Bible Study_ The Life of Abraham

God said to Abraham: “NOW [in Haran] the Lord said to Abram, Go for yourself [for your own advantage] away from your country, from your relatives and your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. [Heb. 11:8-10.] And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you [with abundant increase of favors] and make your name famous and distinguished, and you will be a blessing [dispensing good to others]. And I will bless those who bless you [who confer prosperity or happiness upon you] and curse him who curses or uses insolent language toward you; in you will all the families and kindred of the earth be blessed [and by you they will bless themselves]. [Gal. 3:8.]”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭AMPC‬‬
—this was God calling Abram so that he could establish him for the assignment that God wanted to do with him_ the AMPC Bible mentions that this was for Abram’s own advantage. The term “land” meant that God was taking Abram to a territory that he would “shew him”-cause him to see.

So, What is the Lord showing you? What is in your heart?

Legacy & Fame

When the Lord told Abraham that He would make him a great nation, we was talking about extending favor and greatness to the family and legacy that Abraham would spearhead. He told him that His name would be famous and distinguished and that he would be a blessing to others. To me this paints a picture of someone who is historical, more specifically someone who has a memorial or a park of some sort named after them. This would be a picture of legacy—someone who makes a difference in the world and whose name has meaning and is distinguishable all around for generations to come. This person would have a memorial of some sort that stands out and represents the mark that they left. I particularly think about Martin Luther King Jr for an example, there are many others, but the reason why this stands out to me is because no matter what major city you go to, there is a street with his name. Also, there are “King centers” all over the world and by this we know that he made a mark on the history of African American families. No matter what culture you are from, most people have heard of his name.

So, what is your legacy? What is the Lord showing you about the world that he would like changed? What is the problem that you see in the world, that the Lord wants to use you to change? What is your passion? What sets you on fire?

Blessing & Cursing

The Lord says to Abraham, as He is proposing to him, If Abraham follows the leading of the Lord, people who bless him will be blessed and those who curse him, will be cursed. —This is not God saying “I will do this to those people,” but this is an example of the Spiritual Law of giving and receiving – reciprocity or karma. It seems that this was God bringing awareness to Abraham that spiritual law would be activated in the area of the Blessing toward those who interacted with him. I say this because the Law already existed, but this was God providing partnership with Abraham and giving assurance to him that He would have his back. I believe that before this covenant proposal, there was really no awareness of the Blessing.

This applies to us that are walking with the Lord because God has seemingly cause us to be good ground for people to sow Blessings into— because God had confirmed that Blessing would come on those who Bless us (the seed of Abraham). The RSV version of the Bible says that “…and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves” —this is like God establishing us as good ground for people to plant their seeds of Blessings into and receive Blessing on themselves in return. So, if people want to receive what is in my life, all they have to do is sow into and be a blessing to me.

The Great News

This wonderful thing is that this also works the other way around for those of us who are looking to be Blessed by the Lord. The system that He has put into place is for us to be able to sow into the lives of those who are walking in covenant with God and who have, like Abraham, gone away from their fathers house and into the Land that he has revealed to them in order to do what he has called them to do — when we sow into the lives of these people (bless them), we will reap blessing upon ourselves in the area we are believing for. “Every seed produces after it’s own kind.”

So, Where is your seed going? Is it “good ground”? What are you looking to harvest from it?