Hi, my name is Mel Ponder. I want to talk about the blessing and there’s a couple of scriptures I want to start with and I’ll read from them. First one from Genesis 12 and it’s God to Abram. It says, “I will make for you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing.” And secondly, Proverbs 11:11 says, “By the blessing of the upright, the city was exalted.” And what I want to talk today is really the power and significance of the blessing.
Now the Bible says that life and death are in the power of the tongue and we can choose to bless or to curse. I don’t know about you, but many times we come into situations where we have no idea what the person we’re encountering, what they just came from. It could’ve been a situation at home, it could’ve been bad news, it could be something dissatisfied at the workplace. And a lot of times I love the encounters to be able to come up to someone, not with a Bible to tell them “Hey, you better get saved today or you better turn or burn,” but really to put your arms simply on them or to say a word of hope to them.
I believe one encounter, one word can change someone’s life and God gives us these opportunities time and time again today. I’m often challenged because struggles will come at you. The guy in front of you will pull in front of you, you get mad, you get angry. It’s just life. But the opportunities that we’re given time and time again is what will we do with that opportunity? And I love to go someone and say, “Listen, I appreciate you.” That alone is a game-changer. “Hey, you’re significant. Thank you so much for being part of this team. Without you, we would not be the same.”
And I’ve seen time and time again the blessing that we can release. It’s not an obligation. We don’t have to, we get to. We get to bless our workplace, our family, our moms, our dads, our children. We get to bless them. If you’re going to talk about leaving a legacy and something that’s generational, begin to shift atmospheres and release the blessing in your city. “By the blessing of the upright, the city is exalted.” Think about that alone as you release the blessing, it can change the atmospheres of the city you’re called to. The same with your workplace, the same with your family.
Lord, I bless you today. I thank you, Lord, that your heart will come alive to the passions that God has for you, the plans He has for you to prosper you, to give you a future and a hope. Begin to change your vernacular. When you’re tempted to say one thing, Lord, I pray that they be almost convicted to say wait, wait, wait. What can I say that will be a game-changer in this person’s life, to bless them in their situation, to release life over them and what God’s called them to be. So, I bless you today with that. In Jesus’ name.