Wow. This one was packed for me. Genesis 15, you had a lot to say.
First off, just LOOK at how this chapter begins:
Genesis 15:1 "After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: 'Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.'"
I am CERTAIN that I have probably read this chapter at some point in my life, but I never remember reading that verse. The words of it struck me to my core. God is our shield, and not only that but he is our very great reward. That great reward part is the part that got to me. I think that so often I see God as my helper, as my rock, as my redeemer, as holy and wonderful. He really is all of those things, but to see him as my great reward? That is amazing! HE IS A REWARD! He is a reward for walking a life lived with him! I mean think about it! We get to have daily communion with our amazing Lord! When we give our lives over to him he promises to be there with us, to walk with us, to guide us. What is a better reward than that. I just love that phrasing so much. It made me feel almost...I don't know, giddy? Is that the right word? Right now I am just GIDDY! I am smiling and rejoicing and thinking about that...God is my reward. Amazing. Amazing that he loves me that much and that he wants to be with me...he wants to be my reward.
The other part of this chapter that just about made me cry comes a bit later on.
Genesis 15:4-6 "Then the word of the Lord came to him: 'This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.' He took him outside and said, 'Look up at the heavens and count the stars-if indeed you can count them.' Then he said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness."
Um, yeah. This one just makes me want to cry. If you follow my other blog, you know that our journey to having children was not always an easy one. My boys, wow...I want to just smother them in love all of the time. I know what an incredible gift they are. With each pregnancy I took not a moment for granted and often I just look at their precious faces and cannot believe how blessed I am. I don't take having children for granted. I know that journey is a long, hard one for some people. It was even for us. When I think of Abram crying out to God in this area I can feel his pain. When you have tried to have a baby and for some reason or another it is not working, that anguish can be difficult to bear. Abram was just bringing this before his Lord, sharing his heartache with him. I have been in that same spot. Then, there is God, making him this BEAUTIFUL promise! He uses something so gorgeous as the night sky to say to Abram, I hear you, I feel your anguish, I understand. Your faithfulness will grant you descendants that number greater than the stars in the sky. Wow. It just makes me want to smile on Abram's behalf. He must have felt like jumping up and down and dancing after God told him this...I know I would have!
I don't know that God always answers in this way, but we have seen these sorts of answers in our own lives. Sometimes I think that God wants us to just cry out to him, to share those sorrows with him...he is just waiting for us to say, "Look God, my heart is hurting!" It doesn't mean that he is always going to answer that cry with a joyful circumstance...after our first miscarriage our cries were answered with another miscarriage, but he is there. He is with us. It goes back to that great reward thing...he is there.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Geneis 14
In today's chapter, Genesis 14, I can't say that a single verse really struck me. What struck me was that once again, Abram puts his life on the line for his nephew. He puts his family first. He has a little band of just 318 men, yet when he hears his nephew has been captured he goes out and rescues him. I guess what also really stands out to me is how Abram continually gives God the glory.
Verse: Genesis 14:19 "and he blessed Abram saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth."
Even the king could see that Abram was blessed by God. Abram listened to and obeyed God and his commands and continued to see God at work in his life. I'm sure that his life was not always easy, and there were probably times of great frustration, but the pattern that I see is a good one...listening and obeying GOD! I also want to follow his pattern of giving God the glory. Too often I take things, events, or people in my life for granted. I need to remember that it is God that makes it all happen and I should be praising and glorifying Him in and through those things!
Verse: Genesis 14:19 "and he blessed Abram saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth."
Even the king could see that Abram was blessed by God. Abram listened to and obeyed God and his commands and continued to see God at work in his life. I'm sure that his life was not always easy, and there were probably times of great frustration, but the pattern that I see is a good one...listening and obeying GOD! I also want to follow his pattern of giving God the glory. Too often I take things, events, or people in my life for granted. I need to remember that it is God that makes it all happen and I should be praising and glorifying Him in and through those things!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Genesis 13
Wow, I loved this chapter. It really hit home for me. It is short but packed with a mighty punch. In this chapter, Abraham and his nephew, Lot, are moving their families to where they are going to settle. Both Abram and Lot are pretty powerful and wealthy men, so they have a lot of goods between the two of them. They have so much, that they realize that they really cannot support both of their crews in the same area, so Abram knows that they will have to go their separate ways.
Verse: Genesis 13:8-9 "So Abram said to Lot, 'Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right; if you go to the right, I'll go to the left.'"
This is pretty big stuff. Abraham was older than Lot and was his uncle, so technically he should have been the one to choose. When Lot does choose, he does not show any deference to his uncle and chooses what seems to be the best land for himself.
Abram doesn't even bat an eye. He goes the opposite way, even though it doesn't seem to be that great. He knows that the Lord will protect him and his family. He is told that by the Lord later on in the chapter...God promises to give him great land and great numbers of offspring. This isn't what struck me though...what struck me is Abram's selflessness. He offers up the best to his nephew. He puts his family first. He knew that he could be facing potential conflict and chose to meet it head on and took the initiative to resolve it. He didn't put himself first either, he put his nephew first. It's a good reminder to me. I need to be willing to work with those I care about, to not avoid things, but to meet them head on. I also need to go in with a heart of humbleness and peace and to be willing to put myself last, even if it means I might get hurt or not get what I want. It is a hard lesson for me to learn sometimes. I think it can be human nature to want to put ourselves first...I need to learn to squelch that desire and look to the needs of my family and friends around me. I need to be BOLD. That is one of my biggest problems...I am always afraid to shake things up, or to be hurt myself. I have to get past that and step out in FAITH.
Verse: Genesis 13:8-9 "So Abram said to Lot, 'Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right; if you go to the right, I'll go to the left.'"
This is pretty big stuff. Abraham was older than Lot and was his uncle, so technically he should have been the one to choose. When Lot does choose, he does not show any deference to his uncle and chooses what seems to be the best land for himself.
Abram doesn't even bat an eye. He goes the opposite way, even though it doesn't seem to be that great. He knows that the Lord will protect him and his family. He is told that by the Lord later on in the chapter...God promises to give him great land and great numbers of offspring. This isn't what struck me though...what struck me is Abram's selflessness. He offers up the best to his nephew. He puts his family first. He knew that he could be facing potential conflict and chose to meet it head on and took the initiative to resolve it. He didn't put himself first either, he put his nephew first. It's a good reminder to me. I need to be willing to work with those I care about, to not avoid things, but to meet them head on. I also need to go in with a heart of humbleness and peace and to be willing to put myself last, even if it means I might get hurt or not get what I want. It is a hard lesson for me to learn sometimes. I think it can be human nature to want to put ourselves first...I need to learn to squelch that desire and look to the needs of my family and friends around me. I need to be BOLD. That is one of my biggest problems...I am always afraid to shake things up, or to be hurt myself. I have to get past that and step out in FAITH.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Genesis 11 & 12
Wow...I got a little off track there. Life got busy. Not an excuse, I know, but I made it one. I started to think other things were more important and next thing I knew I was out of the Word. I missed it. Back to the grindstone.
Genesis 11
The main focus for me in this chapter is the Tower of Babel. This is something that just fascinates me. First of all, to be living in an age where everyone spoke the same language must have been fascinating. I guess they didn't know any different but imagine how they must have felt when God confused their languages??
The verse that struck me is Genesis 11:4 "Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make an ame for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'"
These people wanted to make a name for themselves. This tower was a wonder of the world, a great monument. The people must have been pretty proud of themselves. I wonder what things I place as monuments in my life? Is it my house and how nice it looks? Is it my kids and how they are behaving? Is it my job? God is the one that has blessed me with all of these things. It is ok for me to develop and to appreciate these things, but the important thing to remember is that without Him I am nothing and these wonderful blessings would not be in my life.
Genesis 12
The story of Abraham is always an interesting one. The guy wasn't perfect, but the way that he follows God is a good reminder to me. He just up and leaves everything that he knows and is familiar to him because God tells him to. He doesn't really question, he just goes.
Genesis 12:4 "So Abram left, as the Lord had told him: and Lot went with him."
He obeys. I wonder if I would obey if God told me to just up and leave everything and everyone I hold near and dear. I have some friends that did that. They felt God calling them to be missionaries in Cambodia. They owned a home, they had three young daughters, they were settled and happy. They both had great jobs...but they went. They went! I want to believe that I have that kind of faith and trust, but I know I need to work on it. I often say that I am trusting God with things and then quickly grab them back and try to take over again. That's not what he asks, he asks me to just give it to him and follow.
Genesis 11
The main focus for me in this chapter is the Tower of Babel. This is something that just fascinates me. First of all, to be living in an age where everyone spoke the same language must have been fascinating. I guess they didn't know any different but imagine how they must have felt when God confused their languages??
The verse that struck me is Genesis 11:4 "Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make an ame for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'"
These people wanted to make a name for themselves. This tower was a wonder of the world, a great monument. The people must have been pretty proud of themselves. I wonder what things I place as monuments in my life? Is it my house and how nice it looks? Is it my kids and how they are behaving? Is it my job? God is the one that has blessed me with all of these things. It is ok for me to develop and to appreciate these things, but the important thing to remember is that without Him I am nothing and these wonderful blessings would not be in my life.
Genesis 12
The story of Abraham is always an interesting one. The guy wasn't perfect, but the way that he follows God is a good reminder to me. He just up and leaves everything that he knows and is familiar to him because God tells him to. He doesn't really question, he just goes.
Genesis 12:4 "So Abram left, as the Lord had told him: and Lot went with him."
He obeys. I wonder if I would obey if God told me to just up and leave everything and everyone I hold near and dear. I have some friends that did that. They felt God calling them to be missionaries in Cambodia. They owned a home, they had three young daughters, they were settled and happy. They both had great jobs...but they went. They went! I want to believe that I have that kind of faith and trust, but I know I need to work on it. I often say that I am trusting God with things and then quickly grab them back and try to take over again. That's not what he asks, he asks me to just give it to him and follow.
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