Abraham was a righteous man and the father of our Faith (Ref. Romans 4:16 NKJV). He is Biblically acknowledged for his close relationship with God, which went to the next level during one memorable journey home from a battle. Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God… met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him (Hebrews 7:1-3 NKJV). A broader biographical sketch of the moment is recorded in Genesis, “Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” (chapter 14:18-20 NKJV) Notice some specifics about this encounter and the blessing that transpired. It takes place as the High Priest, Melchizedek, has bread and wine in his hands. The items Melchizedek is holding point to Jesus as the coming High Priest. And Paul tells us as much, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us… that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:13-14 NKJV). We are entitled to the blessing of Abraham because we have Jesus with us! And, when we partake of the Lord’s Supper (bread representative of His body and wine representative of his blood), it is within the order of God for us to declare the blessing of Abraham over our life. The Blessing of Abraham is three-fold:
You are a child of the Most High God. Believe God for elevation! He is above everything, and he can enhance your influence for a more significant impact to accomplish His purposes on the Earth.
You can possess heaven and earth. God owns it all -- everything! Believe God to bless you with possessions so that you can bless others by providing for their needs.
You can have enemies delivered into your hands. Dominion over the attack of the enemy is possible!
In summary:
Elevation
Possession
Dominion
Notice the blessing is progressive. It is three levels -- so, believe God to bless you in all three dimensions! I encourage you, with reverence in your heart, to gather some unleavened bread and wine (or improvise with crackers and juice), and partake of Communion while speaking this blessing over your life. Then, don’t hesitate to mimic Abraham’s response further, “And (Melchizedek) blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all (Genesis 14:19-20 NKJV). Lay your tithes check (1/10 of your income; Hebrews 7:2 NKJV) in front of you. While you partake of Communion, speak the Abrahamic blessing over your life, giving God your treasure symbolically. We make this movement in worship, communicating to God that he has our heart -- and, thereby we are ready for any oncoming blessing! (For symbolism's sake, if you give through online portals, maybe you could lay your phone in front of you.) This is the point, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21 NKJV). You’ve never given tithes before? Abraham had to start at some point as well! And, what better time to start than during the season when we celebrate Jesus’ birthday? The Christmas season’s first gift exchange transpired when “wise men” brought gifts to Jesus two thousand years ago. In this vein, amazingly, the Bible teaches us that Jesus receives tithes personally (in a spiritual sense) when we give them to our storehouse (the local church), “Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he (Jesus) receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives” (Hebrews 7:4, 8 NKJV). “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:8-10 NKJV) It’s such an incredible thing to consider, and it is so encouraging to know that our Savior -- God with us -- is still personally involved in receiving our gifts and seeing to it that blessing makes its way to those who are willing to believe for it. The bottom line: Because Jesus saved us, He is with us, and as we remember Him through Communion, we have the opportunity to believe for blessing and respond in generous worship. Declare it: Elevation. Possession. Dominion. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Watch Pastor Eric's Message on this subject: The Blessing of Abraham