So Much to Say...So Little Time!

My day's off used to be filled with laundry, house cleaning, grocery shopping, cooking and the like. Now, they are filled with a computer screen and a key board(plus all of the above) and usually in my pajamas. But, with that said, it is amazing to me how much I can accomplish in the hour before Peter comes home. (Did I really just say that???!!!)

I just finished reading through Genesis chapter 31. No way can I possibly talk or remember my thoughts about 31 chapters today. Fortunately, I had a little help from technology the last few days.

I found an old hand held digital recorder in my junk drawer that I bought several years ago. I haven't got a clue as to why I bought it, but I think it's going to come in handy as I read through the Bible. Who knows, maybe I purchased it "for such a time as this". I know God brought it to my remembrance, as it has been years since I've seen it, much less thought about it. And my junk drawer is a scary place that I try and avoid at all costs. Until yesterday, that is. No more writing down what I'm thinking on a yellow pad....now I just speak into this little device and I can easily bring to my remembrance the thoughts that can flee from my mind faster than the time it takes to eat Thanksgiving dinner. (Forgive me, but it's been a while since I mentioned food).

So, with that said, let me hit the play button and see what I had to say...urrr, I mean think...

I started my recordings in Chapter 12....The call of God on Abraham's life. A key scripture was 12:2 "And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing."
We've probably all heard of the "blessing of Abraham". The key words for me in the above scripture are the one's I highlighted, 'so that you will be a blessing'. As I read on, chapter after chapter, all the way to the end of Abraham's life....he and his children were definitely blessed and were a blessing to everyone they spent time with. As a personal application to me, the Bible clearly says over and over and over that I AM BLESSED! In Genesis 12:3 it says that in Abraham, all the families of the earth shall be blessed, and it says in Galatians 3:9, "so all that put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith." (NLT) Since that includes me, I can infer from reading about Abraham's blessing that I too am blessed to be a blessing! In a practical and relevant way, when I go to work for someone, their business will be blessed. That may sound arrogant..but it's not, because it is God that is doing the blessing. Even if they don't deserve it. But that's a whole 'nother story...

In chapter 13 we read about Abram (this is before God changed his name to Abraham, lest you be confused) and his nephew Lot (who Abram invited on his journey). Because of the blessing that was on Abraham, Lot was also blessed. (People just get blessed hangin' out with believers, even when they're just goin' along for the ride!)

They both became wealthy and had lot's of animals that needed adequate pasture. Abram saw the need to separate the family and flocks so no dissension would occur within the family, so he offered for Lot to look to the left and to the right at the whole land, and gave him the first choice as to where he wanted to live. Pretty generous of Abram, don't you think? Personally, I don't usually make big decisions in my life by putting someone else first. (Just being honest here folks) It seems like wisdom to me that Abram would decide where HE wanted to live first and give the rest of the land to Lot. I mean after all, this was Abram's blessing. But Abram's wisdom was in knowing that God's blessing was on him, no matter what decisions he made. So we read that Lot made the best decision he could with his physical eyes perusing the land, and he chose the most lush and well watered land for his part. He chose the land that we know as Sodom and Gomorrah. I won't take time to go into how that choice worked out for him, but you can read it for yourself in chapters 13 and 14.

So, my point is, that regardless of the choice Abram made, he was still going to be blessed. I'm probably going to lose a few of you right here, or possibly offend someone's theology, but I've just got to make a New Covenant comment about right now....

When a person accepts Christ as their Lord and Savior, the blessing of God is upon them, regardless of the works they do or don't do for Him. (It's called GRACE which defined is the unmerited, undeserved and unearned favor of God. It is the unconditional love of God at its best, and it is a gift from God to man, in Christ!) This blessing is so huge that it will take eternity to mine the depths of it.

Human nature has a hard time receiving things by Grace. We like the feeling of having "earned it". And we tend to bless or judge others by that same measure. When they do good, we like to acknowledge it. When they do bad we like to acknowledge that too. Ephesians 2:8 says: "For it is by grace you are saved (made whole) through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." Nowhere does the New Testament say that we are saved by our good works. It says we are saved unto good works but not saved by them! (Ephesians 2:10) Yes, we are saved to do good works, but we are not saved by our good works, and this knowledge makes all the difference in the world! I'm not going to elaborate on this subject right now, because I know I will have lot's of upcoming opportunities to talk about what Grace is. And I know today's blog is already too long. (Jimmy, if you're reading this...sorry, I know you are a busy man!)

Ok, back to my digital recorder.

Oh my, I need to wrap this up, but how could I not include the record of Abram and Sarai taking matters into their own hands regarding that big promise God had made to them. That through them would come a multitude of nations. But there was a slight problem in the physical realm because Sarai was barren. She couldn't conceive and now she was really old, way past child bearing years. It wasn't that they didn't believe the promise from God, they absolutely did (and because they believed it, God counted it unto Abraham as righteousness...but that's a whole 'nother blog for sure!) It's just that they were anxious about the timing of things.
After all, they weren't getting any younger (how many times have I thought that about my own self and the promises of God!) So they took matters into their own hands and decided God must have meant for Abram to have a child through Sarai's maid servant, Hagar. Kind of like what we would call today, a surrogate birth. (You know, you go through nine months of pregnancy for me, go through hard labor and deliver the baby for me, and then go far, far away, and we'll all just pretend that the baby is really mine. That's the MIV translation, otherwise known as "Marsha's Incomplete Version") That's exactly what happened, but it wasn't God's idea, or His best for them. Praise God that His promise still came to pass (God is so patient with us, isn't he?) just the way God said it would. But now, Abraham (finally, his name is changed) has two sons, and will have to contend with the repercussions of that man-made decision. One son came by the works of the flesh, and one son came by the promise of God.

The point I really want to make here is this: Are we really so different than Abraham and Sarah? We are blessed. God's Word says we are. We want God's will to come to pass in our lives and we want the blessing of God. But we get in a hurry to bring it to pass. We know that when we get ahead of God and do things in our own strength it usually comes with consequences we have to deal with. "Our Ishmaels" I call them. But here's the thing about our amazing Heavenly Father: When you love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and have faith in His promises, (that what He says in His Word He is able and willing to perform on your behalf) He will work all things together for our good!(Romans 8:28) That means even the bad stuff brought on by the devil and the stuff we bring on ourselves as a result of our taking matters into our own hands. We may bring consequences on ourselves as a result of our own bad decisions, but He still loves us and does not take our blessings away. Ever. Just think about that for a while.

So, why is it so hard to wait upon the Lord at times? Any thoughts on that my friends? I for one have brought much "angst" into my life by not seeking God's will through His Word and through prayer and then waiting to hear His voice. I believe that God is always speaking.....but the background noise of life drowns out His voice most of the time. In Psalm 46:10 He says: "Be still and know that I am God" Why is it so hard to be still?

I'm only up to chapter 18 and I haven't even talked about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot and his two daughters (talk about x-rated, see chapter 19: vs. 30-38)
In fact, I think I've gotta "call it a blog" for today. But it's hard, cause I'm leaving so much out here!....
I had so many thoughts about Abraham and when he lied not once, but twice, saying that Sarah was his sister because he feared men would see how beautiful she was and kill him for her...
and about Sarah commanding that her maid servant Hagar and her son Ishmael be sent away to the wilderness and left to die out there, but how God "saw her" and blessed her...
how God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on the alter and how Abraham obeys God, believing in his heart of hearts that God would not allow Isaac to be harmed...
how Isaac grows up and gets his own supernatural "e-harmony" experience in finding the perfect wife...
how they have twin boys and all the drama with that....
Oh, my, the Word of God is so alive and so rich and so full! Why don't they make movies out of this? (Mel Gibson, are you reading this?)

I could go on and on and on, (oh, I guess I did, sorry) somebody stop me!

Maybe my next blog can stick to "The Plan" and cover only chapters 32-34. Lord, let it be so. I may be losing my followers...if I haven't by now, they are devoted, for sure.
Goodnight my friends, whoever and wherever you are. :o)