The Blessings Some Carry

"Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s.” -Genesis 13:5-7

As I spent time in prayer God brought to my mind this story. God didn’t just bring up the story but began to show me important things about this story. I’m going to share one of the things He showed me the blessing His people carry. The Italians have a saying. “Dimmi con chi sei e ti dirò chi sei!” The English translation of that is "Tell me who you hang out with and I will tell you who you are." Growing up, I heard this daily before I left the house for school. To be honest, I still hear this as I leave the house. If you're Italian, you understand. Our mothers would stand at the door, giving last minute sayings and instructions no matter how old we are.

However, in this story, Lot was a nobody and God didn’t call Lot. He called Abraham. Abraham was the one God had called to a unique purpose and plan for his life. Abraham is my favorite male Bible Character. He was blessed because He believed God. In other words, he obeyed everything God told him even if he sounded weird or foolish: for instance, when God told him his name was changed from Abram to Abraham, meaning "father of many nations" before he had any children. Can you imagine telling people, “Yeah, God changed my name to Abraham” especially when he didn't have any children?

God was watching all those 25 years. And so was Lot.

God blessed Abraham greatly. Because Lot was a part of Abraham in his traveling, Lot got blessed, too. “Lot Who was moving about with Abram had flock and herds, too....” If you don’t hear anything I say today here this. Lot got blessed because of the blessing that was on Abraham’s life. Catch this and run with it. It’s who we hang around with that makes us who we are. Just like that Italian saying I hear my mother say daily to me and my kid, and I agree with her. Hang out with people of great integrity and character in godly behaviors and get blessed.

Let me give you an example. Many times at restaurants, some guy will send the waiter over to buy me a drink. Let me be clear that I’m at restaurants, not bars, having a meeting with someone and a guy will send me a drink. I politely ask the waiter to thank the gentleman, but I don’t drink. This particular time, I was at the Ritz Carlton. The guy came over and apologized for intruding and sent the waiter again with coffee and dessert for me and the woman I was with. Since I was in the middle of my meeting, I didn’t stop to acknowledge what just took place with her.

To me, it was a normal thing, and it happens many times at restaurants to me. The waiter comes over, tells me someone wants to buy me a drink, I say, “Thank the gentleman for me but I don’t drink, and I’m not interested,” and return to business. Simple in my mind, but not in hers. Usually, it ended there. However, this time this guy was more persistent. There’s always one in the crowd. He sent the waiter back with coffee and dessert. The waiter put the coffee down and brought an entire tray of delicious desserts on our table. Before I could say, “Thank the gentleman, but I don’t want dessert,” she said, “Oh wow, hanging out with you, Teresa, is filled with excitement and blessings. I heard the stories from others who have been with you. Now I’m part of it, too.” I’m paraphrasing. Since she’s on my friend list here, don’t want to misquote, but you get the idea.

Well, it was like this for Lot, too. You see, many times we are blessed because of the people we hang out with. Here’s where most people miss it like Lot. They begin to see themselves as the one who is blessed. Please, understand, I am not talking about not being blessed for yourself. This not the purpose of my blog. It’s all about the anointing some people carry. Being around them opens doors for us. Simply, we are blessed because of them.

Lot was blessed because of Abraham. He didn’t see that. He thought he got there on his own. Listen, when we are ungrateful and rude to people who got us where we are, you can bet that person will not stand for it very long. I wonder about certain things such as what would have happened if Lot had taken a different approach with his uncle Abraham? Lot was a taker. Abraham was a giver. Lot thought of Lot. Abraham thought of Lot by giving him first choice of where he wanted to go. Lot was greedy, rude, and thoughtless. Lot was the complete opposite of Abraham.

Abraham separated from Lot because both men grew large and their workers began to quarrel, and Lot did nothing about it. You see? The answers lies right here. He did nothing about it. He let it continue until, Abraham realized this isn’t going to change. “Lot, where would you like to go?” Wow, People, I hear so much in my spirit today. You see, if Lot had been a man of great character, he would have sat down with his workers and taken hold of the situation, coming up with solutions. Instead, he gladly left his uncle Abraham for the land he thought was best. Think for yourself. When Abraham said to Lot, “Look at the land and tell me which one you want and I’ll go the other way?” Who’s land was that to begin with? Abraham didn’t have to ask him which land you want. Abraham was there already, but he gave Lot something that wasn’t Lot’s but his to begin with. Lot messed up royally because of greed. He was not walking in the anointing or the blessing. Abraham out of his kindness gave to him. God wasn’t with Lot.

In the end of the story, Lot ends up losing everything -the herds, the flocks, and his wicked wife even his daughters turned into the worst kind of wicked evil plots. Lot was extremely blessed because of Abraham. He lost everything because he moved away from the influence of his uncle, who had the favor and anointing of God when God blesses a person all of the people around them are blessed, too.

What can we learn? Humble yourself and appreciate the people He sends your way to bless you, and you should a blessing back to them. You recognize they are blessed because God has His hands on their lives, and everything they touch flourishes. They are supernaturally led by God to places of blessings. It is because the anointing and blessings are on them, and we get blessed by being in their presence. Our work is blessed because of them.

Today, make a choice to bless those who have blessed you. Bless the people in your life whom you know and see with your eyes that they carry the anointing and blessings and honor them especially if they are there to bless you and have allowed you to be a part of their lives, and then just like Abraham the time came when they had to separate because one of them decided to live in Sodom and Gomorrah. Sin destroys in the end. Don’t let that be your portion. Enjoy being a part of people who carry the anointing and the blessings.

Dr. Teresa Allissa Citro

#TopicArticle #righteousness #friendship #blessings #choices #decisions #relationships