a child of god
this is the way, run in it
I've been profoundly moved today by Genesis, Chapter 15. It is prefaced by Abram and Lot going separate ways, and Abram gives Lot the first choice of which way to go. Lot took it. He didn't defer to his elder, his uncle. He looked and he said, "I'll have that," the way and land that looked good on the outside, lush, green, prosperous, but was actually full of sin and wickedness - yes, Lot set out for Sodom and Gomorrah - taking first the way that looked better.
Abram says ok, and he goes the other direction. Now I love this. God says to Abram, "Now lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever" (Ch 13:14-15). Anytime God says to us "now lift up your eyes" we know He has something important to show us. And how amazing is that when the LORD God of the universe wants to show us something, and here He makes a promise to Abram, a big promise, before Abram even had one child. And Abram knows that he chose the right direction to go, even though it might not have looked like it on the surface. Genesis Chapter 14 is about Abram having to rescue Lot and the people of Sodom when they are defeated and taken captive by neighboring kings, which Abram does and then withdraws again, not accepting any reward from the King of Sodom, but saying that he relies on God alone. And then we get to Chapter 15. For the first time in the Bible, we read the words "and the word of the LORD came to...". God speaks to Abram in a special way - His word comes to Abram. So this is a bit different from God just speaking to Abram. The word of the LORD came to Abram, and God said, "Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great." God gives Abram a word, a promise, to hold onto. So Abram asks God what to do about not having any children himself, to inherit this promise from God. And God gives Abram another word - He says, "This man (a person in his household but not his son) will not be your heir; but one who shall come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir." Then God surprises us again. He continues to reveal His thoughts and ways to Abram. God took Abram outside his tent and said, "Now look toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them" (v.5). And God tells Abram, "so shall your descendants be." And we get to a pivotal verse - pivotal for Abram and the people of Israel, and I think pivotal for all of us who choose to believe in God. Verse 6 says, that after God saying this about the number of Abrams descendants being like the number of the stars, it says, "Then Abram believed in the LORD; and God reckoned it to him as righteousness." Faith in God! Faith in what God says to him, to us! And God sees that faith and He says - that's my child! After that God makes a covenant with Abram, has Abram gather up the animals for sacrifice and prepare for the offering to be consumed by God. And then Abram waits. He waits for God to show up. He waits for God to come and receive this sacrificial offering. He even has to scare birds away from the prepared sacrifice as he waits. Waiting is important in the kingdom of God. God often has us wait, testing our faith, testing our belief in Him. He also has us wait because sometimes there are important times and places for events to happen. And so Abram waits, and the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram and terror and great darkness fell upon him. And God shows up. Then God surprises us again - He reveals to Abram, He foretells - prophesies - what is to come. God tells Abram about the 400 years of slavery in Egypt that Abram's descendants will go through, until the time, the particular time occurs, when judgement will ensue on Egypt and God will set His people free to go into the land He has promised Abram. And God passes between the sacrificial offerings, in the form of a smoking oven and a flaming torch, and He makes a covenant with Abram. He says, "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates..." (vv. 18-21). I love it when God shows me stuff. I love it when God gives me a word to hold onto. And sometimes, as we live with a word from God, we have to hold on tight to it, through difficult times, times that make us question if we are on the right track. But when we believe in God, believe He will do what He said, and wait for it, work for it, talk to Him about it, walk out that faith in Him, when we do that He delights to call us His children. This is what a life of faith is. Believing in God and following Him no matter what. And it is always worth it. He is always worth it. Abram, who became Abraham, one of the fathers of the people of Israel, a man of faith, a brother to you and me who believe in the LORD God, he had to wait, walk in faith, and know that he would not be alive to see the total fulfillment of that promise. But he did it anyway, because he believed God, and God was faithful to him, to bring the promised son, to be a shield for Abraham, and God is always faithful to His people, to you and to me.
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Franci Ballwatching and working for the kingdom of God in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham - UK Archives
January 2019
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