The Ripple Effect of Faith

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Monday, July 31, 2017

Then the angel of the Lord called again to Abraham from heaven.  “This is what the Lord says:  Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that I will certainly bless you.  I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore.  Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies.  And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”  

Genesis 22:15-18^(NLT)

Abraham was willing to obey God, and because of that simple faith, God promised His covenant blessings to Abraham’s family would be too great to count.  Down through the ages the blessing of God has preserved the nation of Abraham’s descendants against the most incredible odds and opposition.  This is the ripple effect of faith.

I often think of this simple fact, that I owe a lot to my parents.  They were people of faith; Mom and Dad carried me to church faithfully, even before I was born.  Now that’s true in a physical sense…Mom carried me everywhere she went when I was in the womb.  But, just as Abram carried Isaac to the altar physically in obedience to God’s direction, my parents carried me to the altar in their hearts; they faithfully acted on God’s instruction and promise:

Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.  Proverbs 22:6^(NLT)

In my particular case that verse carries special significance.   I believe God pressed that one hard on my parents’ hearts because God knew faith had to get an early start with someone as stubborn as Russell.  It takes a long time and a lot of repetition to steer my mind in the right direction! 

But the promise of God is true.  I have always been something of a late-bloomer who often has to be led (and sometimes pushed like a mule) in order to change.  I was introduced to the faith early, and because of Mom and Dad’s faithful witness of Christ, even now as the edge of old age creeps up on me, the ripples of faith that began God’s good work in my heart and soul, are still feeding those roots which were firmly planted in God’s soil so long ago.

For You Today

What did it take to bring you into the path of faith’s ripples? 

And do you celebrate it quietly, just between you and God? 

Or do you take time to thank those who had a part in leading you to the altar?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

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[i] Title Image: Pixabay.com

Promise In the Bones

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Monday, May 15, 2017

Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear to do this.  He said, “God will certainly come to help you.  When he does, you must take my bones with you from this place.”  Exodus 13:19^(NLT)

Leaving Egypt the people of God carried off all their belongings, much of Egyptian wealth, and the bones of Joseph.  Aside from keeping a 400 year-old promise to Jacob’s son who had managed to feed and protect Abraham’s tribe during the worst famine ever, why would you move a dead man’s bones?  Was the dead man watching?  The short answer is “yes”.  At church yesterday our text was Revelation 6:9-11, and therein we have strong evidence that the departed are, indeed watching.  They are part of the great cloud of witnesses we read about in the New Testament. ^{(Hebrews 12:1)}

So why did Joseph, who lived most of his life in Egypt, want his bones carried away when the children left?  The first answer is that Joseph understood the concept of being an alien.  He was brought to Egypt by the caravan of merchants who had bought him from his own jealous brothers.  He didn’t belong there!  But Joseph also understood God’s promise to his great-grandfather, Abraham.

Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can.  That’s how many descendants you will have!”

Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years.  But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth.  (As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.)  After four generations your descendants will return here to this land…  Genesis 15:5, 13-16a^(NLT)

As a highly-favored child in Jacob’s household, Joseph would have heard these words often; he knew the promises of God to Abraham extended to his son, Isaac, and his son, Jacob, and, to his son, Joseph.  The promise of God gets deep in your bones!

For Joseph it was a life-long dream to return to the place of God’s promise; it was natural to want to go home.  But, in the final analysis, the promise made to Joseph about taking his bones back to the Promised Land was a matter of faith and fidelity.  He knew that God’s promise was where his true home could be found. 

And nothing less!

For You Today

Where is your home?  Is it some place for which you worked, scrambled to pay a mortgage, and now have your name on the deed?  Or is it a place deep in your bones, based on a promise, and sealed with blood that trickled down a cross?

And nothing less…or more?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

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 ^I Title image:  By Wcam (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons