YOU WILL BE A BLESSING - PART 2

Today, we are going to meditate the second part of the message titled, ‘You will be a blessing.’

 I will make you a great nation;

I will bless you

And make your name great;

And you shall be a blessing.

Genesis 12:2

 As we read here, God gave promise to Abraham but He led him through many difficult paths in order to inherit that promise.  Now we could see his descendants in a blessed state but to attain this level Abraham struggled a lot in every possible way.

Today’s message is not going to be a deeper spiritual message but the one which is going to deal with the situations of day-to-day life of how to handle those. We are going to analyse how Abraham dealt with those situations and are going to apply those in our lives so that we will also reach the blessed state like him.

1.         ABRAHAM – MAN OF LOVE

 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren.

Genesis 13:8

Abram told Lot that they are brothers when there was quarrel among them.  We need to think about the humble nature of Abraham here since men usually consider the other enemy when he or she fights with them.  We need to be like Abraham considering even his rival his brother.  Here we could see the loving nature of Abraham.  May the Lord speak to us as to how we need to handle the troublesome situations!

 They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people.

 Genesis 14:12, 16

Lot was taken captive by the enemies after he left Abraham and dwelt separately. Here we could see the kind-hearted Abraham where he did not leave Lot as such saying, he deserves for what he did, but went and fought over with the enemies and brought him back alive.  Had we been in the situation of Abraham, we would have said Lot deserves the evil but Abraham considered him as a brother and moved out of compassion to save him even though he was not faithful and loyal to him.

God desires that we need to be kind with our enemies like Abraham.  So how are we seen towards our brothers who dwelt among us? God has called us to be lovable with our family, friends, and neighbours.

So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.”

Genesis 18:6

Three men visited Abraham and he wished to make meal for them. But because of the love towards his wife, Abraham did not give the whole work to her but assigned jobs to both his wife and the servant thinking Sarai cannot handle the situation alone and will get tired soon.  We could also see the love of Abraham towards Isaac.  While getting on top of the mountain to offer Isaac, he answered very kindly to Isaac with all due respect.

When Abraham died, both his children came united even though they were heads of different Sects to bury him. This is all because of the love of Abraham.

Like Abraham, we need to get a testimony in this world that we are lovable in nature. Let our fellowships and relationships be strengthened in the name of Jesus.

2.         ABRAHAM – MAN OF TRUTH

 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.

Genesis 14:18

As we could see here, Abraham gave tithes from everything he had.  Though there was no such practice of giving tithe, he made it a point to reserve a part of his earnings to God.  God gave the commandments of tithe only during the period of Moses as recorded in the book of Exodus of the Bible.  But Abraham had the revelation even before God says, to honour Him with his tithes and offerings.

Abraham was blessed by God in an abundant manner just because he honoured Him in the right way.  And so God fulfilled his promise concerning him since he found Abraham faithful and loyal.

God is looking unto the faithfulness of our heart too.  He has kept certain commands and ordinances for us and when we fulfil those He is ready to bless us by fulfilling His promise unto us.  He will never forget those who give for Him.  He will definitely repay them thousand-fold.

In early days, people come from office straight to Church to give tithes to God.  When we are faithful unto God, He blesses our children.  He will take care of everything when we leave unwanted things for his namesake.  He will be watching your faithfulness unto Him even if no one else is watching us.

 A faithful man will abound with blessings,

But he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.

Proverbs 28:20

 We need to ask God for his Grace so that we may be faithful to him at all times in order to receive the perfect blessings.  Our prayers to God always should be to make us faithful and loyal.

3.         ABRAHAM – MAN OF PEACE

 Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan.

Genesis 16:3

 Sarai did what no wife will do to her husband.  She did not seek the permission of the Lord or the Will of God.  So do Abraham who heeded Sarai’s voice without asking the Counsel of God.  Abraham immediately obeyed Sarai’s words without God’s consent.

 Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.”

Genesis 21:10

 It will be so hard to read about Sarai.  The same mouth which asked the husband to marry the bondwoman and bore a son had asked later to cast her out.  Had she not taken this decision that day, the bondservant’s son would not have become a great nation and the world today would not have to fear them a lot.

 And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son

But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called.

 Genesis 21:11, 12

The thing was very grieving to Abraham but God said to him that since he heeded Sarai’s voice previously he needs to hear her voice this time also.  But surprisingly Abraham maintained peace with all his family members in this situation even though the thing was grieving to him.

 If only we had been in the place of Abraham, we would have fought with our wives.  We need to look into the character of Abraham and study from him.

Amidst all these situations, God’s peace surrounded Abraham’s family and because of that Sarah’s conduct did not hinder Abraham’s blessings.  We need to be a channel of peace for others.  We should not compare with others but should be content with whatever God has given us.  May the Lord give us the Grace to maintain peace with all, even if accusations come from our closest circle.

4.         ABRAHAM – MAN OF WISDOM

 And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac.

Genesis 25:5

Abraham while he yet lived settled his possessions to his sons and to the sons of his concubines.  He gave all of his wealth to Isaac the son of Promise, but he also gave many gifts unto his other sons and sent them away from Isaac as per the instruction of God.  He did not do injustice in this matter and settled everything in the right way so that they would not fight for the possessions after his death.  So we could see Abraham as a man of wisdom here.

Humane wisdom is necessary to live in this world but God expects to mingle humane wisdom with His wisdom.  In other words, one needs to seek the counsel of God and pray in order for the Divine wisdom to descend down and mingle with human wisdom.  Many will not know this tactics.  They will struggle with all their might to handle a particular situation and end up in a mess.  Later they come to God and cry for the solution.

Parents even while they are still alive should settle everything for their children.  Otherwise the children will fight with each other for the property.  When parents are alive, they need to lead their children in the right way along with Divine wisdom.  We  also need to do the right things at the right age for our children.  Kindly do not reject God’s Will regarding the children and regret later.

We need to give everything in God’s hand so that His will alone should take place in our lives.  The success of a true leader is well seen only when his followers live in peace after him.