It's been about two months since my last blog post about Caleb and Joshua. I've covered a lot of ground in those two months. I am currently reading First Kings. I've been studying the man David, the man after God's own heart, and it is truly amazing how much information we have about David in scripture. This great worshiper, warrior, King- literally covers hundreds of pages in scripture.
I've been listening to a thirty part series on the life of David and it is really just too much to even summarize in a blog post, so I thought I would just do a little commercial, a plug to encourage others to study this man.
For me it begins in the book of Ruth. A beautiful story about loyalty and redemption. The book of Ruth culminates with the birth of David's grandfather, Obed. Scholars don't really know who actually wrote the book of Ruth, but my humble opinion is that it was David. My only reason for saying that is because I use to love listening to my grandpa tell stories about his parents and grandparents. Who is more inspired to write down grandpa's stories than one of his own grandkids? Who else even sees the value in the day grandpa was born? I imagine Obed being told the story of Ruth over and over again by his own grandma Naomi. Obed retells it to Jesse and the grandkids, and when one of those grandkids of his becomes King of all Israel the story becomes part of her story to tell as well.
Most of us know the stories of David's young life; Samuel anointing him as king, Goliath, his friendship with Jonathan....
We even know the stories of his son Solomon who becomes a wise and wealthy king.
And then the kingdom is taken from the hands of his grandsons as God brings judgment on a nation for turning to other gods, again.
So from great-great grandmother Naomi to David's grandchildren we have a lot of information about his life, but what fascinates me is the depth of his heart that we find in the book of psalms, and the depth of the wisdom of his son, Solomon that we find in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon. Literally hundreds of pages of music, poetry and emotion.
Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE music, poetry and emotion. I can't get enough of it.
There is so much to learn from David's heart. The way he loved God is in my opinion unmatched in scripture, except by perhaps the apostle John. If you want to learn what it looks like to love God, study these two guys together- David and John. They weren't perfect men, but they were confident in the love of God and they knew what they looked like through his eyes.
Through David we get this huge window into God's heart and what He is like. Loads and loads and loads of insight that isn't found in scripture prior to David's life.
I could write a book about this stuff, but this is just a commercial.
If you haven't read this stuff in a while I encourage you- read it. Read the stories with the Psalms- realizing it is the same guy. A little boy taken from the back hills of Bethlehem, playing his guitar (harp) out with the sheep alone, day after day after day, growing in the knowledge of God and then elevated to the place of King by the age of 30 by the hand of God. Follow his life and see how that heart and life before God that he cultivated as a child never left him. He never held on to his position, it was never his greatest identity- his identity was always rooted in being a lover of God.
When he sinned, he owned it before the God he loved and was truly broken. He knows things about the personality and nature of God that few others know and through the Living Word of God he is eager to reveal them to us through his life.
Fascinating stuff- time consuming, yes, but well worth the journey.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Maintaining a right view of God
(In case you are reading along: Numbers chapters 13 and 14; Deuteronomy chapters 1 and 2)
Have you ever thought about Caleb son of Jephunneh or Joshua son of Nun? I mean really thought about them?
You probably remember they were 2 of the 12 men that went up as spies into the promised land. They saw how good the land was that God wanted to give them and they came back ready to lead the armies of Israel to victory and into the destiny God had for their generation. The other 10 men however convinced all of Israel that it couldn't be done. The men were too big, the cities too fortified- it couldn't be done.
All of Israel became discouraged and afraid, and began grumbling against God saying, "The LORD hates us....He brought us out of Egypt to destroy us" (Deut 1:27 paraphrased).
This angered God and he 'solemnly swore' that none of that generation would see the promised land. They would die in the desert and their 'little ones' would be the ones to possess the land.....40 years later. Caleb and Joshua would be the only ones from that generation to be a part of possessing the land, but as old men no longer in their prime.
Can you picture these two men, warriors in their prime, brave, strong, energetic, willing, capable, eager, motivated, inspired. They knew their own history. They knew that this land had been promised to their ancestor, Abraham, nearly 600 years prior. They knew of the 400 years that their people had spent as slaves in Egypt. They had experienced as young boys the miracles in the desert, seen the tabernacle be built, saw the fire of God come down and consume the sacrifices. They had spent their entire childhood following a pillar of fire at night and the cloud of God's presence by day resting over the tabernacle. They had seen the radiant glowing face of Moses after he had spoken face to face with God.
And here they were at the edge of the desert; it was their generation that was to see the promise of God fulfilled. Their generation would be the ones to fight the battles, to tell the stories of how God scattered their enemies and gave them the very land that had been promised to Abraham. The land that Isaac had worked. The land were Jacob had wrestled with God and seen the angels ascending and descending into heaven. They were standing at the edge of their destiny in the heart of God. But the other men, the rest of their generation refused to believe God....and as a result their generation missed it. Instead of going down in history as the greatest generation in Israel's history they went into the books as the ones that missed it....and died in the desert instead.
In Numbers it says that Caleb and Joshua tore their clothes.
Caleb and Joshua were wholehearted followers of God, living in a generation that had a wrong view of God and it cost them their destiny and 40 more years in the brutal desert.
In Deuteronomy 1:29 through the end of the chapter, Moses lays out some very important points on maintaining a right view of God.
#1- Remember your history in God
Moses reminds them about the mighty things God did when he brought all 3 million of them up out of Egypt. Remembering God's power demonstrated in the resurrection of Jesus freeing us from the power of sin and death is key to maintaining a right view of God.
#2- Know Him as Father
Moses reminds them that "God carried you as a father carries his son." The Israelites had lost sight of that and were instead saying, "He hates us and wants to destroy us." Knowing the Father Heart of God is KEY in maintaining a right view of God.
#3- Abiding in His presence
Moses reminds them how the presence of God is with them, "He went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go." God's presence leads us and guides us. When we stop abiding in His presence we are no longer relating rightly to God.
#4- Resist the temptation to need to know all the details.
The Israelites wanted to scout out the land, which was fine, but it left them exposed to losing their focus. They took their eyes off of God and what He was saying and doing and instead began to focus on their own inabilities, weakness, fear and doubt. At this point they have lost sight of God.
#5- If you find yourself bound up by fear, overwhelmed in the details, full of doubt- Do not proceed!!!
Stop, turn around, start over, go back and get a right view of God before proceeding. If you proceed without a right view of God YOU WILL FAIL. Trying to obey His commands without trusting Him will get you hurt.
#6- God is looking for wholehearted followers that maintain a right view of who He is. If He does not find that kind of faith he will look to the next generation to accomplish His purposes on the Earth.
If God has purposed something in your heart, if He has given you vision for something, do not let anyone take that from you. Even if you are only one or two against the multitude don't give in. When everyone else is full of fear, worry and doubt and they try to terrify you with stories of 'giants.' Do what Caleb and Joshua did- tear your clothes, fall on your face, cry out to God and refuse to go the way of a 'wicked' generation that does not trust in God. When the situation you face seems impossible, scary and life threatening refuse to believe the lie that God hates you and wants to destroy you. As a father carries his son, so your God will carry you. Whatever the cost- maintain a right view of God. Be full of courage and believe Him to do all that He has promised to do through you.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Providing for the Poor
Leviticus is one of those books that is often skimmed or skipped by many bible readers, but I honestly must say that I actually enjoy it. I know that sounds incredibly odd but there really is so much information about the temple, the priests and sacrificial worship. The writer of Hebrews tells us that all these things were just shadows of the things above.
In my observations and research I came across the concept that the instructions that Moses receives in many ways parellels the creation story. In other words, the blueprints for the temple given to Moses by God was God once again setting up a place that he might dwell among his people. They would be His people and He would be their God as it was in the garden.
I think I could have actually written several blog posts on Leviticus but out of all the gems and treasures I encountered the one I'd like to share is found in chapter 23 verse 22, " When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God."
This instruction to not harvest to the edges of the field almost immediately brought to mind the phrase, "live within your means." which in its self is wisdom for many reasons and yet it is so rare in today's world to actually find people that live within theirs means. In our world of ever increasing debt, we not only reap to the very edge of our field but we often reep from fields that are not our own. We live off barrowed harvest to the point that next years harvest is already accounted for before we even plant it, so to speak.
But not only were the Israelites commanded not to reap to the edge of their fields but God gives us the reason behind it as well. So that the poor can be provided for. That is a revolutionary idea. It gives the idea of living within your means a purpose beyond self. John and I have often talked about how we desire to always live within or below or means, and we want to be generous people. But I don't think we have ever tied them so closely together as this verse does. Let us live within our means so that we will have something to give to the poor.
When you think about the tithe in scripture many people can say they believe and live by the principle that the tithe belongs to God, but how many believe and obey this teaching that the edges of their field belong to the poor. The gleanings belong to the poor. In God's economy they do.
It is hard to imagine a community of people that would not only live within their means but would also provide the local church with a means to exist with their tithe and provide for the poor in their local community with the edges of their fields and their gleenings, their surplus, their profit. How very very unamerican. But yet an invisible God gives us a picture of His kind of economy.
What if God's people lived like this? What if God's people went against the grain in society and lived so far within their means, committed to a simple lifestyle, that they were able to give the first 10% to the local church and then after meeting their own basic needs, shared the rest with the poor?
God puts forth such an expectation for His people and follows it with, " I am the LORD your God."
In essence I hear Him say in that one sentence, " I am the LORD. I am God. Put your trust in me! Don't trust in what your hands can provide. Don't trust in wealth. Don't put your hope in the rain and the soil to provide for you. Put your hope in ME. I am the LORD your God! I will bless you and I will bless others through you. You are my people and through you all the nations of the earth will be blessed."
Oh, what God does with hearts that aren't bound up in fear, that aren't imprisoned to materialism. Hearts free from greed and full of compassion toward the poor. Hearts that some how grasp the great mystery that we are in divine relationship with the Creator God, and that relationship with the divine is directly mirrored in our relationship with humanity. God has made it impossible to love Him or know Him apart from loving the poor of the earth. He always identifies with them. In the words of Christ we hear the same message, "Whatever you have done to one of the least of these, you have done to me."
In my observations and research I came across the concept that the instructions that Moses receives in many ways parellels the creation story. In other words, the blueprints for the temple given to Moses by God was God once again setting up a place that he might dwell among his people. They would be His people and He would be their God as it was in the garden.
I think I could have actually written several blog posts on Leviticus but out of all the gems and treasures I encountered the one I'd like to share is found in chapter 23 verse 22, " When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God."
This instruction to not harvest to the edges of the field almost immediately brought to mind the phrase, "live within your means." which in its self is wisdom for many reasons and yet it is so rare in today's world to actually find people that live within theirs means. In our world of ever increasing debt, we not only reap to the very edge of our field but we often reep from fields that are not our own. We live off barrowed harvest to the point that next years harvest is already accounted for before we even plant it, so to speak.
But not only were the Israelites commanded not to reap to the edge of their fields but God gives us the reason behind it as well. So that the poor can be provided for. That is a revolutionary idea. It gives the idea of living within your means a purpose beyond self. John and I have often talked about how we desire to always live within or below or means, and we want to be generous people. But I don't think we have ever tied them so closely together as this verse does. Let us live within our means so that we will have something to give to the poor.
When you think about the tithe in scripture many people can say they believe and live by the principle that the tithe belongs to God, but how many believe and obey this teaching that the edges of their field belong to the poor. The gleanings belong to the poor. In God's economy they do.
It is hard to imagine a community of people that would not only live within their means but would also provide the local church with a means to exist with their tithe and provide for the poor in their local community with the edges of their fields and their gleenings, their surplus, their profit. How very very unamerican. But yet an invisible God gives us a picture of His kind of economy.
What if God's people lived like this? What if God's people went against the grain in society and lived so far within their means, committed to a simple lifestyle, that they were able to give the first 10% to the local church and then after meeting their own basic needs, shared the rest with the poor?
God puts forth such an expectation for His people and follows it with, " I am the LORD your God."
In essence I hear Him say in that one sentence, " I am the LORD. I am God. Put your trust in me! Don't trust in what your hands can provide. Don't trust in wealth. Don't put your hope in the rain and the soil to provide for you. Put your hope in ME. I am the LORD your God! I will bless you and I will bless others through you. You are my people and through you all the nations of the earth will be blessed."
Oh, what God does with hearts that aren't bound up in fear, that aren't imprisoned to materialism. Hearts free from greed and full of compassion toward the poor. Hearts that some how grasp the great mystery that we are in divine relationship with the Creator God, and that relationship with the divine is directly mirrored in our relationship with humanity. God has made it impossible to love Him or know Him apart from loving the poor of the earth. He always identifies with them. In the words of Christ we hear the same message, "Whatever you have done to one of the least of these, you have done to me."
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
At The Feet of God
Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank. (Exodus 24:9-11)
Here are 3 sentences of scripture that jump right off the page. The elders of Israel saw God?! The second sentence really gives validity to the first: Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire... What a picture! These elders had their faces to the pavement. These men saw the God of Israel but because of their low position the most they can really describe was what was under his feet. I wonder how long they were on their faces before they "ate and drank." My guess would be at least a few hours. Perhaps, every now and then, they would slightly open their eyes to gaze on the sapphire pavement as clear as the sky and marvel at being at the feet of the God of Israel.
I like to pause and think about this. What would it be like to be laying on that sapphire pavement, knowing that above you sat the Creator God of the Universe?
Not that it even comes close, but this verse reminds me of a time I had my face in the ground for a while. I was in a room with a few hundred people and there was a man speaking about the glory of God. The presence of God fell thick in the room, the man stopped speaking, and there was silence, and then there was weeping. About 45 minutes later I opened my eyes and the first thing I noticed was.....well, the carpet. Before getting up off the ground I spent a few minutes just staring at the carpet. I think it is because I remember that carpet so vividly that I find it fascinating that these men could see God and yet the only description they give is about the ground, what was under His feet. What a glorious experience this must have been for them. A life changer.
Sadly, 8 chapters later, these elders with their mountain top experience are unable to resist the mob of Israel, and Aaron leads the way in creating the golden calf idol that the people make sacrifices to and worship. Less than 40 days after being at the feet of the God of Israel.
Does this make your stomach sick, like it does mine?
In chapter 32 it says that they became a laughingstock to their enemies.
And so began the confusing reputation Israel would have among the nations and the reputation the church would inherit a few thousand years later. People that fear God, lay at His feet, witness His wonders and glory... and then fall miserably into some sort of sin. And an unbelieving world looks on in disbelief.
It is truly confusing that this sort of thing happened, does happen, and will continue to happen. Why is it that people who 'walk with God' are still so susceptible to failure? Even the ones with great ministries and great anointing don't seem to be immune.
The unbelieving world looks at the church in all our glorious weakness, immaturity and hypocrisy and they want nothing to do with us, but it isn't about us. It has never been about us. Sadly, many look at the church and make their judgements about God based on our actions or failures (and our failure to act), rather than look at God who is the judge of us all.
This verse says it well:
"It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people. Remember this and never forget how you provoked the LORD your God to anger in the desert." Deut. 9:5-7
A similar verse could be written about me. If God accomplishes anything through my life it has nothing to do with my righteousness or integrity and everything to do with Him accomplishing what He has promised to accomplish through Christ and the church.
Our salvation is not based on our righteousness or integrity it is the grace of God.
It has always been about God. His righteousness, faithfulness, glory and goodness. The good news is that He continues to be God despite our weaknesses and failures. When we fall; He remains. When we sin or miss the mark; His faithfulness and righteousness remain. We suffer loss, but He is proved right.
The beauty of the Old Testament is that God continues, unrelenting, to accomplish what he began. For a few thousand years from one generation to the next he fulfills His promise to the Israelites and brings about the Christ. And the beauty of the gospel is that a loving God purposed a salvation to mankind that did not depend on man's righteousness, integrity or strength, but rather it completely rests on the grace of God given to us in the death and life of Jesus. Now in the Church Age he has continued to accomplish His purpose for the gospel in every nation despite our obvious shortcomings and failures as weak and broken people.
In the end, God alone will be able to take credit for all that He accomplished through His people. There will be no glory ascribed to any of us- that's for sure.
Eventually we will all be gathered together with our faces on that sapphire pavement filled with fear and awe. As we can barely lift our eyes to get a glimpse of the feet of God, we will all be wondering how the God of the Universe, in all His holiness and splendor, wrote us into such a story. We will finally truly know that it really was always, only, ever, about Him.
Here are 3 sentences of scripture that jump right off the page. The elders of Israel saw God?! The second sentence really gives validity to the first: Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire... What a picture! These elders had their faces to the pavement. These men saw the God of Israel but because of their low position the most they can really describe was what was under his feet. I wonder how long they were on their faces before they "ate and drank." My guess would be at least a few hours. Perhaps, every now and then, they would slightly open their eyes to gaze on the sapphire pavement as clear as the sky and marvel at being at the feet of the God of Israel.
I like to pause and think about this. What would it be like to be laying on that sapphire pavement, knowing that above you sat the Creator God of the Universe?
Not that it even comes close, but this verse reminds me of a time I had my face in the ground for a while. I was in a room with a few hundred people and there was a man speaking about the glory of God. The presence of God fell thick in the room, the man stopped speaking, and there was silence, and then there was weeping. About 45 minutes later I opened my eyes and the first thing I noticed was.....well, the carpet. Before getting up off the ground I spent a few minutes just staring at the carpet. I think it is because I remember that carpet so vividly that I find it fascinating that these men could see God and yet the only description they give is about the ground, what was under His feet. What a glorious experience this must have been for them. A life changer.
Sadly, 8 chapters later, these elders with their mountain top experience are unable to resist the mob of Israel, and Aaron leads the way in creating the golden calf idol that the people make sacrifices to and worship. Less than 40 days after being at the feet of the God of Israel.
Does this make your stomach sick, like it does mine?
In chapter 32 it says that they became a laughingstock to their enemies.
And so began the confusing reputation Israel would have among the nations and the reputation the church would inherit a few thousand years later. People that fear God, lay at His feet, witness His wonders and glory... and then fall miserably into some sort of sin. And an unbelieving world looks on in disbelief.
It is truly confusing that this sort of thing happened, does happen, and will continue to happen. Why is it that people who 'walk with God' are still so susceptible to failure? Even the ones with great ministries and great anointing don't seem to be immune.
The unbelieving world looks at the church in all our glorious weakness, immaturity and hypocrisy and they want nothing to do with us, but it isn't about us. It has never been about us. Sadly, many look at the church and make their judgements about God based on our actions or failures (and our failure to act), rather than look at God who is the judge of us all.
This verse says it well:
"It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people. Remember this and never forget how you provoked the LORD your God to anger in the desert." Deut. 9:5-7
A similar verse could be written about me. If God accomplishes anything through my life it has nothing to do with my righteousness or integrity and everything to do with Him accomplishing what He has promised to accomplish through Christ and the church.
Our salvation is not based on our righteousness or integrity it is the grace of God.
It has always been about God. His righteousness, faithfulness, glory and goodness. The good news is that He continues to be God despite our weaknesses and failures. When we fall; He remains. When we sin or miss the mark; His faithfulness and righteousness remain. We suffer loss, but He is proved right.
The beauty of the Old Testament is that God continues, unrelenting, to accomplish what he began. For a few thousand years from one generation to the next he fulfills His promise to the Israelites and brings about the Christ. And the beauty of the gospel is that a loving God purposed a salvation to mankind that did not depend on man's righteousness, integrity or strength, but rather it completely rests on the grace of God given to us in the death and life of Jesus. Now in the Church Age he has continued to accomplish His purpose for the gospel in every nation despite our obvious shortcomings and failures as weak and broken people.
In the end, God alone will be able to take credit for all that He accomplished through His people. There will be no glory ascribed to any of us- that's for sure.
Eventually we will all be gathered together with our faces on that sapphire pavement filled with fear and awe. As we can barely lift our eyes to get a glimpse of the feet of God, we will all be wondering how the God of the Universe, in all His holiness and splendor, wrote us into such a story. We will finally truly know that it really was always, only, ever, about Him.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Believing God When You Have Other Options
Last month I read the book Is That Really You, God? by Loren Cunningham, the founder of Youth With A Mission. (YWAM).
Other books like this one have become my favorite books to read and reread: Pullinger's Chasing the Dragon, Brother Yun's The Heavenly Man, McClung's Living on the Devil's Doorstep, & Baker's Always Enough to name a few. I love these books because they are the stories of men and women of today that dare to believe God....even when all reason was stacked against them.
When I read the accounts of the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph I walk away with the same encouragement. It is good to believe God even when it is the most unreasonable thing to do.
God makes a promise to Abraham when he is 75 years old, and Abraham believes. God promises to make Abraham into a great nation through which all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Years later he speaks again, "I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth."
11 years go by and Abraham does not even have one son. In Sarai's impatience and desperation, Ishmael is born to Hagar as another option. But the promise isn't for Ishmael.
13 years latter God renews the promise. The promise of a son.
It is so hard to believe that God would choose to make a man into a great nation and wait so long to begin.
Finally at the age of 100 Abraham and Sarah have Isaac. Abraham could have had 20 sons by now ensuring the family line but instead God gives only one to whom the promise belongs. (That seems a bit unreasonable to me).
After Sarah's death Abraham has a second wife Keturah and they have 6 sons....none of these would become heir to the promise. His son Ishmael had 12 sons....none of these grandsons would become heir to the promise. Abraham had other sons of concubines (Gen 25:6) ....none of these became heir to the promise.
So often faith will ask us to send away all the other 'blessings' of God in order to lay hold of the one promise he has spoken to us. And so often when God says "give everything you own to this 'one' " It seems to be the most unreasonable thing to do.
In Loren's book he tells the story of his two very wealthy aunts that offer him a place in the family business. They try to persuade him to give up his ministry nonsense in exchange for extreme wealth and prosperity. But even extreme wealth and prosperity did not persuade him to neglect the promise and vision God had put in his heart. It wasn't an easy choice. It took faith.
And I don't think it was an easy choice for Abraham to look on Ishmael and his 12 sons and know they weren't chosen by God to inherit the promise.
And I don't think it was an easy choice for Abraham to look on the 6 sons born to him in his old age to Keturah and realize they weren't chosen by God to inherit the promise either.
It definitely makes me wonder if I am willing to "send away" or walk away from the things that may be good things, may even be blessings, but fall short of the promise God has for me. Have I allowed 31 other things to crowd out the One Thing God is asking me to give everything I have towards? Do I have the faith to believe God when doing so goes against all reason?
In the last chapter of my life will someone be able to write of me, "She gave everything she owned to Jesus...the heir of the Abrahamic covenant, through whom all the peoples on earth will be blessed... The Son of God....even when reasonable people tried to talk her out of it, AND she had other options." ???
Thought this was a fitting quote to end with (now that I get what he was saying):
Other books like this one have become my favorite books to read and reread: Pullinger's Chasing the Dragon, Brother Yun's The Heavenly Man, McClung's Living on the Devil's Doorstep, & Baker's Always Enough to name a few. I love these books because they are the stories of men and women of today that dare to believe God....even when all reason was stacked against them.
When I read the accounts of the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph I walk away with the same encouragement. It is good to believe God even when it is the most unreasonable thing to do.
God makes a promise to Abraham when he is 75 years old, and Abraham believes. God promises to make Abraham into a great nation through which all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Years later he speaks again, "I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth."
11 years go by and Abraham does not even have one son. In Sarai's impatience and desperation, Ishmael is born to Hagar as another option. But the promise isn't for Ishmael.
13 years latter God renews the promise. The promise of a son.
It is so hard to believe that God would choose to make a man into a great nation and wait so long to begin.
Finally at the age of 100 Abraham and Sarah have Isaac. Abraham could have had 20 sons by now ensuring the family line but instead God gives only one to whom the promise belongs. (That seems a bit unreasonable to me).
After Sarah's death Abraham has a second wife Keturah and they have 6 sons....none of these would become heir to the promise. His son Ishmael had 12 sons....none of these grandsons would become heir to the promise. Abraham had other sons of concubines (Gen 25:6) ....none of these became heir to the promise.
For 100 years Abraham believed God's promise- that he would become a great nation, that God would establish him in the land and that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him. He believed God when God told him that He would do this through Isaac. And in the end Abraham sends away (to the east) at least 31 sons and grandsons. And "Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac (Gen 25:5)". At the time of Abraham's death Isaac only has two 15 year old sons. It takes a lot of faith in God to do what Abraham did.
So often faith will ask us to send away all the other 'blessings' of God in order to lay hold of the one promise he has spoken to us. And so often when God says "give everything you own to this 'one' " It seems to be the most unreasonable thing to do.
In Loren's book he tells the story of his two very wealthy aunts that offer him a place in the family business. They try to persuade him to give up his ministry nonsense in exchange for extreme wealth and prosperity. But even extreme wealth and prosperity did not persuade him to neglect the promise and vision God had put in his heart. It wasn't an easy choice. It took faith.
And I don't think it was an easy choice for Abraham to look on Ishmael and his 12 sons and know they weren't chosen by God to inherit the promise.
And I don't think it was an easy choice for Abraham to look on the 6 sons born to him in his old age to Keturah and realize they weren't chosen by God to inherit the promise either.
It definitely makes me wonder if I am willing to "send away" or walk away from the things that may be good things, may even be blessings, but fall short of the promise God has for me. Have I allowed 31 other things to crowd out the One Thing God is asking me to give everything I have towards? Do I have the faith to believe God when doing so goes against all reason?
In the last chapter of my life will someone be able to write of me, "She gave everything she owned to Jesus...the heir of the Abrahamic covenant, through whom all the peoples on earth will be blessed... The Son of God....even when reasonable people tried to talk her out of it, AND she had other options." ???
Thought this was a fitting quote to end with (now that I get what he was saying):
Character is not formed, nor are rewards earned in the absence of options. -Bill Johnson
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Adam named his wife WHAT?!!!!
The fall of man. What a story. The worst day ever in human history, and there have been some extremely bad days in human history. In chapter 3 of Genesis we have the famous story of the women being deceived by the serpent, eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and well you know the rest of the story.
Something very different stood out to me as I read this just the other day. Like many, I know the story very well, and have heard and read it for years, so I wasn't really expecting to see anything new here.
But there it was in verse 20: Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
He named his wife what???? Eve. It means life-giver or living. Wow, really. It's as though Adam just missed what happened.
Let's back up.
This women just royally screwed up. She was deceived, she ate, they hid, God finds them, God curses the serpent, increases the pains in childbearing, and curses the ground. God is barely finished cursing the ground because of their disobedience, "...for dust you are and to dust you will return."
And then Adam names his wife Eve.
What a husband! What redemption!
He could have named her: Cursed, Mother of all the dying, Wicked Lady, The Disobedient One, Deceived, The One That Screwth Up Everthingth......but he names her LIFE GIVER! Mother of all the Living!
Can you picture this?
Women says, "Wow, did you hear what God just said?"
Adam: "yep"
Women: "I really screwed things up"
Adam: "yes, we did."
women: "You know He's going to kick us out of the Garden so we can't eat from the Tree of Life and live forever."
Adam: "yeah, that's what He said."
Women: "That means we are going to die."
Adam: pause thinking, "You know what, women? I am going to name you Mother of all the Living."
Women: "Why!? Don't you think Mother of all the dying would be more accurate."
Adam: "nope, no....Mother of all the Living, Eve."
Women: "But I just ruined everything. You heard Him. The ground is cursed, we're going to have pain and suffering, AND we have to leave the garden, AND we're going to die!"
Adam: "Women you will be known as Life Giver, you will not be know as the one that brought death. When ever people speak of this incident until the end of time you will be known as the Mother of all the Living. They won't even be able to speak about this mistake without acknowledging your identity as their Mother, as their life giver. I will make sure that your identity is forever one of LIFE and not death.
Women, you shall be named Eve!"
Eve: speechless, sobing, holding her dear husband that has just redeemed her, covered her biggest mistake and has insured that her identity and legacy will be one of life, purpose and hope.
What a beautiful story of redemption squeezed into the opening chapters of the most beautiful story of redemption ever.
Something very different stood out to me as I read this just the other day. Like many, I know the story very well, and have heard and read it for years, so I wasn't really expecting to see anything new here.
But there it was in verse 20: Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
He named his wife what???? Eve. It means life-giver or living. Wow, really. It's as though Adam just missed what happened.
Let's back up.
This women just royally screwed up. She was deceived, she ate, they hid, God finds them, God curses the serpent, increases the pains in childbearing, and curses the ground. God is barely finished cursing the ground because of their disobedience, "...for dust you are and to dust you will return."
And then Adam names his wife Eve.
What a husband! What redemption!
He could have named her: Cursed, Mother of all the dying, Wicked Lady, The Disobedient One, Deceived, The One That Screwth Up Everthingth......but he names her LIFE GIVER! Mother of all the Living!
Can you picture this?
Women says, "Wow, did you hear what God just said?"
Adam: "yep"
Women: "I really screwed things up"
Adam: "yes, we did."
women: "You know He's going to kick us out of the Garden so we can't eat from the Tree of Life and live forever."
Adam: "yeah, that's what He said."
Women: "That means we are going to die."
Adam: pause thinking, "You know what, women? I am going to name you Mother of all the Living."
Women: "Why!? Don't you think Mother of all the dying would be more accurate."
Adam: "nope, no....Mother of all the Living, Eve."
Women: "But I just ruined everything. You heard Him. The ground is cursed, we're going to have pain and suffering, AND we have to leave the garden, AND we're going to die!"
Adam: "Women you will be known as Life Giver, you will not be know as the one that brought death. When ever people speak of this incident until the end of time you will be known as the Mother of all the Living. They won't even be able to speak about this mistake without acknowledging your identity as their Mother, as their life giver. I will make sure that your identity is forever one of LIFE and not death.
Women, you shall be named Eve!"
Eve: speechless, sobing, holding her dear husband that has just redeemed her, covered her biggest mistake and has insured that her identity and legacy will be one of life, purpose and hope.
What a beautiful story of redemption squeezed into the opening chapters of the most beautiful story of redemption ever.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Why blog thru the bible?
I have always been fascinated with the Bible. At a very young age I remember pulling out the old family Bible that my parents had. You know the kind you get as a wedding gift it's big and white and in the front there are all those pages to write down your family tree, marriage dates, baptisms, births and deaths. I couldn't read then but I would flip the pages to the middle where the colorful pictures on thick paper are and I would stare at those pictures and try and figure out to which story that belonged.
Sometime later my older sister got a book of the Psalms in big print. She was already reading, and I was jealous. She received her first Bible before me also, but I lucked out because hers was in the King James version and when I finally received my first Bible it was in the easier to read NIV. It was under the tree Christmas of 1988, and I was 7 years old and I couldn't have been more thrilled! Reading it at that age was a challenge, but I sure did try hard.
One Sunday when I was 11 years old I was sitting in the church pew as I did most Sunday mornings and my pastor, Steve Troxel was preaching on how important the Bible is to our Christian walk. He even went as far as to say that we should make it a priority to read through the Bible at least once a year. I remember sitting there thinking, "Oh my, I have had my Bible for 4 years now and I have not read through it all the way even once...I'm way behind." So I made a commitment to read it cover to cover for the first time. It actually took me 18 months to read it. I finished it the night before I left on my first of many trips to Mexico with my youth group to build houses in the colonias outside Reynosa.
Since then I have read through the Bible many times (though not once a year), and have studied it in different ways and intensities at different times. It still remains the most fascinating of all books to me. It has really been one of the constants in my life. Even in times of doubting my faith it has continued to have that same tug on me as it did when I was 4 and 7 beckoning me to open it and flip through the pages.
So just recently I got the urge to begin again and when I came across something in the first chapters of Genesis that I had never really noticed before I got the idea to blog my way through this time. A sort of public extension of my personal journaling. Who knows, maybe others will join me on the journey and be encourage.
Sometime later my older sister got a book of the Psalms in big print. She was already reading, and I was jealous. She received her first Bible before me also, but I lucked out because hers was in the King James version and when I finally received my first Bible it was in the easier to read NIV. It was under the tree Christmas of 1988, and I was 7 years old and I couldn't have been more thrilled! Reading it at that age was a challenge, but I sure did try hard.
One Sunday when I was 11 years old I was sitting in the church pew as I did most Sunday mornings and my pastor, Steve Troxel was preaching on how important the Bible is to our Christian walk. He even went as far as to say that we should make it a priority to read through the Bible at least once a year. I remember sitting there thinking, "Oh my, I have had my Bible for 4 years now and I have not read through it all the way even once...I'm way behind." So I made a commitment to read it cover to cover for the first time. It actually took me 18 months to read it. I finished it the night before I left on my first of many trips to Mexico with my youth group to build houses in the colonias outside Reynosa.
Since then I have read through the Bible many times (though not once a year), and have studied it in different ways and intensities at different times. It still remains the most fascinating of all books to me. It has really been one of the constants in my life. Even in times of doubting my faith it has continued to have that same tug on me as it did when I was 4 and 7 beckoning me to open it and flip through the pages.
So just recently I got the urge to begin again and when I came across something in the first chapters of Genesis that I had never really noticed before I got the idea to blog my way through this time. A sort of public extension of my personal journaling. Who knows, maybe others will join me on the journey and be encourage.
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