preferred.jpg

Let God Lead and You Follow

It's About HIM
It's About HIM Bible Study Notes
Page Links-NEW
It's About HIM YouTube Channel
It's About HIM on Facebook
It's About Him Blog
Blogs Worth Reading
Children's Page-New Media Added
New Believers Page
Encouragement For His Beloved
Hope for the Backslider, the Prodigal and the Lost-New Message Listings!!!!!
Pastor BH Clendennen & The School of Christ International
Living Waters Church, Chino CA
Times Square Church Links
Beware the Angry Watchmen-Pastor Conlon, TSC
First New Testament Church
Revive Us Oh, Lord
Sermon Index
Heaven Sent Revival
The Cross
In Loving Memory...a page of dedication
BH Clendennen Now broadcasting on ActsAmerica.org
Authentic Christianity
BBL Software, Mobile and Online BBL Study Links
Highly Recommended Links & Great Online Churches
Voice of the Martyrs:JESUS: He Lived Among Us DVD
E Books
God's Sanctuary
Quick Thoughts
The School of Pentecost-Pastor Danny Kirby, Sister Beth Kirby
Pentecostal Pioneers
T Austin Sparks
the New Cruse
Daily Fellowship With God
The Cross is All
REVIVAL CONFERENCE
RESCUE THE PERISHING
Some Favorite Media Music n Sermons--NEW listing
Christ Centered Worship Favorites
Judge Roy Moore
On Hell
Prayer for the Saints
Prayer for the Lost-UPDATED
What I Believe
About My Testimony
My Pictures
Highly Recommended Reading-Updated
Ruth Bryan - The Matchless Love of Christ as the Bridegroom
Writings of Ruth Bryan
These Inward Foes
Computer Security, Site Problems, Troubleshooting, Report Broken Links

And after these things the word of theLord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, "Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield and athy exceeding great reward."
Gen. 15:1

 

Let God Lead And You Follow                               March 1, 2006

 

Gen 11:27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begot Lot.

Gen 11:28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.

Gen 11:29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

If you just read these verses and you continue on without pausing to consider and dig into what you have just read, then you have missed some great wisdom. Wisdom, you say, in the genealogy of this man Terah? I have read these verses and passed on by continuing, without stopping here to consider. Thank God for his Holy Spirit which is ever trying to teach his people.

I got up this morning, and me and my daughter, who's nearly 4 were watching an episode on video tape of the Greatest Heroes and Legends of the Bible. I'm not much on TBN but on Saturdays, they do have a few good cartoons for kids. This particular episode we were watching was about Abraham. As the scene played out where his father Terah, having grown old, decided to stay in Haran and not continue on into the promised land, and discover what God had for him. Abram could hear God's voice. Evidently, Terah did not or did not listen. Or perhaps, he didn't recognize God was trying to tell him something better is up ahead, through Abram. When the Lord called Abram to continue on to Canaan, it suddenly occurred to me that when God saves people, he starts them on a journey to inherit his promises, and have his power flood their lives. I always thought in those terms as when Israel began their Exodus out of Egypt-but it started with Adam, and sin stopped it. God did not give up. Even with Noah, and having to destroy the world, he did not give up-he continued working through Noah and his descendants. Now we come to Abraham.

The journey of the believer is to learn to trust God and draw close to God. To not be satisfied just reading about him, but to get to KNOW him. Abraham was directed to begin a journey to the promised land of Canaan. For us, living and walking in the promises of God is his power working in the life of a believer to sanctify, satisfy, teach and transform us into the image of Christ, and in so doing, draw others to him as well.

It occurred to me that the term "Christian" which people say means "Christ-like" then I thought "Christian" and while meditating on that, I thought "Christ in", he's within. And folks it is not me and my feeble little mind thinking this stuff up. Everything I know (which isn't much) about the Holy Word of God, has been taught me by the Holy Spirit, whether personally, one on one in my private study time at home, or through another of his servants, via the pulpit. Without his Spirit teaching me one way or the other I cannot comprehend the great truths in his word. My prayer ever is   Lord, don't let me try to figure this out on my own. Even the best Bible Dictionary there is will only give you pieces of the puzzle. It takes the Spirit of God to put them in place and help you see. And I'm discovering, to my delight, you never stop learning. I have read these scriptures many, many times and just kept going. But when the Spirit causes you to pause, or draws your attention to something, he is wanting to shine the light. Let it shine on me Lord. I have been guilty of what you showed me here.  Of getting settled down, too comfortable in one place and not pressing on. Forgive me, Father. Let me explain.

Terah did not continue on to know the Lord. He went so far, but no farther. He stopped when he got to an easy place. I did a little research a few months ago while studying the life of Abraham. He came from Ur. Ur was an ancient city about 100 miles southeast of Babylon, near the Euphrates River in present day Iraq. It was a city of idolatry. Their patron god was a "moon god," and you'll never believe what his name was. His name was the moon god "Sin." The main temple of worship was at the nearby city of Haran, and that city was almost exclusively devoted to the worship of the moon-god Sin. I kid you not. It was sacred to the people.

(* a note of interest aside here: It's mentioned in the Koran, and the Talmud legends that Abraham miraculously escaped out of the flames into which Nimrod or other idolatrous protesters threw him.-source: Fausset's Bible Dictionary, via E-Sword )

And Ur of the Chaldees, means "fire, valley, light." Chaldea means "demons, robbers" and that shocked me. If you remember, at the end of 2 Chronicles, and the whole book of Jeremiah, the Chaldeans, or Babylonians as they were then called, invaded Judah, and captured Jerusalem and those who went into the captivity willingly, as God had warned was coming for years, lived. Even under enemy rule by a foreign nation, God blessed and prospered those who obeyed. Among some of the captives you might recognize, was Ezekiel, Daniel, the three Hebrew children. This was an instance of a godly remnant of people who suffered great personal loss-home and livelihood, because of the wickedness of the nation as a whole. But God gave them new homes in their captivity and blessed those who loved and obeyed him. If you seek him and know him and spend time with him, you will know what is coming. He will warn his people. He warned us at church the other night not to be afraid of what we see coming. That he is with his servants, and will take care of those who love and serve him. For 70 years Israel suffered captivity under foreign rule in a foreign land. Those who resisted perished.

But back to Genesis 11. Are you beginning to see it? God called Abram, and his family out of the fire of idolatry and sin that burned in the hearts of the people. Let's look at verse 29:

Gen 11:29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

Abram means "high father, exalted father."

Nahor means "dry, hot, hoarse, piercing."

Sarai: my lady; my princess

Milcah: queen; counsel

Iscah (Milcah and Nahor's daughter): he that anoints, one who looks forth;

God called Abraham to enter into Canaan, the promised land which is illustrative of the believer entering into the promises of God, his rest, and inheriting what God has promised to give his children. Remember, the scripture says what was written before in the Old Testament was written for our learning:

Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

So, there are some things we need to learn. God help us learn them from reading their mistakes, and meditating on them, and praying for understanding, so we don't repeat them. We have to give the Word of God time. If we neglect it how shall we escape? (Heb 2:3)

Abram's father, Terah, whose name means "turning" and if you consider the modern spelling "terra" meaning "earth, or of the earth" you can see that Terah stopped short of going on with the Lord. He got to Haran. And I've already described this city. It was full of idolatry, and sensual worship. It was a bustling, small city. The temple was built around 2800 b.c. It was literally called "the Temple of Sin" and the city of Haran was devoted to worship in this temple, their Babylonian moon god. (or goddess as some reports I've read state). This is the place where Terah decided to remain. How sad. When God saves people, he always calls them to come out of sin, and into his promises. They start the journey, but many get sidetracked, allured by the world. Not wanting to give things up. A choice has to be made willingly to follow on with the Lord. To let him have everything. In return he blesses you with untold spiritual riches, and even other blessings. He is after all the ultimate reward. I love what he told Abraham in Gen. 15-it's one of my favorite Bible Verses:" Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield and thine exceeding great reward."

I discovered when he saved me, the things I had always enjoyed I didn't anymore. The sinful habits I had, I didn't want anymore. I was ashamed of them rather than glorying in them. I asked for help to lay them down, and it was given me. Quickly. Without delay. Now, let me clarify one thing here. There was some suffering of the flesh involved. But I was rewarded with the rich presence and direction and a sense of God's love in my life, as he opened his word to me and taught me, believe me, the trade-off was so much more than worth it. It was not easy-I don't  mean to make it sound like it was. It wasn't. He never said this life would be easy. But it is worth it. HE is worth it. When I was a young Christian (new) I'm 5 now, praise the Lord!!! but when I was young, I heard this song that hurt my heart-and the thought stayed with me, the name of the song was "Something worth  dying for" by Lisa Bevil. She was saying, he thought I was worth dying for, surely he is worth living for. It was convicting. But, He is no respecter of persons. What he will do for one he will do for all who let him. But we have to do things the way the Word of God says. We can't say I love God and continue to serve self. Now go back to verse 28-he died. Abram's father died. I meditated on this for a while. I'm sure there's much more that can be gleaned from these scriptures, but what stands out to me, is Terah remained in an idolatrous city where Sin was worshipped. He didn't want to leave it. And he died there. He could have went in with Abram and Sarai. He stopped short of entering in.

If you read on in to chapter 12, God appears to Abram and calls him to continue onward. But by verse 10, he's run into a famine.


Gen 12:9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

Gen 12:10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.

 

When you first get saved and begin to walk through God's word, walking with God, things start getting stripped out of your life. The things you once did, you no longer want to do. The Spirit of Christ in you (which is a priceless treasure) will not let you remain unchanged. The famine hits when your flesh starts to starve for the old things it's used to feeding on. It could be violent movies, romance novels, drugs, alcohol. It could be partying. Anything. And there will be a sincere desire in the heart of any temple where Christ dwells to love and serve him. The warfare starts. The flesh struggles against the spirit. The flesh don't want to be holy. The spirit does. Sometimes God's people fall into the trap of thinking (as I did) that they can serve God through their own effort. Or they might read a "self-help" book, trying to improve themselves. You must trust God to bring you through it. As I learned, (and am still learning) you can't depend on or trust yourself to live for God on your own. You need his Spirit, his strength, his power to work in you to do it. It has to be done by faith. Yielding to the leading of the Spirit. Being obedient to what you know of the Word of God. When you struggle to do something you read, you must pray, take it honestly before the Lord, and say I need help, I want to obey you. I love you. You say if you love me you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15) Give me the strength as you promised in your word to do so."  (Phil 4:13)  Then thank him and trust him to do it. Don't look to man for help or their ideas. The only self improvement book you actually need is the word of God. And his Holy Spirit to teach it to you. Just listen. Ask, you will receive. Seek, you will find. Knock, it will be opened. But the casual seeker doesn't get there. Only the diligent. The one who will not be denied, who keeps coming back till their need is met. I'm looking for the BLESSER not the blessING.

Even though Abram made a mistake and went down to Egypt, (the world) and his confidence in God was not yet solid, he lied, put his wife in a bad situation. God still would not let his plan for this man's life be thwarted. He knew Abram had a sincere heart. He was merciful. He kept them both, by his own power. Just goes to teach you God won't throw you out like garbage if you mess up. And if you read a little into Chapter 13, by verse 4, you will see Abram returning to prayer, and calling on God, surely with regret for his mistake, although scripture doesn't go into detail. When we mess up, if we go to God, trust him to put us back on the right path and cleanse us as we repent. He's a good God. I could never say enough good about him. I am so blessed, so honored and so humbled that such an Almighty God, who has everything would love someone like me enough to take time to teach me his ways. Would hear my prayers. Would want to talk to me. Would want a personal relationship with me. I wish my mouth could honor him. I can sit and type what is in my heart so much easier than I can get it to come out of my mouth. But oh,   what an honor......to have him in my life, to be  HIS................................oh, taste and see, the Lord is good....................blessed is the man that trusteth in him......Psalms 34:8 

(you'll never be sorry-he is so good, nothing this world has to offer could compare....)

back to top

Enter supporting content here

counter for wordpress