is the blessing of God? It is the favor and faithfulness of God upon our lives. It is the love of God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ abundantly provided.

And these blessings, they belong to us. And this is a blessing. It is a prayer that we can pray. I'm praying for a new season of blessing, that God would pour out blessings like we've never known or seen. God invites us to pray boldly and to pray in faith, believing because the blessing of God means that we have his provision. If you're taking notes, that's the first thing. The Lord bless you and this speaks of his provision in all of our lives. It is similar to what Jesus said when he was teaching us the model prayer known as the Lord's Prayer. He said, pray in this way. So this is an Old Testament version of that in one sense. Pray like this. It's a prayer, a powerful prayer.

It's a priestly prayer for sure. You say, is this a prayer for the priests of Israel to pray? Yes, but it's also a prayer for you as a priest, a royal priest of God. Because now we are the priests of God. Did you know that? We have direct access to God. There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Our great high priest has opened the way so that we can pray. We don't need a pope. We don't need a preacher. We don't need a priest. We don't need anyone. We have Jesus to connect us with God. Let me talk to the dads and the husbands and the fathers for just a moment. Did you know that you're the priest of your family? You're the pastor of your family. You're the spiritual leader of your family.

So let me urge you as the spiritual leader of your family to pray this over your children, to pray what we're about to learn and live over your children's children, your grandchildren, and children you will never even meet. Let's pray this over our church. Let this be a great prayer promise for our congregation. America, I believe, is on the verge of a mighty spiritual awakening. We are. We're seeing signs of it as young people are coming to Christ in record numbers. Many who abandoned the church growing up have now returned to the church. Bible sales are way, way up in America and other places in the world as well.

University students, revival services, and spiritual worship is breaking out on college and university campuses. I'm seeing fresh days of anticipation and revival, and we're praying unapologetically for the blessings of God to flow upon us. So what are these blessings? It's God's provision. Blessing and giving his blessing is God's default position. God desires to bless you. And if you don't believe that, you need to think again. Because if you don't believe that God wants to bless you, desires to bless you, then you'll doubt the goodness of God in your life.

And if you doubt the goodness of God, you'll miss the opportunity to receive all that he desires to give. You'll forfeit the blessings of God. God wants to bless you beyond your ability even to ask or think. That's what Ephesians 3:20 tells us. God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think. God is in the blessing business. Say amen. And God wants to bless you, and all you need to do is start asking in Jesus' name. So we unapologetically ask for the blessings of God. Now, lest you're thinking, oh, he's preaching health, wealth, and prosperity. Not at all.

Because in fact, the blessings of God, the provision of God is much more than money. God may choose to bless you financially. Much more than health, and I pray God gives you good health. Much more than success, much more than career advance. The blessings of God may include those things along the way, but often the blessings of God are in disguise through adversity and through tears and through troubles and sorrow. And the blessings flow in a way that we could not imagine. Imagine if God was blessing you through the trouble. Jesus spoke of this. He said in the upper room, in this world, you will have tribulation. Oh, there's going to be trouble.

The blessing does not exempt us from trouble. But thank God he didn't stop there. God didn't put a period there. Jesus didn't say, in this world, you will have trouble, period. Listen, never put a period where God put a comma, a pause. Jesus went on to say, but be of good cheer, take heart, for I have overcome the world. And so, yes, the blessings come sometimes through trouble and through trials, but they always come. And the other side of the struggle, and the struggle can be real, on the other side of the struggle comes the breakthrough and then blessings like you've never seen before.

Now I want to hurry to say in this message while we're talking about the blessing and God's provision in the blessing, that God will never, ever bless disobedience to him. God will not bless our disobedience. In fact, sin, unconfessed, unrepented of, unrecognized sin in our life cuts us off from the fellowship and the favor of God. Now, he still loves you and he still cares about you, but it cuts you off. In fact, you say, where's the verse on that? I'll give you one. Glad you asked.

David said this, who knew a little bit about being cut off from the favor and the blessing of God because of his own sin and failure. He said in Psalm 66, verse 18, "If I regard, if I cherish iniquity, sin in my heart, God will not hear me." Now that's black ink on white paper. We have many promises that God answers prayer, but here's a promise that God says I will not answer prayer. To cherish iniquity, to regard it, means to keep it as a pet. Nice little sin. You've got a little pet sin in your life and you're just holding on to it. You're keeping it. You're cherishing it. You're loving it and you're not letting it go and you're not confessing it and you're not receiving God's grace and forgiveness. That'll cut you right off from the blessings of God in your life. Keep short accounts with God. But start with the fact that he wants to bless you. He wills to bless you. Say amen.

Secondly, the blessing of God is his protection. The Lord bless you, and then what? The Lord keep you. A new year brings new challenges and with it so much uncertainty and anxiety about what's next. There are fears regarding the unknown. But I remind you today that the God who has faithfully watched over your life, all your life, the goodness of God all your days in the past is not about to leave you now. He loves you perfectly and faithfully. He says, when he says I'm keeping you, the word to keep there means to guard. It means to cover.

Psalm 57:1 says, "Be merciful unto me, oh God. Be merciful unto me, for my soul trust in you and in the shadow of your wings will I take my refuge till these calamities, these trials be overpast." So it's the cover of God. It's the keeping of God. We are kept. He governs our lives. He guides our lives perfectly. And when it says he keeps us, that means he's holding you. God is saying, I've got you. I'm holding you. And the hands that hold you are nail-scarred hands, proof of his grace and his love in your life. In fact, the last words that Jesus spoke to his disciples was to hold up nail-scarred hands while on earth. To hold up nail-scarred hands and say, I bless you. He blessed them with nail-scarred hands. And so that's where the blessing comes from, but he holds us. It's not a matter of our holding on to him. He's holding on to us. First Peter 1:5 says that we are kept by the power of God. The omnipotent grip of God holds us. Neither shall anyone pluck them out of my Father's hand.

Guest (Male): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message "The Blessing." Did you know that you can join Dr. Graham for his daily devotion? It's a study of God's Word that will help you grow in your faith, encourage you in your walk with Christ, and show you how to navigate through the challenges of life. To sign up, text DEVO to 59789 and begin receiving Dr. Graham's devotional every day. Again, text DEVO to 59789.

We want to tell you about an exciting opportunity available this month. Right now, every gift you give to PowerPoint Ministries will be doubled through a generous $150,000 matching grant, helping reach even more people with the hope and truth of Jesus Christ. Every day, people burdened by fear, anxiety, and uncertainty are discovering the peace found in God's Word through this ministry. Your support helps make that possible. As our thanks for your gift of $10 or more, we'll send you Dr. Graham's brand-new book, *The Lord is My Shepherd*. Text SEPTEMBER to 59789 to have your gift doubled and receive your copy today. Again, text SEPTEMBER to 59789. Now, let's get back to today's message, "The Blessing."

Jack Graham: According to YouVersion of the Bible, a magnificent online versions of the Bible, my friend Craig Groeschel and his team developed this. They found out what the number one search for verses in the Bible was last year. You know what the number one verse looked up, searched for in the last year according to YouVersion was? It was a verse that was written, just one verse, the reference written in my father's Bible. Isaiah 41:10. Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I'm your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will hold you with the right hand of my righteousness.

So there is nothing to fear. If you are following Jesus and he is with you, and he is, then there is no reason to fear when you follow Jesus. Psalm 34:4 says, "I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears." All my fears. So when we say yes to God, yes to follow Jesus, we can say no to the fears. Winston Churchill said that fear is a reaction, courage is a choice. So choose courage. Joshua 1:9, don't be afraid. Don't be fearful. Be bold. Be courageous. Choose courage because he's guiding you. He's orchestrating. He's ordering your steps.

Psalm 37:23 and 24, "The steps of a righteous one is ordered by the Lord, and though he fall, he will not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds him with his strong right hand." What is the prayer of blessing? It is the prayer for God's provision. God wants to bless you. He wants to bless you abundantly. Yes, he does with blessings untold. And he wants to protect you, and he promised to do it. And he will protect your family as well. And then God's blessing brings presence, his presence. Why? "And the Lord make his face shine upon you." You know what his face means? His presence. Let me see your face, God.

We often seek primarily his hand, and God offers his hand of blessing. We've stated that. God wants to give and provide. But what if our children only asked for things from our hands and they never returned the love or they never looked at our face? Choose the face of God over even the hand of God. Because here's what we know. When you discover that Jesus is all you have, you'll discover that he's all you need, that God is enough. Amen. If you have him, if you have his face, it's like a parent, maybe as a parent or grandparent you've taken the face of your child and held that little one's face right up close.

What does that signify? It's approval. It's love. It's devotion. And God's face shows up and shines. And when his light, the light of his countenance comes into our lives, then the darkness flees and the fears fade away. First John 4:18 says that perfect love cast out fear. Now this is not our perfect love because we don't love God perfectly. It is the perfect love of God. I want you to say this to yourself every time you are afraid and really mean it. God loves me perfectly. He does. And because he loves you perfectly, he wants the best for you always, and you can trust him with all of that. When his face shines, the darkness is defeated. Seek his face. See his face.

Guest (Male): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message "The Blessing." We want to tell you about an exciting opportunity available this month. Right now, every gift you give to PowerPoint Ministries will be doubled through a generous $150,000 matching grant, helping reach even more people with the hope and truth of Jesus Christ. Every day, people burdened by fear, anxiety, and uncertainty are discovering the peace found in God's Word through this ministry. Your support helps make that possible. As our thanks for your gift of $10 or more, we'll send you Dr. Graham's brand-new book, *The Lord is My Shepherd*. Text SEPTEMBER to 59789 to have your gift doubled and receive your copy today. Again, text SEPTEMBER to 59789. Did you know that you can join Dr. Graham for his daily devotion? It's a study of God's Word that will help you grow in your faith, encourage you in your walk with Christ, and show you how to navigate through the challenges of life. To sign up, text DEVO to 59789 and begin receiving Dr. Graham's devotional every day. Again, text DEVO to 59789.

Jack Graham: And then comes pardon. The blessing is pardon. The blessing is the pardon because it says, and be gracious to you. Be gracious to you. All of this is because not of the blessings that we have earned or deserved. Just like salvation, we don't earn it, we don't deserve it, we don't keep it ourselves. It's all God. It's all his grace. We access it by faith. But his pardon, how does God give us his pardon? Think with me again about the face of God. God turned his face as holy God. The Father turned his face from his dear and darling Son when he was dying on the cross. He is of pure eyes than to behold iniquity.

And in that moment when Jesus was bearing the sins of the world, yours and mine, and darkness covered the world, when God was judging his own Son for our sin, God turned his back. God turned his face from his own Son so that he could turn his face towards you. His face toward you. And you know what that is? That's grace. That is the unmerited favor and that's the biggest blessing of all. His grace is displayed in the gospel as you just heard. His grace forgives your past, sustains you in the present. We're not only saved by grace, we live by grace. We even die in grace. His grace and mercy meets us every morning. According to Lamentations 3, before you get up, grace is there to meet you.

Mercy is there every morning. Pray for the blessing of his provision, his protection, his presence, his pardon, and finally his peace. Let his face be lifted up upon you, his countenance, and give you peace. Now you know what peace is by now. It's shalom. It means wholeness. It's more than emotional stability. It's more than a calmness. It can include that, but more importantly, it's well-being. It's spiritual wellness. It's wholeness, completeness. It's quietness of heart. This is peace. It is the strength to face life's demands. Someone put it this way: peace is the possession of adequate resources.

It is the supernatural presence that God gives us. For some, this may mean making peace with your past. Your life is wrecked because of sin and failure or mistakes and flaws and all the rest, and you're wondering as you've got so many regrets over your shoulder and we tend to live there if we're not careful. And what you need to do is to find and make peace with your past. And that's not forgiving yourself. That's receiving the forgiveness that only God can give and the new beginning that is promised in Christ. This peace with God. Let this day be a day of renewal and rededication in our hearts.

You can have peace in the midst of failure and the midst of uncertainty and the midst of chaos and the midst of grief. I've seen it, experienced it again and again and again. It's what Paul was talking about when he said in Philippians 4 that the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. He's in jail. He is in prison. He's facing an uncertain future. Is this a madman? No, this is a man in peace. This is a man who knows the presence of God and the protection of God and the promises of God. And so can we. It is the peace that passes understanding.

I'll close with this. One of the devotional books that I've read through the years is *My Utmost for His Highest* written by a man named Oswald Chambers. Many of you have read it. Are yesterday's irreparable or irreparable things to us, things we can't repair, things that we can't fix? It is true that we have lost opportunities which well, may never return. But God can transform the destructive, this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness, a thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past sleep and let it sleep in the bosom of Christ.

And then here's the sentence I want you to see. Chambers wrote, leave the irreparable past in his hands and step out into the irresistible future with him. That's the blessing. Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See, I'm doing a new thing. What new thing does God want to do in your life, in your family, in your children? What blessing will he pour out if you will believe the promise and pray the prayer in Jesus' dear name? Verse 27 of this passage concludes by saying, so he will put their name upon Israel and bless them. He has put his name, the name of Jesus on us and he has blessed us. And the Lord will provide for you everything you need and more.

Guest (Male): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message "The Blessing." We want to tell you about an exciting opportunity available this month. Right now, every gift you give to PowerPoint Ministries will be doubled through a generous $150,000 matching grant, helping reach even more people with the hope and truth of Jesus Christ. Every day, people burdened by fear, anxiety, and uncertainty are discovering the peace found in God's Word through this ministry. Your support helps make that possible. As our thanks for your gift of $10 or more, we'll send you Dr. Graham's brand-new book, *The Lord is My Shepherd*. Text SEPTEMBER to 59789 to have your gift doubled and receive your copy today. Again, text SEPTEMBER to 59789.

Jack Graham: The Lord will keep you when you feel fragile. The Lord will shine on you when your world feels full of shadows and darkness. The Lord will be gracious to you when you feel shame and condemnation. The Lord will give you peace when you're anxious and afraid. And you don't earn it. You certainly don't deserve it. But it's the blessing that he gives us.

Guest (Male): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message "The Blessing." We want to tell you about an exciting opportunity available this month. Right now, every gift you give to PowerPoint Ministries will be doubled through a generous $150,000 matching grant, helping reach even more people with the hope and truth of Jesus Christ. Every day, people burdened by fear, anxiety, and uncertainty are discovering the peace found in God's Word through this ministry. Your support helps make that possible. As our thanks for your gift of $10 or more, we'll send you Dr. Graham's brand-new book, *The Lord is My Shepherd*. Text SEPTEMBER to 59789 to have your gift doubled and receive your copy today. Again, text SEPTEMBER to 59789. Did you know that you can join Dr. Graham for his daily devotion? It's a study of God's Word that will help you grow in your faith, encourage you in your walk with Christ, and show you how to navigate through the challenges of life. To sign up, text DEVO to 59789 and begin receiving Dr. Graham's devotional every day. Again, text DEVO to 59789.

Jack Graham: Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? Here's what I want to talk to you about today. You were made for this. Not made to scrape by, not made to white-knuckle your way through another year, wondering if God notices you. You were made for blessing. That's not wishful thinking. That's Genesis. That's the whole story of scripture from the garden to the cross to the empty tomb.

Guest (Male): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message "The Blessing." We want to tell you about an exciting opportunity available this month. Right now, every gift you give to PowerPoint Ministries will be doubled through a generous $150,000 matching grant, helping reach even more people with the hope and truth of Jesus Christ. Every day, people burdened by fear, anxiety, and uncertainty are discovering the peace found in God's Word through this ministry. Your support helps make that possible. As our thanks for your gift of $10 or more, we'll send you Dr. Graham's brand-new book, *The Lord is My Shepherd*. Text SEPTEMBER to 59789 to have your gift doubled and receive your copy today. Again, text SEPTEMBER to 59789.

Jack Graham: So here's my challenge to you. Stop treating God bless you like a throwaway line you say when someone sneezes. Start praying it like you mean it. Pray it over your own heart in the morning before your feet hit the floor. Pray it over your spouse. Pray it out loud over your kids before they walk out the door. Let them hear their mom or dad ask God to keep them, to shine on them, to give them peace. That's not a small thing. That's spiritual inheritance. And if you're sitting here today and life has been anything but a blessing lately, if you're carrying something heavy, if you've been given scars, if you're not sure you even believe good things are coming, I want you to hear this. The invitation hasn't changed.

God isn't waiting for you to clean yourself up first. He's not withholding his face from you until you earn it. He's already turned toward you. The only question is whether you'll turn toward him. Let today be the day you stop wondering if God is for you and start living like you know he is. And if you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, invite him in today. Pray a prayer like this. Lord, I know that I have sinned and I need you to be my Savior. I believe you died on the cross for me and rose again to give me eternal life. I turn from my sin and trust in you. Come into my life, Lord Jesus. Take control of my life. Be my Lord, my Savior, my master, and my friend. Amen.

Guest (Male): And that is today's PowerPoint. Today, if you prayed that prayer with Dr. Graham, text us so we can help get you started in your new life with Christ. Text the word JESUS to the number 59789. That's JESUS to 59789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can succeed in your life and in your witness for Christ. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.