Friday: Further Thought ~ The Roots of Abraham
Further Thought:
Read Ellen G. White, “Abraham in Canaan,” Pages 134-136, in Patriarchs and Prophets.
“Christ’s church is to be a blessing, and its members are to be blessed as they bless others.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
The object of God in choosing a people before all the world was not only that He might adopt them as His sons and daughters, but that through them He might confer on the world the benefits of divine illumination. When the Lord chose Abraham it was not simply to be the special friend of God, but to be a medium of the precious and peculiar privileges the Lord desired to bestow upon the nations. He was to be a light amid the moral darkness of his surroundings.
Whenever God blesses His children with light and truth, it is not only that they may have the gift of eternal life, but that those around them may also be spiritually enlightened … ‘Ye are the salt of the earth.’ And when God makes His children salt, it is not only for their own preservation, but that they may be agents in preserving others …
Do you shine as living stones in God’s building? … We have not the genuine religion, unless it exerts a controlling influence upon us in every business transaction. We should have practical godliness to weave into our lifework. We should have the transforming grace of Christ upon our hearts. We need a great deal less of self, and more of Jesus.” — Ellen G. White, Reflecting Christ, p. 205.
Discussion Questions:
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Abraham is regarded in many senses as the father of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. One way we can look at Abraham is that our of the chaos and disorder of polytheism, tribal gods, and idolatry of the Mesopotamian region and bypassing the ruler gods of Egypt, God provided Abraham with the notion that there was one God beyond the ideas and imagery of men who was the progenitor of everything. And further more He is a God of love.
C S Lewis has this to say:
It challenges the notion that such a belief system could have evolved out of Mesopotamian religion.
Abraham looked for a promised land but he looked beyond earthly real estate for "a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God".
[This is my last comment for a little while. I am going to Norfolk Island. It is a small island between Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia. I think I may have Internet connectivity while I am there, but I am going to be busy looking for birds. The island is about 9km by 6km and you can stand on the top of its highest point, Mount Pitt, and see the whole island surrounded by the Pacific Ocean.]
Thinking about "being a blessing" to others. Earlier today I was flower shopping. I put a couple plants aside and used the restroom. When I returned a lady had placed one of the plants on her cart. I wasn't committed to that plant or I would have put it in my cart, but I still thought "oh no, that was a beautiful plant that I took some time to pull out of the lineup and now she's taken it." I told her why I was staring at her cart and reassured her that I hadn't fully decided so it was all fair game that she had chosen that hibiscus. The kind lady then helped me to pick out another plant. Tonight I gave some things away as I'm cleaning out a room, but then later I texted that I'd really like one of the things back....I was tired and in a big clean all "stuff" starts to look like "stuff" and it's tricky and trickier to sort through. The person was gracious and said "no problem", she completely understood. These 2 events today are ironic to me being I prayed and posted about big generosity yesterday.
I have so many questions for God. Am I more motivated by selfishness or love? Do I truly seek first His kingdom? Can I be trusted to be responsible with the resources He gives me? How "emptied of self" am I (Phil 2:6-8)? Would Jesus ever give something away and then want it back? Jesus said we'd do greater things than He did if we ask in His name (John 14:12)! How am I using the power and resources of heaven? Are those heavenly resources flowing through to me or am I blocking them somehow? Jesus created a list about blessing for his disciples in Matthew 5:3-12. Blessed are the meek, merciful, peacemakers - sounds like Abram.
Thank You, Lord, that Abram made mistakes and yet You still called him faithful and continued to bless him and help him to be a blessing. Thank you for doing the same for us, for me. Please remove every barrier I put up that clouds my awareness of You and Your blessings. Please may I grow deep roots in You. Amen.
Humbling thank You ...
But on the positive side ...
It just shows you have GREAT TASTE, since anything you Choose and is yours is coveted by others .... 😃!
My wife and I, think there is some conspiracy going on, where we grocery shop. Everything we like and buy disappears of the shelves....
"Guess what honey" I say to my wife as I come back from shopping, and without another word from me, she says, "OK what's gone missing again ? " LOL
Where did Abraham get his knowledge of the LORD?
From the flood until Abraham left the Ur of the Chaldees it was 422 years.
Abraham was a direct descendant of Noah's son Shem.
After the flood Noah lived 350 years and Shem lived 500 years.
So Shem was still alive when Abraham got the call from the LORD.
Noah preached before the Flood so it was likely that he and Shem continued to spread the truth of the character of the LORD to their family and others. It is likely that descendants of Shem visited their relative Abraham.
And then we are told that the LORD talked to him directly, we don't know if Gen 12 was the first time or not.
Maybe just like we rely on the Bible Abraham relied on the narratives passed down from generation to generation.
1. By being connected to God there is no way that we will not be a blessing to others. Because that is the purpose of every christian, "less of self, and more of Jesus."
2. There is nothing such as half-truth or half-lie! If we do not know what to say, better do not say anything.
3. As we can notice from Abram's response, he had spoken to God before not to take anything! All that he wanted was to free his nephew. Although he had been given a chance afterwards, his word to God had to be kept, because he relied on God for survival! That's what I need to do!
Q1: echoes the witness to Christ in scripture, the Anointed of the Father, who in turn Anoints (blesses) others.
Acts 2:1-21, Acts 10:37-47
We can share Christ with someone or be a substitute of Christ to someone in need, or simply pray for someone, who was made *to be* (Adam and Eve were made in innocence, not fully mature in the divine character by hands on experience) in the image of God's qualities and character, in the plan before the foundation of the world, in the council of the Godhead (Father and Son) for a kingdom of Sonship of his love. (Above the angels) Ephesians 1:3-14, Hebrews 1:3-12, 2:5-18
Q2
This is a difficult one .....question what would be the better glory to God, I ask myself ?...
I was very impressed by Corrie Ten Boom and her family, who during the occupation of Netherlands, hid and saved people of the Jewish persuasion from Hitler. They suffered greatly for their convictions of being Christ to people, even though they lied to Hitler's hence men.
I think in my human nature this was the right thing to do, since their lie was not selfishness but for the better good. ...I wonder will this generation be tested also by tyranny !
Q3....
The only thing that comes to mind on this question, is what immediately pops into my head (right or wrong ?)
Jesus in the flesh was offered ALL this power from Satan (which obviously was still Satan's, at that time) and refused it, as Son of man and trusted in his Father's plan TO BE the reconciliation of his Father's nature, as the Son of God. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 Colossians 1:19-20
May the LORD bless you and protect you;
may the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
may the LORD look with favor on youf and give you peace.
Wow, Larry, you have so much meaning packed into your first answer:
Yes, we can share Christ OR act as Christ would act - be his voice, hands, feet ... And if we keep in mind that every person on this planet "was made *to be* in the image of God's qualities and character," we will much more likely act as Christ towards others. We will see the potential in even the most degraded human being - just as Christ sees that potential.
And then you've packed the rest of your first answer with so much of the gospel!
I like your reference to Corrie Ten Boom regarding not telling the whole truth. She saved a great many lives by not being totally truthful to the Nazi occupiers. I suspect she read the commandment as saying "You shall not bear false witness *against* your neighbor, and she certainly wasn't doing that. But her sister Betsy was always 100% truthful. So when the Gestapo came to their house, where they were sheltering Jews in a cellar whose trap door was under the table, they asked Betsy where they were keeping the Jews. She answered truthfully, "Under the table." But they didn't believe her, because there was no one under the table. Only a rug.
So it seems to me that God was working with both Corrie and her sister Betsy. Each acted according to her conscience.
As for Abraham - I think his saying that Sarah was his sister demonstrated a lack of faith. But God still protected Sarah. What a God!