“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are My followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven.”—Matthew 5:11–12

How was Jesus known when He walked this earth?

He was known as “the friend of sinners.” We might think that sounds like a compliment now, but it wasn’t meant as a compliment then.

Some members of the Jewish leadership establishment were appalled that Jesus would hang out with sinners.

No, He never compromised—this was our holy God in the flesh. But He loved these outcasts, this off-scouring of society, and they knew that He loved them. They were drawn by that love just like moths are drawn to a Coleman lantern in the middle of the wilderness.

We need to love people in the same way. Since we’re going to be persecuted, let’s be persecuted for the right reasons. Not for being self-righteous but for being righteous.

May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. —Numbers 6:25

In the song, “Positively Fourth Street,” Bob Dylan sings, “I wish that for just one time, you could stand inside my shoes. You’d know what a drag it is to see you.”

We may think that God feels that way about us sometimes: “Oh, what a drag. Greg is here. Hi, Greg.” But that is not how God feels about us. He smiles.

Think about when someone you really love shows up. Your face lights up, doesn’t it? That is how God is with us.

In contrast, have you ever noticed how idols are always frowning? I have visited museums where I have seen various idols, and they always look like they are mad about something. They are never smiling.

But that is not God. He looks at us and smiles. He loves to bless us. And here is something else we may not know: He sings over us. Zephaniah 3:17 says, “For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” I love that.

Recently I was pushing my granddaughter on the swing, and as I pushed her I was singing to her. I took the Chris Tomlin song, “Sing, Sing, Sing” but instead sang, “Swing, swing, swing.” Since then, whenever I ask her if she wants to go swing, she’ll start singing, “Swing, swing, swing.” She knows what that song is associated with. I sing over my granddaughter. I sing her Christian songs. I sing her biblical lyrics. I want them to be ingrained in her little mind so she remembers them.

God sings over you. He delights to be in your presence. And I hope you delight to be in His.

“So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.”

—Luke 12:32

The word blessed comes from the Greek word makarios, which refers to the kind of happiness that is self-contained. When we see the word blessed used in the New Testament, that is the happiness it’s referring to.

Yet sometimes in our lives, our happiness is not self-contained. Rather, it is contingent on good things happening. We think that if we could just get that raise at work, we would be happy. When something fun or exciting is happening, then we’re happy. But when we don’t get that raise at work or when we get some bad news, we are not happy. In those circumstances, our happiness depends on good things happening.

But blessed is a different kind of word. Regardless of what is taking place circumstantially, you are blessed. That’s the idea of makarios.

God wants to bless you. Jesus said, “So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom” (Luke 12:32).

When I was raising my two sons, especially my first son, Christopher, I kind of spoiled them. I agree with Dr. James Dobson’s statement that parents owe their first child an apology. I would just randomly buy toys for them. I would say, “Let’s go to the toy store.” It wasn’t a birthday or Christmas. We would look around, and then we would end up buying a big toy. That is how I spoiled my children, and I suppose that is the privilege of a parent. (I’m not advocating it, but I am saying that I did this.)

If you are a child of God, then know this: God loves to bless His children. And here is something else to remember: God wants to bless you even more than you want to be blessed. Isn’t that great to know?

“The LORD bless you and keep you.” —Numbers 6:24

We use the word bless a lot. It’s an apropos response to someone who is sneezing, or we might use it to end a conversation: “Well, it’s really good to see you! God bless!” And sometimes we may hear someone who has no interest in Jesus Christ say this or that is a blessing. But they don’t even know what the word really means.

Bless is a spiritual word. Jesus both started and concluded His ministry by blessing people. When children came to Him, He took them into His arms and blessed them. After His resurrection, He lifted up His hands and blessed the disciples. Jesus loved to bless people.

Then we have the Beatitudes, which are the first verses of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:3–4). Again and again in these opening verses of Matthew 5, Jesus used the word blessed.

In the book of Numbers, God commanded the priests to pronounce a blessing on His people, a people wandering in the wilderness. He wanted this blessing pronounced on the people again and again: “The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24–26).

Essentially God was saying, “I want this ingrained in their brains. I want it etched into their hearts. I want them to know this blessing from memory and be able to recite it at a moment’s notice.” Why? Because this blessing would show them what God is like. It shows His nature and attitude toward them and, in effect, toward us.

And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.” —Exodus 33:18

When I was a new Christian, I always prayed for things for myself. Lord, bless me. Give this to me. Provide this for me.

But as A. B. Simpson wrote, “Once it was the blessing, now it is the Lord; once it was the feeling, now it is His Word; once His gifts I wanted, now the Giver own; once I sought for healing, now himself alone.”

As we start growing spiritually, we will start saying more often, “Lord, I just want You. I want more of You. I want to know You better. No matter where I go, everything is good as long as You go with me, and I go with You.” That is a mark of spiritual maturity.

Jacob, after years of conniving and scheming, met his match when the Lord Himself showed up and they had a wrestling match (which of course Jacob lost). It started out with Jacob trying to overpower what may have been an angel or perhaps the Lord Himself. In the end, Jacob was hanging on to Him. It started off with cunning, and it ended up with clinging. It began with resisting, and it turned into resting.

Wrestling with God in prayer doesn’t mean getting God to do what we want Him to do. It means that we are going to completely surrender to what He wants to do. That is the ultimate goal.

When Moses said to the Lord, “Please, show me Your glory,” he was saying, “God, I want to see You now. I want You to actually show Your face to me.”

That really is what prayer is all about. It is not about getting stuff from God. Prayer, when it reaches its ultimate objective, is getting God. It is God that you want—it’s closeness with Him.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. —James 1:5

Have you ever had an electronic gadget that you couldn’t figure out how to turn on or off? You dug out the manual, read through it, and found the little illustration. It is so obvious now that you know. But you didn’t know until you read the manual.

James reminds us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). When we consult God’s Word, the user’s manual of life, He will guide us.

The psalmist said, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). As we read God’s Word, we will know His way. We find out things in His Word that we would not know otherwise.

When Moses asked God for divine direction, God told him, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14). Or literally, “My face will go with you.” God was telling Moses, “You have my full attention, and I will be watching your every move.”

Have you ever been talking to someone who wasn’t looking at you? You are telling him something, and he is looking past you or looking around or checking his watch.

God was saying to Moses, “I’m going to go with you. And not only am I going to go with you, but I am going to be looking at you. I will keep My eye on you. I am going to be really dialed into everything you are experiencing.”

So often we try to do in our own strength what God promises to do for us. And worrying is completely useless. Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.

Then the Lord said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.” —Exodus 32:9–10

Moses had many frustrations with the Israelites. He had complained to God on multiple occasions about them. But when God told Moses that He was going to wipe them out, Moses pleaded with God to relent.

God never was going to wipe these people out; He was testing Moses to see whether he would learn what it meant to be an intercessor. Would Moses stand in the gap and pray for the people, or would he throw them under the bus?

In John’s gospel we find someone who faced a similar test. A desperate father whose son was at death’s door heard about Jesus, humbled himself, and bowed before the Lord, asking Him to touch his dear son. Jesus answered, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe” (John 4:48 NKJV).

What kind of thing is that to say to someone with a dying child? But just as God did with Moses, Jesus was testing this man. Really, He wasn’t directing the words to the child’s father at all. He was saying them to the fickle crowds who wanted to be impressed.

The man just stood there, patiently waiting for Jesus to finish His sermon. Then he came right back to Jesus and said, “Sir, come down before my child dies!” He was an intercessor praying for his son.

Jesus told him, “Go your way; your son lives.”

He stood in the gap. He pressed on.

God is still looking for intercessors today. Sometimes we will pray for something, and we won’t get an answer right away. So we think that God is obviously saying no. But maybe God wants you to step up your game. Maybe He wants you to pray a little bit more. Maybe He wants you to not give up so easily.