Promises...(APRIL 2007)
It's been a while since I've written.....what a whirlwind the past month or so.
my 2 year old nephew is staying with us for a couple of months......I love that kid....he has my heart!....but it's been busy too. It's different having a toddler in the house again. But it's been worth it.
the Lord has been teaching me lots lately......the thing that He keeps showing me almost daily is, His constant and promised faithfulness to me....no matter how much I screw things up, no matter how often I fail to show gratefulness for the things He gives me, no matter how many times I've disobeyed......He has never failed in keeping His promises to me....
His promise to always be there, and never forsake...
His promise to provide for our every need.....
His promise to shield and protect me....
His promise to give us strength, wisdom, patience, and comfort......
His promise of abundant mercy, forgiveness, love, grace, and power
His promise of a future.....
His promise of blessing in return for service, obedience, and undivided worship.....
His promise to walk with me through suffering, worry, doubt, fear, discouragement, and even anger.....
His promise of a Savior, of an eternal home in heaven, and of hope.....
What a beautiful picture of a beautiful God.......a renewed look at the God who not only died for my sins, but gives promise after promise of an abundant life....a life based on a sweet relationship with the Creator of all things.....a confident life!
The Lord has reminded me of His beautiful promises in many different ways recently....I've read it in my devotions, I've studied it in a Bible study, I've heard it from the mouths of brothers and sisters, and I've witnessed it in the birth of new friendships.......
The Lord is good.....and His promises are good.....
it's always been a head knowledge, but recently it has become a heart knowledge.....
My heart is full of thankfulness and awe today.......
it's a good day....
APRIL 2007
It's really cool when the Lord just gives you the little 'extras'.......ya know?
I shared with you the neat things God has been putting before me recently (the blog before this one!)...not anything new and profound, just super reminders of His perfect faithfulness, His many promises, etc.....it's been refreshing to reflect on all of that......to be able to share it in some of my 'talks' with others, to use it as a tool in my ministry, to actually SEE it even in some pretty neat ways......
I went to church yesterday, a little excited to sit down and absorb some good teaching......one of the hymns we started out with was "Standing on Jehovah".....one line stuck out to me...."standing on Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed...finding as He promised, perfect peace and rest"......it probably only stood out to me because of the sweet promise in there.....then, the next song was "standing on the promises"...not usually one that strikes a big chord with me, but that day I thought it was fitting...thanks God for the little extras you give....
so I sit down and get all comfy for the sermon.....I LOVE my pastor and the way he brings the word......i REALLY love the way God brings the word, straight to me!
Basically, he starts off in James 2, where it speaks of Abraham being a friend of God.....he talked of Abe's life, his faith in God, his obedience (of course there were not so glorious moments too.....don't we all have those!)....he talked of the promises made to Abraham, and the faith he had in those promises....
But something my pastor was good to point out.....was to focus not just on the promises, but the Promiser......the one who is capable of keeping every promise....the promises are good, but the one who does the promising is better.....that is where our focus should ultimately be.....the promises should draw our eyes to the one who promises. I did get that already, but for some reason the Lord really put it into a more honest perspective for me then......
Abraham was called a friend of God....why? because of His faith that God would bring about exactly what He said He would...."Abe believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness" james 2:23 Sounds so simple......he just believed.....no biggie......but the difference is how he believed.....way different than I believe most of the time!
ok.....Abe was promised many, many descendents right? very cool....but then comes the time where God asks him to go up on the mountain to do the impossible.....sacrifice the only son he had.....his miracle child....the one that came when it seemed not possible.....his precious heritage.
so he starts the long journey.....
one notable thing...Gen 22:3.....it says that "abraham rose up early in the morning...." that kind of blows my mind!......if God told me that I was to go and sacrifice my child, I don't think I would rise up early and ready to start the journey....I'm sure I would lay in bed, thinking that God would have to say something to me, maybe change His mind, call it all off.....but no, Abraham got up early in the morning and began his journey.....
then the really cool part.....(to me at least).....came in verse 5...."And Abraham said to his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you"......there is a part of that verse that makes my heart skip a beat....did you see it?......here it is in the 'inspirational study Bible': "and Abraham said to his young men, 'stay here with the donkey; the lad and i will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you"......he completely believed!...he knew that God would keep His promise of descendents....even though He was asking him to sacrifice the only one he had.....he knew that he AND his son would come back down.....I doubt he knew how it was going to happen, but he believed that God was faithful and he simply obeyed.....he also knew that when he got to the place of sacrifice, that he and his son would worship God...."the lad and I will go yonder and worship..." I don't know if he knew he got it, but Abraham got that obedience would lead to worship.....once we really step out in faith and obedience, we begin a journey that leads to blessings.....and in that step of faith and obedience, we can be called friends of God......I get that believing often has to be active....taking a real, physical step sometimes......Abraham had to rise up and begin that journey....he physically had to get up, prepare the wood, get his son ready, kiss his wife good-bye (with probably very few words of encouragement or explanation), saddle his donkey, and start walking......what an amazing journey that must have been.....I have a feeling we only catch a glimpse of it.....but enough to know what made it so amazing...in that moment, an amazing friendship was born.....one between Abraham and God.....
obey God and return with the son of promise!
We were created for His good pleasure....but without faith, we cannot please God...we cannot be "friends" of God......I want to be a pleasure to Him....a friend of God
I do long for that kind of relationship with God.....for Him to call me friend...how sweet would that be?
anyways, that is what I've been chewing on the past couple of weeks.....I love it when God gives me beautiful things to think about, a time of refreshment and encouragement.....hope it gives you even the slightest bit of insight into what God is doing these days.......I hope it draws you even the smallest bit closer to Him.....that is what it's all about, right? :)
ps...i'm not proofing this....hope it made sense!
me and peter, Easter afternoon.....
the ladies of the house!! 2007
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