This post is just me working it out--processing my life through God and His Word so it may not make any sense to you if you pop by, so feel free to peruse the archives.
This is what caught my eye in my FB newsfeed today (highlighted portions mine):
~David Mainse~ (http://www.100words.ca/)
Key Verse: Genesis 28:15
“…Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
God makes promises! In this way He encouraged Jacob. Jacob had heard the stories of God’s promises to his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac over and over again. It has been said, “God has no grandchildren.” In other words, every generation must enter into a personal relationship with God. Jacob [Sita] needed to hear from God. He was in a place of turmoil, running away from home, driven to desperate measures because of his own bad decisions. Jacob may have been blaming his disfunctional family. No doubt that night trying to sleep with a stone as his pillow was truly a “dark night of the soul.” But “between a rock and a hard place,” God took the initiative [Please, Lord, do so in my situation, now] and gave Jacob assurance of His Presence. From this place going forward, Jacob knew he would never be alone again. God would fulfill all of His promises.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
[I also prayed this sincerely] God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, I humbly call on You. Please speak to me. I need You! Please give me a promise for my life, for my future as You did for Jacob. In the Name of Your Son, Jesus, I pray. Amen!
Then I went to my Bible reading for today. I asked the Lord to please show me a promise, for me. This is what I read in Deuteronomy 26:16-19 (The Message):
16-17 This very day God, your God, commands you to follow these rules and regulations, to live them out with everything you have in you. You've renewed your vows today that God is your God, that you'll live the way he shows you; do what he tells you in the rules, regulations, and commandments; and listen obediently to him.
18-19 And today God has reaffirmed that you are dearly held treasure just as he promised, a people entrusted with keeping his commandments, a people set high above all other nations that he's made, high in praise, fame, and honor: you're a people holy to God, your God. That's what he has promised.
What?! Really? If...I obey all His commands, His promise is:
"Dearly held treasure?"
"...a people entrusted with keeping his commandments, a people set high above all other nations that he's made, high in praise, fame, and honor: you're a people holy to God, your God..."
I'm sorry, Lord, what does that mean for me in my tenuous situation right now? If I follow You with all my heart, I'm Your treasure and set apart for a place of honor?
But my mind reels, Lord knows I try to live for Him with all that I have and when I realize I can't, ask Him to live in me and through me and my obvious weakness. But I confess I fail.
Everyday I mess up.
So why do I deserve any good thing from the Lord as opposed to anyone else?
I continued reading: Deuteronomy 28:1-6 - (The Message)
1-6 If you listen obediently to the Voice of God, your God, and heartily obey all his commandments that I command you today,God, your God, will place you on high, high above all the nations of the world. All these blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the Voice of God, your God:
God's blessing inside the city,
God's blessing in the country;
God's blessing on your children,
the crops of your land,
the young of your livestock,
the calves of your herds,
the lambs of your flocks.
God's blessing on your basket and bread bowl;
God's blessing in your coming in,
God's blessing in your going out.
God's blessing inside the city,
God's blessing in the country;
God's blessing on your children,
the crops of your land,
the young of your livestock,
the calves of your herds,
the lambs of your flocks.
God's blessing on your basket and bread bowl;
God's blessing in your coming in,
God's blessing in your going out.
Again the condition, 'If' "you heartily obey...He will place you on high...blessings will come down on you..."
and a little further on in verses 8-9:
8 God will order a blessing on your barns and workplaces; he'll bless you in the land that God, your God, is giving you.
9 God will form you as a people holy to him, just as he promised you, if you keep the commandments of God, your God, and live the way he has shown you.
D-d-does that mean what I want it to mean?Are You giving me a place? Because that's what I really need, Lord!
"A people holy to Him?" I'm not sure how that applies. I know what You meant for the Israelites, Lord, but do You have a similar plan for the Hendersons here? Because You know, there is nothing I would love more, to have my family be set apart for You, to bring glory and fame to Your Name.
I don't know, Lord.
And then my eyes alighted on words I have heard my parents quote often. Oh dear. Verses 11-14 says:
11-14 God will lavish you with good things: children from your womb, offspring from your animals, and crops from your land, the land that God promised your ancestors that he would give you. God will throw open the doors of his sky vaults and pour rain on your land on schedule and bless the work you take in hand. You will lend to many nations but you yourself won't have to take out a loan. God will make you the head, not the tail; you'll always be the top dog, never the bottom dog, as you obediently listen to and diligently keep the commands of God, your God, that I am commanding you today. Don't swerve an inch to the right or left from the words that I command you today by going off following and worshiping other gods.
"The head, not the tail..." Oh my. I have lived the life of the tail for so long, it feels like my destiny, what I deserve.
Oh Lord, I want to take a hold of the life of the 'head' and I know I can't if I am not obedient. Please show me clearly what You are commanding today of me. I desire nothing more than to do Your will and for my family to be blessed of You as they follow after You alone.
So after I read this, Mike and I went looking for places, driving by and on the internet. All discouraging. Nothing that screamed God's intervention. And that's exactly what I expect.
And that is what I will wait for while my human flesh cries out for resolution which means settling for the least unfavorable like we did last year.
Lord, I await Your unmistakable Thumbprint.
The song He just brought to my mind:
No comments:
Post a Comment