pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: Abram


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Child of God

Readings: Genesis 12:3 and Romans 4:16-17

Verse 16: “The promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring… He is the father of us all.”

Early in the story of the Bible, Abram is called to step out in faith, to go “to a land that I will show you.” God promises Abram a blessing. He will be the father of a great nation and the world will be blessed through him. Abram went in faith. This step of faith is a foundational example for three traditions. Once Abram was established in Canaan, Ishmael is born to Abram. This the branch of family tree is the origin of the Muslim faith. Many years later Jesus is born from the line of Abraham too, beginning the branch of the Christian faith. As Paul writes, “He is the father of us all,” he is speaking primarily to the Jews and Christians of his day, but we can certainly include others in this family tree. And if we step outside of the biological connection, we know that all people are creations of God, all woven together in the womb, all carrying the spark of the divine within.

You might not dip the bread in the cup tomorrow. You might use real wine. You might hold a different understanding of baptism or Sabbath or prayer than I do. You might not hold any of these practices sacred. None of this makes you any less or more a child of God. Going to worship tomorrow might be the further thing from your mind. Your plans for tonight might be wild and your hopes decadent. None of this or anything else makes you less a child of God. We are all connected. We are all loved by God.

As Abram did, may we too step out in faith, trusting in where God will lead us, knowing and treating all people as the child of God that they are, living as the child of God that we are.

Prayer: Lord God, use me today to express your love for all people. Guide me to love without barriers or filters, without prejudice or distinction. Wipe any limiters from my mind and heart. Guide me to love as you love. Amen.


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Go…. Go??? Go!

Reading: Genesis 12:1-4

Verse 1: “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.”

Photo credit: Jon Tyson

Abram lived in the land of Haran. He was born in Ur but has been in Haran for about 60 years. It is home. He has established a life for himself and for his wife Sarai among his father’s household. Then Terah, his father, dies. It is then that Abram hears these words: “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” Haran was home to Abram and everyone and everything he knew and loved. At his father’s passing, he would’ve been in charge of all the Terah owned.

God also adds some promises to the command to go. God will make Abram’s descendants into a great nation. Did I mention that Sarai is barren? God will make his name great and all people of the earth will be blessed through him. Did I mention that as Abram leaves home and security, he only has Sarai and his nephew Lot to bring with him? The promises seem great. But they’re a lot like “the land that I will show you.” It is a lot to consider. Yet in verse 4 we read, “So Abram left.”

Abram receives these words from God and off he goes. In a situation full of unknowns, Abram is full of trust in God. Willing to follow God’s direction wherever, Abram sets out. Willing to follow God’s leading until whenever, he begins his journey. Willing to go until God tells him to stop, Abram moves forward. These are the lessons for us in this passage. This example of faithful discipleship is ours to follow.

Maybe God will ask you to load up and go to a new place. Maybe God will nudge you towards that person you’ve been struggling with. Maybe God will put a call on your heart to serve someone. God asks us to go in many different ways. With a full trust in God, may we too go.

Prayer: Lord God, it’s easy to think I’d simply go. But that’s probably not really true. At least a lot of the time. So Lord, deepen my trust in you. Build up my willingness to go whenever and wherever. Amen.


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May We Too Believe

Reading: Genesis 15:1-6

Verse 5: “Look up at the heavens and count the stars – if indeed you can count them… So shall your offspring be.”

Photo credit: Greg Rakozy

At 75 Abram was called by God to leave Haran, the place he had lived all his life, to travel to an unknown land. Abram and company traveled until God told them they’d arrived. There Abram built an altar and gave an offering to God. Years later God comes to Abram in a vision and says, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your great reward.” Children were seen as one’s reward. One’s impact, one’s legacy, one’s worth was evaluated through their offspring. Abram says to God, “but I remain childless.”

We can find ourselves saying something along these lines. Our struggle may be having children too. It may be finding love or contentment in a relationship. It may be finding fulfillment and satisfaction in our work. It may be limited resources even when we’ve been so faithful. It may be illness or unwanted change even as we’ve sought to be righteous and humble. We too can, do, and will say, “but… um… God?”

In response to Abram’s questions and doubts, God takes him outside and says, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars – if indeed you can count them… So shall your offspring be.” Have you ever tried counting the stars? “If indeed you can count them…” It is impossible. To Abram, that task could feel as impossible as him having descendants like those stars. God was inviting Abram to see with God’s eyes, to trust in God’s vision.

When God asks us to be faithful in where we’re being led, to see with God’s eyes, are we willing? Do we choose to trust the path that God is asking us to step onto? If our eyes remain focused on the seemingly impossible that God has laid before us, we will not experience the miraculous that God has in store. In his moment with God, Abram chose to believe. God credited Abram with righteousness. In our moment, may we too believe.

Prayer: Lord God, give me the courage to step forward in faithful witness. Give me eyes to see your possibilities, trusting in you alone. Amen.


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Covenant God

Reading: Genesis 17: 1-7

Verse 7: “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant… to be your God and the God of your descendants”.

Photo credit: Geda Zyvatkauskaite

Yesterday as we looked at this passage we focused on how we are to keep the covenant. We are to “walk before God and be blameless”. God set this as the goal and Jesus lived out the example, giving us a goal to aim for, a model to follow. This is “how” we are to live out the covenant. Today we turn to the “why”.

God chose Abram to be the father of not only many nations but of God’s children. This was not something Abram decided and then set out to accomplish. God is the one who offers covenant relationship to Abram and Sarai. God is the one who invites them to be a partaker in the covenant. God is the one who upholds the covenant as God rules over the earth. The question for Abram and Sarai is this: will they trust God to be the covenant keeper?

Abram falls face down before God. He recognizes that God is supreme, almighty, all-powerful. This is Abram saying “yes” to God’s invitation into covenant relationship. In response God changes his name to Abraham, which means “father of many”. Later in the story God also changes Sarai’s name to Sarah, reflecting her role as the mother of nations. God defines the covenant this way: “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant… to be your God and the God of your descendants”. God will be the God of Abraham and Sarah and their descendants forever. The time frame of the covenant again reinforces who is in control and who is the covenant keeper. Like Abraham and Sarah, we are finite, limited, human, flawed. God is eternal and forever and perfect. Abraham and Sarah would seek to walk blamelessly before God, just as we try to do. They would not be perfect, just as we are not perfect. Down through the generations, Abraham and Sarah’s descendants would break the covenant over and over. Again and again, God would keep the covenant of grace, loving us forever. Over and over we end up at the table of grace, being made right again, being restored back into relationship again. This is God’s nature, it is his character. God remains our God. God will always be our God. This is his covenant promise, sealed by his love. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: Loving God, you are forever, you are in total control. You are steadfast and true in keeping the covenant to be our God – to be my God. You love us no matter what. Thank you, God, for loving even me. Amen.


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Blameless, Walking

Reading: Genesis 7: 1-7 and 15-16

Verse 1: “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless”.

Photo credit: Sarah Berriman

Our passage for today and tomorrow begins with these words: “When Abram was 99…” Sarai, his wife, is almost as old. The rest of our passage is about the promise of God’s action in their lives and about what God will require of them. In the rest of verse one God says, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless”. El Shaddai, God almighty, tells them to be faithful and to be blameless. This was God’s desire for Abram’s and for Sarai’s life. It is God’s desire for you and for me too.

What does it mean to “walk before God”? It is the intentional effort to live all of ones life transparently before God. At times we can pretend that God can’t or won’t see what we are doing or want to do. This becomes a pass to give in the the temptation. To walk before God would prevent such decisions and actions. Knowing that God is almighty means that all is laid bare before him anyway, but making the commitment to walk in his presence says we are ready and desire to live in an honest and intimate relationship with God all of the time.

The second command is to be “blameless”. The execution of this command is like the first – it is the target, the goal, our desire, our hope. But just as it is impossible to always walk before God, so too is it impossible to always be blameless. The intent is the same though. We strive to get up each day and to walk with God every moment, being blameless in his sight. This effort and desire also tells God, ‘yes, I want to be in relationship with you; yes, I want to be like Jesus’.

Up to this point in their lives Abram and Sarai were not perfect or blameless – far from it. Nor would they be blameless or walk with God all the time going forward. God already knew this about them yet still made the promise, still offered the covenant. Why? Because God loves his children and created us to be in relationship with him. Nothing is more pleasing to God than when we love him and seek to live in relationship with him. This day and every day may we seek to walk with God, blameless before him.

Prayer: Lord, today may I walk each moment with you. May my steps be on the path you place before me today. Continue to create in me a pure heart and a willing spirit. Amen.


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By Faith Alone

Reading: Romans 4: 1-5 and 13-17

Verse 13: “It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise… but through the righteousness that comes by faith”.

As Paul and the rest of the earliest church were sorting out just how Jewish one must first be to become a follower of Jesus Christ, he penned these words that we read today. Before becoming an apostle, Paul was known as Saul. In that phase of his life he was a self-proclaimed Jew among Jews. He was a very devout Pharisee who knew and followed the letter of the law. As the early church grew and began to add Gentile believers, a huge debate arose over just how much of the Jewish faith must be followed to become a Christian.

In our reading for today Paul points to Abraham, the father of the Jewish people. Paul chooses him for two reasons. First, he is one of the pillars of Judaism. His faith is one of the models. God declares Abram righteous because of his faith. As we’ve been reading, God called and in obedient faith, Abram went where God led. He stepped out and followed God. Second, at the time there was no law. It had not been given yet. Paul is saying that one can be saved by faith apart from the law. Paul, known as the apostle to the Gentiles, is not in favor of applying Jewish laws to the Christian faith. Paul himself became a believer when he met the risen Lord and then entered into a personal saving relationship with Jesus Christ. For Paul it had nothing to do with the law. In the next chapters Paul will go on to argue this point further. Martin Luther will pick up these texts many hundreds of years later as he works out his “justification by faith alone” doctrine that will rock the church.

Even though the New Testament clearly spells out that one is saved by faith alone we can often feel like we must do good works or follow some set of prescribed steps to be saved. God does not have a giant balance scale that one day weighs out our good versus bad. We know from the scriptures that as soon as we confess and give our sins to God, they are wiped away – they are no more. Nothing is being stacked up on the “bad” side of some mythical scale. Yes, our faith will lead us to do good things. That is how we live out the love of God within us. It is the model Jesus set for us. As we follow Christ, living out our faith, may his ‘why’ become our ‘why’. Jesus loved others because the love of God within him overflowed into the lives of others. May we do the same. May the sharing of God’s love be our grateful response to our God who saves.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for your unconditional love and grace. It is certainly not deserved but you pour it out upon me anyway. I definitely cannot earn yet it is still there in unending abundance. It is an amazing love, an amazing grace. Thank you. Amen.


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Be a Blessing

Reading: Genesis 12: 1-4a

Verse 3: “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you”.

Abram pulls up stakes and heads off to see where God wants him to call home. Doing so he demonstrates great obedience and a deep trust in God. He goes with the promises to be made into a great nation and to be blessed. Abram is one of many characters in the Bible that step out of their norm and often out of their comfort zone simply because God called them to do so. It was not easy for one of them. Even though the story is full of these faithful and obedient men and women, I am sure there were also at least as many that refused, ignored, denied, ran from… the call. How am I so sure? I have but to look at my own life to realize how easy it is to fail at being faithful and obedient all the time. Often the bigger the step of faith, the more hesitant or reluctant I am to take the step.

Abram was 75 when he left home and headed for Canaan. He took what he had – his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people “accumulated in Haran”. Before departing God’s last words to Abram were these: “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you”. Abram was not just going to be a blessing to his family or even to those in the land that he was going to inherit. The blessing was going to be for all peoples. Right there, in Matthew 1:1 and 1:2, Abram’s name begins to geneology of Jesus. The father of many nations is also in the family tree of Jesus, the Christ. In verse sixteen the list ends with Jesus. But the list does not end there. The list of those in the family of God continues to grow even this day. Listed right there as a brother or sister of Jesus is your name and my name. We are adopted in, but we are still family in God’s eyes. Because of this truth, we are indeed very blessed.

We are also connected to Abram in another way. Because we are blessed we too are called to be a blessing to others. It may be in the form of a small act of kindness today. It may be to walk through the valley with someone. It may be to share Jesus Christ with them. There are many ways to be a blessing. Each day may we seek to be a blessing to others.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for the opportunities that you will bring my way today. I know they’ll be there – you provide them every day. Help me this day to be more faithful and more obedient, serving others as I serve you. Amen.


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Decision Points

Reading: Genesis 12: 1-4a

Verse 1: “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you”.

As human history begins and the world gets started, the general direction is downhill. It began in a beautiful way in the garden but soon sin corrupted even that place. The flood was only a temporary reset. Sin and evil began to flourish almost as soon as Noah and family exited the ark. Today we turn to Abram. He was chosen by God to be another starting point.

God identifies Abram and one day says to him: “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you”. Imagine how hard that might be to do – especially when the destination is unknown. Pack up everything and I’ll let you know which way to go. Talk about taking a step of faith. God chose the right guy. Abram is just one of many who obediently step out in faith.

We too come to decision points in our lives. What college or major? Is he/she the one for me? Do we accept this job and move to ___? Am I being called to change careers? The answers to these questions (and more like them) do much to shape and form who we become. While this is true, I believe the line goes something like this: “The proof is in the details”. The decisions and choices that we make each and every day are what really reveal who and whose we are. The ways we love God and love others, the faith and trust that guides our lives, the compassion and grace that steers our relationships, the humble servsnt’s heart – these are the qualities that lead us to our career, to our spouse…

calls out to us each day as the Holy Spirit leads, guides, convicts, corrects, nudges, whispers. At each big decision point and at every small decision point, may our faith be our guide. If put to it like Abram was, may we too step out in faith, trusting fully in God.

Prayer: Lord God, the decisions I make today – the thoughts, the words, the actions – all shape and form me. They lead to who I will be tomorrow. Shape and form me more into your image. Amen.


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Trust in God

Reading: Genesis 15: 1-12 & 17-18

Verse 18: “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram”.

Abram has led a pretty good life. Yes, he has left the place he grew up and headed off to an unknown land, having some times of testing along the way. But God has clearly been with him. By his day’s standards, Abram is very well off. Most people live a very basic life – trying to grow or raise enough just to get by. Abram has large flocks and herds, lots of servants. But he is missing one key sign of God’s blessings: children. Perhaps you can relate. Life is really good overall, but you’re still missing one key thing.

For Abram it casts a shadow over all of the other blessings. Maybe that one thing in your life does that as well. Then God shows up and reiterates the promise of children for Abram – and not just a child, but many, many descendants. He is well along in years and his wife, Sarai, is far past her child-bearing years. This thing that God is saying would sound impossible to almost anyone – probably to all of us. Yet Abram believes God. He believes in a God that can do anything, even the seemingly impossible. Most of us think God can do anything, but do we really believe it deep in our hearts? That is the question.

Abram does and God takes the next step. God pledges to give them land too. Not only some children and descendants, but a land for them to live in too. What an awesome God. God seals it by partaking in a sacrifice and by making a covenant with Abram. A covenant is a “no matter what” promise. God will keep His end of the arrangement no matter what. As human beings, we enter a marriage covenant with the same intent. Marriage is our best earthly example of “I’ll love you no matter what”.

What is that one thing you long for? In spite of life being pretty good, what seems to be missing? Give your desire up to God, plead your case. Pour out your heart. Bring it to the God who really, really can do anything. Trust in God’s providence and in God’s love for you. Take it to God in prayer.

Prayer: Lord God, you are an amazing God. Lead me through these uncertain waters. Show me the way that is pleasing to you. Amen.


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Hear Him Calling?

Abraham, Israel’s founding father, is a great example of faith.  He is counted as ‘righteous’ by God.  But in Genesis 12 we encounter a young Abraham.  He was only 75 years old when God called him to pack up and move to a foreign land.  Comfortably living with his father in Haran, Abram hears God’s call to move.  So Abram packs up his wife Sarai and Lot and hits the road.  He seems pretty faithful, pretty trusting in God.  As he leaves, he leaves with God’s words on his mind – you will be blessed, made into a great nation.  God will curse people who curse Abram.

But soon after they leave, Abram falters.  A famine forces them to Egypt and here, in the midst of a powerful people he fears for his life – Sarai’s beauty will attract them and Abram fears they will kill him to have Sarai.  So he tells the Egyptians that she is his sister.  Not exactly honoring his wife.  But God intervenes and sends plagues that force out the truth and they are sent on their way.  I wonder why God intervened. I wonder why He just didn’t move on to finding someone else to found the nation.  But perhaps He saw the potential in Abram.  Perhaps God knew that one day Abraham would be willing to sacrifice his only son Isaac on the altar.  Seems God knew what He was doing!

In reality we too are like Abram – full of potential but needing a little polish and elbow grease.  Ready to serve but stumbling now and then.  And Abram’s God is our God too.  He is always calling us along, loving on us as we grow.  God can see in each of us what we can become.  He can see in each of us just where we will best fit into His kingdom.   And we, like Abram, need to be willing to step out in faith, knowing that He will be there right beside us, helping us to do His will in our worlds.  Can you hear Him calling?