If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tight-fisted toward your poor brother. Rather be open-handed and freely lend him whatever he needs. Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: "The seventh year, the year for cancelling debts, is near," so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be open-handed toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.
It’s very evident from the above passage that a hard heart and a tight fist go together. Some ask “If God is so concerned about the poor, why does he not remove their poverty?” The answer is “God works through human channels and when the channels become narrow (hardhearted/tight-fisted) God’s plan of alleviating poverty goes awry.”
So how much to give and with how much will God be pleased? The answer is “As much as we can give with a cheerful heart.” And we can improve as we grow closer to the Lord. The Bible says,
“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)

Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. Be joyful at your feast--you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites, the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. For seven days celebrate the Feast to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.
The Feast of Tabernacles (Feast of Sukkot or Feast of Booths) is an eight day Judaeo - Christian festival (the Season of our Joy) that pictures the establishment of the 1000 year messianic kingdom to be set up at the second coming of Jesus Christ . It is one of the three pilgrimage festivals God gave the children of Israel in the Bible (Leviticus 23). It was during these festivals that the Israelites would bring their offerings and firstlings to the Temple in Jerusalem and enjoy a feast! Not many Christians celebrate this festival now, yet each one of us should be looking forward to what it signifies i.e. the day when the King of Kings rules his people from Jerusalem and each nation goes up to celebrate it. (Zechariah 14:16)

Blessing 20 - Judges 5:24

Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women.
It doesn’t take much time for God to exalt someone if He wishes. Here’s a woman who did not flinch when she had to do the required. She hammered a tent peg into the enemy’s skull. I am not advising you women who are reading this to do that. On the contrary, I advise you to do that which God has called you to. Don’t waste that talent that God has given you. Put it to use and glorify God. And men, if God has endowed you with power, don’t stand in the shadow of someone else and see someone else being exalted by God. Deborah the prophetess, who at one time led Israel, instructed Barak to go and war against the Canaanites and capture Sisera, the commander of their army. She gave him the Lord’s counsel that God would surely give the enemy into his hands. But this is what Barak replied. “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”
And this is what Deborah had to say in return. “Very well, I will go with you. But because the way you are going about this, the honour will not be yours, for the Lord will hand Sisera to a woman. The rest as the say is history, of how God allowed a woman called Jael to finish off Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite army. (If you have not read that part in the Bible, just go to Judges Chapters. 4 & 5.)
After the whole thing was over, I believe Barak must have said many times, “If only I had……If only I had……”Let that not happen in your case my friend. Just go out and do what God has called you to. God bless you.

Blessing 21 - James 5:11

As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
Perseverance is not so easy to achieve. Of course, we can always learn. Some believers think, “Why can’t Jesus just answer everything fast and save trouble for us and for Him. Why wait till the 4th watch of the night. Might have had a good night’s rest if He had come in the 1st watch.” Well, He has His reasons for not showing up earlier, some of which we may not know about. Job never could understand why he was suffering. But he didn’t throw in the towel. He just hung in there till the ordeal was over. Of course, he offered God a few options though- to destroy him totally, kill him fast; but nothing seemed to work. If any of you are passing through such a phase, just hang in there. Deliverance is just around the corner. As the above verse says, “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance produces character; and character produces hope. (Romans 5:3,4)

Blessing 22 - Judges 13:24

The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Has the Holy Spirit been stirring you at the beginning of this year to take a new decision, to step out into the ministry or to take up a new challenge in your ministry?
Often it is through the “still small voice” that God speaks to us. And some of us tend to ignore it because it may not be too comfortable a thing. Well, usually God doesn’t force things upon us, but what He chooses for us is the best. It may appear difficult for us at the onset, but on the long run we will experience the presence of God in a mighty way, because we have been obedient to Him. God bless you.

Blessing 23 - 1 Samuel 25:32,33

David said to Abigail, "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging me with my own hands.
[If you have not read the account of Nabal, Abigail and David; please read 1 Samuel Ch.25.]
David here blesses Abigail for her good judgment. Abigail’s husband had acted foolishly towards David and now the only hope of saving her family from annihilation was pleading for mercy from David. She did not think of her family status here; just fell at David’s feet and asked for forgiveness for her husband’s arrogance.
Good judgment and a humble attitude. Abigail had both.
If both husband and wife act childishly and are proud and unrelenting, it will only lead to the destruction of the family. The Bible says, “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” (Proverbs 14:1)

Blessing 24 - Galatians 3:9

So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Abraham went through some tough testing to become the ‘man of faith’ that he finally became. Left his ancestral home because God asked him to, set out for an unseen land because God asked him to, built altars wherever he pitched tent to worship the Lord who called him, hoped against hope because he believed that God who promised would fulfill it, overcame periods of disbelief by hearing God’s voice and obeying it and looked to the ultimate reward that he was to get.
Faith building exercises are never easy and most of us believers never enjoy them.
I have seen people puffing and panting when they try to build their bodies in the gym. It’s never easy, picking up those weights, doing those bench presses or sit ups or push ups or running long distances. But after a while they see the ultimate results and that brings the joy.
The Bible says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)
So let us seek Him earnestly and be blessed along with Abraham, "the man of faith."

Blessing 25 - Psalms 89:15

Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.
It’s very evident here that the psalmist knows that spiritual growth is a process. We do not mature spiritually overnight. Our relationship with God has to be built up by acknowledging that He is right in all things that pertain to our lives and we have to get in tune with His requirements. Of course there are believers who think that they “know it all” but that’s just a flight of imagination. There are many new things to be learnt each day from the Lord. Some Christians have confessed that what they thought and spoke and preached several years back were just not perfect and now they have changed their ideas regarding certain aspects of the Word.
As we keep learning the “light of His presence” shines more brightly and we mature day by day and this process will continue till we step into eternity to live with the Lord. Happy journey friends.

Blessing 26 - Luke 11:27,28

As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you." He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."
Jesus could have put in a good word in this circumstance for His mother but He preferred not to; rather He chose to highlight the fact that He was more interested in calling them blessed “who were willing to hear the Word and obey it.” Jesus preferred not to accept praise from men, for He knew, praise for Him came from His father. Sometimes God does not show us the results of our work for Him, for we may get puffed up by the praise that people shower upon us.
There are many servants of God who lament that not much evidence is seen after they pray for others and not many testify about their efforts. That is only because God knows that in the early stages of our ministerial work, we may not be able to handle the praise showered on us and we may become puffed up, steal God’s glory and become targets for the devil. It’s not that people are not benefited by us praying for them, God just hides it so that we do not fall, because of the praise.

Blessing 27 - Psalms 84:12

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.
Is our walk blameless? Well; it better be, for such ones have no good withheld from them by the Lord. 24 yrs. after God called Abraham, at the age of 99, the Lord appeared to him again and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. (Genesis 17:1)”And Abraham must have said to himself, “All these 24 years I have been doing that Lord”
But we read in the very next verse that God wanted to establish a covenant between Himself and Abraham and so He was asking him to renew his relationship with Him. Blameless means “being without guile” and “no good will the Lord withhold” from such a person. The Lord will be a sun and shield to such a person and bestow favor and honor too. Praise the Lord.

Blessing 28 - Matthew 5:6

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Righteousness basically means doing the right thing or acting in accord with divine law. Sometimes we know what the right thing is, yet we do wrong. Why? We all have different reasons. We all have different weaknesses and we all respond to situations in different ways. Often we try to justify our wrongs.
Paul the great apostle confessed, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Romans 7:15-24)
There’s always a fight going on inside us between the flesh and the spirit and unless we are totally yielded to the spirit of God, we often do that which is unpleasing to God. This can change only if we hunger and thirst for righteousness, desiring to do that which is pleasing to God. May the Lord help each one of us to do that.

Blessing 29 - Isaiah 30:18

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
Have you been suffering for a long time regarding a particular problem in your life? This verse gives us hope that our God, who is a God of justice, blesses those who wait patiently for him. Waiting is seldom easy, but it certainly does bring results. The longer the wait, the more we tend to lose our patience. We grumble, we fight and we do silly things because the frustration is intense.
The Bible says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7,
The time factor is not mentioned here and that often frustrates believers. Of course the promise is valid now as it was when it was said originally. But “when dear Lord?” ask some.
And the answer is “In God’s perfect time.” The Bible says, “We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. (James 5:11)

Blessing 30 - John 20:29

Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
We are all familiar (If you are not, read John Ch.20) with the story of Thomas- disciple of Jesus- called Doubting Thomas by some. Thomas took a decision- “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” He needed a triple confirmation to believe. He wanted to see the nail marks, put his hand where the nails had pierced and put his hand into Jesus’ side. Well, it takes much for some to believe. I guess the other disciples must have said, “Suit yourself.”
The problem that we face when we say words of unbelief is that it’s heard by the Lord too and that’s what we see in the case of Thomas too. A week later when Jesus came and stood in their midst again, He knew He had to deal with Thomas’ doubt and He didn’t mince words when He said, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” In plain words Jesus was saying, “Do you need any more proof, brother.” Some people keep searching for proofs all the time, when facts stare them in the face. To such the Lord says, “Stop doubting and believe.”

Blessing 31 - Psalms 67:1,2

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.
This is a multifaceted prayer asking for God’s abundant blessings to be poured out individually, as a nation and upon mankind as a whole. What would be the fate of mankind if God doesn’t sustain him moment by moment?
Read the verses below and we will know what we really are: The psalmist says, You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath. (Psalm 39:5)
You rebuke and discipline men for their sin; you consume their wealth like a moth - each man is but a breath. (Psalm 39:11)
Lowborn men are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie; if weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath. (Psalm 62:9)
God cares for us and nurtures us and sustains us despite our sins, shortcomings, unrighteousness and unfaithfulness. He is God and cannot change His nature. He loves you.

Blessing 32 - Psalms 2:12

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Have you taken refuge in Jesus? The Bible says that “you are blessed” because of that. Have no fear, “He who has called you is faithful” and He will care about the small and big needs each day of your life.
He is your Saviour and He will save you from the wiles of the wicked one. He will shield you with His wings and carry you in His arms all the days of your life. He hears your sighs and groaning which no one else hears. He sees the tears that you shed in private. He understands the turmoil of your heart. He knows the depth of your loneliness because He has gone through Gethsemane. The problems that you are facing today will fade away as the sun sets at dusk and when His light shines on you, it will be glorious than the rising of the sun at dawn. So take heart and believe His word that says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Blessing 33 - Genesis 9:1-3

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
A change is seen here, food-wise; God allowing Noah and his sons to have non-veg. food. Earlier Adam and Eve were told by God,” I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” (Genesis 1:29)
Later God placed restrictions for eating certain foods.
And wherever you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal. (Leviticus 7:26)
"'There are some that only chew the cud or only have a split hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. (Leviticus 11:4)
"'These are the birds you are to detest and not eat because they are detestable: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, (Leviticus 11:13)
You are not to eat any creature that moves about on the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet; it is detestable. (Leviticus 11:42)
Still later on in the New Testament, we read,
As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. (Romans 14:14)
“You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. (Acts 15:29)
Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. (Romans 14:20)
Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. (1 Corinthians 8:1)
So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. (1 Corinthians 8:4)
But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. (1 Corinthians 8:7)
But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. (1 Corinthians 8:
He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. (Romans 14:6)
It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. (Romans 14:21)
Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall. (1 Corinthians 8:13)
Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, (1 Corinthians 10:25)
So, New Testament- wise it’s basically our choice- what to eat, how much we eat, when and where to eat, as long as we abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals. Also let us not eat certain foods in presence of others which can weaken their faith because of their lack of maturity in the faith. Moreover we have all to be careful to take care of our bodies, which is the temple of God and the Holy Spirit dwells in it, so let us eat wisely.

Blessing 34 - 2 Samuel 6:11,12

The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household. Now King David was told, "The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God." So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing.
David’s fear that God would punish him regarding the ark of God seems to have subsided with hearing that the household of Obed-Edom was blessed because of the ark being there for 3 months. The ark was earlier brought on a “new cart” by David and the Lord had struck Uzzah down because he ventured to hold the ark when the oxen stumbled. (Read 2 Samuel 6 if you do not know this happening). Transporting the ark on a cart was against God's specific command. The ark was designed to be carried (Exodus 25:12-15) and was only to be carried by Levites of the family of Kohath (Numbers 4:15). There a lot of “new carts” being propagated in Christianity these days, but it’s always imperative that we check whether these line up with the Word of God.
David wanted to do a good thing by bringing the ark to the city of David, but he didn’t do it the right way the first time. Definitely he must have checked on what went wrong and when he did it the second time, he made sure that he did it the right way. God was pleased, but this time his wife was not. Well, one can’t please everyone. Better please God than man.

Blessing 35 - Luke 6:20-23

Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.
Exclude you, insult you and reject your name as evil…..because of the Son of Man. Yes, this does happen a lot. Many are rejected by their own family because of accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. Some are thrown out of houses. Some are persecuted with threats that they may even be killed. Jesus said, “Rejoice” when such things happen. How can someone rejoice when such things happen? It’s impossible unless one thinks of the final reward. If we think of the temporal in such situations, we cannot survive. As we read in the book of Hebrews regarding Moses, the great servant of God.
“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.” (Hebrews 11:24-26)
Are we looking for our final reward? If yes, then Jesus says, we are blessed.

Blessing 36 - 2 Samuel 2:4, 2 Samuel 5:3,4

Then the men of Judah came to Hebron and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah………When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a compact with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel. David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.
The prophet Samuel had poured the anointing oil on David long back, but in reality it took a long time for David to sit on the throne as the ruler. God had told Samuel that He had chosen one of the sons of Jesse as the king of Israel and that he was to go and anoint him. Samuel obeyed God and did so. Then God went in to preparing David for becoming king. A shepherd of sheep had now to be transformed into a shepherd of God’s people and God orchestrated circumstances to build David as a king. During those times, he went through several traumatic experiences, difficulties, pain and rejection; but finally matured into a better person who would win many great victories. God molded him and finally when he was ready, God made him sit on the throne.
Jesus is also preparing us to sit with Him on the throne. That’s what written in Revelation Ch.3.v.21
“To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.”
Overcome….sin…satan….the world….to sit on the throne.

Blessing 37 - 2 Samuel 19:39

“So all the people crossed the Jordan, and then the king crossed over. The king kissed Barzillai and gave him his blessing, and Barzillai returned to his home.”
One of the few people who helped David when he fled from the palace fearing his son Absalom was Barzillai, the Gileadite. He with a couple of other guys brought David and his men bedding and bowls and articles of pottery. They also brought wheat and barley, flour and roasted grain, beans and lentils, honey and curds, sheep, and cheese.
Later on, before David died, he remembered the kindness that Barzillai had shown and told Solomon to show kindness to the sons of Barzillai when he became king.
It’s always great if we can remember the kindness that people have shown us in our times of distress and do a kind act in return. Nothing to lose, everything to gain.

Blessing 38 - Psalms 5:12

For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favour as with a shield.
The Lord’s favour surrounds you if you have accepted Jesus as your righteousness and are living for Him. In short, it means you are shielded with favour. And when the Lord’s favour is on you, he doesn’t withhold any good thing from you. And if this favour lasts for a lifetime and it really does if you are living close to the Lord, what a blessed experience that would be. Not that you won’t experience any problems in your earthly life, but His presence will let you overcome whatever difficulties come your way.
He will grant you the peace that the world cannot give; a peace that passes all understanding. As the psalmist says, “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favour lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:5)”

Blessing 39 - Revelation 1:3

Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
This is the first of the seven beatitudes (state of blessedness) in the book of Revelation. A significant verse which conveys the message that the matter in the book was meant for all of us and not only for people who lived during John’s time.
Many Christians do not venture to read the book of Revelation because many things written in this book are in symbolic form and they find it difficult to understand them.
But the verse here clearly says that the ones who read, the ones who hear and the ones who take it to heart are blessed. The central message of the book is that the final showdown between God and satan is imminent, satan will increase his persecution of believers, believers must stand firm in their faith, they are sealed against any spiritual harm and will soon be vindicated when Christ returns, when the wicked are forever destroyed and God’s people enter an eternity of glory and blessedness.

Blessing 40 - Genesis 47:7-10

Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed Pharaoh, Pharaoh asked him, "How old are you?"
And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers." Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.
“The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult.” This is what Jacob had to say about his life. Jacob had passed through a lot of difficulties in his life. Of course there were times of joy in his life too, but he remembered the sorrows more because they perhaps outnumbered the joys. There was a time when Jacob worked for getting Rachel as his wife. It was a great joy.
The Bible says, “Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, "I'll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel." Laban said, "It's better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me." So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. (Genesis 29:18-20)
Jacob got cheated by Laban quite a few times, but actually he was just reaping the rewards for the deceptions that he orchestrated with his mother at home. God worked on Jacob as a potter works on clay and finally he became Israel who understood God’s will and purpose for his life.