Faith Money

Genesis 15

After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.

    I am your shield,

    your very great reward.”

2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 

“This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Faith, Abram believed God, a God he hardly knew but did understand he was God and was in control of his life.  He had brought him a couple of thousand miles into this land, how could he do anything but believe?

We read this today, listened to John attempt to expound this faith.   Jesus saying trust the father to provide, don't worry about clothes and money, the father is with you.

Straight forward stuff.

However, As we sang 'Be bold, be strong,' and 'All to Jesus I surrender,' I could not get away from the man I found on Twitter the other day.  Here was a man pastoring a small church in an area where Christians were not protected or favoured.  I am unaware of the country, possibly a former Soviet area in Asia, but clearly not ne where Christians are popular.

We sing such songs so easily then go home to our peaceful homes, the kitchen well stocked, plenty of luxuries around, and fail to see how fat we are!  We speak of it, we say we will change, but never do.  

Men such as this pastor leads his church and will continue to lead his church to promote the glory of Jesus Christ among the locals, even though his life may be lost.  We occasionally get rejected by friends and family, he might lose his job, his income, his home, his wife and children and his life.

How fat we are.  

Luke

12:29. And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

32. ‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33.  Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

A Day in the Knees

I have spent the day in cogitating.  My thought processes have been working all day.  This as you may understand is not a regular exercise.  Having to take my creaking knees down to S P's for the midday session I prepared by deep study of the relevant passages, or the few I managed before my head hurt.  I mean I had read about Abraham many times before but early in the morning, that is about nine a.m. it is a little bit of a strain.  The big words in the commentary are easy enough at night when fed and watered and having no football to watch but before the cereal and stale bread it is much harder.  
The world 2000 BC is an interesting time.  People were flocking into cities in what is now southern Iraq three thousand years before this and life then was just as it is today, except there were no laptops or phones.  Writing began 3500 BC roughly and literature such as the epic of Gilgamesh around 2600 BC.  Writing probably began as means of recording sales as populations increased and an 'elite' were taking charge of an urban growth.  Great wealth and that from far distances has been found in 'royal' tombs from this time at Ur.  
War of course had begun by then.  Small tribal clans were usually less intent of robbing peoples far from themselves and it seems to me the increase in population and greater size of cities with associated wealth brought small local disagreements into what we now call national wars.  'The Standard of Ur' shows the result of one such conflict from the winners perspective.  It is recorded that peoples in the south held sway over those in the north of Iraq and faced rebellions around this time.  Boys will be boys.
It's fascinating to conjecture on how such folks lived, the crops, farmed since since 9000 BC, and the number of old folks wandering around grumbling that life was better in the old days.  Human nature does not change and the peoples of Mesopotamia reflect this clearly.

  
However much that interested me the group in which I blethered was less interested especially as most of them knew these things.  Instead we concentrate on Abrams faith in his God and how we ought to react to God today.  The asking of Abram to kill his son, the one through whom the promise was to be fulfilled was interesting, especially when you consider Abrams reaction.  I wonder what went through his head as he went to the chosen mountain?  Whatever God understood his reaction as while he never wished Abram to kill his son he did himself allow his Son to die for us.  How he hurt to save us.  A fathers love is something rarely spoken of in the media today, unless it is some sentimental twaddle.  Fathers are of course the lowest in society according to PC attitudes.
Now I sit with aching knees wondering how to deal with museum work tomorrow.  I mean should I try to stay awake or just doze....