germinate and bear fruit, and knowing that a war exists to render the person unfruitful, we cheer them on, and in so doing we see breakthrough in those things that work overtime to hold them back.

     The same is true in our churches.  When is the last time that your church family corporately “blessed” another church family?  When have we rejoiced to hear that a church across town or across the street was flourishing.  In order to bless, we must  be mature enough to “rejoice with those who rejoice…,” when the breakthrough comes.  Instead of harboring jealousy and suspicion, we celebrate with the recipient of success, and “esteem them as better that ourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)  This is supernatural living.  And it is impossible in and of ourselves.

     I honestly believe that “blessing” and “expectation” go hand in hand.  If in any environment I am choosing to “bless” those around me while refusing to “curse,” in reality I am “living by faith.”  Faith embraces that which is promised before it is ever physically seen.  By choosing to live a life that “blesses” others, I am calling those things that might not currently be operative in their lives as though they are.  (See Romans 4:17)  Even as I write, a story comes to mind of a friend of mine who was having challenges with a wayward son.  He decided that he would search for things in his son’s life to praise (bless).  He shared with me that only after a few days it was as if another young man was living in their home.  Almighty God had planted a seed in his son, and now the father was watering and nurturing the life of God within his son. 

     I close by drawing a blessing from John 15, Jesus’ teaching about the Vine and the Vinedresser.  In His illustration there was a branch that was “in Him” but was not bearing fruit.  The branch had “fallen” into the wrong environment, an environment not conducive to bearing fruit.  Jesus said that branches like this His Father “takes away” (literally “lifts up”), cleans them off, and places them back in an environment of LIFE.  Perhaps you, a loved one, or someone you know needs to be “lifted” out of an environment that has been absent of blessing and expectation, cleaned, and placed in a new environment where grace abounds.  This grace (the favor and operative power of the living God through Christ Jesus the Lord) is waiting and available.  Just call on Christ Jesus today.  He knows where you are, and He longs to “bless” each one of us and set us back on the road of expectation and hope.  And that is “Good News.”  We love you!  Andy

     One of the often overlooked but very important aspects of life is the environment in which we live.  I’m not necessarily talking about geographical environments, although specific ones are often needed for those that struggle with allergies and other physical challenges.  Rather, I am referring to the often more subtle environments that exist in our workplaces, our churches, and our homes.  Often these environments become just as potentially dangerous to our relational, emotional, and spiritual health as geographical environments might be to our physical health.

     What is the atmosphere of your home?  Is your home a place where love, communication, affirmation, and other essentials prevail?  I know that we all have our moments, and I’m quite sure that none of our homes are perfect in this regard.  But it is also true that the relational train can become completely derailed and we simply live on, while  knowing that all is not well. 

     Recently I read that environments that are thriving have two common ingredients.  The first is the presence of blessing, and the second is expectation.  Whether it is family life or church life, the presence of these two factors is a powerful weapon in the hands of the Living God to turn a house into a home, and any previously struggling church family into a dynamic “force” in their respective communities.  But we would do well to remember that most of us are not “wired” to bless others, and if not careful we are more apt to live in the past that be expectant regarding the future.

     The apostle James points out in his epistle that the tongue is an “unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”  “With it we bless our God and Father (the easy part), and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.  Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.  My brethren, this ought not to be so.”  (Chapter 3:8-10)

     You might say, as would I, that you have never cursed one of your children.  But could it be that the absence of spoken blessings is a curse in itself?  Now lest we wax religious on this issue, I would be quick to point out that a home where blessings are present probably does not take the form of following each other around the house speaking profound blessings while laying hands on individuals (although I am a big proponent of blessings that are transferred through the laying on of hands—See II Timothy 1:6).  But, “blessing” another through affirmation and encouragement during regular interaction within our homes is huge.  Seeing the “seed” inside a loved one beginning to

THE BEACON

First Baptist Gate City, Virginia

October/November 2011