Genesis 12 – God begins the nation that will bring Jesus

Genesis 12:4-5 NIV

4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 

5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

Abram has already established his life. He has his wife, children, livestock, and home. All he had to do was provide for his family, pray to God for their protection, and live a daily life of peace. Abram was a normal guy, normal as a fresh graduate set for an office based job for a 8-5 daily to provide for the needs of her family. Everybody is just like Abram, so was I.

But God chose him.

God would have waited for Moses to arrive on Earth to start a new era of humanity or He could have chosen a prince or an officer of a higher court at that time. But He chose Abram.

Abram was not special because of what he was or what he has done in his life. He is special because God chose him.

And so when God ordered that he should leave his comfort zone, he simply obeyed. Regardless of the non-feasibility of any of God’s promises, he just abides.

I always have this view of God being complex and unpredictable. I know so well that so many things are beyond man’s understanding as well as leaving one’s comfort zone is not as easy as it may sound. But Abram did it, that’s why he is special - because he acted on the call of God.

But why did Abram leave the place where he could have started a whole new humanity the way he is raising his family? God is all powerful that He can simply declare Abram’s land as the land of promise. It’s not like God has geographical issues. One reason is the tests and obstacles God has prepared for Abram and his faith. But one reason that was also revealed to me is that, God’s ways are always unique that every calls that He makes for anyone is also different from each other. Because if they were, everyone should be pastors right? We can never question God’s plan for our lives.

Indeed, I believe that every life is headed to different paths in different amazing ways. But like Abram, labeled in God’s own brand, has became special because he acted on God’s call and remained faithful all throughout the journey.

So who cares if you can’t find the rightful career path, or if you feel lost, or if you’re not sure if you made the right decision? Remember God’s unique ways of revealing Himself. Because as for me, that is life. Living with the profound purpose of knowing Him and His plans.

Picture: http://thengrace.tumblr.com/post/141110394852/psalm-4610

Genesis 3: Lessons from temptation

²² And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”

                Reading the chapter from the start, I thought, why did even God put a tree of life there? Why did he allow a snake to tempt Eve and eventually let Adam fall for it to? Come to think of it, God has total control of what can happen in the past right? So why the fall of man?

                When we were a child, I remember my Mom bringing me to her office. She had to leave me at the play ground I can play safe while she’s working. But before she leaves she’s tell me not to go anywhere far from the playground and then she leaves.  At first, I’d be so amazed by how fun all the stuff I can do in the playground. But as hours pass, I get bored of them and then come temptation to leave. Even as a child, it is my choice to stay or to leave right? And because of temptation, I left. When its becoming late already, I’d eventually figure out that I’m too far from the playground that I’m lost. Now the consequence of not obeying my mother has just happened. Perhaps that was lunch time; I can be so hungry then. Or it can be raining and I dint know where to go anymore. Eventually my mother would find me and then punish me for that disobedience. The next time she works, she knows she won’t be leaving me in the playground anymore. I’d probably left in a boring library or worst, she might not even bring me to her work anymore. But from that moment on, I know that when she brings me back to the playground, I won’t be leaving far from it anymore. Why? BECAUSE I LEARNED FROM THAT TEMPTATION.

                God knew that there will be a fall of man. The bible hasn’t stated there how long it was for Adam and Eve to stay obedient to God until the serpent come right? But after that incident, Adam and Eve has already learned from that mistake. The punishment brought by God to man was not the only one passed on to all generations. We must see more than that. There is a real reason, a lesson that was passed on from the story and it lives until now.

Genesis 2

Message:

²⁰ So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam^[f] no suitable helper was found. 

“Suitable”  

-Right or appropriate for a particular person, purpose, or situation

-fit - appropriate - proper - fitting – convenient

                I am 20 years old. I did experience a couple of relationships and relationship messes. I may be too young to discuss on this aspect but Wisdom comes n maturity and it is a process. God has given us the Word to learn from it and then earn maturity through Wisdom.

                Moving on…

                It has been specified in the bible how it was purposely intended that men and women are to be partners in life. Clearly the Lord has given the man a choice of who to be with in the rest of his existence but the Lord knew the man’s heart. He understood the situation precisely and has given the man the “suitable” partner-woman. Given the precise definition of the word “suitable”, it is indeed crucial and at the same time mysterious to be one’s partner. One has to be “appropriate” or “fit” to be one’s partner, meaning, it is not randomly chosen depending merely on emotions, likes, and all else. On the other hand, if we are to consider solely on finding a “suitable” partner, it can be very frustrating and can turn one into a perfectionist. I say, we should relate more in the bible and prayer.

If in Genesis, God has given Adam Eve, then He can definitely bring us our suitable partner as well.

Command:

Wait for the Lord.

Promise:

He knows exactly who you need.

Genesis 1

MESSAGE:

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Level 1:  Birth

When we, life, started to exist, everything seems to be broad. In one’s life, this can last during their childhood or some never really advanced to this level. This is the part of one’s life when a goal or a future is never really clear. As for a child, for example, they just keep on living in their present lives. Like, today they’ll play and tomorrow they will go to school and the next day they will be having a test, with all this in mind, they wouldn’t think of getting married, or having a profession. Point is, though they are living their life, to them, in a very meaningful extent, life is still pointless. Thing is, most people now are in this stage. Maturity does not mean getting insurance, or passing the board exam, or even getting into marriage. Life’s meaning, as described by our Christian faith is way more than that.

³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Level 2:  Acceptance

Going further in the book of Genesis, we learned that Adam and Eve gained enough knowledge to realize they were naked after they have been tempted. That is also an illustration of what chapter one makes. Everyone goes through this stage. When we were children, we are curious about almost everything. About where we came from, about how we were made, stuff like that. same thing goes through our spiritual lives. There will come a time when we start asking ourselves about life after death, if heaven and hell was really, about who Jesus Christ really was. This can be a very tricky level because the human brain can be very complex that we can be deceived by our own perceptions. It may come to a point where an unbeliever might ask, if God wanted people to believe in Him, why wouldn’t He just magically change people’s minds? Answer: He is way too generous to do that. he freely gave us free will that we can believe what we want to believe. God created light. Many times in our life, God always shows us that light, that opportunity to actually know Him, the Truth. But many people refuse the light. But hey! The whole earth embraced the light, why wouldn’t you?

⁶ And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.”

Level 3:  Salvation

After passing through level 2, salvation should be the product. Accepting the light would mean knowing the fact that you are separated from God because of sin which is illustrated by the sky. Looking up, we can imagine how far till we reach the sky as we are on the ground. But we should take in heart that prayer takes us closer to Him. Those who still think that God hide beyond the sky or space lack faith. But for us Christian, we know by heart that though waters above and under has been separated, our hearts are closer to Him when we pray.

²⁴ And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 

Level 4: Multiplication

There is a fact that many Christians nowadays are stuck at level 3. They enjoy the blessings of being a believer. They live their lives in the promise the Lord has bestowed upon us BUT many lack conviction. They have accomplished LOVING GOD but many forget the other command, that is, LOVING PEOPLE. Why do missionaries exist? Why are there a lot of churches abroad spending lots of expenses just to go around the globe to preach the gospel? It is because of the hope of multiplication. Our Christian living must not end in blessing ourselves, our families our friends but also blessing other people as well. Salvation was not brought for His people for only those who know it. It is for everyone. And as Christians we must be disciples as well. We don’t keep the Truth for ourselves but for the World to know.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,^[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Level 5:  Discipleship

Every believer is a leader. It is clear that this is our destiny. We lead people to God. We lead people to faith. And we lead people to lead other people as well.

In the end, God has created us in His own image. That doesn’t only mean physically but also reflects godliness that every believers, leaders, disciples must have.

COMMAND:  ²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule overthe fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

PROMISE:  ²⁹ Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. ³⁰ And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.