BSF Genesis Study 2012-2013 – Page 9

BSF Genesis: Week 11, Day 4

Questions:

7.
a.
Faith

b.
Trust in God for business and livelihood. Lot’s of changes at work, new directions and needs for income. Each day I turn it over to God and trust Him to provide.

c.
Not be put to shame

8.
a.
4: So Abram went, as the Lord had told him

b.
Lot, Sarai, servants

9.
a.
To your offspring I will give this land (not to him, but to his offspring)

b.
Built an altar to the Lord

c.
I am best as a leader when I am following God’s word.

10.
a.
Built an altar and called on the name of the Lord

continue in faith, established and firm with hope held out in the gospel
continue to live our lives in Christ Jesus as Lord, rooted and strengthened in faith
mature in christ, not repeating the same sins
with confidence, perseverance to do the will of God, live by faith
by feeding on pure spiritual milk to grow up in salvation

My Daily Journal:

Leading by following.

The application question today made me think about how I live out my faith in the way Abram did. I think it often comes down to a decision, do I lead by leading or lead by following?

My daughter was in marching band during football season at her high school. The musicians were spread out across all 100 yards of the field, often pointing in different directions. The band instructor had selected three students to be drum majors. They were positioned at different points on the field and each conducted from their point. But they didn’t each set their own tempo (at least not intentionally). Two of the drum majors always were watching the third. That one had received specific instruction and training from the band teacher, who followed the score of music set down by the composer. Each lead by following. Had any decided to go his own direction, chaos and noise would have ensued. But by following, they provided leadership.

BSF Genesis: Week 11, Day 3

Today’s Scripture

Questions:

5.
a.
Make you into a great nation, bless you, make your name great, you will be a blessing, bless those who bless you, curse those who curse you, all people on earth will be bless through you.

b.
1. Nation of Israel, 2. Given a son in his old age, 3. Credited with righteousness (Rom 4), 4. Abraham saves Lot from capture 5. Joseph saved Egypt from drought, 6. Egypt’s losses through the plagues in Exodus, 7. Romans 9 – Promise through Jesus to all who are children of the promise through faith in God

blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ
the hope to which he has called you, riches of his glorious inheritance, holy people
raised up with Christ, seated in the heavenly realms in Christ, riches of grace, kindness
Invisible things God prepared revealed to us by his Spirit
Portion and cup, security, pleasant boundaries, delightful inheritance

My Daily Journal:

Who have I blessed?

God’s promise to bless those who we bless comes up not only here for Abraham and his descendants, but also in the beatitudes that Christ preached. I pray for others. I teach others, particularly children. I strive to live a life that reflects Christ’s love. But I don’t spend much time thinking about how I can bless others.

I think it may be because, in comparison to the power and wisdom that I know God has, my words and actions seem so insignificant. I end up standing back and, in prayer, try to direct God to all the places I think he should lead and go and pour out His power. But that isn’t what this says, is it. In these promises, God calls on us to put ourselves into the game. Does that mean I am any bigger or God is any smaller, of course not. But it means I’m engaged in the blessing. And when I engage, God magnifies.

So, who can I bless? Who can I send a card of encouragement to? Who can I buy a meal or cup of coffee for? Who can I call? Who can I smile at? Who can I share a word about the joy of the Lord with? I’m looking forward to see what God does.

BSF Genesis: Week 11, Day 2

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

3.
His country, his people, his father’s household – His way of life.

Called Apostles to leave fishing, follow him, become fishers of men, immed left boat, home
Follow me and let dead bury their own
Deny yourself, take up cross and follow-save live=lose it, lose for Him & gospel = save it
Love Jesus above all others (mom, dad, wife, kids) cost of discipleship is total sacrifice of self
Called out of darkness and anything of this world

My Daily Journal:

Do you have to leave home to become a fully devoted follower of Christ?

For most of us, the first response to that question is, “of course not.” But, let’s look at all of those verses again. Let’s look at the call to the apostles. Let’s even look at Jesus’ life.

I think the challenge is that our neighborhoods shape us into their likeness more than we would like to believe. We feel the pressure to spend our time picking up leaves when neighbors on both sides have leaf free lawns. We get drawn into conversations about neighbors, teachers, who bought what, who is doing what, too much gossip. We suffer from the “keeping up with the jones’ syndrom.” All, whether we like it or intend to or not.

Do we have to leave our homes behind? Not necessarily in a physical sense, if we are willing to do it in a spiritual and relationship sense. As Christians our primary neighbor is Jesus. Not only is He our neighbor but He is our Lord, the one we serve. Our “norms” should be set by His commands for our life. Our language should reflect the joy in our hearts for Him. Our passion for others should always be an outpouring of the love He has for all of His creation.

What do you know about the 8 neighbors around you (the ones whose homes encircle yours)? What do they know and see about your walk with God? How do they see you spending your time, talents and money? How much of your life do they see conforming to the neighborhood vs. living differently and transforming into holiness?

Maybe moving would be easier.

BSF Genesis: Week 10, Day 5

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

9.
The promise to Abraham did not come as a reward for Abram’s works, but from the righteousness of God poured out to him by his faith (trust and obedience). It is by grace and it is guaranteed and we fall under the covenant God made to Abraham.

10.
Promise came to all nations. If you belong to Christ you are Abraham’s seed and heirs to the promise. Mathew 1 -Jesus came from the linage of Abraham

11.
a.
Obedience and faith. That he, in faith, looked to something far ahead, something he didn’t even know or understand, but something that he trusted in God

b.
An everlasting covenant, to be your God and the God of your descendants (to never be abandoned or alone)

c.
Land, to be their God, they must keep his covenant – That the promise in 17:3 is bigger – that Abraham will be the father of many nations, not just one.

My Daily Journal:

I was recently reading a John Ortberg book titled Everybody’s Normal Till You Get To Know Them. In it he talks about the creation story and, as we reviewed our Genesis study this week it came to my mind.

Ortberg points out that as God creates each part of His creation He says, “It was good.” That is, until we come to Genesis 2:18 where He says, “It is not good for the man to be alone.”

From the very beginning we were designed for companionship and community all in harmony with God. Lamech sought companionship without God and developed a spirit of vengeance and retribution. The people of Babel sought community without God and had their language confused and themselves scattered.

But God’s promise, God’s covenant to Abram, tells him that neither he nor his descendents will ever be alone. God will always be their God. They will be a family, a nation, joined together. The word church didn’t yet exist, but, in essence, through this family of Abram’s that is what God is creating.

We are part of that. Through our faith in Jesus, we have become members of that family as much as we are brothers and sisters to Christ and God is our heavenly father. We were not designed to be alone and through the church and through brothers and sisters in Christ and through the nations of believers and through the communion of saints and the indwelling of the holy spirit we will never be alone. God promised that to Abram.

BSF Genesis: Week 10, Day 4

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

7.
a.
Ur (Mesopotamia)

b.
There is nothing special about Abram noted. He hadn’t done anything. He had no resume to be considered for the patriarch job, no mention of great faith or works or anything. Just a guy living in a pagan household.

8.
a.
Obedience. Patience. Worship. Dialogue with God. Not exceptional works, but a willingness to follow and trust in God

b.
God is totally in control and viewing events on a timeline that I cannot even comprehend. When I lack patience, it helps me remember how little I can see or understand and how loving my God is

My Daily Journal:

What me does God see? This is a much deeper question than it appears at first blush. When a potential employer looks at me, they see my resume’; all the decisions and choices I have made in my education and career and the experiences those have garnered. But what does our everlasting, all-knowing God see?

God knows not only every decision I have made, but every decision I will ever make. He knows not only the heart that I have had, but the one that I will have and the obedience I will show. Does that mean I do not have choice, absolutely not, it is just that God already knows the choices I will make, even though I don’t, yet.

But, that is such an amazing gift. God chose me while I was still a sinner to be in His family. I didn’t earn it. I wouldn’t ever earn it. But God knew that I would accept it, cherish it and work to teach others. Through that I am continuing to be transformed into the image of holiness. It is a slow transformation, but, I believe, God already sees me as I will ultimately be in heaven.

BSF Genesis: Week 10, Day 3

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

6.
a.
That the faith of one man was enough to save mankind and all animals from destruction

b.
I think we do – the wicked are any who do not accept Christ as their savior. Some of these are my friends, co-workers and family and I do worry for them. Not that God is unfair, but that they are unwise.

c.
Yes. I have accepted the gift of salvation through Jesus and have become a transformed man, not within sin or wrong, but with a desire and longing to serve Him better and be a better example through it.

My Daily Journal:

How long did God wait for there to be a Noah? Normally, when I think of the story I picture God one day looking around and realizing His whole creation had turned over to corruption and turned away from him. He looks around and, lo and behold, there is Noah, one righteous man.

But what if it was the other way? What if God waited patiently for there to be a Noah? How long and how much sin did God tolerate? How much pain did he feel over how many generations?

It made me stop and think about God timing. When I say I’m waiting patiently on God’s direction, I normally think days, maybe a week or two. How many hundreds of years did God wait? What is he waiting on, today?

BSF Genesis: Week 10, Day 2

Today’s Scripture

Questions:

3.
a.
All of man’s needs, wants and desires were provided by God, focused on community – Not good to for man to be alone so God created companionship and community

b.
God’s first words following the fall of man was a promise of the coming of Christ to defeat Satan
4.
Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. The ancients were commended for it. Faith in the person of Jesus is the equal to faith and trust in God’s love for His creation from His word for all time

5
a.
Gave first and best. Gave sacrificially. Lord looked on Abel and his offering with favor. Revealed a trust and love of God

b.
Heb 11:5 – By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death

c.
Walk with God daily. Trust in him. Have faith. Give sacrificially (not holding back). Open your heart for God to see (He knows what is in it anyway)

My Daily Journal:

At first I was trying to figure out where BSF was going with the lesson this week. But I think the overarching point that is being looked at is the character of these great men of the bible that we have studied so far. Abel and Enoch. And, most importantly within it, that their character was built squarely on faith.

For me the image that stuck with me came in the last answer. I’ve prayed many times for an open heart to receive God’s word. I’ve prayed it for myself, for my kids and family, for my church, for the children in Sunday school and BSF. And, every time I’ve prayed it I had the image of an open vessel, something to catch what God wanted to pour out on me or them.

That is not a bad image, but I saw a different one today. Today I thought about the fact that the scriptures say God looked at Abel and his offering. It isn’t that God just looked at the offering, but first and foremost, he looked at Abel and what the offering was saying about him. The visual idea that came to me was the image of pulling out my wallet and opening it up wide, allowing whoever is with me to take whatever they choose. From a monetary standpoint it is saying, here is everything that I have, no secrets, no hidden pockets, full disclosure, you see everything as much or little as there is and I am offering it to you to take freely, please. When I read that about Abel, that is the image I saw of him with his heart to God.

That’s what Abel and Enoch did. They opened their hearts to God like that open wallet. This is all that I have, not bragging, not shame, just full open disclosure in complete trust, eyes closed, no caveats, just trust.

But here is the interesting thing. God already knows what is in our heart (and wallet for that matter). So the act of opening it up is for us, not for God.

So why hide it? Well, shame, lack of trust, wrongful pride, holding back — you name the sin condition. And how does that work out? Well Cain held back, that didn’t go so well, and if that isn’t clear enough there is the story about Ananias and Sapphira.

That’s convicting enough for me. When I now think of opening my heart – I’m planning to open it wide.

BSF Genesis: Week 9, Day 5

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

10.
a.
Son of Cush grandson of Ham, g-grandson of Noah. Became a mighty warrior on the earth. A mighty hunter before the Lord, Centers of his kingdom (was a king) Babylon, Shinar, Neneveh, Calah, Resen, Assyria.

b.
Bad – Nimrod means rebel. He rose in power but the power was “on the earth”. He put himself before the Lord. He became a King when there was no ordination of kings.

11.
In his time the earth was divided

12.
Job lived in the land of Uz, Jobab

13.
Because it is the truth, all of these places and lands came from people who came from Noah. To show that sin survived the flood. To show that man’s desire to “be like God” was the same after the flood as before.

My Daily Journal:

Why do the lists of “begots” appear in the bible, why all these names of people we’ve never heard of, never appear before or again?

Maybe Moses had a deal like J.K. Rowlings and he was getting paid by the word. Probably not. Maybe it was in their contract, like the credit roll at the end of a movie. Probably not.

I think it is for 3 main reasons:

1. It is truth. The bible is not a fictional story that is edited to appeal to a certain audience of time. It is the truth as given by God and His inspired words to reveal His character. These people lived, they were real and God got to say what was in and what was out of the printed copy.

2. They tie us to people, places and times. It is like studying genealogy. Understanding that we are related to real people who lived during this time, being able to connect to ancestors, connects us to events, places and people. My neighbors didn’t just pop out of thin air, they have history that connect us together. The same is true of our enemies. At one point we were not only friends, but family, but we went different paths. Having that connection back makes it much easier to join back together again.

3. They are a real legacy. The people at the tower of babel wanted to make a name for themselves. They wanted to work on their legacy. If anyone ever called you a nimrod, it probably wasn’t a compliment. One of our children’s leaders stated this well a few weeks ago. “If your name was mentioned one time in the bible, what would you want it to say?” For men like Enoch and Noah we see they walked with God and were righteous. For people like Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteka, they were sons. Wh

BSF Genesis: Week 9, Day 4

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

7.
a.
Confused their language and scattered them

b.
Continuously. God’s hand is in all things. He does not prevent man from sinning, but He limits it now as always. He does it by allowing the repercussions of sin to play out (greed, lust, hiding, cheating) By our actions we make our towers fall

8.
God is love. It is only through communion with God that we gain insight into communion with others. Without God, we find the primary focus of our love to be self-love which leads to greed, self-serving, objectification of people, etc…

9.
a.
There are about 6800 spoken languages in the world today. But God has the power to touch the lips and ears of all people so they can hear His truth being spoken clearly

b.
Speak the truth in my language to all who I come in contact. Speak the truth in my actions to all who I come in contact. Speak the truth to myself about God. Speak the truth to God about himself, me and all those who I come in contact. Daily walk with God.

My Daily Journal:

I’ve struggled with the main message of this week, but today’s lesson helped it become clear.

The key phrase that I picked up on that was repeated 3 times is “come, let us”.

The people of this land and this time were trying to form a community without God. They wanted to make their own kingdom inside God’s kingdom but without God in it. It centers around them and what they want and how great they are, not God.

God longs for community with His creation. That is why we were created. That is what God is. The Trinity is a divine community and God welcomes us in to it, he seeks us out and saves us so we can join. Christ’s mission was to bring mankind back into the unity of the original creation before sin. When ever 2 or more are gathered in His name, He is present. God loves community, friendships, marriage, relationships, all with Him.

But we don’t include God in all of our communities, do we? We compartmentalize Him. God is great for our church community, but don’t talk about Him at work or school. This is a sports team, not a Sunday school class. My neighbors don’t go to church or believe but they are fun to hang around with. If I want to be in the “in group” at school/work, then I need to tone down my chistian-speak.

We also hear it in the works that we do in “the community.” We are welcoming to churches and church groups, but don’t push religion while you are doing the work, don’t proselytize. Just be quiet and do the work, feed the people, build the homes, help the sick, but don’t bring God into it and you are welcome.

I particularly see it at this time of year because so many “community organizations” are collecting things for “the holidays.” You know, the one day holiday where people get together and exchange gifts. Don’t say the word – we don’t want any of that church stuff in our community, we just want the holy days, uh, holidays for our community without God.

In my opinion, it wasn’t the tower that pained God. It was that they were using His word to form communities without Him. They were using his word to confuse people into joining communities that excluded him.

So what does He do? They wish to be confused and spread confusion, let them be confused – they aren’t using God’s Word to do it though. They want to bond together without God, scatter them.

Want to feel less scattered and confused? Bring God back into all your communities. Commune with others and God.

BSF Genesis: Week 9, Day 3

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

5.
a.
They conspire and plot in vain, they attempt to band together to replace God. They are rebuked by God

b.
We seek to replace God or, at a minimum, to remake God in our image instead of the other way around. We build up towers of praise to ourselves, but ignore the divine one who provides all

6.
Jesus (the way, truth, life). Salvation is found in no one else – Jesus is the only name by which we must be saved.

b.
Through prayer and study of His word. Through acts of random kindness that reflect His love for His people. For intentional life to devote time and talents to His work.

c. God wants me to reach out to Him in all things – I still struggle with a “me do” approach, calling on God to be my wingman instead of recognizing it is His sky.

My Daily Journal:

What am I building?

The key thought that struck me today was “why a tower?”

I mean, if they wanted to build, they could have built anything, right? Better roads, water systems, schools, hospitals, housing for the poor. But they chose to build a tower. Why?

Towers raise us up. They don’t hold everyone so they naturally elevate some over others. They allow those in the tower to look down on their kingdoms. They raise them up out of the muck of everyday life and all the messy people.

They also offer some protection. it is easier to see attacks coming from a tower and to fire arrows down on your foes.

They are also a means of pride and intimidation. In battle they would raise the flag high on a pole so all could see and rally around it. How much more so a tower of bricks.

We still build a lot of towers. Some would argue that many of our churches and ways of living out our beliefs take the shape of fortresses with high and lofty ideals that we raise up as towers for others to see. It is understandable, because so much of our faith and views are constantly under attack.

But we don’t need to build towers or strength. God is our tower. A mighty fortress is our God (to quote Luther).

What are we called to build? I think a good answer to that comes from John 1:23 where John the Baptist references Isaiah in his message: “Make straight the paths for the Lord.”

I am called to be missional. Where do I need to build more bridges and fewer towers?