‘Blessings’ Archive
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Originally written for the first wedding anniversary of one of my friends, I’m sharing this blessing on Steve to Earth today in honor of my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, which they celebrated on Friday, September 1, and our family celebrated all weekend.
Mother and Dad, I am so proud of you, and I love you very much! I consider it a privilege to bless this wonderful milestone in the lives of the two people who are responsible for me being here … the two people who loved me enough to introduce me to Jesus … the two people who continue to love me deeply and unconditionally even on the days when I don’t look very much like Him.
May your celebration be attended and blessed by the Groom … the Savior … the Supreme Example of Love. May your relationship be honored by the bride … the church … the spiritual body of Christ.
May your hearts be filled with hope for the future. May your souls overflow with renewed faith and abundant forgiveness. May your spirits be refreshed with joyful and happy song.
May all your fatigue … all your frustrations … and all your failures give way to the blessings of the Comforter … your Friend … the Holy Spirit, and may each fruit that He produces grow firm and tender and sweet in your fertile hearts.
May you find peace in His indwelling presence. May He be a Pleasant Inhabitant … a Tenant bearing generous gifts … a Perfect Communicator of our Father’s precious will … a Flawless Glorifier of our Lord Jesus Christ … a Gentle Companion who fills every corner of your souls … and leaves no vacancy for any other spirit.
With great joy, may our Father bless each beautiful day you spend together … until His Spirit and yours are joined for eternity … in the highest and holiest of marriages.
May you celebrate your marriage a little every day, and may your daily celebrations inspire and give hope to a weary world.
This is my prayer for you … because of His great love for us.
~s
Tags: 50th wedding anniversary, bride, celebration, eternity, faith, future, gifts, groom, hearts, Jesus Christ, love, marriage, milestone, relationship
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Saturday, July 29, 2006
May the road that lies before you lead you to many friends who look like … live like … and love like Jesus.
Friends like Barnabas … who give the Paul in you a trusted companion in ministry … who give the John Mark in you that coveted second chance … whose every heartbeat encourages you to become every good thing our Father created you to be.
Friends like Ruth … who cherish spiritual formation more than safety … who value truth more than heritage … who seek the Living, Forgiving God more than the gods of this world.
Friends like Jonathan … who treat you like a king when that great honor belongs to them … who protect your welfare even in the face of great danger … who choose to knit their souls to your soul rather than to wealth, power and fame.
Friends like Jesus … who reach deep into your heart and free the hero within … the hero they have always believed you can be … who love you just the way you are with a transforming, life-changing love … who forgive you when they have the power to destroy you.
May your little corner of the world be filled with many friends who love Jesus much more than they love you … for then you will possess the richest treasure this world has to give. May you discover and delight in all the riches of that priceless treasure.
May you find all your friends in Jesus … and may they find Jesus in you.
~s
Tags: Barnabas, companion, friends, hero, Jesus, Jonathan, king, Paul, Ruth, spiritual formation, treasure
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Monday, June 19, 2006
May Jesus rain gently on the fields where you are planting the seeds of His Gospel, and may our Father provide healthy, sturdy growth in abundance. May His Holy Spirit sustain that growth, and may your harvest be plentiful.
May your heart drink deeply of His refreshing reign, and may your soul be flooded with warm, bright sunshine. May the windows of your heart glow with His radiant light, and may each soul that you teach fall completely in love with the God Who calls Himself “Love” … and may you fall in love with Him … completely … all over again.
May He touch your lips with sweet grace … and may His voice and yours be as one … as you share the Good News of Jesus Christ … the Son of God … with a world of souls who desperately need to hear the Good News that Jesus can give us each what we need the very most … forgiveness of our sins.
May all of your plantings flourish … may all of your harvests multiply … only in Him.
~s
Tags: calls Himself "Love", drink deeply, flourish, forgiveness, Gospel, growth, heart, planting, soul, sweet grace, windows of your heart
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Saturday, June 3, 2006
Today, as you’re planting in our Father’s garden, may you be keenly aware of the qualities of the seed you bring with you. May it be firm … healthy … bursting with life … prepared to flourish and to multiply.
As you speak and interact with your world, may you find rich, receptive soil … vibrant, seeking souls … and willing minds, eager to accept the package of life that is born in your pure heart and graces your tongue and your lips.
May your words encounter no congestion and no opposition from competing thoughts and distractions in the minds of those you teach. May the seed you scatter make firm but gentle contact with deep, fertile soil.
May you see the stains and the strains of planting as rewards … souvenirs … of honest work done well.
May our Father hear your heart’s cry for His blessings on your plantings, and may He respond without delay, quickened by His deep love for you and your loyal stewardship of His abundant gifts and blessings. May your harvest be bountiful … and more beautiful than all the flowers of the earth combined.
May you find the Lord’s richest blessings in doing what you love.
~s
Tags: abundant harvest, fertile soil, flourish, garden, multiply, planting, seed, souls, souvenirs, stewardship
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Three more mini-blessings. I love to end e-mails with short blessings like these:
» May Jesus be all the Heaven you ever need or desire.
» May you lose yourself and find yourself in the ever-increasing, ever-creating Jesus.
» May your heart seek the pure heart of Jesus on Saturday … and again on Sunday … and … well … every day from now on … and may you find what you seek.
~s
Tags: find, find yourself, Heaven, Jesus, lose yourself, mini-blessings, pure heart, seek, Short Blessings
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Three mini-blessings from e-mails to friends:
» May you have a great … Christ-honoring … weekend.
» May you metabolize your injury into art.
» May you feel the firm but gentle grip of His hand on your shoulder … His sweet breath that gives you life … His joy that you’ve chosen to spend your life introducing others to Him. May He fill that Jesus-shaped hole in your heart, and may you find the completion you’ve always longed for … only in Him.
~s
Tags: breath, completion, gentle grip, Jesus-shaped hole, joy, metabolize injury into art, only in Him, Short Blessings
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Monday, May 1, 2006
May what you do today set the stage for many wonderful ministry opportunities in the future. May your resistance to temptation give courage to the heart of a stranger … a classmate … a friend … for many years to come.
May your “no” to Satan be an echoing “yes” to Christ in your own life and in the lives of all the people you encounter. May your daily spiritual walk be a pleasant and uplifting song to those who observe you … sweet music that is savored and joyfully sung … even when your paths are separated by great spans of time and many miles.
May you pause today to remember the importance … the beauty … the magnitude … of a moment that honors the Living God.
May the lonely find solace and friendship in your voice and in your smile. May the desperate discover hope through your consistent faith. May the outcast find acceptance in your impartial love.
May Jesus turn your weaknesses into sources of great strength. May your critics be at a loss for words. May they marvel at your relationship with your Maker … at the story He is writing through you.
Many years from now, in some unsuspecting moment, may someone remember the working faith they saw in you today. May they call you aside and request your spiritual leadership, and may you bring Christ to the party in a way that no one else can … in a way you never could have imagined.
May the spiritual seeds you sow today produce an abundant harvest at just the right point in time according to our Father’s perfect plan and His sovereign will.
~s
Tags: acceptance, Christ, courage, harvest, Living God, party, spiritual leadership, spiritual walk, strength, unsuspecting
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Tuesday, March 21, 2006
May your understanding of the grace of Jesus extend far beyond any limitations or boundaries you may have previously imposed upon it. In addition to its soul-saving qualities, may the eyes of your heart be opened to its life-enhancing essence and its behavior-modifying nature.
May you be acutely aware of how our Father’s grace enriches your knowledge and how that knowledge primes you for a confident and successful launch into each new day.
May you grasp how empowering and how liberating it is to wake up each morning and have something wonderful to live for … to have a message of freedom and hope to share with the world … to be assured with each rising sun that your every thought … every word … and every action brims with purpose and deep value when its goal is to honor the Author of Grace.
May the sound of your own voice … the lyrical timbre of each carefully-chosen word … serve as a gentle reminder that His grace enriches your speech. May the faithfulness of the Living God … His sustaining power … and His steadfast love … pleasingly season your conversations … your testimonies … your reassuring words of encouragement … even your attentive, extended moments of silence as you sincerely listen to the needs … the desires … and the struggles of weary souls in search of meaning and significance in a world mesmerized by its own superficial beauty.
In each situation where you are called upon to speak and with every opportunity you are given to quietly listen, may you reflect the beauty and the serenity that flows only from a heart that has embraced the grace that emanates from the purest and deepest chambers of the heart of a just and merciful God.
May you never lack in any spiritual gift, and may you generously multiply your talents in service to others and in honor of Christ as you eagerly await His revealing on that final day.
May you thrive in the immeasurable riches of His grace, and may the lives of those you encounter along the way be equally enriched by His amazing grace … far beyond anything they have ever dreamed or imagined.
I Corinthians 1:4-9
~s
Tags: empowering, freedom, grace of Jesus, liberating, meaning, multiply your talents, purpose, significance, value
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Monday, February 27, 2006
Sometimes less is more. These three short blessings are from e-mails that I’ve sent to friends.
» May sacred rhythm in its holiest form dance its way through your words into the hearts of many hurting souls who need Jesus … His unconditional love … and His saving grace. You’re gonna be great!
» May the friendship you give return to you swiftly and in overflowing proportions.
» May you get just enough snow to make your heart happy and not mess up your travel plans.
~s
Tags: dance, friendship, less is more, sacred rhythm, Short Blessings, snow, travel, unconditional love
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Tuesday, January 17, 2006
I prayed for you today. I didn’t just think kind thoughts about you or flippantly release empty words into the air.
I spoke with the Living God … the very God that I struggle with in relationship daily … the Father Who nurtures my spirit … even when I resist and run away … the Creator of mornings … and mighty men … and memories … the Composer of the joyful songs of the earth … and the harmonies of the angels … the Author of the greatest story ever told … Who adds to its pages daily … the Brave and Gentle Hero Who would rather die for us than leave us alone in our sin.
I spoke to Him.
I asked that He give you strength and grace to be Jesus to the world … a beacon of hope to those who cannot find their way. I asked that He calm you and fill you with His Holy Spirit. I asked that He give you confidence … and humility. I asked that He teach you from His vast supply of wisdom so that you may speak His truth.
I asked Him to love you the way He has loved me … a love unearned … undeserved … a love that covers a multitude of sins … a love that only a Living God can give.
I believe He listened.
May you feel His Spirit nurturing your spirit … and when you enter the world today … may you find Him there waiting for you … anticipating your arrival … already answering a faith-filled, fervent prayer … prayed especially for you.
~s
Tags: author, beacon, composer, creator, Father, hero, Holy Spirit, Living God, love, prayed for you today, wisdom
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