OUR DAILY BREAD                     Thurs., March 30, 1995
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READ: Genesis 12:1-7

                     BLESSED TO BLESS

       "I will bless you and make your name great;
               and you shall be a blessing."

                            -- Genesis 12:2

While I was reading the 12th chapter of Genesis, the words
of the second verse struck me with new meaning.  Whenever
I studied this particular passage of Scripture before, my
mind was so occupied with the promises to Abraham and the
nation of Israel that I overlooked a practical application
for every Christian.

The Lord told Abraham:  "I will bless you...and you shall be
a blessing."  He was blessed to bless!  What he received was
not for his own selfish enjoyment, but for the welfare and
betterment of others.

The same is true with believers today.  The Lord has done
a wonderful work of grace in our lives and wants us to
share it with others.  We who have trusted Jesus and have
received the benefits of salvation have been saved to "save."
Although our relationship to Christ brings us personal
satisfaction, He redeems us that we might go out and "preach
the gospel to every creature" (Mk. 16:15).  Likewise, God
comforts us in our distresses "that we may be able to comfort
those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we
ourselves are comforted by God" (2 Cor. 1:4).

You have been blessed to bless!  Let the Lord do His work
through you.

                                -- Richard W. De Haan

         Make me a channel of blessing today,
        Make me a channel of blessing, I pray;
        My life possessing, my service blessing,
          Make me a channel of blessing today.

                                -- Smyth

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           THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
-------------------------------------
  God gives freely to us so that we may
        give liberally to others.
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THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  1 Kings 1-4

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Our Daily Bread, Copyright 1995, used by permission of Radio Bible Class,
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Our Daily Bread, having originated from his distribution to the 
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