"The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, 'Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.'" -Genesis 13.14-17
God makes a promise to Abram which results in a journey of faith. God spoke and Abram responded. Along the way he made some of his own decisions without seeking God, but because of God's faithful promise, God was with him. Now Abram is getting a glimpse of what God has promised him, and we see that the blessings of God are good.
God tells Abram to look around him in every direction, and to take in the view of the land that will be given to him and his descendants. I don't know exactly where Abram is standing, but Israel is not the most mountainous region, and from a high point on a clear day you can see a great distance. The land is good, it has the largest source of fresh water in that part of the world, it has coastal access, fertile valleys, and is the crossroad of the known world, connecting three continents. It is a good land, and God tells him to walk through it and see it's goodness.
Secondly, God tells Abram that his offspring will be like the dust of the earth, so great that they are unable to be numbered. Abram is old and childless, but God promises not only the land, but that the land will be filled by his offspring. Abram will be given a piece of ground, and those to pass it down to. God is giving him a legacy.
Both of these blessings are good, and they are good because they are from God. The promises of Genesis 12 are all about what God will do, and that message continues here. God will give the land, God will make numerous offspring. God gives good blessings.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
Peace be with you
Showing posts with label Genesis 13. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Genesis 13. Show all posts
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Build Altars
"The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, '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. I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.' Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord." -Genesis 13.14-18
God speaks, and Abram builds and altar. He marks the spot where God communicated with him and made a promise. He sets a monument up as a marker to what has taken place. What are the altars in your life?
I had a professor in college who built an altar. Every time God did something for his family, they added a stone to it. Maybe that's something you could do. Maybe the altars are places like I've shared, the Chapel, the prayer room, or on a rock ledge over looking the forest.
Where has God spoken to you? Mark the spot, and return to it as needed. May you never forget the promises God has made to you. And may you never lose the spot where the promise was given. Build an altar.
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
God speaks, and Abram builds and altar. He marks the spot where God communicated with him and made a promise. He sets a monument up as a marker to what has taken place. What are the altars in your life?
I had a professor in college who built an altar. Every time God did something for his family, they added a stone to it. Maybe that's something you could do. Maybe the altars are places like I've shared, the Chapel, the prayer room, or on a rock ledge over looking the forest.
Where has God spoken to you? Mark the spot, and return to it as needed. May you never forget the promises God has made to you. And may you never lose the spot where the promise was given. Build an altar.
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Selfless
"So Abram said to Lot, 'Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left.' Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom." -Genesis 13.8-12
Abram and his nephew has grown wealthy. They have great flocks and herds, so great that the land cannot support both of them. Quarrels begin to break out between the herdsmen, and Abram wants to avoid family quarrels. And so he proposes a separation. The land has been promised to him by God, but we see here the selflessness of a man.
He allows Lot to choose. Abram doesn't demand where he could have. He's the elder of the two, Lot is his nephew. This alone gives him seniority in the matter. But on top of that, God has promised the land to Abram, Lot is no where in the picture of the promise. The whole land is Abram's, and yet, we don't see him force his right. Rather he selflessly offers the choice to his nephew.
Humans are naturally and innately selfish, that just the simply truth. We don't have to learn the words "No" or "Mine" they come quite naturally to us when we are children, and they are words we usually never forget. But a real man doesn't demand things go his way.
Marriage has been a great teacher for me in this. When I was single I did what I wanted, went where I wanted, bought what I wanted. Then I got married and all of that changed. Now life is no longer about me, but we. There is another opinion I need to seek. Another person with opinions, passions, and desires that I need to take into account. And as the family grows, it becomes all the more important.
Where are you demanding your way and your rights? What damage is it doing. We'll see shortly the damage it causes Lot and his family. But the way of selflessness leads only to peace and blessings. There is nothing that makes me happier than seeing my wife happy. That is what selflessness accomplishes.
We live one of two ways, selfishly, or selflessly, which way do you choose?
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
Abram and his nephew has grown wealthy. They have great flocks and herds, so great that the land cannot support both of them. Quarrels begin to break out between the herdsmen, and Abram wants to avoid family quarrels. And so he proposes a separation. The land has been promised to him by God, but we see here the selflessness of a man.
He allows Lot to choose. Abram doesn't demand where he could have. He's the elder of the two, Lot is his nephew. This alone gives him seniority in the matter. But on top of that, God has promised the land to Abram, Lot is no where in the picture of the promise. The whole land is Abram's, and yet, we don't see him force his right. Rather he selflessly offers the choice to his nephew.
Humans are naturally and innately selfish, that just the simply truth. We don't have to learn the words "No" or "Mine" they come quite naturally to us when we are children, and they are words we usually never forget. But a real man doesn't demand things go his way.
Marriage has been a great teacher for me in this. When I was single I did what I wanted, went where I wanted, bought what I wanted. Then I got married and all of that changed. Now life is no longer about me, but we. There is another opinion I need to seek. Another person with opinions, passions, and desires that I need to take into account. And as the family grows, it becomes all the more important.
Where are you demanding your way and your rights? What damage is it doing. We'll see shortly the damage it causes Lot and his family. But the way of selflessness leads only to peace and blessings. There is nothing that makes me happier than seeing my wife happy. That is what selflessness accomplishes.
We live one of two ways, selfishly, or selflessly, which way do you choose?
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
Friday, January 24, 2014
Return
"He went on his journeys from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord." -Genesis 13.3-4
After the incident in Egypt Pharaoh sends Abram away. He leaves Egypt and moves back towards the land God has promised him. And finally he comes back to the beginning, to the place where he first pitched his tents. The place where he first built an altar and called on the name of the Lord (Genesis 12.8). He returns to this place, and again calls on the name of the Lord.
Abram goes back to the place where it all began, the place where he first built the altar, and there he seeks the direction of God again. What are the places in your life like that?
When I was in college I had two spots on campus that I would go to and seek God, places where He had spoken to me before, places of significance. One was the Chapel, a large room with gorgeous stained glass windows. I'd go when no one else was there, and I'd find a spot up in the balcony where I could just sit in the darkness, the only light coming through the windows, and be alone with God. I have so many memories of encounters with God in this room, it was natural to seek Him there.
The second was a smaller venue, a little room, maybe 10 x 8, that we used as a prayer room for weeks of constant prayer. I'd spent many hours there reading the Scriptures and crying out to God. He'd spoken to me there and given me guidance. Part of me really misses these places, the "altars" in my life.
Now, to be clear, I don't have to be in either of those places to seek God. I can seek Him anywhere, and every where I encounter Him can be a new "altar". I have a newer one, though it's outside, and inaccessible right now. The only significance to the places is that they are places where God has spoken to me. That is why they built altars, to commemorate God speaking or acting on their behalf.
We need places like this in our lives. Places we can return to and remember what God has spoken to us. Where are your altars? Return to them, and connect with God again. And seek Him where you are now, build new ones.
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
After the incident in Egypt Pharaoh sends Abram away. He leaves Egypt and moves back towards the land God has promised him. And finally he comes back to the beginning, to the place where he first pitched his tents. The place where he first built an altar and called on the name of the Lord (Genesis 12.8). He returns to this place, and again calls on the name of the Lord.
Abram goes back to the place where it all began, the place where he first built the altar, and there he seeks the direction of God again. What are the places in your life like that?
When I was in college I had two spots on campus that I would go to and seek God, places where He had spoken to me before, places of significance. One was the Chapel, a large room with gorgeous stained glass windows. I'd go when no one else was there, and I'd find a spot up in the balcony where I could just sit in the darkness, the only light coming through the windows, and be alone with God. I have so many memories of encounters with God in this room, it was natural to seek Him there.
The second was a smaller venue, a little room, maybe 10 x 8, that we used as a prayer room for weeks of constant prayer. I'd spent many hours there reading the Scriptures and crying out to God. He'd spoken to me there and given me guidance. Part of me really misses these places, the "altars" in my life.
Now, to be clear, I don't have to be in either of those places to seek God. I can seek Him anywhere, and every where I encounter Him can be a new "altar". I have a newer one, though it's outside, and inaccessible right now. The only significance to the places is that they are places where God has spoken to me. That is why they built altars, to commemorate God speaking or acting on their behalf.
We need places like this in our lives. Places we can return to and remember what God has spoken to us. Where are your altars? Return to them, and connect with God again. And seek Him where you are now, build new ones.
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
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