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Take steps to bless
your home

Scripture tells us that God ordered Moses and Aaron to speak a blessing over the Israelites so that God would know who they were and thus be able to bless them. Scripture further instructs that we, the people of God, are to speak blessings into every area of our lives, and that includes our home, our room, our workplace, our yard, our church, the ball field and every space that is significant to each of us.

Do you know how to bless your home or another space that is important to you? The Psalmist wrote that we are surrounded and protected by a wall of fire. But fire tends to die down and burn out unless it is tended and rekindled. So we begin to bless our space by walking its perimeter repeating the name of Jesus with each left step and speaking the word grace with each right step. "Jesus, grace, Jesus, grace" is spoken out loud. My wife and I hold hands when we do this, and we alternate speaking these wonderful words that fan that fire into serious flame.

The prophet Isaiah wrote that a canopy shall be over all the glory of God. You are the glory of God, and thus you live under his canopy. His canopy is a shelter and shade from the heat of the day and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and the rain. We need to remind ourselves that we live under this canopy. Thus as part of blessing a space important to us, we need to act out erecting this canopy or tent above our home.

I watched a group erect a tent the other day, and they started by laying out the tent poles. We shall do the same and lay out the poles we need for our own canopies. Since we are doing this in the imaginary sense, we lay out our poles by naming one for each corner and one main pole for the center. Jean and I named the poles we stood at the corners of our home: protection, prosperity, purity, proclamation and the center pole, praise.

My wife and I walked around the perimeter of our house speaking "Jesus, grace" and stopping at each corner of our lot where we planted a pole in pantomime. As we planted the pole, we spoke its name: "Father, we plant the pole of protection here in this corner and ask you to protect us while we are home and away." Then we marched to the next corner and planted its pole while confessing the specific blessing we seek from the one to whom we owe all.

We ended at the center where we installed the main pole, in our case, a pillar of praise. As we praise him, our lives are marked by his peace where everything flourishes, is wholesome and is delightful.

Now tent poles are held in place by rope, and ropes need tightening from time to time to keep the canopy where it belongs, so we repeat this blessing at regular intervals. If you decide to so bless your space, you need to start by naming the poles you will plant. Since we are unique, we have to select names that speak to our own circumstances. I encourage you to match the poles you choose by starting all five names with the same letter.

I urge you to do this blessing. Forget that you might feel a little silly or that someone might see you. Honor God by erecting his canopy over you. Scripture teaches that the Lord will honor those who honor him. Do this and see that the Lord is good!

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