"Sarah's Life"
Gen. 12:1 - 17:27; Is. 40:27 - 41:16; Rom. 4:1 - 12
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This week's parsha begins with G-D's calling of Avram from the land of his father.
1 Now ADONAI said to Avram, "Get yourself out of your country, away from your kinsmen and away from your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, I will bless you, and I will make your name great; and you are to be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse anyone who curses you; and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed." 4 So Avram went, as ADONAI had said to him, and Lot went with him. Avram was 75 years old when he left Haran.
This is an exciting calling and was the beginning moments of the Nation Israel. However, I would like to focus today on the first few words of verse 4: So Avram went. As followers of Messiah Yeshua, it is vital that we actually follow. It isn't enough that Yeshua called us; we actually have to respond to His calling. We need to change our lives and respond to His words. Each of us has a calling on our lives. Many of us have acknowledged our calling and have even spoken of our calling to others. Some of us have even started to walk out our calling, only to be delayed by the things in life that got in our way. This week I would like for all of us to consider the things we have been called to. We as a congregation have a vision statement which is available in print and on our website. Do we as individuals have a vision statement ? Do we have a plan to get up and go out to do all that G-D has called us to? Do we have a plan to reach out to our friends, our families and our community? If we have a plan, are we walking in our calling? Let's take time to listen to the calling of G-D on our lives and then follow the example of Avram, and get up and go.
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These verses begin this week's parsha as G-D calls to Abraham to get up and follow Him: Gen 12:1 Now the LORD said unto Abram: 'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee. Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing. Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.' I was thinking about these words and the words spoke to me about how they relate to us today. So let's look at them line by line. G-D called Abraham and told him to leave his country. We have been called by G-D and told to become citizens of G-D's kingdom. We must be in this world but not of this world. Next G-D told Abraham to leave his kindred. Yeshua tells us if we love our family more than Him we are not worthy of Him. He next told Abraham to get out of his father's house. Remember who the father of this world is, hasatan. We must leave his house and go to the real Fathers house. If we are willing to forsake this world and the things of it, called Yetzer harah or the evil inclination, then we will be able to be blessed by G-D to become the great nation he desires Israel to be. He will be able to bless us and make our name great. But this is not all; G-D told Abraham that he wanted the whole earth to be blessed because of him (Abraham). This also is what G-D desires from us, that we would become a blessing to the whole earth. Once again, if we are willing to deny our flesh and obey G-D's will for our lives He will be able to bless us and then the whole earth would be blessed by and because of us. Something to think about, isn't it?
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This weeks Parsha has within it many warnings for believers today. We find Abraham going to Egypt because of a famine and choosing to lie about Sarah rather then trusting G-Ds protection. We find Lot choosing the land near Sodom and Gemmorah because of the attractiveness of those cities. Each of these choices demonstrate to us that if we are not careful we can fall into the trap of doing things the way the world would do them instead of doing things G-D’s way. G-D’s way many times does not seem to make sense to us. In our own understanding we see clear way that would be the easiest most direct path to the end result we are looking for. However the easiest path is not always the best path for us to travel. When the Israelites left Egypt the easiest most direct path would have had them walking right through dangerous lands which would have brought almost certain war and defeat. So G-D had them march a different path which was much longer but also more safe. In our lives we need to learn to stop looking for the easy way to achieve prosperity instead we need to look for G-D’s plan for our prosperity and walk that path. Never will choosing the Worlds way bring us the end result of Kingdom life and blessings in the arms of The Loving G-D.
5765
These verses begin this week’s parsha as G-D calls to Abraham to get up and follow Him: Gen 12:1 Now the LORD said unto Abram: 'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee. Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing. Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.'
I was thinking about these words and the words spoke to me about how they relate to us today. So let’s look at them line by line. G-D called Abraham and told him to leave his country. We have been called by G-D and told to become citizens of G-D's kingdom. We must be in this world but not of this world. Next G-D told Abraham to leave his kindred. Yeshua tells us if we love our family more than Him we are not worthy of Him. He next told Abraham to get out of his father's house. Remember who the father of this world is, hasatan. We must leave his house and go to the real Fathers house. If we are willing to forsake this world and the things of it, called Yetzer harah or the evil inclination, then we will be able to be blessed by G-D to become the great nation he desires Israel to be. He will be able to bless us and make our name great. But this is not all; G-D told Abraham that he wanted the whole earth to be blessed because of him (Abraham). This also is what G-D desires from us, that we would become a blessing to the whole earth. Once again, if we are willing to deny our flesh and obey G-D's will for our lives He will be able to bless us and then the whole earth would be blessed by and because of us. Something to think about, isn’t it?