Journeying

In Genesis 32 Jacob wrestles with God and His promises as he from Haran to Bethel:

Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”

…

Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”

Many a follower of the Lord, has had episodes on their journey where they have erred and not completely followed his leadings. As a consequence of such difficulties the sense of unworthiness  can become an almost unbearable load. Such was the case with Jacob. I am struck by an idea of G. K. Chesterton who said, “We are unworthy to receive any gift at all from God, and we are unaware of our unworthiness until we realise that we are unworthy of even the gift of a dandelion. This weed we would like to remove from our garden grows naturally and completely by the grace of God and spreads its flowers everywhere. The naive children see it as a blessing.” 

It was who John Newton wrote to a young minister advising that God leads his people through distresses, including a sense of their sinfulness. And His purpose? To: ’…preserve in you a due sense of your own unworthiness, and to convince you, that your ability, your acceptance, and your usefulness depend on a power beyond your own.’

In spite of our unworthiness God still desires to bless us but like Jacob, we need to acknowledge our that we are unworthy recipients.

Lord, I know that Your Word tells me that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I know I am your child; I know that I am saved by your grace. You are kind, good, merciful and gracious, and because You are all of those things, I know You are all of those things for me. When I feel unworthy, help me stop looking at and comparing myself to others, but fix my gaze on You. Through You I will always see my worth clearly. Thank you for your gracious love toward me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!

Journeying

Today we catch up with Isaac as he journeys. Isaac, like his father, Abraham, commands his son Jacob not to marry a Canaanite woman, but to return to his family’s people for a wife:

“… So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and said to him, “Don’t marry one of these Canaanite girls. Instead, go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your grandfather[a] Bethuel, and marry one of your cousins—your Uncle Laban’s daughters. God Almighty bless you and give you many children; may you become a great nation of many tribes! May God pass on to you and to your descendants the mighty blessings promised to Abraham. May you own this land where we now are foreigners, for God has given it to Abraham.” (Genesis 28 1-4)

God bless you is such a common English expression specifically used to wish a person blessings  wills the good of another person. In other ways it is a response to a sneeze, and also, when parting or writing a valediction. The phrase has been used in the Hebrew Bible by Jews, and by Christians, since the time of the early Church as a benediction, as well as a means of bidding a person Godspeed. Many clergy, when blessing their congregants individually or as a group, use the phrase "God bless you".

Another way of thinking of Blessing is as the projection of good into the life of another. It isn't just words. It's the actual putting forth of your will for the good of another person. It always involves God, because when you will the good of another person, you realise only God is capable of bringing that. So we naturally say, "God bless you." You can bless someone when you will their good under the invocation of God. You invoke God on their behalf to support the good that you will for them. This is the nature of blessing. It is what we are to receive from God and then give to another.

At age 16 Andor Foldes was already a skilled pianist, but he was experiencing a troubled year. In the midst of the young Hungarian's personal struggles, one of the most renowned pianists of the day came to Budapest. Emil von Sauer was famous not only for his abilities; he was also the last surviving pupil of the great Franz Liszt. Von Sauer requested that Foldes play for him. Foldes obliged with some of the most difficult works of Bach, Beethoven, and Schumann. 

When he finished, von Sauer walked over to him and kissed him on the forehead. "My son," he said, "when I was your age I became a student of Liszt. He kissed me on the forehead after my first lesson, saying, 'Take good care of this kiss--it comes from Beethoven, who gave it to me after hearing me play.' I have waited for years to pass on this sacred heritage, but now I feel you deserve it."

Our Heavenly Father, we ask for Your blessing upon us; we thank You that we have this great power, this wonderful wisdom, this deep insight, this flow of abundance surging through our lives, blessing us in every way and, through us, helping and serving mankind. Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Journeying

Today we consider another episode in the Journeys we find in Genesis. In chapter 24 we read of how Rebekah leaves her homeland of Haran to be Isaac’s wife in Canaan.

“The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there…”

Genesis 24 describes how Rebekah came to be the answer to Abraham’s search a wife for Isaac from among Abraham's people back in Mesopotamia. Abraham is so desperate that he requires the servant to swear an oath binding himself to completing this task.  The servant receives a caveat: If he cannot find a woman willing to return to Canaan to marry Isaac, the servant will be released from his oath. 

The servant arrives in Mesopotamia at the town of Nahor and  prays asking that if any of the young women coming to draw water at the town well offer to water his ten camels, she will be the one God has appointed for Isaac.

Before the servant has finished his prayer, Rebekah enters the scene and does exactly as the servant has asked. He immediately gives expensive jewelry to Rebekah. He asks if her family has room to accommodate a visit from himself and his company, including their camels. He also asks who her father is. 

When Rebekah names her father, the servant knows exactly who she is. She is the granddaughter of Abraham's own brother Nahor. Rebekah hurries home and soon her brother rushes to the well to welcome this servant of their family member Abraham. Invited into the home of Rebekah's father Bethuel, the servant presents his mission, telling in great detail how the Lord led him to Rebekah. Finally, he asks if they will give Rebekah in marriage to his master Abraham's son Isaac. They agree, stating that they could do nothing else given what the servant has told them. 

After a brief negotiation the next morning, Rebekah agrees to leave that very day to travel with the servant to the land of Canaan. At the end of the journey, she meets Isaac, now 40, for the first time. He allows her to live in the tent of his late mother Sarah, and soon they are happily wed.

What a wonderful example of faith in action.

Lord Jesus Christ,
alive and at large in the world,
help me to follow and find you there today,
in the places where I work,
meet people,
spend money,
and make plans.
Take me as a disciple of your kingdom,
to see through your eyes,
and here the questions you are asking,
to welcome all others with your trust and truth,
and to change the things that contradict God's love,
by the power of the cross Amen

Journeying

All was not plain sailing for the journeying Abraham, as he had to leave Canaan and stay for a time in Egypt, as told in Genesis 12:10-20: Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe…

A familiar story tells of an old Scotsman who operated a rowing boat to transport passengers. On one oar he had written the word Faith, while the other bore the word Works. The point of the story, of course, is that pulling on either oar alone would simply make one go around and around in circles. Both oars must be used to make any progress at all.

Abraham was indeed a man of faith but he expressed his devotion in terms of putting his faith in God into action. Rev’d Joy Dine, a Methodist Minister wrote these helpful words about a our active journey of faith.

God who sets us on a journey
to discover, dream and grow,
lead us as you led your people
in the desert long ago;
journey inward, journey outward,
stir the spirit, stretch the mind,
love for God and self and neighbour
marks the way that Christ defined.

Exploration brings new insights,
changes, choices we must face;
give us wisdom in deciding,
mindful always of your grace;
should we stumble, lose our bearings,
find it hard to know what’s right,
we regain our true direction
focused on the Jesus light.

End our longing for the old days,
grant the vision that we lack –
once we’ve started on this journey
there can be no turning back;
let us travel light, discarding
excess baggage from our past,
cherish only what’s essential,
choosing treasure that will last.

When we set up camp and settle
to avoid love’s risk and pain,
you disturb complacent comfort,
pull the tent pegs up again;
keep us travelling in the knowledge
you are always at our side;
give us courage for the journey,
Christ our goal and Christ our guide.

Words: Joy Dine (1937 – 2001) © Revd Mervyn Dine.

Journeying

In Genesis 12:1-9,  we find the complete opposite to yesterdays situation. Here Abraham trusts God and travels from Ur of the Chaldees to the land of Canaan: The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you…So Abram went, as the Lord had told him…

God called Abraham and separated and blessed him according to God’s plan and purpose. The only thing God expected from Abraham was his total commitment and obedience. In our key verse we see how, Abram obeyed instantly. This produced wonderful results for Abram and family as well as the coming generations. God's blessings are followed by our faithful obedience to His revealed will in our life. His blessings are kept in store in our way of obedience. Disobedience always brings in curse and misery of being cast away from God.

God called Abram from Haran, an idolatrous background. But Abraham’s obedience to God's call brought in separation from all that was defiling his relationship with God. In other words, he was called and separated into the land where there was nothing to hold on except God. All that he could hold on was removed and was only dependent upon God for his protection and sustenance. This needs a real work of faith. Only by faith we can make this move. This kind of faith in God and His promises brings the blessings into our lives.

On the shore of beautiful Lake Como, nestled in the Italian Alps, is a lovely old villa, perhaps between  two or three hundred years old. For years the grounds have been immaculately kept by a trusted old gardener. One day some tourists were complimenting him on his work. “The owner must come here frequently to supervise your work,” one of them said.

“No, sir,” answered the gardener. “He has been here only once in fifteen years and then I did not see him.”

“Well, then, how do you get your orders?” came the next question.

“They come from the owner’s agent, who live in Milan,” the old man replied.

“Then he must come here often.”

“No, not often, perhaps once a year or so.”

“This is quite amazing,” said the tourist. “You have no one to supervise your work, and yet the grounds are as neat as if you expected the owner to come back tomorrow.”

“Today, sir!” came the old gardener’s firm reply. “Not tomorrow, today!”

How obedient are we to God’s leading?

In all our travelling
May your footsteps guide us

In our journeying to work and returning
May your footsteps guide us

Within our homes and families
May your footsteps guide us

In our leisure time together

May your footsteps guide us

In difficult situations and conflict
May your footsteps guide us

As we stumble on the way
May your footsteps guide us

In the travelling of our faith
May your footsteps guide us

As we place our trust in you
May your footsteps guide us

In all our travelling. Lord,
may it be your footsteps
in which we place our feet. Amen

Journeying

As many will be embarking on holiday journeys this month we follow some of the many journeys the people of God took in bible times. We begin in Genesis 11:1-9, were we find Noah’s descendants migrating from Mount Ararat to Babel.

We read, “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there…But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building…[and] the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city”

I am sure that we have all come across the saying, “Unless the Lord builds a house, the builders’ work is useless.” Well, this was what was going on in Genesis 11; the people were trying to create a name for themselves and to do so to their own design and in their own strength. This is exactly what was happening in Babel. The people had two goals, to build for themselves a city, and to build a tower whose top will reach into heaven. It appears the tower is an essential part of the object of building a city and a tower, namely to make for themselves a name. They were directly disobedient to God’s will.

In Genesis 9:1 we read that “God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth.” But the people had other plans, hence why God scattered the people all over the earth.

The Lord takes us all to obedience school. Sometimes, he uses the Law to motivate. But He would much rather use the Gospel to get his people to obey. Both obedience philosophies get results. Basically we are talking about the difference between Law motivation and Gospel motivation. In our lives, sometimes we do things, like hitting the brakes when you see a police car, that would be obeying out of Law motivation. It is the fear of punishment that motivates you to slow down. But now let’s say that you are driving your children or grandchildren in the car with you. You are so happy for the gift of a family that God has given you, that you want to drive as carefully as possible, and so you don’t even think about breaking the speed limit. That would be Gospel motivation. 

In my journeying with you,
may I never lose my sense of direction,
never lose sight of the landmark
towards which I travel.
And should cloud or rain obscure my vision,
may I draw closer to you,
so that my feet may tread
in your footsteps,
your words be my encouragement,
and your love my protection
against the storms that assail me. Amen

Summer Holidays

For the month of July we move from Summer Blessings to Summer holidays! 

The word “holiday” was first recorded in English around the year 950, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, but it looked a lot different back then.

In Old English, it was written haligdæg or hali-dægh (literally “holy day’). Holiday in our modern  spelling was first recorded in 1460. 

How would you define a holiday? Prabbus, an Indian actor defines holiday this way. “Holiday is an opportunity to journey within. It is also a chance to chill, to relax. It is when I switch on my rest mode.” Speaking of such rest for the follower of Christ, the writer of the letter to the Hebrews advocates:-

“So there is a full complete rest still waiting for the people of God. Christ has already entered there. He is resting from his work, just as God did after the creation. Let us do our best to go into that place of rest, too, being careful not to disobey God as the children of Israel did, thus failing to get in.” (Hebrews 4:9-11)

It was Leonardo da Vinci, who indeed was no idler but excelled as a painter, sculptor, poet, architect, engineer, city planner, scientist, inventor, anatomist, military genius, and philosopher yet said. “Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer, since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose power of judgment...Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller, and more of it can be taken in at a glance, and lack of harmony or proportion is more readily seen." 

Heavenly Father, thank You for the 'rest' we already have by faith in Christ Jesus and for the full and final sabbath-rest that will one day be ours, when Christ finally defeats every evil principality and power. Thank You that the earthly kingdom which was lost through sin, will be handed back to You, and Your redemptive plan will be completed. Keep me looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith, the Beginning and the End of Your creative work. Thank You in Jesus' name, Amen