Fourfold Blessings

UV 923-10,000 Fourfold Blessings Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: Genesis 49 v 25 God revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He met each one at their point of need. Abraham needed a male heir. Isaac needed a life partner. Jacob sought the blessings of the Lord. Even today, the same God meets each of us at our point of need and He helps us. We only need to acknowledge that He is the Almighty, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He knows the end from the beginning. We need to acknowledge Him at the beginning of our day and thank Him at the end. We need to seek His blessings like Jacob at the beginning of our lives and at the end. The Lord will undertake for what happens between the beginning and the end. The Lord is the first and the last. He decides that we would be first in certain things and we would be last in certain other things. He apportions His anointing and His grace according to His will and pleasure. Joseph was the lost son- the last for many years though he was the favourite son of Jacob for the first part of his life. Joseph took precedence in his father’s favour and gifts. Then when he was sold by his brothers into slavery, he seemed to be the last, the one who had lost his father’s and God’s blessings and favour. But the Lord raised Him up step by step over the years he was away from his father’s family. Similarly, there are periods of preparation in all our lives before He reveals His hand of blessing and favour. Jacob on his death bed administered a manifold or fourfold blessing to Joseph: the heavenly or spiritual blessings, the blessings of the earth, the blessings of marriage and love, the blessings of his children. Spiritual blessings were the source of Joseph’s elevation as the leading light of Egypt. It enabled him to hold on to his dreams and vision and to be able to interpret the dreams of others. The Lord will give us intuitive and spiritual gifts that cannot be inherited or learnt from another human. He will bless us as we hold on to our hope with riches or treasures of dark or secret places-blessings of the deep that lie under. Even as Joseph inherited the riches of Egypt having been made signatory on behalf of Pharaoh as the latter adorned his hand with his signet ring of authority, we can lay claim according to our need to the riches of Egypt-or the financial and material resources of the world. He will bless our spouses and make them a source of blessing- a fruitful vine. He will bless our children and their children to the twelfth generation. They will endure and be fruitful like the olive plants. Faith opens the gateway to manifold blessings. If we are faithful to God we are blessed or chosen for a life of abundance. Prateep V Philip