the story - chapter 2

chapter 2 - God builds a nation

God spoke to abram to move to canaan, so he did. it is pointed out that abram's decision to uproot his whole family and take all his belongings to an unknown area was an act of faith, b/c he didn't know where God was taking him to. but he still obeyed and went.

abram and sarai didn't have children. but God promised that they'll have as many children as the stars in the sky. hagar first conceived abram's child, ishmael.

God made a covenant with abraham to give him the whole land of canaan and to make him the father of many nations. God also promises to be the Lord of all of the descendants of abraham.

sarah had a child, despite the fact that both abraham and sarah were really old. the son was called isaac.

God tested abraham to see if he'd obey God's call to give isaac as a sacrifice. abraham obeyed and was about to set isaac on the altar when God stopped him. God could tell that abraham was truly a God-fearing man.

isaac married rebekah and had two sons, jacob and esau. rebekah and jacob schemed so that jacob would receive isaac's blessing instead. jacob ran away and met rachel. jacob married leah first and then married rachel.

many years later jacob and all of his family and possessions returned to where his brother esau was living. jacob was scared that esau might try to kill them all. jacob randomly wrestled with a man who turned out to be God. esau welcomed jacob & co. with open arms. jacob was renamed to israel.

rachel died. isaac died. jacob had 12 sons total.

it seems so simple - all the good men in this chapter obeyed God by faith and surrendered to God in all circumstances - and in return, God gave them lots of children and wealth and wonderful places to live at. was it just that the relationship between God and humans were just so simple as that back then? or am i missing something...

psalm 149

we, as his saints, will be glorified when we do God's will. but not the worldly kind of glory, but glory that reflects Him. need to desire the right kind of glory and know the privilege of being glorified with Christ.

isaiah 43

God's very special love for Israel, even amidst their extreme unfaithfulness, God still says "I am Your God, Your Savior, and I save you because you are precious and honored in my sight and because I love you." Not even Israelites' great sin would separate them from God's love. Because of the Israelites' own sin, they're suffering and experiencing the grave consequences (in exile in babylon). BUT God, in His mercy, chooses to rescue them and save them from their suffering (that they inflicted on themselves) and REDEEMS and RESTORES their broken lives.

"Forget the former things; see, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." (v.18)

Psalm 147:10-11

"His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love."

God doesn't delight in my performance, my abilities, or my performance.. but he delights in the condition of my heart - that fears him and hopes in His love.

Isaiah 41:9-10

"I haven chosen you and have not rejected you. so do not fear, for i am with you; do not be dismayed, for i am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

God chose the Israelites, a very ordinary people, amongst all the tribes He could have chosen. He chooses them not based on their might or strength but because He knows that His power will be recognized through their lives. His power become extraordinary in the lives of ordinary people. He chooses them so that all people will see and know that it is the Lord's hand working in their lives.

the story...

so adam and eve left the garden of eden and had children. cain didn't like abel, so he killed him. starting from adam/eve, sinfulness was passed onto cain/abel, and so on and so forth throughout all the offspring that came from them. all the humans lived without fearing God and lived in sinfulness, so God decided to bring forth a big flood to get rid of all living creatures except for noah & his fam and one pair of all animals. so the flood happened and everything/everyone died, except for noah b/c he found favor in God.

end of chapter one~

i wonder if i'd have been one of those people that got wiped out from the earth if i lived in those times.

King hezekiah becomes ill to the point of death; he prays earnestly; and God answers his prayer immediately and heals him - let's him live for anther 15 years. God allows circumstances to happen to sometimes position us with the right heart and attitude. God's plan was always to let hezekiah live for another 15 years, but when hezekiah faced death... it caused something to change in hezekiah's heart as he desperately depended on God.. which prepares him for what is about to happen next. (isaiah 38)

sometimes God allows things to happen to us so that He can shape our hearts and minds. even failures are sovereignly meant to shape who we are - NOT a permanent indicator of what we're worth.

"they will celebrate your ABUNDANT goodness" (psalm 145:7)

reflected on the ways God has answered my prayers and has faithfully led to me where i am now. i forget to give God the praise for His goodness in my life.. and it's abundant. He's extravagant in His goodness to us. HE goes above and beyond for us.

the story - chapter 1, part 1

hi hi anns
so i've been thinking that i need to read the bible at least once cover to cover. but i remember trying to do that in the past but i always never got past exodus. so... i was researching online for a good reading plan... but instead of a reading plan, i came across this book that formatted the bible into one seamless, chronological book. almost like a novel... except... it's not fiction... the description and the reviews on amazon seemed pretty promising, so i went to barnes & nobles today to check it out. and it's actually really nice. it's a nice thick book, kind of like harry potter sized except not as thick. i wouldn't mind carrying this around (i sometimes feel weird busting out my bible b/c it's so obviously a bible. like... anyone can tell that it's no ordinary book and for some reason i feel self conscious about it. like i'm trying too hard to look holy or something).
it doesn't have references to the actual verses of the bible within the text, but there's an appendix at the end that lists which chapter corresponds to which books/verses in the bible.
obviously i won't be substituting the reading of this book with actually reading the bible cover to cover. after i'm done with this book and i kind of have an idea of how things happened... i feel like it'll be less daunting for me to start the big project of cover->cover.

ok so anyway long intro there.
my actual blog entry today is really short & sweet (i'm only a few pages in so far):
God created the earth.  God created mankind in his own image. Adam and Eve were chosen by God b/c God wanted to build a relationship with them. they were blessed with paradise and God. "...so why would they want anything else?" <-upon reading this (it's a quote from the book) i felt sad. yeah, why would they want anything else? they had everything they could want, no? but.. they did. they were tempted and they gave in b/c they felt like there could be more that they could have (i.e. eat that desirable looking fruit) in addition to all that was given to them. as humans, we have so many/much desires and wants and greed. we always want more. we give into temptations so easily. we fall short... we're sinful.

psalm 143

psalm 143

the psalmist believes in a God who not only RESPONDS to us but answers us quickly. do i expect that when i pray, He will literally answer me or do i expect that my prayers will get lost in some infinite abyss? haha. need to have more trust that God hears me and will respond to me during this time of fasting and prayer.