I will bless you; I will make your name great,...
and you will be a blessing.’”
I AM BLESSED TO BLESS.
I am healthy and strong. My future is bright. God gave me a 'more-than-wonderful' wife for twenty years before she went to heaven, seven beautiful children, two fabulous sons-in-law, three fabulous daughters-in-law, and ten very cool grandkids with one on the way! I have many excellent relatives, in-laws, and good friends. Like Abraham, I am truly a wealthy man.
I AM BLESSED TO BLESS.
I used to earn a fine income from a job I enjoyed, helping people get what they needed. God gave me a brain for business and was good at what I did. My customers appreciated and referred me regularly and I was never without opportunities to serve others through my profession of choice. I still receive referral income from past happy clients.
I AM BLESSED TO BLESS.
I have a vision to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and God has graciously gifted me with a calling, a deep desire, and the qualifications to share His Word. I am compelled to fulfill my purpose as a minister of the Gospel. The church I attend recognizes and encourages me to perform my calling. So do other churches and organizations. In fact, I used to derive a modest and yet wholly adequate income from the non-profit organization I founded back in 2009. Today I am retired and live comfortably on my retirement income.
Nothing I have is for me alone. I am a channel through whom the blessings of God may flow to the world He so dearly loves. It is an awesome honor to be chosen for this purpose. In fact, to have a purpose in life is a person’s most cherished possession.
I AM BLESSED TO BLESS.
Lord, make me blessable. Bless me that I might be a blessing!
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2 comments:
Great words, Dave. Yes, we are all blessed. Sometimes when I'm having a rough time, I remind myself of how blessed I am, especially when compared to the rest of the world. I realize that statistically speaking, I had a 95% chance of being born somewhere other than the USA. Man, I was blessed before I ever exited the birth canal.
A few thoughts I had on last Thursday's bible reading:
"Abram believed the Lord and it was credited to him as righteousness."
----Genesis, ch 15, vs 6.
Acting in faith is in and of itself an act of obedience. Abraham's belief was "credited to him as righteousness." And yet, six verses later we read that "as the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a THICK and DREADFUL darknesscame over him." God goes on to say that Abraham's descendants would be enslaved for four hundred years. And this, almost immediately after he was credited with righteosness. Yikes, a thick and dreadful darkness? Been there, done that.
I have to admit that I still can fall into the trap of considering obedience, faith and righteousness as a sort of steppingstone to happiness and/or a trouble free life. On some level I still see faith as a means to an end rather than seeing faith and the resulting relationship with God as its own reward.
I wonder how Abraham felt about that. He was told in the same day that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and that those same descendants would be enslaved for four hundred years. Kind of like your wife telling you she's pregnant and the baby has already been diagnosed with Downs Syndrome.
Jesus told us that in this world we would have trouble. But of we believed in him,(righteousness) we would be given his peace. I guess in the end, that's all that really matters. As I mature, I hope to understand this for the gift that it truly is. Something far more valuable than a trouble free life.
------CMM
Thanks CMM,
Great insights. Thanks for posting on my blog. I really appreciate your words.
Dave
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