A Good Word Wednesday #92 BLESS 🙏🎁🍪

A little bit of goodness for you each Wednesday

Good Word of the Day: Bless

“Well bless your heart.”

“How are you?” “I’m blessed. Thank you.”

“Who wants to say the blessing?

It’s a word we use often in the South. It can have a variety of meanings. For a fun look at this phrase, I’ve included a link to a video in the recommendation section below. Many times when we say ‘bless your heart,’ it means, “I’m sorry you aren’t very smart.”

The word truly means to ask God’s divine favor. When we ask who wants to say the prayer over our meal, that’s what we’re asking for. We want to thank God for His provision and to ask Him to grant us His goodness during our time together eating.

When we tell others that we are blessed, do we really know what we’re saying? Because we truly are. We don’t think often enough about how God has blessed us. We think about it at Thanksgiving, but what about every day? Do you count your blessings? What blessings are at the top of your list?

To put it in perspective, this is who we are:

If you make $49,802 per year (average income in the United States) you earn more money than 99 percent of the world’s population. If your family earns $23,050 per year (U.S. poverty level for a family of four) you are in the top 19 percent of the world’s richest people. More than one-half of the world’s population lives below the internationally defined poverty line of less than $2 a day. We are the richest church in the history of the world.

Augustine said, “Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.” Blessed to be a blessing

Wednesday in the Word

“And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12:2

'“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4

Share Your Good Words

Good Questions of the Week: Our blessings aren’t just for us. They are for sharing. How can you be a blessing to others today?

Last week, as I sat in a booth at a restaurant frequented by my discipleship group, our server told us our meals had been paid. She said a man often came into the restaurant and looked for someone’s bill to pay. We don’t know who he was or why he chose us. But the blessing he gave us was real. We prayed for our anonymous generous giver that God would abundantly bless him as well. I admire people with generous hearts and actively bless others unaware.

Photo: She Is Safe

Good Unseen People

The following excerpt is included in Unseen People:

As I think of those humble homes, I know our homes don’t have to be Pinterest quality in order to host someone for dinner. We don’t have to serve gourmet meals. Pizza or sandwiches and chips will be just fine. Or a bottle of Coke. Or a cup of strong coffee. All we need is to invite someone and say when they arrive, “Come on in! You are welcome here.”

Read the whole story here: Come on In! You are Welcome Here.

• I invite you to read about how God calls us to see the unseen. Click the link below to read more on my website about Unseen People: Sharing Light and Life With Your Neighbors and the Nations.

• To mark the progress of the book and to give you weekly insights into my writing life, please follow along and watch the videos on This Week in Unseen People. Click the link below to watch the videos on my YouTube channel. Please subscribe to my channel while you’re there! This Week in Unseen People videos

• CLICK HERE FOR NEW EPISODES ON MY WEBSITE: Episode 12 this week — a Short reading from Chapter 6- Seeing the Underserved in a Nation of Plenty

• AVAILABLE NOW for PREORDER. Why Preorder Unseen People? It would be a HUGE encouragement for me and helps Amazon know people want this book! Please Preorder Unseen People now! CLICK HERE TO PREORDER the book today. It will release August 6th. I’m making plans for a launch/signing party that day. You’re ALL invited! More details coming soon.

Good Words I Recommend

A Good Video: What “Bless Your Heart” Really Means

A Good Book: One Thousand Gifts A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, Ann Voskamp

A Good Music Video: Count Your Blessings. This is the old hymn I sang growing up in Southern Baptist churches. Enjoy!

A Good FREE mini-ebook — I See You: How to Focus Your Spiritual Vision on People Near and Far. This is a Free mini-ebook. I will send one to each new subscriber right now. It is 8 pages that helps you check your spiritual vision. Please invite others to join us. If you would like one, please message me or leave a comment. Thank you!

A Final Good Word

This is my prayer for you today:

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26

Pass the blessings on to others.

Thank you for reading these words. I’m deeply honored to share this time with you each week.

“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. Jeremiah 30:2

Gratefully yours,