The Blessing - Hebrews 13:20-21

Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup

The communion meditation today is based on a passage of Scripture from the New Testament, Hebrews 13:20-21. In this passage of Scripture, the author of Hebrews prays for his readers and us that God would give to us the power of Jesus Christ to equip us and produce every good thing that is pleasing to Him. As we assemble to partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we remember His sacrifice on the cross. God raised Jesus from the dead to become the blessing for humankind. All Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission.

As you listen to the episode today, my hope is that you will be encouraged from the time spent meditating on what Jesus has done for you. You are a special person; the one Jesus died to save!

Transcript

Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my communion meditation today is "The Blessing." I read from Hebrews 13:20-21 (NLT). All Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission.

20 Now may the God of peace—

      who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus,

the great Shepherd of the sheep,

      and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—

21 may he equip you with all you need

      for doing his will.

May he produce in you,

      through the power of Jesus Christ,

every good thing that is pleasing to him.

      All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.

I am always encouraged when a brother or sister in the Lord says, “I will pray for you, brother.” In that moment, we both acknowledge intervention by the Lord God is needed. While the author of Hebrews is remote from his readers, he anticipates their response to the weighty matters of his letter, “Please pray for us that we might hold fast to our faith in Jesus, and do all that you have asked us to do!” And he does. Not only does he pray for them, but he asks the Lord God to both fully equip them and produce in them every good thing that is pleasing to Him. All that was needed on their part was the willingness to accept this blessing and act in faith. This prayer answers many questions for them and us. We learn that our God is a God of peace. He did not send His Son to condemn humankind, but to restore harmony between Himself and us. He did that by resurrecting Jesus from the dead and establishing a new covenant between God and humankind, ratified by the shed blood of His Son on the cross. Now, as His children through faith in Jesus, God pours out His blessings on us, the most important of which is the power of Jesus Christ. This is the power that equips and produces results in the life of the believer! This is not a foreign concept—that something needs power to run. We ate breakfast this morning to provide fuel for our bodies; put gas in our tanks or charges in our batteries so we could drive to church; charged our phones so we could communicate; and the list continues. As Christians, we need the power of Jesus Christ to work, otherwise, we are flashlights with no batteries, living in the dark! The more we learn about Jesus, the more we come to appreciate how integral He is to our day-to-day life. He even helps us to remember Him today as we assemble around the table of the Lord to partake of the bread and drink from the cup. All the other blessings we receive from God flow to us because of what Jesus did at Calvary—Jesus is the blessing of God. Like author of Hebrews, we say, "All glory to him forever and ever!" Let us pray.

Abba, Father. Today we bless and set aside this bread and the fruit of the vine in this cup to remember Your Son, Jesus. We know that the bread represents His body that was nailed to the cross, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood that He shed for us. As we pour out the wine from the cup, we are reminded of how Jesus poured out His own blood that our sins might be forgiven. Abba, Father, as we assemble today to partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we acknowledge that Jesus is the source of all our blessings! We thank Him for the new covenant that was sealed with His very own blood that we might be reconciled back to You. Thank-you for working in us to produce every good thing that is pleasing to you. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Today, Jesus invites you to partake of His supper. I read from Matthew 26:26-28 (NLT).

 26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” Let us partake of the bread.

 27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." Let us partake of the cup.

And the assembly of believers said, "Amen!"

Until next time, from Numbers 6:24-26, "May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace."

Artist's Note: If you have questions about the Lord's Supper, I invite you to visit my website, https://eatthisbreaddrinkthiscup.com, for a brief overview. The Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast is listed in most podcast directories, and I invite you to add my podcast to your favorites and be notified of new posts. There is a written transcript that accompanies each podcast, and you are free to use the transcript in accordance with US copyright law. My prayer is that you will benefit personally from this time with Jesus and encourage others to observe the Lord's Supper. In these trying times, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus!