Blessed!

“Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. But if God so arrays the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you, O men of little faith?” Luke12:27-28.

It’s lily season! These are from my gardens. Each flower pictured is a daylily, so named because it blooms in all of its glory for one day ONLY, and fades away. How extravagant is our Lord!

Beloved,

I did a word study recently, and it’s just so illuminating, I’m delighted to share it with you! We, as a fellowship of believers, use the word ‘bless’ frequently and almost offhandedly. ‘God bless you!’; ‘Have a blessed day!’; ‘Blessings!’; ‘He/She is so blessed!’ It is a very familiar term and we all use it to express affection, goodness and wellbeing.

The word translated ‘blessed’ in the New Testament is like many Greek words in the Bible; their English translations have several possible meanings that should not be lumped into one literal translation.

Usually when I say, “God bless you!” I mean “may your circumstances be favorable,” or something vaguely positive like that. One word translated ‘blessed’ is makarios, which means, “to be declared as indwelt by God and therefore fully satisfied.” Makarios means possessing the characteristic of deity, and indicates the state of the believer in Christ. The believer is indwelt by God because of Christ and as a result is fully satisfied. The Greek word ‘happiness’ (eudiamon/eutuches) which means ‘lucky’, never occurs in the New Testament. The Lord never promised happiness, good luck, or favorable circumstances to the believer, but ‘blessedness.’ This means His indwelling and the consequent peace and satisfaction to the believer no matter what the circumstances may be. To be makarios (blessed) is equivalent to having God’s kingdom within one’s heart; the one who is in the world, yet independent of the world, because his satisfaction comes from God and not from favorable circumstances.

Another translation for the word ‘blessed’ is from the Greek word eulogeo, which means, “to speak well of.” Our familiar word ‘eulogize’ has its basis in eulogeo, and we all relate that word to funerals and the eulogy, or favorable words, spoken on behalf of the deceased. When we ask God to bless us, or speak well of us, we are asking Him not merely to approve our plans but to interfere in our lives. God’s words are God’s actions. He acts for our benefit as He sees what we need most, and not merely on what we desire. Therefore, having God eulogeo (bless) us is His perfect will in action for us.

Whew! What a different perception of God’s blessings! Not connected with circumstances?! Blessed in tragedy and sickness and lack and challenges? Yes!! Blessed in prosperity and fruitfulness and joy and good times? Yes!! Always, because we are inhabited by the Spirit of Jesus Christ! Every circumstance becomes subject to the reality of believers being the habitation of the one, true, holy and living God of the universe.

Oh, my goodness! I am blessed, every moment, every place, in every situation because He has promised that He will never leave me nor forsake me. I will desire earnestly His blessings! Inhabit, Lord, and interfere!

Beloved, God BLESS you, now and forevermore!! And I do mean makarios and eulogeo!

Passionately pursuing Christ,

Kathy Hitch, for the Hitch family

Information from Lexical Aids to the New Testament, Spiros Zodhiates, The Hebrew-Greek Study Bible, NASB, AMG.