God's Amazing Journey

Wouldn’t it be great if we could instantly tell when the Lord was in our presence.  What an honor to be sitting at home and God shows up.  When Abraham saw God was there, he immediately and reverently honored God.  There was no asking God for stuff, instead the question was “God, would you allow me to serve you?”  Can you stay awhile? May I honor you and sustain you.  That should be the attitude for those who love the :Lord. 

In our daily walks, we still get excited when we pray and God shows up.  But we need to evaluate our prayer and ask are we showing God the respect he is due? God calls us to bring our requests to him. He loves that we understand he is our provider.  But, we need to understand the great honor it is to have our Lord in our lives.  We take for granted he is there.  We need to be respectful, humble and grateful for all he does in our lives.  We need to say thank you for his presence.  We need to have Abraham’s attitude—please let me serve you, Lord.  We approach him as the VIP that he is in our lives and the lives of others.  We simply recognize that He is the Lord of the universe and deserves to be respected and loved.

Help me, Lord to treat you with the honor and respect you deserve.

God Bless You

18 The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. ² Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. ³ He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. ⁴ Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. ⁵ Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”

People’s journeys are simply different.  Abraham was to be the father of many nations.  He had a son named Ishmael and now found he was to have a son named Isaac.  Both boys were prayed for by their dad and yet their journeys were to be completely different.  As a human, it is not easy to understand why God does What he does.  Stories of Job, Joseph, Stephen and other mighty people of God intrigue and perplex us.  Why should these great folk pay such a price?  God has a plan and through his plan the world will be saved.  Along the way as he prepares folk for the daily battle, so much seems unfair.  But, God has been God for a long time and is not looking to retire any time soon.  If we allow him  to work his plan in our life, we will see his plan is preparing us to follow him and be like him.  We simply neeed to believe him and be like him in our daily walks.  Help me Lord, to believe you and be like you in my walk today.

God Bless You

¹⁵ God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. ¹⁶ I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”¹⁷ Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” ¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

¹⁹ Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. ²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. ²¹ But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” ²² When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

 

We sometimes worry that God will be unable to provide what he has promised.  When that happens, we take it upon ourselves to help God out.  That never ends well.  Abram’s wife decided in her guilt and frustration to help God out by giving her slave to Abram as a wife.  There seems to be no prayer, no seeking God on the issue, just a choice to Get Abram an heir.  The results were not good.  Immediately after the child was conceived, the regret and bitterness set in.  Sarai’s “assistance” did not provide what God wanted, it did not alleviate her guilt and it made her slave arrogant and mean.

When we work to help God out, we have the same results.  Our best efforts, more often than not, make it harder for God to work his plan.  We have to fully rely upon God to achieve that which he planned for our lives.  When we do, we gain patience and maturity as well as the blessing he longs to provide.  If we would simply allow him to be God, he will prove again that his way will bless us.  Help me, Lord to rely upon you.

God Bless You

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; ² so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said. ³ So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. ⁴ He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. ⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.” ⁶ “Your slave is in your hands, ” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

America is a litigious  society.  But, Back in Abram’s Day the contract process was a little different.  To enter a covenant, the parties  killed a cow cut it in half and walked among the parts.  The ceremony was done to let the parties know that failure to keep the covenant would mean the same thing would be done to the party that broke covenant.  Legal fees were less but the consequence was a bit more severe! God entered a covenant with Abram.  He wanted Abram to know how serious he was.  The great news is—As usual, God kept his word.

 

God makes promises sparingly, but keeps them consistently.  When we become like him, we too need to focus on making a limited number of promises, but always treat them with the importance that God does.  He loves us and promises us abundant life here and eternity with him.  He only asks for us to trust and follow him.  If we choose to follow him, then we see his wonder in our lives.  Help me Lord to honor our covenant and see your promises today

God Bless You

But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”

⁹ So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon. ”

¹⁰ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. ¹¹ Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

¹² As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. ¹³ Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. ¹⁴ But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

¹⁷ When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi^[e] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates — ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰ Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, ²¹ Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

Abram Believed—The bottom line Abram walked hundreds of miles, he faced kings, war, famine and family discord.  None of that was counted to him as righteousness.  He simply believed God.  Now, clearly, Abram had no heir, no home and no tangible evidence of God’s provision.  What Abram had was God.  His willingness to continue to operate and follow even without the physical evidence is what thrilled the Lord.

In our lives, all the stuff we do, all the hours in church, all the times we behave are not what God counts.  He counts our trust, our submission and our faith in the things unseen.  Emotionally, we have Good days and bad—but if we believe, then we see his provision and promise in our lives.  Help me, Lord, to have faith and please count it as righteousness.

God Bless You

After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward. ”

² But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus? ” ³ And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir. ” ⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars —if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

⁶ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

What a clear picture of devotion.  Abram and his men defeated the enemy and saved Lot, his family and many people from Sodom and Gomorrah.  On the Journey home, they met Melchizedek, King of Salem and anointed Priest of God.  Abram gave a 10^th of what he received to God as a thank you for God’s deliverance.  Immediately, he was met by the King of Sodom.  The King offered Abram all the loot that had been stolen—Abram refused to take any of it.  From a Business perspective, Abram was not so bright.  He took off and went to battle for a group he had no ties or loyalty to.  He won the battle and obtained vast treasure—then gave a potion away.  Finally he was offered a generous reward for his assistance and he refused it.  From a WORLD economy view—bad choice.  The key was that Abram was not controlled by the world economy.

We are similar.  We scrap and journey in this world.   We are faced each day with battles—many of which we have no interest in.  We are called to release the first fruit of our Labor to the Lord and we are called to remain separate from the entanglements of this world.  It is difficult to remain faithful and not try to take advantage of the world’s answers to the problems we face.  They are usually quick and attractive.  They also always have a hook that entangles us and usually draws us away from the Lord. 

Like Abram, we need to separate ourselves from the world system and rely on  God’s economy to deliver us.  As we do, we see peace and freedom in the midst of storm and chaos.  It is not easy, it is not always rewarding—BUT—it is always the right call. 

Help me, Lord to rely upon you and not upon the world’s economy.

God Bless You

 

¹⁸ Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, ¹⁹ and he blessed Abram, saying,

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
²⁰ And praise be to God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand.”

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

²¹ The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.”

²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, ²³ that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ ²⁴ I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.”

When we see others make choices that we know they will regret, we are not absolved from assisting them when they get into trouble.  “I Told You So” does not bring comfort nor does it really bring satisfaction in the lives of the ones we care about.  What does make a difference is our willingness to dive in and assist those that are hurting.  Abram saved Lot—and in the process saved many others.  He saved many folks that no knowledge of God.  He left the enemy vanquished and the victims amazed.

In our lives, we have the same opportunity.  We have to remain faithful and come along side even when it is inconvenient and when we feel the person has made a bad choice.  As we are faithful and gracious, there is no telling how many lives will be affected and how many folks can be saved.  That is God’s call. We simply muster our resources and fight the fight for our Lord.  When we do—the result will amaze and perplex the enemy and the world.  Help me, Lord to dive in and be ready to assist those that need you

God Bless You.

¹¹ The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. ¹² They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.

¹³ A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. ¹⁴ When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. ¹⁵ During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. ¹⁶ He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.

¹⁷ After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).

 

Unintended consequences…Lot just gets settled in and before he knows it he is a prisoner of War in a battle for which has no interest.  When Lot decided to take the easy way by going to the rich bottom lands, he thought he could remain unscathed and separate from the culture and consequences—he was wrong.

In today’s culture, we do the same thing.  As Christians, we think we can play in the current world culture without being touched by its paradigm.  Materialism, self absorption, instant gratification and entertainment standards are but a few of the areas that stand to take us captive.  When we play in those areas, it is almost a certainty we will be enslaved.

The best answer is to remain separate.  Don’t give the enemy a chance to entangle you.  Keep your eyes on Christ, your nose in the word and your knees on the floor.  Then you cannenjoy the peace God wants for you.

Help me Lord to remain separate from those things that could take me captive.

God Bless You

⁵ In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim ⁶ and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert. ⁷ Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazezon Tamar.

⁸ Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboyim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim ⁹ against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. ¹⁰ Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. ¹¹ The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. ¹² They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.