The Life of Abraham

     As I finish reading about the life of Abraham I'm taken a back by the sheer faith of this one man.  When God called him to leave his father and set out for a new land, God never told him where he was going.  He only said "go to a land that I will show you".  The story of Abraham starts off with a magnificent display of child-like faith.  No wonder this man is listed among the heroes of the faith in Hebrews.  But I think it's very important to note that Abraham was just as human as the rest of us.  As he went through Egypt we see that, in an effort to protect himself, he lied about his relationship with Sarah.  This man who trusted God enough to leave his father and go to an unknown land didn't trust the same God to get him through one country unharmed!  And this would not be the first time Abraham takes matters into his own hands and doesn't trust God to provide.  It's important for us to remember that even the Christians that we see as strong leaders are still human.  We should never put another believe on a pedestal to the point where they achieve "super human" status.  Only God should be given that place.  And so the same goes for Abraham.  A great man.  The father of the Jewish and Christian faiths.  But human none the less.

     Still Abraham showed incredibly strong faith throughout his life.  He even went so far as to being willing to sacrifice his own son.  He was willing to give up the son he had waited 100 years to receive!  All because the Lord asked it of him.  Oh, what we could learn from Abraham.  Could you imagine if we all had faith of that magnitude?  The things that would be accomplished are unimaginable.  Don't get me wrong.  God can use the measure of faith that He has given to each of us in might ways.  But if the church would serve with the faith of Abraham, it would be a powerful thing.

     Now, I want to make sure God get's His due credit and is glorified in all this.  I found something particularly beautiful about God in chapter 15.  In this chapter God is promising to provide an heir for Abraham.  God promises to protect Abraham and to reward him.  Abraham asks that God would provide him a son to be heir to his household and God enters into a covenant with Abraham.  You probably know the words of this covenant very well.  God asks Abraham to count the stars and then tells him "so shall [his] descendants be" and they will inherit the "promised land".  In order to seal the covenant God asks Abraham to provide a 3 year old heifer, a 3 year old female goat, a 3 year old ram, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.  Now Abraham proceeded to cut these each into two halves and lay each half to the side.  As was custom when entering into a covenant, both parties would pass through the two halves symbolizing that the same fate should be theirs, should they break the covenant.  Now the amazing part comes in at verse 17.  Prior to this, before Abraham could walk between the two halves, God put him into a deep sleep.  Then this happened:

"It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces" Gen 15:17

     Did you see it?  God himself passed through the halves.  God sealed the covenant Himself.  He did not let Abraham pass through because the covenant required nothing on Abraham's part.  God took it all upon Himself.  What an amazing God?  We serve a God who took it upon Himself with Abraham and also took it upon Himself on the cross of Calvary.  We serve a God who knows we can never reach Him so He reaches to us.  Thanks be to God!

Learning to Trust

     The book of Job has proven to be quite a trying book.  In the beginning I found it hard to understand the reasons for Job’s suffering.  I’m still not sure why He had to suffer the way he did but as I reached the end of the book I came to the realization that maybe I was not intended, we we’re not intended, to know the full reasons for Job’s suffering.  In the end God vindicates Job and restores to him all his possession two-fold, but Job is still never given an answer for why he has had to suffer.  God does not make him privy to the beginning dialogue between Himself and Satan and the subsequent trials and suffering that follow.  All God tells Job is that he should trust Him and I think that is the main purpose of the book. 

     Just like Job we are supposed to trust God.  As readers we are supposed to trust that Job’s suffering was not in vain and as believers in our world today we are trust God that the suffering and trials that we endure and that we see around us serve a greater purpose that is not necessarily available to our wisdom.  So I believe one of the overall themes of this book is trust, in the face of all circumstances.  Trust in the Lord as the supreme Judge who will right all wrongs and, while it may seem like it for the time being, will not allow the wicked to prosper forever.  Trust that the Lord is working all things for our good even though it may not seem like it in the moment.  And lastly, to trust in the Lord as protector and deliverer because ultimately He will deliver, as we will see and continue to see in the sacrifice of Jesus.

"Though He slay me, I will hope in Him..." Job 13:15

A Finite Perspective on Fairness

     So I've reached Job 23.  This is one tough book.  I did some background reading on the book of Job to try and get some better understanding on the themes of the book and the overall purpose and I found some good stuff.  I think there are several "take home" points for this book and God can certainly meet each of us in a special way in through Job.  The biggest take home point for me has been the sovereignty of God.


     I think the topic of sovereignty is one that, like the book of Job itself, can prove to be somewhat uncomfortable to our minds, and our pride, on some occasions.  Many of the questions that I had in my earlier post are clear examples of how the sovereignty of God was not meshing well with what I perceived as fair.  Fair.  Now that's an interesting notion.  There is not one bit of this book so far that seems fair.  But what is fair?  Who determines fair?  Sure I can say that something isn't fair, but my conclusions would be based on incomplete, finite wisdom.  Therefore, just because I deem something unfair from my perspective doesn't always mean that's the case.  Let me illustrate my point.  When I was a little kid and I wanted to go to a party with some friends my parents would always ask, "will there be adults there?".  If the answer was no, I wasn't allowed to go.  Now all my friend's parents were letting them go so to my 15 year old mind, that was not fair that I couldn't go.  However, I was reasoning from a 15 year-old's very finite wisdom.  My parents had many years of experience and maturity that I did not have and therefore, while them not allowing me to go to the party seemed unfair to me, at my parent's more experienced and higher level of reasoning that rejection was serving as protection for me, although I couldn't see it at the time.

     The same is true for God.  What may seem unfair to us, may be the means to a higher, more holy end than we can perceive in our minds.  Think about it.  How many times do we look back at struggles and trials in our lives that, at the time, didn't seem very fair only to realize that God had a beautiful plan for our lives that would not have been possible without that trial.  That's what I'm getting at.  What we reason as unfair, may have larger implications on a heavenly level.  God is sovereign.  He operates from a wisdom that FAR exceeds human minds.

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts." - Isaiah 55:9


    It's not comfortable sometimes to think that God is sovereign over us and that He may allow something "unfair" to happen in our lives that we can do nothing about.  I think we can see that Job even thought the same thing.  However, as Christians we are to trust the Lord and trust that in ALL things He is working for the good of those who love Him.

"For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." -Jeremiah 29:11

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." -Romans 8:28

     It is not our place to instruct God how to work in our lives or determine what is a fair or unfair action on His part.  We are the created and NOT the Creator...and we do well to remember that!

The Patience of Job?

Well  I'm 9 chapters into the book of Job and I have to say, this book is proving to be a challenge.

1. The poetry form that it's written in is pretty hard to follow.  I'm having to read the foot notes to make sure I'm understanding correctly, haha.
2. The human-nature in me is not very comfortable with what Job is being put through, and doesn't quite understand why.

I think that Job should make all of us a little uncomfortable.  If it doesn't I'm not saying there's anything wrong with you but I find it very hard, in my finite mind, to reconcile this situation.  Why does Job have to go through this?  Why Job?  What was the point of the trials?  Why let Satan do the things he did?  What purpose did it serve?

These are all questions that I have as I read this book.  It's hard but I have to trust that God had a reason for Job dealing with what he had to deal with.

I know we often talk about the patience of Job but as I was reading last night I saw that Job was just as human as we were.  He never cursed God but he did insinuate that was being unfair and unjust:

"It is all one; therefore I say, 'He destroys the guiltless and the wicked."

"If the scourge kills suddenly, He mocks the despair of the innocent."

"The earth is given into the hand of the wicked ; He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?"

"Now my days are swifter than a runner ; They flee away, they see no good." 
 -Job 9:22-25

I can't say that I blame Job right now.  I'm hoping that God will make sense of all this later on in Job's story, but until then I'll just keep trudging along.

What do you think?  Anyone have any insights into Job?  I'd love to hear them!

God bless!!

From Eden to Babel

     So last night I finished reading Genesis 1-11.  These chapters cover the creation through Noah's flood and Abram leaving for Haran.  The story of creation and the story of the flood are both stories that we've all heard before.  If you're like me, you grew up listening to these stories being told in Sunday school and heard them from your grandparents over and over.  Even if you didn't grow up in the church you're probably still very familiar with these stories by now.  I'd venture to say that even if you're not a believer you've probably heard all or part of these stories before.  They're iconic.  God created the world in 7 days, placed the crown of his created beings in the garden of Eden with one simple commandment, humans did exactly what they were told not to do, God has to remove them from Eden,  childbearing pains are increased, surviving becomes harder, death enters the world, and every human to follow is born separated from God (my apologies to my high school English teacher for that incredibly long run on sentence).

     I've heard this story so many times but for some reason, as I read this time, I see God in a different light.  I see a God who loved His creation and who was not pleased to have to turn them out of the beautiful garden He had created for them.  I see a God who cared so much for His children that before He sent them out from the garden He took the time to kill an animal and provide adequate clothing to protect them, and cover their shame, as they went out into a much different world.  I can't help but wonder how it must have broken God's heart to have to turn out His children from such a beautiful place.  He knew what awaited them on the outside.  He knew about sickness, pain, death.  He knew what the heartache they would face.  And we see in Gen. 3:15 that God has already put into motion what He will do to remedy the situation.  He will come to the rescue.  He will restore His children.  He will get back at the one who tempted His children.

     So humanity goes on and we see that sin quickly rears it's ugly head in the fact that the next generation of humans, Cain and Able, are involved in the first homicide in human history.  We didn't waste any time did we?   And sin just keeps on piling up on through the generations.  When we get to Noah we see that humanity, and even angels, are involved in such heinous sins that God wants to completely rid the world of humanity.  Genesis 5:6 says that God was sorry he had made man and put them on the earth.  It must have been bad!  So He tells Noah that He's going to flood the world with "rain" so He needs to build an ark.  Now interesting note, not only was it crazy to build an ark in the middle of the desert but it had never rained before!  Imagine the ridicule and jokes that Noah got.  "Why are you building a boat here?"  "What is rain?"  God's plan of salvation was foolishness to these people.  Doesn't that sound familiar? 

      "For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."   1 Corinthians 1:18

     The same is still true today.  People think that God's plan of salvation is completely crazy.  A servant king?  A crucified savior?  It doesn't add up to them.  But God tends to do exactly what we would never expect!

     The next big event we see is the Tower of Babel.  I just want to note that the guy in charge of the construction project was named Nimrod....seriously? Man exhibits his pride and desires to make his name great by building a tower to reach the heavens.  Imagine that.  Humans want to glorify themselves.  So God confuses their language and we get the many languages that we have today.
   
     I know I blew through that pretty quickly and there is so much packed into these stories.  I can already see it's going to be hard to share everything I'm learning this year!  I'm only 11 chapters into the 1st of 66 books and the theological truths so far are so deep and so immense.  It's going to be a good year.
   
     Well tonight I take a break from Genesis to read about Job.  Apparently Job lived during the time of Abraham so chronologically, his story fits here.  Learned something new!
 

God bless!!

Here we go...

     There are those moments in life when you get this really great idea and it seems so awesome in your head and you want everyone else to think it's an awesome idea and jump right on board with you. I'm a veteran at coming up with lots of ideas....it's the follow through that gets me sometimes. That being said, you can imagine my concerns about deciding to read through the entire Bible this year! It's something I've always wanted to do and I figured that January 1st of 2012 seemed like no better time to start (especially since, if the Mayans get it right, this year will be my last chance to read through it!). Now, why have I decided to blog about this little endeavor? I'm hoping that it will help hold me accountable to finish what I've started. I'm hoping that the more people who know about my goal, the more likely I'll be to stick with it.  If you're interested in taking this journey too then please feel free to travel along side me. I promise I'll make it worth your while.

So, if you're willing to come along side me, lace up your hiking boots and let's go. Here's the game plan. I'm going to be reading through the Bible chronologically, in the order in which the events occurred. I don't want to just read the Bible from Genesis to Exodus to Leviticus to...but instead as God's one BIG story from creation to the Revelation. Along the way I'll be sharing my thoughts and insights that I learn as the Holy Spirit guides and directs me through this massive journey. Will everything apply to those reading this blog? Probably not, but God has a way of speaking to us right when we need it, even when we didn't know we needed it so maybe something He shows me will help you! I know a year is a long time to follow along but in 366 days (yep, it's a leap year folks) I'm hoping to see God's story played out from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 and see how His Spirit has woven through the scriptures to demonstrate His heart for a fallen humanity and ultimately His work of restoration through Jesus!

     So, please join me this year and follow along as I travel through the Bible...and hold me accountable to finish! Along the way, feel free to comment and share what God has taught you as well. After all, we're all just fellow travelers on this journey called life!

In Christ,