More on Obedience:Bloggle Study 1/14/10: Genesis 9-12

We adopted a 2-month-old puppy, and my schedule has been all out of whack in defference to her needs, so blogging hasn't been on the agenda for nearly a week. Thankfully, Bernadette Minnie Lukomski, who being 14 lbs at 2 months is going to be a monster as an adult, did not wake Lili this morning with her yipping, and I have some much needed time to myself to get into God's word and write! I started where I think I left off with chapters 9 and 10 which I basically skimmed being that they were prmarily geneologies, and as I said before, i recognize that they have significance simply because God included them, but I am not educated as to what it is, so I will not even attempt to go there. In chapter 11 we pick up with the account of the tower of Babel, and I have a note written by my hand in th margin of the page that says this event transpired before the flood. I do not know when or why I wrote that note. I'm sure it is something I heard in a sermon or Bible Study meeting, but I cannot verify its accuracy. Even as I ponder the notes origin, I can begin to see where the people in this story went wrong in verse 4 Then they said, "Come let us build ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth. First, their motivation was selfish, and secondly, it seems to me that their purpose of preventing themselves from being scattered was in direct disobedience to God's wishes expressed earlier in Genesis 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, " be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earthans subdue it. This may be a stretch, but if they were refusing to scatter, how were they going to "fill" the earth? We see in verse 8 what God thought of their disobedience and how far they got on their own. Lili is only three, as I am sure I have mentioned many times, but she is already hiding God's word in her heart. One of the first verses she learned was Phillipians 4:13I can do everything through him who gives me strength. The architects, builders, and supporters of the tower of Babel where attempting to accomplish something great on their own for their own glory and praise without God's blessing, and I hope we can see the cause/effect relationship in their level of success;) We are no different than these people from so long ago seeking to accomplish great things to make a name for ourselves or making decisions on our own in an attempt to control our environment rather than looking into God's word and testing our plans based on his desires for our lives. When we live our lives like this, we can see from this account in Genesis how the story will end....in confusion and a pile of rubble! What I believe this story is trying to tell us today is include God in the plans of our lives....because no matter how thoroughly you plan if you try to do life on your own without tapping into God's strength and wisdom...confusion and rubble will be in your story, too, and wow, speaking of submitting to God's plan Abraham is comong up next in Genesis 12, and this dude just picks up and leaves his homeland and everything he knows at God's command., and there is a huge difference in this stories ending! When we live our lives submitted to God's plan instead of insisting on our own way, blessing beyond comprehension will ensue. Genesis 12:1-4 The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was 75-years-old when he set out from Haran. I love that Abram was 75 because it goes to show that you are never too old or too anythin else for God to begin a great work in your life! Because, remember, this is all about His strength and glory...nor ours! I, also, find great comfort in the fact that the man God found worthy enough to choose as the beginning ofthe line of Jesus Christ immediately screwed up and forgot everything I have been praising him for because that is just what I would have done! It, once again, gives me hope that God could love and effectively use a screwed up mess like me to accomplish his work on this earth! The first act I am referring to can be found in Genesis 12:10-20Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to loive for awhile because the famine was so severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sairai, "I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'this is his wife' Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you." When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharoah's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharoah, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservans and maidservants, and camels. But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharoah and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. So Pharoah summoned Abram "What have you done to me?" he said "Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say'She is my sister?,' so that I took her to be my wife?" Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!" Then Pharoah gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had. Here Abram starts to get worried about his well-being forgetting that he had committed to trusting God to provide, and makes his own plan to address the worry he experiences, a plan that results in disease and exile. Thankfully, for him and us this isn't the end of his journey with God but only the beginning, but we can still add it to our list of examples as to why we should seek God's wisdom as we go about life rather than trusting in our own faulty, human wisdom. I actually think it could have ended up a lot worse for him considering what he caused Pharoah, I'm surprised he left the country with his life let alone everything he had and his irresistably beautiful wife to boot! One last thing I must share today that totally alters the relavance of God's promises to Abraham for us please read Romans 9: 6-8 and Romans 4:13-17. These verses reveal to us what we may not have realized on our own as we read the account of Abraham (By the way, to clear up any confusion, Abram and Abraham are the same dude.)...that we have been added to the family line ofAbraham through our faith in Jesus Christ, so claim those promises folks. They are your inheritance passed down from father Abrham who had many sons. Many sons had father Abraham. I am one of them, and so are you, so let's just praise the Lord! This is where God as my Author hero comes into plat, I mean, isn't it just spectacular how he weaves his story and continues to do so! I love discovering all the little ways the Old and New testament fit together! Growing up, I thought the Old Testament was just that old and in the past, not really offering anything to me of real value...oh, how wrong I was! Its BEAUTIFUL! and studying it has completely deepened my relationship with Christ and my understanding of the New Testament! The things I thought I understoof before took on new life after reading through the Bible the first time, so please, join me as I journey thtough it again, so you might have a similar experience!:) I would recommend the NIV Study Bible for optimal understanding and enjoyment!!! If you get it in soft cover, the cost isn't too bad, but after about 10 years it might need rebound like mine does, but at least, it can be done! I haven't priced it yet, but I plan to soon and will let you know if its reasonable!