Reflections

¹⁰Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere–this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah–like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar.

 11So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other.

 12Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom.

 13Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the LORD.

 14The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;

 15for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.   Genesis 13:10-15

Abram and Lot had a lot of animals and herdsmen.  They had so much that the land could not contain all that they had.  So Abram decided it was best for them to separate.  Lot chose the land based on what he saw and Abram simply trusted God and said he would go in the opposite direction of Lot.  Lot did not seek wisdom in choosing his land.  He liked what he saw and chose based on what his eyes could see.  Unbeknown to Lot he chose land that was full of wicked men and would later be destroyed by God.  Abram had trusted God and God told Abram to lift his eyes and everywhere that he could see God would give it to him and his descendants forever.

When we make decisions we should never rely on what we see or understand.  We are to seek wisdom and consult with God.  Abram was already following God’s instruction, so when he told Lot to choose the land Abram knew that God would be with him wherever he went.  Lot didn’t even ask Abram which way to go even though Lot had been following Abram.  Instead he went with what he wanted and later suffered the consequences when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

A life of obedience and trust in God will lead us to prosperity, blessings and God’s protection.  God made Abram a promise that would last forever and impact all of his descendents.  When we follow God we have the assurance of God’s blessings that will last for many generations to come.

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¹Now the LORD said to Abram,
         “Go forth from your country,
         And from your relatives
         And from your father’s house,
         To the land which I will show you;
    2And I will make you a great nation,
         And I will bless you,
         And make your name great;
         And so you shall be a blessing;
    3And I will bless those who bless you,
         And the one who curses you I will curse
         And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Genesis 12:1-2

God called Abram out of his country and family to follow Him.  If Abram obeyed God then God promised to bless Abram.  Abram did obey and God did indeed bless Abram.  We know from this story that Abram later became Abraham and he is considered the father of many nations.  The blessing of Abraham is so vast that even today his blessing is still realized.  Abraham received such an abundance of blessings because of his willingness to obey God.

Obedience results in blessings.  When we obey God we are being faithful to what God is asking us to do.  When we are faithful with a few things God will give us much more.  God’s promise to Abram was conditioned on Abram’s obedience.  It is the same with us.  There are many promises God has made us but they are conditioned on our obedience.  Jesus said if we love Him we would obey His commands.

What is God asking you to do?  Have you obeyed?  Obedience brings blessings and we should never fear to obey the voice of God.  We can learn a lot from Abraham’s story.  Abraham heard God and obeyed His word.  When we hear the voice of God we should also obey.  Only God knows the blessings that lie ahead our journey of obedience.

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My son, keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you.
Keep my commandments and live,
And my teaching as the apple of your eye.
Bind them on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart. Proverbs 7:1-3

It is a brand new year and decade.  I wish everyone a wonderful and prosperous New Year in 2010.  One of the things I enjoy doing is reading scriptures and learning more about what God is saying.  The scriptures are the main way God communicates with us.  It is by His word that everything is based.  Heaven and earth will perish but God’s word will never perish.

My goal with this blog is to share and reflect on God’s word.  At times I will use a topic of interest and do a series of blogs related to that topic.  Please feel free to ask questions or make comments.  My plan is to update the blog daily, so you have the option to sign up and receive email notifications.

So join me as we explore the word of God, let us treasure God’s word, keep His commandments and live by them.  I pray that the Holy Spirit will write God’s word upon our hearts.

God Bless,

Pastor Anna Mangeni

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