Receiving and Giving

People frequently say, "Bless you," or "Have a blessed day," but what does it mean to bless and to be blessed? There are 31,173 verses in the Bible and they can be summarized in just two. In the Book ofGenesis, God changes the course of history by announcing to Abraham, "I will bless you and through you I will bless all the families of the earth." Receiving God's blessings and then passing them along to others has the power to change everything in life for the better. Using descriptive and thought-provocing stories, "Giving and Receiving: Unleashing the BLESS CHALLENGE in Your Life" turns the word BLESS into an acronymn and offers practical instructions on how to recognize and receive God's blessings and then pass them along to others in practical and life-changing ways. The acronymn assigns the "B" to stand for "Bless Everyone," the "L" to stand for "Listen to God," the "E" to stand for "Eat with Someone," the first "S" to stand for "Study Jesus" and the second "S" to stand for "Serve Generously. Each section includes questions for journaling, brief passages for memorization, discusion questions for personal reflection or small group discussion and activities for practical applications. The reader's life will be profoundly impacted by the transformative power of blessings. The person who adopts the BLESS CHALLENGE will never be bored. Such a person will be increasingly stunned by the abundant supply of God's blessings and by the unlimited opportunities to pass them along to others.