The Covenant of Dialogue

Genesis 12:1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 Abram was from Mesopotamia (southern Iraq). He was Sumerian. He understood a polytheistic religion. This is who God called. God can use and chooses people who don’t seem to be like Him. At Haran, God spoke to Abram again. He called him to a place he didn’t know of.

When God calls me from a place where I am comfortable, even it’s not a place I like, moving will get me to a better place. How do I answer when God calls me go to a place I’ve never been before?

Even if I am settled in my spirit and in my place in life, there are people around me that God wants to move.

Pioneers explore by going to the edge of a settled society and beyond. Sometimes our life is like the explorers going West; at times we must “pick up our canoe” to get to where we need to go in a way we had not expected or planned. The explorers needed help to get there from those around them who were familiar with the land.

We all need a bit of settler and pioneer in order to continue forward with God.

Genesis 13:1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12

John 13:35

There are personal, informal ways of speaking to one another and formal ways of speaking out of respect to someone who I do not know. Abram speaks to God as if He is his friend and father. This is heart to heart dialogue, an I and thou conversation. Lot doesn’t understand a relationship with God. His dialogue with Abram is about what he wants. It is an I and it dialogue. Our dialogue shouldn’t be just asking for things. God wants an I–thou relationship.

Psalm 25:1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 I–thou lifts God up with humility.

Don’t revert to an I–it relationship with God. The Holy Spirit will reveal this so it can be corrected.

Genesis 19:9,10,11 Lot had an I–it relationship with God. Pitching a tent towards Sodom lead to choosing to live in the city. Angels actively warned Lot to get out to a safe place.

The men outside were struck with blindness as result of their I–it approach. If they had changed with humility, God would have opened their eyes just as He did with Paul. God chose Paul for a purpose. God changed him from Saul who was intent on harm to Paul who was humble and dedicated to work for the Gospel.

Which dialogue am I in? I–thou or I–it?