Today I want to talk about a guy named Jabez. I was first introduced to him years ago in Bruce Wilkinson’s book “The Prayer of Jabez.“ This man Jabez is found in the middle of a long list of genealogies that start in 1 Chronicles 1 and for the next 9 chapters go on in detail from Adam to Saul (and everyone in between)! There are brief sections like this one in chapter 4 where there is a bit more information given on one individual or group of individuals before starting off again with a list of more names. Boring, right? Well for me anyway, over the past few years I’ve come to really respect the genealogies found in the Bible. The meticulous way that they are written, and in some places, even exact numbers of both people and animals are carefully recorded. Genealogies are a word picture of God’s love and compassion for His people. Not one is left out.
That brings me to Jabez. He is found nowhere else in the Bible except in these two verses:
Jabez was more honourable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request. (1 Chronicles 4:9-10)
Verse 9 starts off telling us that he was more honourable than his brothers. What that means we are not told, but it’s significant enough for the author to mention it. The name Jabez means “born in pain,” and in Bible times, the meaning of your name was significant. This did not bode well for Jabez right from birth. (Think of the names of Naomi’s two sons who died in the opening verses of Ruth. Their names were Mahlon and Chilion which mean “sickness” and “destruction.”)
Jabez does not want to live a life full of pain, but a life of abundance, and so he calls out to God. I can imagine him on his knees, desperately crying out the words of the prayer found in verse 10 with tears streaming down his face perhaps. He wanted God’s blessing and he wanted it a lot. So he starts his prayer with those words, “Oh, that you would bless me…” Do you ask God for blessings or does that seem too self serving to you? God wants to bless each one of us, just as he wants us to bless others as His image bearers. So…ask God for His blessing in your life and see if He doesn’t just open up the floodgates!
Next in his prayer Jabez says, “enlarge my territory! “ He didn’t just want a blessing from the hand of God, he was ready to step into whatever “let loose” when God started to bless him! He was ready to be sent out. What would happen if we started to ask God to enlarge our territory? As individuals, as families, as a seminary community, as the Church of God? Would you be willing to step out of your comfort zone, a little bit at a time as God slowly pushes your current boundaries, the church’s current boundaries out, and out, and out? Would you go where God leads and sends you, even if it’s not what you had planned? Are you willing to have your boundaries stretched?
Jabez then asks of God, “Let Your hand be with me…” If God is going to bless Jabez and send him into an enlarged territory, Jabez needs to put on some battle armor. God’s hand is just that. When God’s hand is with us, and His Spirit lives in us we are equipped to take on whatever life throws at us. Without God’s hand guiding and holding us and His Spirit indwelling us, we would be lost.
Lastly, just like Jesus prayed “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13), Jabez prayed “keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” Although Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, I can imagine the shame he may have carried with him every day because of the name that he had. Jabez: Born in pain. Harm in our lives might come in many different forms. Temptations, gossip, slander, distractions pulling us away from God, and idols of every type could fit into this category. Anything that could cause us physical, mental, emotional or spiritual harm and lead us away from God’s presence in our lives. This is not to say that these things will not come, but in praying like Jabez, and like Jesus we are asking that God by His Spirit would lead us away from anything that could cause us harm and cause us to look away from Him and His truth.
Jabez asked for God’s blessing, to be sent out beyond his comfort zone, for God to go with him as he went, and for God to keep him far away from harm so that pain would not enter (or remain) in his life. What would happen if we started to ask God for these same four things too? If we came to God in humility and trust with a repentant heart, seeking Him, and said to Him just as Jesus says in the Lord’s prayer, “may Your will be done?” The Lord honors those who seek Him. Like Jabez. His prayer was bold, honest and courageous. John Ortberg in his book The Me I Want to Be says, “The goal of prayer is not to get good at praying, as many people think. The goal of prayer is not to try to set new records for how much time we spend praying. The goal of prayer is to live all of my life and speak all of my words in the joyful awareness of the presence of God.”1 I think, from reading these two verses that Jabez may just have lived just like he prayed in that joyful awareness, and so these two verses end with one final sentence.
“And God granted his request.”
–Jennifer Heidinga
- John Ortberg, The Me I Want to Be: Becoming God’s Best Version of You. (Zondervan, November 4, 2014).
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토토 가이드는 온라인 베팅 세계에서 신뢰할 수 있는 정보와 종합적인 자료를 제공하는 최고의
목적지입니다. 가장 정확하고 최신의 자원을 제공하는 목표로 설립된 우리는
복잡한 토토 사이트의 세계를 안내하여 여러분이 정보에 입각한 자신감 있는
베팅 결정을 내릴 수 있도록 돕고자 합니다.
우리의 전문가 팀은 다양한 토토 사이트를 철저히 검토하고 평가하여
상세한 통찰력과 공정한 추천을 제공합니다.
우리는 베팅 세계에서 신뢰성과 보안의 중요성을 이해하고 있으며, 모든 리뷰와
가이드에서 투명성과 신뢰성을 최우선으로 생각합니다.
토토 가이드에서는 초보자부터 경험이 많은 베터까지 모두가 쉽게 베팅 세계를 탐험할 수
있도록 돕는 것을 목표로 합니다.
최고의 베팅 확률을 찾고 싶거나, 당첨금을 극대화할 전략을 원하거나, 단순히 업계의 최신 동향과 뉴스를 알고 싶다면 토토 가이드가 최고의 자원이 될
것입니다.
우리 커뮤니티에 가입하여 우리의 풍부한 지식과 전문성의 혜택을 누리십시오.
토토 가이드를 신뢰할 수 있는 온라인 베팅의 동반자로 삼으십시오.
더 많은 정보를 원하시면 저희 웹사이트를 방문하여 다양한 자원을
탐색해 보세요. 여러분의 성공과 만족이 우리의
최우선 과제입니다. 온라인 베팅 세계에서
여러분의 신뢰할 수 있는 조언자 토토 가이드에
오신 것을 환영합니다.
토토 가이드는 온라인 베팅 세계에서 신뢰할 수
있는 정보와 종합적인 자료를 제공하는 최고의
목적지입니다. 가장 정확하고 최신의 자원을 제공하는 목표로 설립된 우리는 복잡한 토토 사이트의
세계를 안내하여 여러분이 정보에 입각한 자신감 있는 베팅 결정을 내릴 수 있도록 돕고자 합니다.
우리의 전문가 팀은 다양한 토토 사이트를 철저히 검토하고
평가하여 상세한 통찰력과 공정한 추천을 제공합니다.
우리는 베팅 세계에서 신뢰성과 보안의 중요성을 이해하고 있으며, 모든 리뷰와 가이드에서
투명성과 신뢰성을 최우선으로 생각합니다.
토토 가이드에서는 초보자부터 경험이 많은 베터까지 모두가 쉽게 베팅 세계를
탐험할 수 있도록 돕는 것을 목표로 합니다.
최고의 베팅 확률을 찾고 싶거나, 당첨금을 극대화할 전략을 원하거나, 단순히 업계의 최신 동향과 뉴스를 알고 싶다면 토토 가이드가 최고의 자원이 될 것입니다.
우리 커뮤니티에 가입하여 우리의 풍부한 지식과 전문성의 혜택을 누리십시오.
토토 가이드를 신뢰할 수 있는 온라인 베팅의 동반자로 삼으십시오.
더 많은 정보를 원하시면 저희 웹사이트를 방문하여 다양한 자원을 탐색해 보세요.
여러분의 성공과 만족이 우리의 최우선 과제입니다.
온라인 베팅 세계에서 여러분의
신뢰할 수 있는 조언자 토토 가이드에
오신 것을 환영합니다.
The new category of waste that has become one of the biggest waste management problems in the world is e-waste. Since the refusal by many Third World countries to accept e-waste, the problem has suddenly become a little exaggerated.
If you are looking for the benefits of waste recycling buy-back programs, you are probably aware of the basics of e-waste management. Buy-back programs are touted as the best way for IT companies to handle their e-waste disposal due to various advantages.
In this post, we will understand how waste recycling buy-back programs work and what opportunities buy-back programs hold.
How Do Waste Recycling Buy-Back Programs Work?
A waste recycling buy-back program is a waste collection initiative usually run by manufacturers of products, where consumers can return their old electronic devices to the manufacturers and earn in-store credits or cash in return. This type of program is run in association with retailers. A consumer can return the electronic device to the partner retailer and get in-store credits in return.
However, many independent buy-back programs are also run by e-waste management companies who offer cash rewards when you partner with them for e-waste removal. Different e-waste removal companies have different e-waste management processes. You will need to connect with buy-back program organizers in your area to know the detailed process.