Pack Your Bags

On April 8, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Genesis 12: 1, 4 – 5

“Go from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you.”

So Abram went away as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the people which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan.

We are still talking about getting in the game which is a metaphor for seeking God’s beautiful plan for our lives and following it. Yesterday we saw that Abraham’s (Abram) Father, Terah, began well but stopped short of God’s plan for him. It could well be that Terah was to be the Father of many nations. He headed towards Canaan but stopped in Haran. Unfortunately for Terah, the blessing was in Canaan, not Haran. He missed his boat.

In today’s passage we witness God telling Abram to pack up his family and belongings and head to Canaan. The difference between Abram and his father, Terah, is that Abram followed through.

This is actually the beginning of the blessing. Look at verses 2 and 3, “And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” It is through Abram’s execution of God’s plan that we enjoy the blessing today. All families of the earth are blessed because Abraham packed his bags and followed God’s plan for his life.

God was looking for someone to covenant with so that He could get the blessing to humanity and Abraham volunteered through obedience. Abraham is called the Father of Faith, and I don’t deny that, but it was obedience that made Abram into Abraham and brought the blessing to you and to me. It was obedience through which the covenant was able to be implemented.

Abraham understood that God had a good plan for him and he believed that God would make that promise into a fact. He believed God and followed the plan. Because of that he became the father of nations. Because he followed through on God’s plan, the entire world is blessed. I just want to remind you of Jeremiah 29: 11 to let you think about how God thinks about us and operates with us, “For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Amen!

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Benched

On April 7, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Genesis 11: 31

Now Terah took his son Abram, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they departed together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran and settled there. The days of Terah were 205 years; and Terah died in Haran.

Yesterday’s Word of the Day encouraged us to get in the game because God has a good plan for us. I thought I would show you how this could take form by looking at the experiences of some Biblical figures.

Some people choose to bench themselves. That is a horrifying thought to me but is exactly what Terah did. Terah was the Father of Abraham, who, at this time, was known as Abram. Terah packed up his herds and flocks, gathered his family and set off for Canaan. Now we know Canaan as the promised land. What made Terah pack up and head to Canaan? What caused him to stop short of the goal?

While it is only speculation, I believe Terah had a word from the Lord telling him to go to Canaan. He started out well enough, but something happened. He got comfortable. When he got to Haran and set up his tents, he found the area pleasing, so he stopped. He was on his way to the promised land but stopped and put down his tent pegs when he found a pleasing spot. He settled for less than God’s best. God was taking him to the promised land, but he never made it there because he quit. He settled for what he could see in the present moment instead of relying on God’s promise.

God had a better plan for Terah than Terah ever got to live out because he put himself on the bench in the game of life. He chose to avoid the work of travelling on and to avoid the inevitable risk that comes with living in faith. He chose what he could see over what God promised. It’s kind of tragic.

Let’s not settle for anything less than God’s best because God’s plan for us is bigger and better. Not only that, God does not want us to live a settle for existence. He has good plans for us to live in His best all the time. Keep asking Him for a refreshing of His plan and for him to lead you daily.

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Believership

On April 29, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 4: 3

For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

So here is my question, would Abraham have become the Father of Israel if He did not believe? He is also called the father of faith. Surely, he would not have won that title without outstanding, radical belief.

Question number two, what is the relevance for today? My answer is that I want to be like Abraham. Think of what God asked him to believe. He and his wife were already old. Sarah was infertile as a young woman. Then God went to them in their old age and said, a father of a multitude will I make you. What? Frankly, that had to sound ludicrous. Immediately the human mind goes to the worldly way of things because that is what we know. What made Abraham different?

Did you know that Abraham’s father, Terah, started out for Canaan? Terah, though, found a pleasing land and settled. That is a metaphor for life. Terah settled for less than God had for him. God was leading him to the land of promise, the land flowing with mild and honey but Terah found a pleasing land and put down stakes. It’s a frightening story. How many of us have done the same thing? How many times have I done that?

What made Abraham different? When God spoke to him, he packed up his belongings and left his family to follow God. What kind of fortitude does that require? So, here we are? What would you have done? What would I have done? I probably would have said, “That can’t be God speaking. That’s nuts!”

To the natural mind, God is nuts. That is how I can sometimes know it is God speaking to me rather than my own mind making up stuff. Some of the things he comes up with I would never in a million years think of. How do we grow to hear God’s voice so well that there is no doubt left in our minds and then how do we grow the intestinal fortitude to do what He says? Dad is telling me these days to spend more time in quite contemplation with Him. What is He telling you? Let’s grow together! You share with the class what you are learning, and we will all become believers by Abraham’s standard of measure.

This is an amazing time in history. What can we become during this time? How can we grow and improve? We finally have the time to dedicate to spiritual pursuits. Can we become like Abraham? I sure want to try.

Reply to this email or share a comment so that we can all grow together.

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Trust and Blessing

On May 25, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Jeremiah 17: 7

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord.

In a conversation last week, the theme about trusting God kept coming up. Time and time again the circle seemed to close on our learning to trust the Lord. I believe with the people in the conversation last week that this is a critical lesson for us.

Today’s verse says plainly that blessing is in trusting the Lord. Why is that? How can God lead us in the paths of blessing if we do not trust Him enough to follow Him? He can’t. He can point out the way to go but if we do not believe that He is always leading us to the land of plenty then we will hesitate.

Abraham is known for his faith but it was really obedience that made him the Father of the nation of Israel. His father, Terah, received instruction to take his family and go to the land of Canaan but he got comfortable and stopped before accomplishing what God told Him to do. He saw a good land and did not trust God to take him to a better place. Eventually God spoke to Abram telling him to leave his family and go to the place where God would show him. Abram complied and now we know Abraham as the Father of the faith and you didn’t even know Terah’s name. It was through simple obedience that Abram learned that God was on his side. Through obedience, he learned he could always trust God. Through trust and obedience, he became the Father of faith.

Sometimes the big revelations are in the little messages. There is no great message in obedience other than just do it. However, obeying God gives us the evidence and belief that we really can trust Him. As we move over into trust, we find blessing. The blessing has already been provided by our Father. We have to learn to trust Him so that He can lead us to the blessing. Otherwise, we end up wandering around in the tall weeds like the Israelites wandered around in the desert.

How do you learn to be blessed? You learn to trust God daily for the small things. You must learn to hear God for yourself . If you cannot hear God speak to you, how can you trust Him? How can you do what He says if you can’t hear Him. This is ground zero. Practice hearing His voice. Contact this ministry if you need help hearing Him because this is where you must start. Then you can live the life of the blessed person, blessed coming in and blessed going out.

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