One of the great men of the Bible that is associated with blessing is Abraham. God promised Abraham that He would: "make of you a great nation. I will make your name great and you will be a blessing." (Gen. 12:2). We know the story of Abraham, he was a rich man, but he was missing one thing: an heir - he was not able to "be fruitful and multiply". Without this promised son, how could he become a great nation? It seemed like it was never going to happen, so he eventually "helped" God himself, with disastrous results that continue to this very day.

But thinking of all that God told Abraham, did Abraham have the blessing or the joy of actually experiencing and seeing the fulfillment of God's words in his lifetime? Did he physically see what God had promised come to pass? NO! He did not see it, and yet he was called "blessed"! This is because he "saw" by faith: "All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth." (Heb. 11:13).

They didn't physically receive what they were promised and yet they are spoken of as being blessed and happy! We are foreigners too, this world is not our home, we are born from above. And this is why what this world thinks of as a blessing here on earth is not always considered a blessing from God's perspective.

Remember that the Israelites who God had freed from slavery in such a miraculous way, then complained about missing the food of Egypt. God eventually gave them what they craved (Numbers 11), they were "blessed" in receiving what they wanted and had asked for, but that blessing was actually the judgement of God! "They only cared about pleasing themselves in that desert, provoked God with their insistent demands. He gave them exactly what they asked for - but along with it they got an empty heart." (Ps. 106:13-15). We should be careful what we ask for because sometimes getting what we ask God for is a curse and NOT a blessing at all. 

It boils down to trust - do we trust our Father to give us exactly what we need? Or do we complain and demand "more"? Are we content with what our Father gives, both the good and the bad? Do we ask Him for the things WE want, or do we spend time asking Him what HE wants? God is a very generous God who delights to give, like any good Father He loves to see His children happy, but as a good Father He also knows what will be good for us and what will not be. He has eternity in mind, and not just this short life! And that explains many of the things about this life that are hard for us to understand and accept.

Children learn from their parents, and we, as God's children are always learning our Father's ways. Our Father is a Giver, a very generous giver. He is excessively generous... generous with Himself, with His love, life, mercy, kindness, grace, forgiveness, and so much more. Most of all, He is generous in giving Himself away freely... Just as God is generous, so His children are just like Him. I am not thinking so much about generosity in terms of financial or material goods, but in terms of our nature and God's nature - a generosity of heart and spirit - who We are, because of Him.

Children tend to be very generous: generous with their affections, generous with their time, and generous in telling you exactly what they are thinking too! :-) However, as we grow up and mature we tend to become less and less generous in those areas and instead we learn to hide our thoughts and feelings, often due to wounds we have received from others. We learn not to be generous with who we are, and especially, not to be generous with our thoughts - often due to having them ignored, mocked, or criticised. The result is many adults who, while they may be generous in other ways, are not generous and open with who they are.

Hear what Jesus says: "If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously. Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst" (Luke 6:29-31,35,36 MSG).

That is not our natural way of living. We need to recognise that we are now living a new life, having been born from above, and this means a new way of thinking and being. "So many of the Lord's people are only living for what they can get from Him, and they do not trouble about what they can be to Him. He seeks a people who will bring to Him an inheritance. He seeks those who are living unto the Lord's satisfaction." - T. Austin-Sparks.

It can take a lot of work for our Father to coax us out of the comfort zone of "me" and into the sometimes uncomfortable zone of "We" - He in me and I in Him. For many of us, being generous with who we are does not come naturally or easily - we would rather be closed and distant, than open and close. We're told that we are to be open and generous, "I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up to God, this generous Father in heaven" (Matt. 5:16).

So why can it be hard to open up to others? Because it means we will be vulnerable - we will suffer misunderstandings, suspicions, accusations, rejection and more. And yet in so doing we will find ourselves blessed... truly blessed, just as Jesus Himself was blessed by doing what His Father wanted Him to do, even at the cost of His life, which in turn was a blessing to others! We too are required lay down our lives, "This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed His life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves" (1 John 3:16).

Recently I was looking at a camellia bush and marvelling at how many flowers were on it. This bush wasn't in a beautiful garden where it would be appreciated, instead it was at the side of a busy city street, jammed between the pavement and a concrete wall. The only reason I had a good view of it was because we were stopped at traffic lights. The profusion of flowers were covering not only the bush, but also the pavement where expired blossoms lay.

I saw not only the beauty of the bush, but of its Creator. I saw that it was a beautiful illustration of the character and nature of the Giver: generous, exceedingly generous! And yet often His generosity and His blessings go unnoticed in our lives... just like this bush full of flowers beside the road. All the cars were rushing past and were not stopping specially to view this bush. They were not stopping because of the creativity and beauty that was on display, instead they were stopping because they legally had to; most were not looking to the side of the road to see the bush, but were looking straight ahead, waiting for the second when they could hit the gas and carry on! And we are often like that with God, we don't always stop and recognise Him and His work - so much of what we do is because of duty and obligation instead of a response of love, joyfulness and delight in Him.

The camellia bush would undoubtedly have been more suited to a lovely garden, where it could be admired and fully appreciated. If we were in the position of the camellia, we would no doubt complain about our situation and strive to move away from the place we were planted in. And yet there the camellia was, full of flowers, in quite a harsh environment, seemingly with few to admire it, yet bearing beautiful flowers as if it were a most cherished bush in a botanic garden!

I believe this is how our Father wants us to be; to be givers by nature, to bear fruit, to flower, to touch others with His Life and Love regardless of the environment and situations we find ourselves planted in, and regardless of whether we are ever seen or appreciated. He intends everything in our lives to be a blessing of His LIFE and LOVE and LIGHT, not only to us, but through us to others.

He gives, and gives, and gives, and gives... it is simply His nature. We see His generosity in nature all around us. Flowers and fruit bear far more seeds than will ever germinate. Consider this: the average strawberry has around 200 seeds, in just one year an oak tree will produce 70,000-150,000 acorns while a birch tree produces 15-17 million seeds - in just one year! Plants are absolutely extravagant in their production of seeds. Of course this is with the aim of reproduction: of producing more and more life. And it is exactly the same with God and us!

"How blessed is the person who does not follow the advice of wicked people, take the path of sinners, or join the company of mockers. Rather, he delights in the teachings of the Lord and reflects on His teachings day and night. He is like a tree planted beside streams - a tree that produces fruit in season and whose leaves do not wither. He succeeds in everything he does" (Psalm 1:1-3). This Fruit, this Seed, is God's own Son, His very Life is planted into our hearts reproducing Himself... but not all hearts/soil will allow that Seed to grow and produce a harvest of even more Life. Some soil/hearts are already full: "this is the one who hears the word, but the worries and distractions of the world and the deceitfulness [the superficial pleasures and delight] of riches choke the word, and it yields no fruit" (Matt. 13:22). Yet He gives... even in spite of often not receiving what is due to Him in return - often He is ignored and receives nothing in return or worse, receives abuse and rejection.

Too many people are takers in relationships. They will be "friends" so long as you serve a purpose in their lives and as long as you do what they want you to do. Unfortunately people often treat God in the exact same way - they want Him for what He can give them and they want Him to do exactly what they want - they want "blessing" for their own benefit rather than for His.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was blessed because of Who was formed in her, and Who came out of her, and we are exactly the same! It is the Life and Person of Jesus Christ in us and through us that is blessed and is a blessing. True, real blessing is not related to the temporal now, but to the eternal forever!!!

I want to be one of those in whom Father sees a large return of the precious Seed that He has invested in me. Thinking back to what the root word of the Greek word for blessing means - to extend and make larger - surely THE biggest blessing ever in this world, THE way to be extended (in more ways than one!) is to have an intimate, personal friendship with the Creator of this amazing universe! And that requires us to lay down our lives, to forget about being "blessed" ourselves, and to instead BE a blessing to Him - to look not for prosperity, success or reward physically here on this earth, but to look onward and forward to the heavenly eternal outcome of Christ in us, the Hope of Glory!

How blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they have the right to eat from the Tree of Life and go through the gates into the City! Rev. 22:14