“So Israel [Jacob] set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, ‘Jacob, Jacob!’. ‘Here I am,’ he replied. ‘I am God, the God of your father,’ He said. ‘Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes’.”
Sometimes God throws us a curve ball. Jacob had become content in the land God had given him. But a severe famine had made life impossible for he and his descendants. So, in despair, he sent his sons down into Egypt to negotiate for food. There in that hostile environment, they discovered that Jacob’s favorite son, Joseph, who had been betrayed by his brothers decades ago, was still alive and in a powerful position to provide for his extended family.
So Jacob left his beloved homeland to meet his long lost son in a strange land where he would die. But God showed up to encourage Jacob and give him a glimpse into the future. God is always about blessing the next generation. What He began in Jacob (actually his grandfather Abraham) God would continue in his descendants. And the same is true today. Invest in your kids: that’s where your future blessing is.
In his book Leading with a Limp, Dan Allender talks about Disillusionment. Disillusionment is when you become frustrated with an illusion. You think one way and it falls apart. Then you have lost your dream. Your whole support system collapses. I had that happen to me several years ago.
I had a model for church and pastoring disintegrate into nothing. I thought church and ministry was to be done a certain way, and these were my role models. When the role model fell apart I had nothing firm to hang onto, and became disillusioned. But, in the end, it was good for me. Because my pre-conceived ideas were now in question, I had to come back to the real question: What does God want me to do? It caused me to reevaluate everything I had done in ministry and allow God to teach me how He wanted me to serve and lead His church.
Disillusionment actually gave me vision. What are you disillusioned with today? Ask God what he wants you to do now.
Our old computer is on its last leg. So Anita and I took advantage of the pre-Christmas sales and bought a new laptop – Windows 8. This operating system is so much different from our previous computer that we’re literally lost. So Anita has been working with a gal who helps “older folks” get up and going with the new technology. This advisor suggested that we purchase a book: Computers for Dummies.
So Anita was telling me about this book and she said, “You’ll love it”! I laughed. Does she think I’ll love this book because I’m a detailed melancholy who loves to read instructions, or does she think I’ll love this book because I’m a Dummy? Either way, I guess I need to refer to the book as an instruction manual.
And that’s why I love the Bible. Its a Life Manual that gives guidance for Dummies like me.
Novelist Anne Rice, who wrote Interview with a Vampire, made headlines when she renounced atheism and returned to the Catholicism of her childhood. Then she made the news again, ten years later when she publicly stated, “Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being ‘Christian’ or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten…years I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else”.
Ever felt like Anne? I have. But if I’m a part of the body of Christ, I cannot amputate myself from the rest and stay alive…I will die like a tomato severed from its vine. And if I’m separated I lose what little power I do have to make a difference.
In spite of worldliness at work in His church, somebody has got to keep lifting up the Word of truth for others’ sake. To bail out on my brothers and sisters is going AWOL on the Army of God. What Christ’s church needs is level-headed spiritual people who will stand up for righteousness and stop taking offense at immature Christians’ stupidity (Bible word is foolishness).
So, get aboard. Make a difference in someone else’s life and stop running away because you don’t get your way. Be a part of the answer, not the problem.
Back in the early days of the Bible people lived nearly 1,000 years, greatly populating the world. In the midst of these first generations recorded in Genesis 5, we read about an obscure character named Enoch: “And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Genesis 5:22-24).
Twice it is mentioned that Enoch “walked with God“. This is not said of any of the other of these early patriarchs. What do you think it means that he “walked with God“? It obviously means he had some sort of unique relationship with Father God. In the end of his life “God took him away“. Bible scholars mostly agree this means that God took him to heaven without experiencing death. Why would God do that?
Enoch’s great-grandson was named Noah, the man who God ordered to build an Ark and take animals on board prior to destroying the earth. It is possible that when God destroyed the earth He had such a relationship with Enoch that God removed Him prior to that judgment. That would be in keeping with the Rapture of the church where all the saints are caught up to meet the Lord in the air just before the great and terrible Day of the Lord. Are you “walking with God“? Let’s figure out how to do that before its too late.
In June 1967, The Beatles introduced a song that immediately caught everyone’s attention called ‘All You Need is Love’. It shot to the number one spot in England and stayed there for three weeks. Because it was introduced on England’s Our World, the first global television link, it was watched by 150 million people in 26 countries. It went to the Number One hit song in America soon after that for a week.
Written by John Lennon, he was later asked if the song was peace propaganda (remember the turbulence of the 1960s?), he replied, “Sure…I’m a revolutionary artist. My art is dedicated to change”.
So, Lennon wasn’t writing a love song to be sung to your Valentine. He was trying to create an acceptance and tolerance message to bring peace to warring parts of the earth. And it worked – for a while.
The Apostle John wrote, “This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another” (1 John 3:11). Those are the words of a true revolutionary artist.
“And if we know that He hears – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of Him” (1 John 5:15).
When I was a new Christian I had great faith. I laid hands on my car that wouldn’t start once and it started right up – to the amazement of a dozen co-workers who were watching. I prayed for a lady with confirmed cancer and it disappeared to this day. I asked God to provide financially a specific need, and God supplied that very amount, from an unexpected source. Those were days of excitement and miracles.
But over the years I’ve become accustomed to taking care of myself. I haven’t needed to rely on God like I did back in those days. But I think God is calling us back to a life of dependence upon Him. I believe He’s asking us to renew our strength in Him. He wants us to have the confidence that whatever we ask, according to His will, is already on the way. Let’s believe!