March 28 Blessed be God

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places
 
HAVE you ever wondered what it means to say, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Is it possible to bless God? After all, the Scripture goes on to say, he “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” How is it possible to bless the One Who Blesses?
    One way to understand Scripture is to read other translations. We were doing this with our 11-year-old granddaughters the other day. Reading different versions can help unveil the Bible’s meaning. I know most of us don’t have several translations at our disposal, but it is more possible today with the many apps, digital Bible downloads and such websites as Bible Gateway.
    “Oh,” you say, “that takes time.” You are right. What a joyous use of the time God gives to you! Our relational God wants you to invest your time in getting to personally know him. When you know him intimately, you will see how much he loves you.
     Let’s then take a minute to see two other translations on this verse. Here is the Amplified Bible: Ephesians 1:3 “May blessing (praise, commendation, and eulogy [written praise]) be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual (given by the Holy Spirit) blessing in the heavenly realm!” The parenthetical phrase is in the Bible translation for the purpose of amplifying or expanding the way the Scripture can be understood. Thus, we see that we can bless the One Who Blesses when we praise him with our spoken and written words.
    Now let’s look at The Living Bible: Ephesians 1:3 “How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every blessing in Heaven because we belong to Christ.” Here we see Paul’s language very clearly. We offer blessing to God in the form of praise. Praise is the only appropriate response to the One Who Blesses us with all of “every spiritual blessing” through the life of Jesus Christ.
    We’ll look in the next several days at Ephesians 1:3-14. Through these teachings, I encourage you to read each day this one long sentence. The time you take to become familiar with the passage will open your mind to ways you, as Paul, can live to bless God with praise of his wondrous ways. And now I offer you this spiritual blessing from your Lord God: Numbers 6:22-25 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, 24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.’”
 
Prayer: I am most grateful for your eternal blessing on my soul, Father. Thank you for your great love to come face-to-face with me through Jesus Christ. I pray my life will bless you. In Jesus’ name, amen.