So Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left."
Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere--this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah--like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord.
The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, "Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you."
Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.
- Genesis 13:1-18
Today we observe the Christian feast called Epiphany.
This feast also marks the official end of the Christmas season. As quickly as the season has come, it has gone. Without fanfare... and without much ado.
When I was little, Epiphany, also called The Feast of the Three Kings, was such an important event. My sister and I would put out our shoes by the window on the eve of this feast, and wake up the following morning to find them filled with goodies - candies, chocolates, and little toys. It was nothing big or grand, not like a Christmas gift, which usually came in a box and was wrapped beautifully... but the goodies we received at Epiphany were also just as delightful as a Christmas gift, probably because of the story behind it.
While we were sleeping, the Three Kings supposedly passed by, and placed little gifts inside every shoe that they saw.
The shoes had a special meaning, too. The story in the Bible tells us that these men had traveled quite a distance looking for Jesus, to honor Him, and give Him their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They were not really kings, they were wise, learned, and influential men, from the East.
This feast is no longer observed today. Children here do not even know the story.
January 6 today has become just another day with no special significance.
It is another Christian tradition around here that has lost its relevance.
The word epiphany literally means "manifestation." This Christian feast commemorates the manifestation of the divine nature of Jesus to the Gentiles as represented by the wise men. These men from the East had studied the movement of the stars, and knew that at a certain period in history, a baby would be born, and this would be no ordinary baby. Somehow it was revealed to them that this baby is of royal and noble birth.
A star would appear in the heavens, and this would be the sign that the birth has taken place.
The men did follow that star, and this is how they came to the place where Jesus was, and was able to open their treasures and present them to him.
This is so beautiful! Everything about this story makes sense to me. Many things that God has been speaking to me these past months falls into place, like pieces of a puzzle being put together, and I am beginning to see a bigger picture.
The Yahoo Dictionary also defines epiphany as:
Over the years I have become aware that there are relationships that God has not ordained. But this was made much clearer to me two or three years ago when I looked into the story of Abraham's separation from Lot and began meditating on it.
It was only after Abraham made the decision to separate from his nephew Lot that God showed him the full expanse of the land that had been given him.
It was a decision of faith and obedience.
A few months ago, God impressed in my heart that this year is a Year of Promotion for me. I do understand what this means.
There are new doors that are opening, and I have to be ready to walk into them.
At the same time, there are doors that will be closing, and I must be ready to walk out and move on.
There are new alignments, new kingdom connections, a new path that must be trod, and the road ahead will not always be easy. There will be new assignments. Fresh revelations.
A fresh anointing for the new assignment.
These are not just beautiful words to read... the implications are quite serious.
God is always preparing us for His promotions, but He is also waiting for the right time to reveal them... to manifest them to us.
Having realized these as the new year is now unfolding for me, I shudder... and I tremble.
I do want to be ready and prepared for this promotion.
But honestly, I feel so small and inadequate.
A deeper faith... a radical obedience.
A clean cut...
My feelings of trepidation come from the fact that I have not been consistent in my walk with God the past months.
I just know I have not been obedient enough.
There have been many distractions, I have been busy and pre-occupied.
Somewhere, in the busyness of the past months, my focus has shifted.
He would awaken me in the early mornings, but _________.
That blank represents all the things that have been hindering full and complete obedience.
But these days I really praise God for not getting tired of revealing His heart to me...
There is a call to separate the old from the new, just as Abraham was willing to part ways with Lot, and walk away from him in peace... in graciousness... in humility.
I want this realization to be a turning point in my life.
There may be friends and even loved ones that I need to move away from, even if the decision to do so may be painful. However, I believe the call is not just about friends. There is a call to separation from habits and mindsets so that God's purposes may be fulfilled.
I can only build one kingdom - God's or mine. It can't be both.
The sad truth is that people are prone to build the kingdom of self, no matter what.
It is what one blog author calls our default setting. It is our natural pre-disposition to be so motivated by self.
There comes a point when a decision to make a clean break is very important. I never realized that the idiom a clean break was originally a cheese making term.
Applied to my life, it means to remove myself completely from a "bad" situation.
This is my epiphany, my realization.
Now I hear the fresh call, and my heart wants to obey ... and to be prepared.
God sees the road ahead, and He is giving out the assignment. Again there is a sifting, and a shifting, and a calling out.
The recent lessons God has been teaching me have all revolved around this one thing: there is no turning back, there is a narrow road ahead. There is a need to deal with the sin that easily entangles - pride, the sin of self-focus.
I do not see beyond the bend in the road, but He does.
There is a call to depend on Him alone - not on chariots or horses or even on strategic planning, although these all have an important place.
The issue boils down to radical obedience.
And in the final analysis, obedience is always radical.
Again, there is no other way.
To hammer down these truths that God has been speaking to me, I received some lessons through my favorite yellowbell vine that has grown into a lovely canopy above my front gate.
On Christmas Eve, December 24, strong gusty winds swept through our city pulling down all the branches of my lovely yellowbell vine. It had been such a showcase the past months - abloom with yellow bells, extending above the front gate of our home, it was like a canopy providing a beautiful shade above our front entrance.
But alas, on Christmas morning, armed with a small saw, I had to cut it all down... resulting in a barren, naked, exposed, and forlorn front entrance.
What used to be a beautiful, graceful picture of abundant life, turned into an ugly image of gnarled and twisted branches with no sign of life at all.
Look at these pictures:
A few hours into the New Year, at about 2:00 a.m., there was a heavy downpour. The first one in weeks. The downpour lasted about two hours, and then toward the early morning, it turned into a gentle drizzle which lasted the whole day.
That was such a beautiful message to my heart. God spoke to my heart through the rains that came to our city right on New Year's day.
I took this picture of my garden at around 9:00 a.m. on New Year's Day. The gentle drizzle can't be seen, but you can see the wet stone path, and the evidence of joy and newness of life!
Look at this picture of my yellow bell plant also taken on New Year's Day. A green shoot had grown right where a branch had been sawed off, just a week before...
God is saying to me: The pain of separation will be rewarded with fresh growth and new life!
I arrived in Manila early this morning after having been in Bacolod City for the months of November and December.
Tomorrow, my daughter Obedient One and I will board our flight to Chiang Mai, Thailand. By tomorrow evening we will be re-united with my friends Ut and Oy, who have so graciously extended another invitation for us to visit them.
I know this trip is a transition point, and I am looking forward to what lies ahead. My heart is truly grateful for the beautiful opportunity He has given me to once again visit this beautiful place. A place filled with beautiful memories for me. And another time to reconnect with dear friends.
In everything I do and say, as the new year slowly unfolds before me, may God alone be honored.
Father, I offer this year to you.
Thank you for speaking to me. I hear your voice Lord... it is calling me to go up higher.
Build in me a heart of faith, a heart of obedience. May my heart be your dwelling place, which is always responding to your call.
- Genesis 13:1-18
Today we observe the Christian feast called Epiphany.
This feast also marks the official end of the Christmas season. As quickly as the season has come, it has gone. Without fanfare... and without much ado.
When I was little, Epiphany, also called The Feast of the Three Kings, was such an important event. My sister and I would put out our shoes by the window on the eve of this feast, and wake up the following morning to find them filled with goodies - candies, chocolates, and little toys. It was nothing big or grand, not like a Christmas gift, which usually came in a box and was wrapped beautifully... but the goodies we received at Epiphany were also just as delightful as a Christmas gift, probably because of the story behind it.
While we were sleeping, the Three Kings supposedly passed by, and placed little gifts inside every shoe that they saw.
The shoes had a special meaning, too. The story in the Bible tells us that these men had traveled quite a distance looking for Jesus, to honor Him, and give Him their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They were not really kings, they were wise, learned, and influential men, from the East.
This feast is no longer observed today. Children here do not even know the story.
January 6 today has become just another day with no special significance.
It is another Christian tradition around here that has lost its relevance.
The word epiphany literally means "manifestation." This Christian feast commemorates the manifestation of the divine nature of Jesus to the Gentiles as represented by the wise men. These men from the East had studied the movement of the stars, and knew that at a certain period in history, a baby would be born, and this would be no ordinary baby. Somehow it was revealed to them that this baby is of royal and noble birth.
A star would appear in the heavens, and this would be the sign that the birth has taken place.
The men did follow that star, and this is how they came to the place where Jesus was, and was able to open their treasures and present them to him.
This is so beautiful! Everything about this story makes sense to me. Many things that God has been speaking to me these past months falls into place, like pieces of a puzzle being put together, and I am beginning to see a bigger picture.
The Yahoo Dictionary also defines epiphany as:
- A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.
- A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization
Over the years I have become aware that there are relationships that God has not ordained. But this was made much clearer to me two or three years ago when I looked into the story of Abraham's separation from Lot and began meditating on it.
It was only after Abraham made the decision to separate from his nephew Lot that God showed him the full expanse of the land that had been given him.
It was a decision of faith and obedience.
A few months ago, God impressed in my heart that this year is a Year of Promotion for me. I do understand what this means.
There are new doors that are opening, and I have to be ready to walk into them.
At the same time, there are doors that will be closing, and I must be ready to walk out and move on.
There are new alignments, new kingdom connections, a new path that must be trod, and the road ahead will not always be easy. There will be new assignments. Fresh revelations.
A fresh anointing for the new assignment.
These are not just beautiful words to read... the implications are quite serious.
God is always preparing us for His promotions, but He is also waiting for the right time to reveal them... to manifest them to us.
Having realized these as the new year is now unfolding for me, I shudder... and I tremble.
I do want to be ready and prepared for this promotion.
But honestly, I feel so small and inadequate.
A deeper faith... a radical obedience.
A clean cut...
My feelings of trepidation come from the fact that I have not been consistent in my walk with God the past months.
I just know I have not been obedient enough.
There have been many distractions, I have been busy and pre-occupied.
Somewhere, in the busyness of the past months, my focus has shifted.
He would awaken me in the early mornings, but _________.
That blank represents all the things that have been hindering full and complete obedience.
But these days I really praise God for not getting tired of revealing His heart to me...
There is a call to separate the old from the new, just as Abraham was willing to part ways with Lot, and walk away from him in peace... in graciousness... in humility.
I want this realization to be a turning point in my life.
There may be friends and even loved ones that I need to move away from, even if the decision to do so may be painful. However, I believe the call is not just about friends. There is a call to separation from habits and mindsets so that God's purposes may be fulfilled.
I can only build one kingdom - God's or mine. It can't be both.
The sad truth is that people are prone to build the kingdom of self, no matter what.
It is what one blog author calls our default setting. It is our natural pre-disposition to be so motivated by self.
There comes a point when a decision to make a clean break is very important. I never realized that the idiom a clean break was originally a cheese making term.
Applied to my life, it means to remove myself completely from a "bad" situation.
This is my epiphany, my realization.
Now I hear the fresh call, and my heart wants to obey ... and to be prepared.
God sees the road ahead, and He is giving out the assignment. Again there is a sifting, and a shifting, and a calling out.
The recent lessons God has been teaching me have all revolved around this one thing: there is no turning back, there is a narrow road ahead. There is a need to deal with the sin that easily entangles - pride, the sin of self-focus.
I do not see beyond the bend in the road, but He does.
There is a call to depend on Him alone - not on chariots or horses or even on strategic planning, although these all have an important place.
The issue boils down to radical obedience.
And in the final analysis, obedience is always radical.
Again, there is no other way.
To hammer down these truths that God has been speaking to me, I received some lessons through my favorite yellowbell vine that has grown into a lovely canopy above my front gate.
On Christmas Eve, December 24, strong gusty winds swept through our city pulling down all the branches of my lovely yellowbell vine. It had been such a showcase the past months - abloom with yellow bells, extending above the front gate of our home, it was like a canopy providing a beautiful shade above our front entrance.
But alas, on Christmas morning, armed with a small saw, I had to cut it all down... resulting in a barren, naked, exposed, and forlorn front entrance.
What used to be a beautiful, graceful picture of abundant life, turned into an ugly image of gnarled and twisted branches with no sign of life at all.
Look at these pictures:
A few hours into the New Year, at about 2:00 a.m., there was a heavy downpour. The first one in weeks. The downpour lasted about two hours, and then toward the early morning, it turned into a gentle drizzle which lasted the whole day.
That was such a beautiful message to my heart. God spoke to my heart through the rains that came to our city right on New Year's day.
I took this picture of my garden at around 9:00 a.m. on New Year's Day. The gentle drizzle can't be seen, but you can see the wet stone path, and the evidence of joy and newness of life!
Look at this picture of my yellow bell plant also taken on New Year's Day. A green shoot had grown right where a branch had been sawed off, just a week before...
God is saying to me: The pain of separation will be rewarded with fresh growth and new life!
I arrived in Manila early this morning after having been in Bacolod City for the months of November and December.
Tomorrow, my daughter Obedient One and I will board our flight to Chiang Mai, Thailand. By tomorrow evening we will be re-united with my friends Ut and Oy, who have so graciously extended another invitation for us to visit them.
I know this trip is a transition point, and I am looking forward to what lies ahead. My heart is truly grateful for the beautiful opportunity He has given me to once again visit this beautiful place. A place filled with beautiful memories for me. And another time to reconnect with dear friends.
In everything I do and say, as the new year slowly unfolds before me, may God alone be honored.
Father, I offer this year to you.
Thank you for speaking to me. I hear your voice Lord... it is calling me to go up higher.
Build in me a heart of faith, a heart of obedience. May my heart be your dwelling place, which is always responding to your call.
