Then God said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Be fruitful and multiply. You will become a great nation, even many nations. Kings will be among your descendants! And I will give you the land I once gave to Abraham and Isaac. Yes, I will give it to you and your descendants after you.” Then God went up from the place where he had spoken to Jacob.

Genesis 35:11‭-‬13 NLT

God's desire is for His children to be prosperous and have influence. It is His will for each and everyone of us to live a life of fruitfulness. I choose to call this "the blessing" because it is different from all other pronouncements of blessing; "the blessing" is God's stamp of approval on His children who have gone through a process of making, akin to announcing a new identity.

A few places in the scripture where we find "the blessing" pronounced:

1. When God made the first man, He pronounced "the blessing" upon him.

2. After the flood, God pronounced "the blessing" on Noah as the harbinger of a new generation of people who seek Him.

3. In today's text, we see "the blessing" pronounced on Jacob after he returned from Padam-Haran.

The background to this story includes the many experiences of Jacob from when:

• He negotiated his brother out of the latter's birthright

• Stole his brother's blessings through impersonation leading to his self-imposed exile to his mother's ancestral home.

• His travails and eventual triumph over his father-in-law whom he served for 14 years just to marry his heartthrob Rachel.

• His reconciliation with his brother

Through his experiences and encounters with God, Jacob realized that he was a God-made, God-prospered man. In that realization, Jacob takes specific action in establishing his family in God:

1. He re-instates his altar of worship of the God of his fathers who has been his help

2. He leads his family to repentance asking them to lay aside their idols and clean up (the garbage of lies, sorcery, anger, fighting, gossip, and all our secret sins). Jacob commanded them to purify themselves.

3. He leads them to acknowledge and worship the God of his fathers.

The blessing is beyond physical and material wealth, it is fundamentally the seal of God placed upon a man. The bible speaks of a new name God gives to His children who overcome - Rev. 2:17, Rev. 3:12, Isaiah 56:5.

The man who God takes through the process and in obedience comes into the blessing receives access to the ancestry of the Father, he becomes a pillar in the Father's House. He becomes a living Stone (1 Peter 2:5) built into the holy priesthood in Christ and can offer spiritual sacrifices to the Father.

The blessing is available to anyone who like Jacob will step out of their past failures and into the finished works of Christ. God is raising men, fathers who will rise up from their past failures into the blessing. Fathers who will step into their roles as Priests over their households, leading them into repentance and the worship of El-Shaddai, that He may show Himself as the God Who fights your battles.

I don't know what battles you are fighting today as a father; unforgiveness, pride, alcoholism, adultery, drug abuse, pornography, a lifestyle of fraud, being abusive to your spouse and children, failure, and poverty?

The God who met Jacob the deceiver is calling you into a place where He can fight on your behalf to give you the life He intended when He called you into fatherhood. He stands at the door of your heart today, say those words and let His Spirit take over your heart now! Be set free in the name of Jesus!

Whosoever the Son sets free is free. His sacrifice was once and for ALL. He went to that cross so fathers like you can rise into your place of blessing and increase. His going to the cross was to lay to rest every charge the enemy could ever bring up to disqualify you for the blessing! You have been set free, step into your freedom and live triumphant in the blessing of the Father.

He Who has promised is Faithful and will give you the blessing. Shalom!