Keith Battle - I Am Blessed

I want you to put my subject in the chat. My subject is: I am blessed! I am blessed! I am blessed! We have a very small audience here; it may be 12 people in this room who are masked up. I want you to peek over your mask and tell somebody closest to you, “I’m blessed! I am blessed!” Yeah, I am blessed! I am blessed! Tell somebody else, “I am blessed!” Type it again: I am blessed! When you tell somebody you are blessed, it’s not bragging; you’re just being honest. I am blessed! When I tell you, “I am blessed,” I am not bragging about myself because I didn’t bless myself. I’m not the blesser; I’m telling you I’ve got to contribute to this moment of thanksgiving to God because He’s the one that blessed me. I am blessed because of what He did. I didn’t bless myself; I am blessed because of what He did in my life. I am blessed! I am blessed! When I look back over the course of my life and see all the ways He guided me, guarded me, gifted me, and graced me, I have to give Him praise. I can look over the course of my life and see just how blessed I am. If that’s the way you feel, you ought to say, "God, I’m grateful that I’m blessed. I’m grateful that I’m blessed!" In fact, I only have to look back over my life to see how much He’s blessed me. The song says, “The Lord is blessing me right now; I can feel His presence as before Him I bow.” You may not be able to see what the Lord has done for me, but the Lord is blessing me right now! Right now He’s blessing me! Right now I’m blessed, and I will contribute to the praise to let them know I’m grateful that I am blessed. Numbers chapter 6, verses 22 to 27, is referred to as a benediction. A benediction, by definition, is a verbal bestowal of blessing. It is typically done in a liturgical sense at the end of a religious experience. It is a way of crescendoing and making a final statement on the lives of the individuals who participated in their encounter with God. There are essentially two types of benedictions in the Bible. There is this benediction in Numbers chapter 6, which is considered the Aaronic Benediction, named after Aaron the priest, hence it is called the Aaronic blessing. However, there are benedictions in the New Testament epistles that are called Apostolic Benedictions because the apostles wrote and spoke them. Although there’s only one Old Testament benediction, many scholars believe that there are at least 28 benedictions in the New Testament. Most of us have heard of a benediction; if you didn’t know what it was, the one we’ve heard the most is in Ephesians chapter 3: “Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we can ask or think, by the power that is at work within us, through Christ Jesus.” Be empowered through Christ Jesus and the church forevermore! Amen, or Amen, Amen, and Amen! Or that apostolic benediction in Second Corinthians chapter 13, which says, “And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit, O King James, Holy Ghost, abide with us now and forever. Amen.” Or that apostolic benediction in Jude verses 24 and 25, which is now my wife’s and my roller-skating verses. It says, “And now unto Him who is able to keep us from falling, glory to God, and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy; to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion, and power now and forever! Amen.” When those benedictions and pronouncements are given, they are not just meant to conclude a service; they are meant to stamp those who are present and mark those who are there. It is meant to distinguish us and remind us of our rights as heirs of the King of Glory. It is a reminder. By the way, one of the most difficult things for me, as I wrestle with understanding this passage and this benediction, is the fact that it’s not a prayer; it’s a pronouncement. There’s a significant difference between these; these are not requests. When God told Moses to tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel, He said, “Don’t pray this; say this.” This is not something you have to request; this is a right that they have. The Lord will bless you, and the Lord will keep you, and the Lord will make His face shine upon you, and the Lord will be gracious unto you. The Lord will lift up His countenance upon you, and the Lord will give you His shalom. This is not a request; this is a right that we have as children of God. It is our stamp; it is our mark. These are our privileges, and just as they pronounced that over the Israelites, I pronounce it over Zion Church. In the 21 years that we’ve been together, I pronounce: “The Lord bless you, and the Lord keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord turn His face towards you and give you peace.” I’m telling you, this benediction has meant so much to me as I studied it. I was studying...