Daily Devotionals for Women - Today's Encouraging Word from Scripture

PROSPERITY AND DOMINION

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

Nothing in our Christian language is misunderstood more than the word ‘blessing.’ Because I am so prone to want earth to be my heaven, I assume it means something it really doesn’t. When my expectations are shattered, I’m angry with God for supposedly breaking His promises. What does ‘the blessing’ really

Blessing equals spiritual prosperity and dominion over what God has entrusted. God blessed Adam and Eve, Noah, and now – Abram. They were told to be fruitful and to reign. I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies. Genesis 22:17

To be fruitful is to apply the laws of heaven and see results. That can mean as much internal as external. To reign and have dominion is to enjoy the freedom Jesus won for me at Calvary and to enforce the victory He acquired on my behalf. What does this ‘the blessing’ mean for every one who struggles today with their health, or finances, or broken relationships? Is God not faithful to keep His promises? Here is what two examples look like – and I’m asking God to drive these truths home to my own heart.

1. I can live in a crippled relationship and still be fruitful, and still reign. How? My inner peace is not determined by anything external. I plant the promises of God in my heart and they are fruitful because they produce peace, hope, and confidence that God is ruling well. I can reign because, in prayer, I ask for divine healing for what is broken. I use my spiritual authority to thwart all the schemes of the enemy to wreak more havoc in this relationship. I speak scripture over every diseased part of the relationship.

2. I can lie in bed with cancer and still be fruitful, and still reign. How? Though in pain, I remember that God is faithful to give me momentary grace. I am blessed with a relationship that offers me access to an all-powerful God who promises spiritual stamina. My relationship with Him is fruitful in suffering. I reign when I take all my fears and doubts and subdue them with the power of the Word. I preach to my own soul and defer to the hope Jesus offers.

If I’m experiencing hardship, it’s easy to believe I’m not blessed. I’m quick to compare myself to others and quote the promises made to our spiritual forefathers. I forget that they, and the prophets, and the disciples, entered the kingdom through much tribulation – but held onto the promises of God with their faith in tact – throughout their journey. Freedom from pain does not equal blessed. In each place today where I groan under weight of living on a cursed planet, I choose to live in the hope that God will one day redeem it all. In the meantime, my internal world can know blessing as I bear the fruit of living in the Word and reign over my flesh.

Reigning over my own despair is as much a miracle as reigning over people. Your Word is a magnificent catalyst for all that afflicts my heart. Empower me and bless me to rule over all You have entrusted to me. Amen.

For more from Christine Wyrtzen and Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze, please visit www.daughtersofpromise.org