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The Father-in-Law with faith in God and his Son-in-Law

2/28/2013

 
Do you recall who Hobab was?  From what I can deduce he was also called Jethro in earlier Scriptures.  In addition to being a Midianite spiritual leader and owner of lots of land and livestock, he was also Moses' father-in-law, Zipporah's father.  Numbers 10 finds him with Moses and the freshly liberated from Egypt: Israelites.  Here's the storyline in the NASB:

29 Then Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out to the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you’; come with us and we will do you good, for the Lord has g]">[g]promised good concerning Israel.” 30 But he said to him, “I will not come, but rather will go to my own land and relatives.” 31 Then he said, “Please do not leave us, inasmuch as you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will be as eyes for us. 32 So it will be, if you go with us, that h]">[h]whatever good the Lord i]">[i]does for us, we will j]">[j]do for you.”

The next verse suggests to me that Hobab WENT WITH MOSES!  Maybe that doesn't seem like a "biggie" when you are rushing through all the census and other rather droll stuff in Numbers but it sure hit me when I read it recently.  In fact, I take it as a bigger event than when Ruth went with Naomi or Lot went with Abram! Why? You can guess can't you?

First Moses appears out of nowhere in the dessert and wins the heart of his eldest daughter, Zipporah, then he gets the call from God out of a burning bush and before you know it he's taking his wife, Zipporah (and their family?) off to Egypt, away from Hobab/Jethro.  Then, he's the leader of indentured Israel and is being guided by God to bring them to freedom from Egypt's Pharoh.  Tell me that wouldn't be quite a life for the father (of any daughter) to hear/watch unfold.  Can you imagine if they had cell phones the kind of texts that Hobab would be getting from Zipporah?  News travelled slower, but it is no surprise to me that we find Hobab out in the wilderness checking in with Moses and company and giving him some great advice on leading.

What I think is spectacular is the fact that Hobab agrees to stay with Moses and Israel as they sojourn to the New Land, promised by God!  What a testimony to what God was doing among them in the dessert!

On Vacation & Feeling Better!

8/18/2012

 
Blogs are a problem for me... in being regular, that is. 

My "board of directors" has an individual on it who says that I need to keep using this, and I say, "I blog on Facebook" and wish I could link what I say there to here... Apparently not that easy to do yet! If anyone knows how to do it easily, please let me know. This is a "past tense" problem as of tonight! Weebly added a new feature! Yay!

So here I am, up at almost 2a on my vacation with my wife (at the Pinery Provoncial Park), writing on my neglected blog!  Pure Joy!  And no, Jim, not the result of expresso to late in the evening!

This has been a very difficult year since mid-March, health-wise.  I came down on a Friday at lunch with a sore throat, cancelled my afternoon appointments and then with good care, the sore throat cleared up in less than the weekend!  But, I had a severe fatigue that lingered for 2.5 months after that!  My physician was not sure what is was (2 rounds of blood tests later), but his boss had a medical resident who had similar symptoms in mid-March and had to quit!  I was at about 40% until June. This meant naps every day, 50% workload and eventual discouragement and ennui over my lack of improvement and the burden of some work that was not getting done for a contract I have.  I'm happy to say that by the start of my vacation with my wife, Ivy at the beginning of this week - I was about 90% and had lost the 10 lbs. I had gained and was starting to run again.  20 more lbs. to go!

I am the sole provider for our family, or rather, God provides mainly through my work to sustain our family. It was amazing to see how money came in when I was off sick, only working part-time.  I ended up working half the time and making the same amount!  God truly is my provider and the provider of my family. Our financial gifts to Him are done with greater joy and faith as a result of walking through this hardship of sickness.

Well the vacation continues, I smile at the lovely surroundings and the time alone with Ivy and go off to bed.
_

Believing that Christ is my provision

9/17/2011

 
Lately we have had some challenges with finances. Occasionally there seems to be an ebb in the "receivables" and it is an opportunity for me to give into the temptation of worrying about provision. It doesn't matter that God gave us a huge blessing in a vehicle last month, I still seem to be prone to worrying about financial provision when things seem to go a little South.

But this is the opportunity I need to declare that I am loved by God, my good ABBA and that He is my provision. My brain seems to easily go to fear and worry when there is apparent lack. I say apparent lack because I am called to live by faith in what I cannot see and yet choose to believe is true. It is a significant challenge to live from my spirit and see with the eyes of my spirit when my soul wants to fret and has all sorts of distress one can live from. I've become accustomed to saying to my soul, "Be still my soul and know that ABBA is your provider!"

Sooner or later my soul gets the idea and settles down, and what a wonderful thing that is!

Love, no strings attached...

9/14/2011

 
Today I was to meet with an old friend for breakfast at my favorite breakfast spot in town: City Café. I got there about 15 minutes early and as I sat down to peacefully read the morning newspaper, however I could overhear a distressed woman talking on her cell phone about how someone had picked up her keys and taken them by mistake at the café counter.  She was stuck and I knew it...

"Self-will" said: "Enjoy your paper! your friend is going to be here soon, she'll find a way to work, it's her problem, not yours..."

However, I have Jesus living in me and He was "nudging" me! Here was an opportunity I pray for: here was a chance to show unconditional love with no strings attached! So I offered her a ride to work and she accepted without blinking an eye! She was willing to take a ride from a perfect stranger and a solitary, middle-aged man that, in the big city of Kitchener!  It took me a total of 10 minutes to get her there and she as she left my car and thanked me, I was able to say it was my joy to help her out...

Riskiness in faith

9/13/2011

 
Well, the idea was for me to blog every day... and for an undisciplined, fly by the seat of your pants, Artsy-fartsy, Counselor-type guy that is one tall order! But here I am on day two valiantly stepping up to the challenge and using my DragonDictate to write a couple of paragraphs that will likely be considered by all, including me: drivel!

I had a great time at my pastor friend's house in Fergus today. His wife and him host a group of Christian leaders every month for a morning of sharing and prayer. It's a great time of fellowship and iron sharpening iron. Today another pastor friend of mine brought a young man who is interning with him in his church and has traveled all the way from England to do so!

What a wonderfully risky step this young man took to leave his home, and come and make the sacrifice of serving in a totally new environment and somewhat different culture. I love riskiness, especially when it's done in faith!


Growing in Jesus

9/12/2011

 
I was talking to a friend who told me he had learned the difference between being religious and being a friend of Jesus and he said, "I can sum up how in one-word...", I was curious what word he would use... What word do you think he said? 
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    Christian pastoral counsellor and exhorter/teacher; registered social worker in private practice, full-time since 1999

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