Posted: 07 October 2026

From a sermon given on 04 October 2026:

....I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing....
(Genesis 12:1-3, NIV)

God's blessing begins with God's initiative, not human ability. Abram was seventy-five and childless when God called him and declared, "I will." His circumstances did not cancel God's promise. Matthew Henry reminds us that God's promises give faith something firm to rest upon. What God has spoken is greater than what your circumstances suggest.

God's blessing is never meant to end with us; it is designed to flow through us to others. He said, "You will be a blessing." Resources can help someone, wisdom can guide someone, and encouragement can strengthen someone. John Stott emphasized that grace received should become grace shared. Ask God not only to bless you, but to make your life a channel of blessing.

The promise required faith and obedience. Abram left the familiar without knowing the destination; Hebrews 11:8 says he went because he trusted God. Charles Spurgeon emphasized trusting God when the way is unclear. Don't chase the blessing more than you chase the Blesser. Trust His Word, obey His direction, take the next step, and remain faithful. When God says "I will", who can say "no"?

Further readings:

That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
(Genesis 22:17-18)

And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
(Galatians 3:8-9)

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.
(2 Corinthians 9:8-11)