The Book of Blessings 5.15

[Pages:220]The Book of Blessings

Impacting Lives with the Language of God

R. Scott Osborne

FOREWORD BY DR. SAMUEL FARINA

Copyright ? 2007 by R. Scott Osborne

The Book of Blessings by R. Scott Osborne

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 978-1-60266-744-0

All rights reserved solely by the author. The author guarantees all contents are original and do not infringe upon the legal rights of any other person or work. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the permission of the author. The views expressed in this book are not necessarily those of the publisher.

Unless otherwise indicated, Bible quotations are taken from The King James Version of the Holy Bible (also known as the Authorized Version). This translation of the Holy Bible is in the Public Domain.

Scripture quotations marked "CJB" are taken from the Complete Jewish Bible, copyright ? 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. jntp. Distributed by Messianic Jewish Resources. . All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Quotations marked "KJV" are taken from The King James Version of the Holy Bible (also known as the Authorized Version). This translation of the Holy Bible is in the Public Domain.

Scripture quotations marked "NASB" are taken from the New American Standard Bible?, Copyright ? 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission ()

Scripture quotations marked "NCV" are taken from the New Century Version?. Copyright ? 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked "NIV" are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION?. NIV?. Copyright? 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked "NIrV" are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL READER'S VERSION?. NIV?. Copyright? 1994, 1996 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version?. Copyright ? 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked "NLT" are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ? 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked "RSV" are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked "TNIV" are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, TODAY'S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION?. TNIV?. Copyright? 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

xulon pre

To my wife Daryse, Thank you for your constant love, support and faithfulness. I could not have completed this without

you. You are invaluable to me.

To my daughters, Chloe and Hannah, Thank you for always believing in me.

To my son-in-law Kyle and grandson Klaus, I am so thankful you are part of my life.

To my mother, Thank you for my strong Christian heritage and for

instilling me with the desire to serve God.

To my heavenly Father, Thank you for saving us and blessing us

with your Word.

I love you all!

Contents

Forward..........................................................................................1 Preface.............................................................................................3 Introduction...................................................................................7

Clarification on Use of Specific Scriptures...................10 Format ................................................................................11 1 The Positive & Negative Effect of Words ..........................13 Affirmation and a Whole Lot More..............................14 The "Anti-" Blessing........................................................16 No Middle Ground..........................................................17 2 The Blessing.............................................................................19 What is a Blessing?...........................................................20 How to Bless ? The Model Blessing..............................23 Why We Bless ? Our Priestly Duty...............................27 Transformed by the Word..............................................31 Heart Surgery....................................................................33 3 Imparting Blessings................................................................35 When and Whom to Bless..............................................35 Constructing a Blessing...................................................35 How to Use this Book......................................................37 Two Unique Categories..................................................39 Laying on of Hands .........................................................40 Go and Do Thou Likewise .............................................41 4 Blessings about Redemption & Restoration......................43 5 Blessings for God's Abiding Presence................................49 6 Blessings about God's Word................................................55 7 Blessings for God's Favor......................................................59 8 Blessings for God's Guidance ..............................................65 9 Blessings for God's Mercy, Grace, & Compassion ..........69

Contents

10 Blessings for God's Protection & Safety...........................73 11 Blessings for God's Provision.............................................81 12 Blessings over Family ..........................................................87 13 Blessings for God's Children..............................................93 14 Blessings about Confrontation...........................................97 15 Blessings for Courage ........................................................103 16 Blessings about Destiny & Calling..................................109 17 Blessings for Encouragement...........................................113 18 Blessings for Godly Character..........................................117 19 Blessings for Godly Speech ..............................................127 20 Blessings for Healing & Long Life ..................................131 21 Blessings for Joy..................................................................135 22 Blessings for Anointing in Ministry................................141 23 Blessings for Peace, Rest & Patience ...............................149 24 Blessings for Faith & Trust................................................155 25 Blessings for Wisdom, Knowledge & Discernment....159 26 Blessings to God..................................................................165 27 Blessings over Israel ...........................................................171

Appendix A ? Israel & the Church .......................................187

Appendix B ? Biblical Examples of Blessings.....................197

The Book of Blessings Website ..............................................213

Forward

I have been a pastor of the same congregation for over forty years. Through all those years I have concluded the services with the priestly benediction from Numbers 6, "The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace" (KJV). I would then add spontaneous blessings usually pertaining to the burden of the message I had preached.

Though I did not fully realize the power of these blessings, people took the benediction seriously and began to expect that blessings would be pronounced over them. As the years passed, it put me to thinking, when did this practice first touch my life?

It all began with my parents ? faithfully speaking blessings over my siblings and me. That's one of the reasons all six of the Farina children have served the Lord and four of us have been pastors for many years. I also recall my childhood Pastor, Silvio Marcadonna, who would regularly lay hands on me and pronounce blessing in his Italian immigrant accent, "The Lord is going to use you, Samuel!" The profound truth is that my palate for blessing was touched from the earliest point of my upbringing.

In the early years of my ministry I continued to seek out godly men to lay hands on me and bless me ? men like Elder Karl F. Smith, Ern Baxter, Judson Cornwall and

1

The Book of Blessings: Impacting Lives with the Language of God

others. Each one impacted my life and ministry in a particular way. Do I believe in the power of blessing? I certainly do.

I'm excited to recommend this book to you because I have witnessed the impact of blessings on the lives of others. My own life has been greatly impacted by the spoken blessing. Because others were obedient to the voice of the Lord, they expressed blessings over me. If we will allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, we will all become speakers of blessing. It is God's way.

The Book of Blessings, compiled by my spiritual son, Scott Osborne, is a book to include in your spiritual arsenal ? a book to use to bless others and to receive blessing. This book stands unique among the volumes that have been written about blessings because it amasses literally hundreds of Scriptures with which to bless. This matters because the God we serve is the Author of all blessing. He alone is the Source of blessing and His Word is a vital resource for which there is no substitute. Nothing encourages, nothing soothes, and nothing breathes hope like the Word of God.

As we bless with the Holy Scriptures, we are able to sow the Living Word into the lives of others in order to bring God's blessing upon them and facilitate their transformation into His image. May we generously speak blessings so that we might all become instruments of affirmation in God's hands.

Dr. Samuel Farina

May 8, 2007

2

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download