Sight Unseen

A series on meeting God – Abraham
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 12:1-9; Genesis 15:1-21 

[We all have a story about how we met God. Some are more miraculous than others, but none more amazing than the mere fact that the Living God, our Creator, reached out to bring us into relationship with him. In this series, we will be looking at how people in the Bible met God, and what that means to you today.]

  

As a junior in high school, I planned to go into geological engineering. When I told Mr. Clark, our guidance counselor, he immediately said, “You need to go to Michigan Tech in Houghton”.

 

I didn’t know anything about Tech. Things like their average annual snowfall was 250 inches; or that there were 10 guys for every girl; or that it was about a nine-hour drive to the middle of nowhere. All I knew was that Mr. Clark recommended it; so, I went to Tech… sight unseen. Abram did the same thing!

 

Abram was born in Ur of the Chaldeans in Mesopotamia. He lived there with his father, Terah - who worshiped the moon god, his wife Sarai - who was barren and his nephew Lot – whose father had died.

 

While in Mesopotamia, the Lord appeared to Abram telling him to leave his home and his people, and to go to the land that the Lord would show him. Based solely on the word of the Lord, Abram uprooted his life to go there… sight unseen.

 

Abram took with him Terah, Sarai and Lot. However, on the way they settled in Harran, a city also known for worshipping the moon god. Although we don’t know why they settled there, you could speculate that it had to do with Terah. Because when he died Abram once again set out for the land the Lord would show him.

 

Despite Sarai being barren, the Lord made this startling promise to Abram.

 

² “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.       NIV              Genesis 12

 

At the age of seventy-five, Abram arrived in Canaan with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, along with all their possessions and people that they had acquired in Harran. But they weren’t alone. The Canaanites lived there.

 

Even though Abram was old, Sarai was still barren, and the Canaanites were there, the Lord again appeared to Abram and promised that he would give Abram’s descendants the land. Therefore, he built an altar to the Lord.

 

However, over the following decade, Abram experienced many adversities, not the least of which was that he still had no children. Afraid and discouraged, the Lord appeared to Abram again. This time, Abram complained about being childless.

 

⁵ Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”

⁶ And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.  NLT   Genesis 15

 

Based on God’s word and promise, Abram went to the ends of the earth… sight unseen. The Lord had made a covenant with Abram that he would fulfill his promise. The Lord also made a new covenant with you and me. A covenant to forgive our sins and restore us to him.

 

²⁰ After supper Jesus took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.  NLT   Luke 22

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

Too Good to be True

A series on the story of redemption – Part II
The story of Abraham
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 12:1-9 

[Everybody has a story. Even God has one. His is a story about love and redemption and faithfulness. In this series we are going to take a closer look at God’s story through the lives of the people that He touched. How their story became His story of redemption. And how your story is also a part of it.]

  

There have been several times when my wife and I have been suckered by a sales pitch for a travel program that sounded too good to be true. Each time, after several hours of high-pressure sales, we would leave exhausted from the experience and promising to never do it again.

 

As a young man, my Dad told me that if something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Our experience confirms that my Dad knew what he was talking about. However, there is a story where it’s not true. Consider Abraham.

 

¹ The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. ² I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. ³ I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”         NLT

 

Later the Lord reaffirmed his promise when he told Abraham to look into the sky. 

“Your descendants will be as many as the stars above… The only problem is that your wife can’t get pregnant. And look here. This is the land that I’m giving your descendants... The only problem is that the land is already inhabited.”

 

Problems or opportunities? Either way it sounds too good to be true!

 

But Abraham followed the Lord’s call to a land he had never seen. Even though it seemed impossible, he believed the Lord’s promise of descendants. For sure there were times of doubt; times when he and Sarah would try to take things into their own hands. But for the most part, Abraham trusted the Lord.

 

⁶ And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.        NLT          Genesis 15

 

Although Abraham didn’t know all the details, the Lord had a plan. It was a plan to provide a way for His creation to return to a relationship with Him. It was an impossible plan of redemption that would span generations over thousands of years.

 

And the Lord’s plan comes with a cost. The cost was for the Lord to sacrifice His one and only son who He loved. Only then is it possible for us to personally know our Heavenly Father, who loves us and longs to be in relationship with us.

 

⁹ God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. ¹⁰ This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.           NLT   1 John 4

 

The Lord’s promise to Abraham sounded too good to be true. Even His plan of redemption sounds so impossible that it can’t be true. But it is. Abraham gave us the blueprint for righteousness… faith. Jesus is the person to put our faith in.

 

²⁹ And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.             NLT           Galatians 3                                                       

 Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do You Make Everyone Around You Better?

Acts 3:17-26

 

Peyton Manning, at age 39, retired this past week from the National Football League. During his NFL career of 18 years, he set numerous records while winning five league MVP awards and two Super Bowl championships. Following his emotional speech, there was a huge outpouring of tributes from other players.

 

Perhaps the greatest praise of all came from Manning’s rival and friend, Tom Brady, who posted this on his Facebook page. “Congratulations Peyton, on an incredible career. You changed the game forever and made everyone around you better. It’s been an honor.”

 

In the passage today Peter is preaching to a crowd in the temple. No doubt, these are many of the same people who wanted Jesus dead. Listen to his words:

 

^25 “And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ ²⁶ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”                        NIV

 

The initial covenant that God made with Abraham had to do with inheriting land and becoming a great nation with many descendants. But Peter was pointing to a far greater meaning. He was stating that ultimately Israel was blessed because God had given them the message of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.

 

As a result of Peter’s outspoken preaching, Acts 4 tells us that, “the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand”. You might say that Peter was blessed by God, and as a result he was a blessing to others. You could even say, that he made everyone around him better.

 

As a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, you will have opportunities to be a blessing to others. You do that by investing in people’s lives; by ministering to those who are unable to help themselves; by sharing the Gospel in word and deed.

 

I have no idea if Peyton Manning is a Christian, but he embodies God’s promise to Abraham; “You are blessed to be a blessing”. And like Manning, when you do that, “you make everyone around you better”.

 

Do you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Promise

Genesis 24:1-9

 

 

There comes a time in every person’s life when they look back to see what they have accomplished; how they got to where they are today; how they will be remembered.

 

This past week I turned 65, so these are the thoughts that came to my mind. Ultimately, it has to do with how has God worked in my life, and how has He used me in the lives of others. In the final analysis, all that matters is what is eternal.

 

In the passage today, it states that “Abraham was now very old”. He had just buried his wife who had born their only child Isaac. He was living in a land that belonged to others. In fact, he had to buy a field with a cave in order to bury his wife. He was a foreigner; an alien in the land. He was alone with his son and his faithful long time servant.

 

So it was natural for Abraham to look back on his life and remember the promise that the Lord had made to him. When Abraham was a young man God had called him to a life of faith with these words from Genesis 12:

 

“The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s

household to the land I will show you. ² “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

 

Abraham believed in God’s promise and faithfulness. He wanted to make sure that the Lord’s promise continued through his son Isaac. So Isaac was very much a continuance of that promise from God to Abraham... as are we.

 

Therefore, as I look back on 65 years of living, I can see how God has been faithful; how He has always been at work in my life; how He has always been with me; how He has always loved and forgiven me. He has kept His promise.

 

I hope and pray that you can see God at work in your life as well, and that His promise and faithfulness are evident to you.

 

 

 

 

 

You Can't Be Justs a Little Bit Pregnant

Psalm 116:12-19

 

 

In 2001, Kevin Kline starred in a movie called, “Life as a House”. After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, he decides to focus on repairing his relationships with his ex-wife and disenfranchised teenage son. He does so by recruiting them to help him rebuild his dilapidated house which sits in the middle of an upscale neighborhood. In the end, he admits that he always thought of his life as a house.

 

What are you building with your life?

 

Ray Boltz is a contemporary Christian musician. One of his songs is titled, “Thank you for Giving to the Lord”. It’s about a dream of two people visiting Heaven where person after person came up to them saying, “Thank you” for investing your life into mine. The things that this person had done were small, seemingly insignificant details of life that made a huge impact on them for eternity.

 

Who are you investing your life into?

 

Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church, is quoted as follows: “God has given you unique abilities, talents and gifts. At Saddleback Church, we say they represent a person’s SHARE – Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality and Experiences. This bundle of talents is the thing God has given you that makes you who you are and sets you apart from other people.”          

 

How are you using your SHARE to build the kingdom?

 

The psalmist asks us this question: “What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?”  The answer is simple – all of you, everything that you have and are. He wants you to be fully committed. It’s like a woman who is pregnant. She’s not just a little bit pregnant, she is fully pregnant. She is fully committed to the child within her. It’s all or nothing.

 

In the same way, the Lord, our Father, is fully committed to us as His children. Even to the point of sacrificing His one and only son so that we might be reconciled to Him. By doing this, He has blessed us so that we might be a blessing to others.