War, riots, conspiracies, terror, homicide, lies, slander, vengeance, retaliation... death and destruction at every turn in our world.  Is this what we dream for life to be?  Is this the kind of life we want to raise our children in?  Of course not - but what can possibly be done with a world turned upside down?  Live beyond it.

In a world bent on propagating wickedness, we must be perpetrators of BLESSING.

Isaiah 32.7-8 relates that "the schemes of the schemer are evil; he devises wicked plans to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks justice...  BUT A GENEROUS MAN DEVISES GENEROUS THINGS, AND BY GENEROSITY HE SHALL STAND."

Wickedness and destruction can be whirling all around you, but if in its midst you continue blessing and doing good, instead of evil, your lifestyle of blessing will uphold you in every situation.   ...and by generosity he shall stand.

No matter what the world does, our responsibility is to perpetrate righteousness.

The work of Righteousness, Isaiah 32.17 tells us, will be peace - and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.  Verse 20 NLT exclaims that "God will greatly bless His people. Wherever they plant seeds, bountiful crops will spring up."

Whenever we work righteousness, whenever we do good and bless others, we will in turn reap bountifully in righteousness and blessing.  The law of sowing and reaping does not fail.  And it works in the negative sense as well as the positive.

Most of us are familiar with Luke 6.38 - "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will men give into your bosom.  For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

However, most of the time we isolate this one verse from its context, thereby losing its full impact.  Luke 6.38 is nestled within Jesus' famous discourse, better known as the Sermon on the Mount.  (Also recorded in Matthew 5).  He opened this lecture with the Beatitudes, and proceeded to teach us to "love our enemies" - to do good to those who hate us and to bless those who curse us.

Then He said, "Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

        Judge not, and you shall not be judged...

        Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned...

        Forgive, and you shall be forgiven...

        Give, and it will be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will           

        men give into your bosom. 

        For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."   (Luke 6.36-38)

Whatever "measure" you use, is what will be used to measure back to you:

If you use the measure of "mercy", mercy is what will come back to you.  If you use the measure of "judgment" or "condemnation",  you will reap in judgment and condemnation.  If you use the measure of "forgiveness", forgiveness is what you will receive.  And if you use the measure of "giving", it will be given back to you.

Our harvest in life is determined by whatever seed we sow.  I wager to say that the biggest portion of the seeds we sow are our thoughts and the words of our mouth.  And whether those seeds will be seeds of good or seeds of evil, is something only we can decide for our own life.

Words that kill or Words that heal

"If you can find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.

A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything - or destroy it!  With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women He made in His image.  Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!  My friends, this can't go on."     - James 3.2,5,9-10  MSG

With our words we can kill or with our words we can heal.  Out of the same mouth can proceed blessing as well as cursing - but friends, this should not be so.

Some time ago, it dropped into my spirit that to refuse to walk in love toward someone is like temporarily sending them to hell.  If we curse them, through our words, our thoughts, and our actions, we are giving them a taste of hell.

We need to take this seriously.  Would we really want to send someone to hell?  No matter what anyone has done to us or to someone we love, something would be wrong with us if we would wish that person in hell.  Jesus died for their sins just as much as He did for ours.

Well, it's just as wrong to hate and curse them out with our words and actions.  Jesus said that we are to love even our enemies.

So don't give people hell - give them heaven. Bless them. Perpetrate Blessing.

When I was a young child, I heard my father in the Faith relate the word the Lord had given to him to "Preach the Gospel on every available voice".  I've heard him speak that word from God many times since then, and appreciate the results that have come from the Gospel being preached on the "voices" of radio, television, internet, and beyond.

However, the first time I heard "preach the Gospel on every available voice" - multimedia broadcasting was not the interpretation I got. To my child's mind, every available voice  meant people -  and the corresponding question I perceived in my spirit was God asking every one of us - Are you an available voice?

The Gospel means "good news" - so preaching the Gospel means proclaiming good news.  Matthew 24.14 reveals that "this Gospel (good news) of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."

The good news must be preached in all the earth.  But who is going to proclaim it?  We are to Preach the Gospel on every available voice - and the Spirit of God is calling to the hearts of His children, "Are you an available voice?"

If so, give voice to the good news, give voice to blessing, with your very life.  Jesus said that "BY THIS will all men know that you are My disciples - by your love for one another."  [John 13.35]

Romans 12.20-21 expresses that "if your enemy is hungry, feed him;  if he is thirsty, give him a drink;  for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. DO NOT BE OVERCOME BY EVIL, BUT OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD."

I don't think perpetrating blessing could be better stated than right there in that verse.  If someone does you wrong - don't be overcome by it, but overcome the evil with the Goodness of God.

The quickest way to draw people to God is by perpetrating Blessing.  The whole world sees evil and violence every day - but how often do they see, much less experience, BLESSING and GOODNESS?

Romans 2.4 says it is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance.

Let's step up to the next level in God, and allow Him to live through us to a greater degree - perpetrating goodness, righteousness and Blessing to everyone we come into contact with.

As the world continues pouring out wickedness - let's see to it that the goodness of God is poured out even more.