Tag: blessed

Posted in Devotions, Through the Bible Devotions

Be blessed!

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Ivana Cajina on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Genesis 14.

I met George and Marie when they brought their son Isaac to vacation bible school every summer. I would run into them every once in a while, and after a quick conversation, George would always say, “Be blessed!”

After Abram makes quick work of the kings who had attacked his nephew Lot, Melchizedek shows up with a blessing,

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
    Possessor of heaven and earth;
blessed be God Most High,
    who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” (Genesis 14:19,20 NASB)

We don’t know much about Melchizedek, other than that he was a king and a priest. He shows up out of nowhere, and then he disappears. His name will come up again to help us understand Jesus (Hebrews chapters 5 and 7).

It’s great to have people show up in our lives to remind us that we have been blessed and to credit God for those blessings. It’s easy to forget. It’s easy to allow what someone else has or does obscure the view of the good things in our own lives. What a gift when someone lends us their eyes to see what God has done and is doing in our lives!

Maybe I can bring that gift, too. When I celebrate the good things going on in the lives of others, it’s a great day for God, too. After all, every good and perfect gift comes from him.

Be blessed!

Posted in Israel

Water flowing

Posted on by William Douthwaite

I love this picture. It is one of my favorites from our trip to Israel. I took this picture at the Church of the Beatitudes, possibly the site where Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount beginning in Matthew 5.

The streams flowing from the altar reminded me of two bible passages:

“Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar” (Ezekiel 47:1).

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1).

In that moment, I felt like I was there. In between the ancient prophecy of Ezekiel and the not-yet visions of Revelation, I was captivated by the streams of life-giving water flowing from the altar. Jesus died and rose so that I might have life in the waters of my baptism. For me, this was a breath-taking moment to remember.

Yes, I felt blessed The mosaic words capture the moment well: “Praise to you, O Christ!”