verseoftheday

"Come, you who are blessed by the Lord", he said. "Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels." Genesis 24:31 NIV Echoes Genesis 24 is full of echoes. A servant is sent from a far away land. He's sent on a mission To find a bride And here is an invitation. Come in. I've prepared a place for you Jesus had a clear goal God went ahead He prayed for success (He prayed a lot!) He acknowledged the problems! Had a good plan And is celebrating success. Death has been conquered, and the restoration has begun, and He has invited us to be part of it. Why are you standing out there? I've prepared the house for you Just come in and join me! Echoes of God's Big Story! And one day we will see fully what we get glimpses of today, and all that is broken will be renewed :) #genesis #genesis24 #echoes #hegoesbeforeme #pray #celebrate #hope #onedayallwillbemadenew

Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord , saying, "Praise be to the Lord...As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey..." Genesis 24:26-27 NIV The unnamed servant's mission was ultimately successful. Nice. Along the way, he celebrated success. And he celebrated with prayer and with praise. We've had: 1 Be clear about your goal 2 Know that God goes ahead of you 3 Pray for success 4 Acknowledge the problems 5  Make a good plan. And 6. Celebrate success. Celebrate the wins along the way. Even in the toughest of journey's, the darkest of nights, when the valley seems to have no end, there are things to celebrate along the way...we just need to be looking for them :) #genesis #genesis24 #hegoesbeforeme #pray #celebrate

May it be that when I say to a young woman, 'Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,' and she says, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too' - let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac... Genesis 24:14 NIV We've had: 1 Be clear about your goal 2 Know that God goes ahead of you 3 Pray for success 4 Acknowledge the problems And here... Make a plan. This was no small thing that was in the plan. A camel drinks 150 litres of water - he could have had 10 for his 800km journey, that's 1,500 litres of water to draw up out of a well ...by hand! The unnamed servant had a plan. This plan was part of his prayer - so not only did he make a plan, but he prayed his plan. Committed it to God. Plans are good and useful, sometimes they have difficult things in them that we want to accomplish. So pray them. Jesus had a plan. And he kept praying. And when it got really tough, he prayed more. #genesis #genesis24 #hegoesbeforeme #pra...

The servant asked him, "What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?" Genesis 24:5 NIV Lesson#4 Acknowledge the problems. So often in our church or ministry or our personal life we are not great at acknowledging, naming, giving clarity to the problems, the difficulties, the barriers... There was an 800km camel ride required, finding the right person, convincing her to come 800km back...to marry a stranger! It's easy to overlook the barriers. To be naive about them. Whether it's church, ministry, work, study, flatting, family...our inner world, our thinking, emotions, our heart...life really. On this mission, our unnamed servant acknowledged the barriers, and that might help us to do that too... #genesis #genesis24 #pray #hegoesbeforeme #barriers #somethingtochewon

Then he prayed, "Lord , God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham." Genesis 24:12 NIV The unnamed servant was on a mission... and prayed. A lot. He prayed for success. Lesson #3 is that's an OK thing to pray for - success for your mission! Prayer for success shows who I'm relying on. Is my measure of how much I want to achieve my goal, my mission, how much time I spend talking with God about it? I've been at a complete loss - no idea how to move forward, and all I've had is prayer. Somehow God has worked things out, and progress has been made But looking back, my prayer could've been more integral from the beginning, that may have shaped the mission, my actions, my heart. Pray for success, but don't wait for the wheels to fall off! #genesis #genesis24 #pray #hegoesbeforeme

The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father's household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me...he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. Genesis 24:7 NIV Abe had a unique relationship with God, but note here what he says to the unnamed servant... God who I know, who I trust, who I have seen work in my life in the past, is now going ahead of you. He's with you. In this case in the form of an angel. To help you complete the mission. Lesson#2 God goes ahead of us. We don't always see that or acknowledge that, let alone understand how He works, but sometimes we look back and see God's hand, and know that He must've been going ahead of us. I don't think I thank Him enough for that... #genesis #genesis24 #Hegoesbeforeme #bethankful

I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac. Genesis 24:3-4 NIV Abraham was sending this person on a mission. An interesting mission for sure, and not one that fits in with our modern world. But Abraham knew what was important to God, knew God's heart, that he didn't want his people influenced by, seduced by, the values of the world around him. We only get to know God's heart by keeping in his word. The interesting thing here is the clarity of his goal. When we set out to make a change in our life, do something for God even, our goals are often vague. "Read my Bible more" is too vague. Setting clear goals is something Abe did. If you struggle doing that then work those goals with someone else to make them clear & achievable, and line up with Go...