Monthly Archives: February 2017

Genesis 35-36 Revival

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One commentary I read called 35:1-7 the first recorded revival. I remember going to many revival meetings in the church where I grew up. In fact, I went forward during one of those services and cemented my faith in God, repented of sins, and determined to live for Him from that day on.

Jacob sinned. His family worshiped idols. But in chapter 35 they all chose to leave those idols behind and follow the Lord. They buried the idols, and the people moved on. Their worship of God was revived.

I will admit that since that Thursday evening in 1967 when I knelt at the altar during that revival meeting, there have been other times of revival in my life, other sins I had to confess, other idols I had to bury in order to obey God. My walk with the Lord hasn’t been one and done, but rather a series of times of fellowship with my Savior, followed by a drift, then sin, then conviction, repentance, and revival.

I kind of sound like the nation of Israel in the Old Testament.

I don’t know where your walk with the Lord is right now. But I would encourage us all to consider a time of revival. Can we ever walk too close to the Savior, be too free of sin, or too cleansed?

We are the Church. I wonder if it’s time for the Church to allow God to revive us one soul at a time, until the Church is exactly where God would like us to be.

 

The Will To Live

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The man who wrote this has suffered with ALS for twenty years, yet he continues to blow me away with his love for the Lord and his steadfast faith. I hope you take a moment to read what he has to say, and let God speak to you about your commitment to accomplishing His will in your own broken down life. And if you haven’t checked out his blog, I hope you’ll do that, too. Unshakable Hope is a treasure.

Bill Sweeney's avatarUnshakable Hope

I almost made it through a whole year without being hospitalized or having any additional health problems. Almost. Then, with just a few days left in 2016, I caught a cold. The “commoncold” is not much more than an annoyance for otherwise healthy people, but for someone like me with weakened breathing muscles and only 30% of my lungs functioning, the common cold is much more than an annoyance.

On the morning of the last day of the year, I was having an extremely difficult time breathing even wearing my breathing mask. In addition to that, I couldn’t keep anything down. I was a mess, more than usual. Mary and I both assumed it was pneumonia again so she called 911 and within minutes we were in an ambulance en route to the hospital. ALS has brought us one adventure after another over the last 20 years.

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Genesis 33:16-34:31 A Measure Of Obedience

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Often when I’m reading this portion of Scripture, I notice that at the end of chapter 33, Jacob does something different than what he’d said he would do. He told his brother he was coming home. Instead, he got as far as Succoth, about a day’s journey short of going home, and settled there. Not quite the Promised Land. But close. I find myself wondering about this change of plans.

But then chapter 34 starts and I get caught up in Dinah’s tragic story. Jacob forgotten.

It occurred to me that just because a chapter ends and another begins doesn’t mean they’re not connected. So I pulled out some commentaries to see what others think about it. Here is a synopsis of my study:

To begin with, the Lord, in 31:3 told Jacob to go “back to the land of your father and to your relatives, and I will be with you.” Jacob kind of did that. He got just inside Canaan, like a kid who puts his toe on the line he’s told not to cross. Then, and this is what hit me, he had the audacity to buy land, makes shelters, and build an altar to God, naming it “The God of Israel.” Did he think if he named the altar after God, God would be appeased and overlook the disobedience Jacob was committing?

I’m wondering if a person can sort of obey God.  Can  someone ask Jesus into their heart, yet hold on to a sin or two? Can a Christian go to church, give generously, yet harbor hatred toward a brother, and still be considered obedient? Is God ok with our outward display of partial obedience?

Let’s look at the result of Jacob’s actions. His daughter was violated, his sons committed mass murder and theft. And in the end, God told him to keep moving and do what He’d told him to do in the first place. All of that heartache could have been avoided if Jacob had obeyed from the start.

As I read this portion of Scripture I am challenged to check my level of obedience. I believe God is telling me that having a measure of obedience is disobedience. And there are serious consequences for holding back on God.

And I am reminded that God doesn’t demand total obedience because He is a buzz-kill, or some control freak. God knows that there are blessings that come with total obedience, and He is anxious to pour those blessings over His children. God knows that when we obey Him we are spared from the heartaches that come from disobedience. And He wants us to live lives free from those heartaches.

Just obey Me, He tells us. Then see what life can really be.

Genesis 31-33 A Prayer Template

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Jacob was afraid. And he probably had reason to be. He was bringing his family and everything he owned home after being away for about twenty years. He knew his brother Esau would be waiting for him. What Jacob didn’t know is how Esau would react to having his deceiving thief of a brother home again. Would Esau seek revenge for the injustices Jacob had done to him? The thought of what might lie ahead for Jacob and his loved ones scared him.

With great fear and distress, Jacob prayed. (Gen 32:9-12) I think it’s a template for prayer I could use myself.

First, Jacob acknowledge God. It wasn’t just a “Dear God,” kind of intro followed by a wish list. Jacob prayed:

O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord…

I need to stop more often and consider to whom I’m praying, verbalize the great privilege I have of actually speaking with the Creator. I see there is an important element of worship in Jacob’s prayer as he focuses his attention on God. I want to do that when I’m praying too.

Next Jacob prayed back God’s own Words, letting God know he remembers God’s promise:

O Lord, who said to me, “Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper”

Sometimes I find that when I pray, verses come to mind. I want that to be the case more often. Because God can say things so much better than I. (God, you promised never to leave or forsake me, You’ve said if I confess my sins You are faithful to forgive, You’ve told me You’re preparing a place for me…) I want to be in God’s Word so much that His Words are at the tip of my tongue when I’m talking to my neighbor, or to Him.

The next thing Jacob did in this prayer is to admit his own unworthiness, praising God for blessing he didn’t deserve, and crediting God with everything Jacob possessed. Jacob took a moment to confess:

I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups.

I don’t want to be in too big of a rush to let God know that I recognize how much He has blessed me. I don’t ever want to take any of it for granted. I am unworthy. I am nothing and have nothing without Him. I know that. And I want to tell Him so every time I pray.

Then, after focusing on God, praying back Scripture, and confessing, Jacob finally got around to asking for something:

Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children.

Jacob prayed 1) Save me, 2) I’m afraid, and 3) Protect my family. He was specific in his requests. He didn’t tell God how to make it happen. He just asked God to make it happen.

Believe it or not, this is where I have the most difficulty. Sometimes putting into words what I actually want or need is hard. It’s easier when I’m praying for someone else. Heal the cancer, God. Save that soul, Lord. Keep that missionary safe, dear Father. But when it comes to sharing the desires of my own heart, I get tongue-tied. I’m sitting here wondering why that is. It certainly isn’t because I have everything I want, or that my life is so perfect as is. It isn’t because I think God can’t give me those things, or won’t give them to me. This is a topic I’m going to have to spend some thinking-time and serious praying about. Psalm 37:4 tells me that if I delight myself in the Lord, he will give me the desires of my heart. So what am I waiting for? I’ll get back to you on that.

Finally, Jacob prayed God’s Words back to Him again:

But you have said, I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.

I think Jacob prayed believing that God is true to His Word. And he gave the situation to God, confident that God would bring about the fulfillment of His promise.

This template for prayer demonstrates that even prayer is about God. Prayer can, and probably should be, an act of worship. And the way Jacob prayed here in Genesis 32 is very much like the prayer our Lord taught us how to pray.

I believe God delights in our prayers. They are a sweet fragrance to Him, Scripture tells us. I want to learn to pray effectively and fervently so that God and I together can accomplish much.

 

 

Genesis 29-30 A Test Of Character

Years ago I was shopping with my sister and her young son, who was probably three or four at the time. It had been a long day, and he’d missed nap time. We walked into one store and he immediately started to cry. He’d seen something he wanted and his mom said no.

I know you know where I’m going with this. Bear with me.

She took his hand and started to walk, but he cried a bit louder. Then louder still. She knelt in front of him to help him understand why she’d said no. But the more she talked, the louder he got until his crying became full blown screaming.

If you’re a parent you probably relate. Shopping with a tired three year old isn’t always easy.

Makes me think about the reaction of so many college kids to President Trump’s election, or the juvenile protests by way too many adults. (really, Hollywood? Don’t make movies for eight years. Most of us won’t miss you. And besides, your greed and egos won’t let you stay away eight minutes, much less eight years)

But here I am throwing stones when I need to take care of a plank in my own eye. How do I, as a Christian adult, react to failure or disappointment, or to someone else’s opinion? How I answer that reveals so much about my character before God and man.

Say what you will about Jacob, he demonstrated some pretty solid character when Laban pulled the old switch-er-oo on his wedding night. Waking up next to Leah must have been a shock. Disappointment? Betrayal? At the very least.

But we don’t read that Jacob threw a fit, or rallied his friends to destroy property, or hid in his tent in a fetal position and sucking his thumb. We see Jacob go to his father-in-law and talk man to man. We see Jacob voicing his frustration, turning around and doing what he had to do in light of the circumstances. It set him back another seven years. Yet Jacob’s handling of his disappointment in this situation has him passing the character test in my book.

It’s unrealistic to insist you always get your way, or that everyone should agree with you, or that things should always be fair. You will fail. People will disappoint you. Someone will cut you off in traffic.

Dear one, you aren’t three any more. Don’t react like you are. As a Christian, you represent Jesus to a world that needs to see Him in you. And they are watching to see if your reactions to failure or disappointment looks any different than theirs.

I have to confess that during my nephew’s tantrum in the store that day, this aunt quietly walked away, putting some distance between me and the noise, and pretending I was interested in the jewelry display.

I’m reminded that Thomas Edison is reported to have said that he found 10,000 ways how NOT to make a lightbulb. I’m sure he was disappointed 10,000 times. But he kept working toward the goal. I’m glad he didn’t throw a tantrum and quit after his first try… or his 9,999th.

I want to keep working toward my goal, too. I don’t ever want my actions to cause anyone to want to put distance between them and me, between them and Jesus because of me. I want to surrender my character to Jesus, to become that new creature He says I can be. I want to handle failure and disappointment and reveal the kind of character that will draw people to their Savior.

Father, I thank you for the convicting work of Your Holy Spirit as I read Your Word. I don’t always react to bumps in the road in ways that honor You. Sometimes I reveal a weak character when I throw a grown-up tantrum that looks very much like a child’s. God, I surrender my life, my thoughts, my actions, who I am, to You and ask You to mold me into a woman of Christ-like character. May people see Jesus in me in every circumstance. And may they be drawn to You by my example. For Jesus’ sake.

 

 

Genesis 26-28 God’s Perfect Will

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The last couple of days I have been looking into the idea of predestination. It is sadly a concept that has divided God’s Church, and I believe unnecessarily. I know many of you hold tightly to one end of the spectrum or the other. And I don’t imagine my thoughts will change anyone’s opinion. Smarter people than me have debated the issue more eloquently than I can ever hope to do. But, dear one, recognize your position as an opinion. I am just going to share mine.

I looked up the Greek definition of the word proorizo. And I found that there is not just one emphatic definition. But among those I found are: pre-established boundaries, pre-determined limits, foreordain.

Does God have a predestined will? Absolutely. The Bible is clear about that. But what I want you to consider is what that will is. Did God predestine boundaries, or did He predestine individuals?

God so loved the world…

He is not willing that any should perish.

I submit that before creation God predestined a plan. Giving humans free will, they would need a Savior. God, before He made the heavens and the earth, determined that Jesus would spend time on earth, die, and rise again to pay for the sins of every human being. That was His perfect will.

There are a lot of examples in Scripture of how God intervened in the lives of people to bring about His purpose. But we must remember that we are reading the result of choices these people freely made. For instance, Isaac would have blessed Esau. Esau was the first born, a man’s man so to speak. And Isaac chose to place his final blessing on his oldest son.

However, God had told Rebekah before the twins were even born that the older would serve the younger. That didn’t matter. Isaac planned to give Esau the blessing anyway.

You know the story. Rebekah and Jacob conceived a plan to deceive Isaac, to steal the blessing intended for Esau. And they succeeded. The result was exactly as God had said it would be.

Now some of you will say that God did that; that God arranged the events to bring about His plan. I wonder. Does God cause people to sin in order to manipulate circumstances? Jacob lied repeatedly to his dad. The Bible tells us lying is a sin. Did God make Jacob sin?

James 1:13 says: When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by there own evil desire and enticed.

Remember that God has seen the end of everything long before we who live it one minute at a time experience it. And when God tells us what is going to happen – and then it does happen – we see He is Sovereign, Omniscient, the One True God. What I don’t see is a god who pulls strings, who manipulates people, who chooses some people to go to heaven and some to go to hell. I don’t see a god who shed his blood for some and not for others. I see a God who knows what is ahead because He has seen the choices we make before we make them.

I go back to the analogy of watching a movie with one who has already seen it. They can tell me what’s going to happen because they know the end from the beginning.

I think the thing about either side of the issue is to remember that our choices are eternally important. Your choice to speak or not to speak to that neighbor about Jesus may be the difference between heaven and hell. Some people live as though God wrote the script and they are just delivering the lines. That God will bring about His will with or without us. And if we choose to do nothing, well, that must be in the script.

Go into all the world and preach the Gospel…

Fight the good fight of faith…

How can they hear unless someone tell them…

If you are wondering what God’s will is for your life, it’s to know Him, it’s to accept His Son as your Savior, it’s to obey Him, to tell others about Him. He’s not going to make you. But He won’t stop bugging you about it, either. Not until you draw your last breath.

I guess you know which side of the issue I’m leaning toward. I would rather get to heaven and hear God say the choices I made in this life really didn’t matter, than to hear Him say the choices I didn’t make mattered a great deal.

 

Genesis 24-25 Living Life

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Isaac, the son through whom God chose to reveal Himself to the nations and ultimately to be born into his family, loved Rebekah. Their meeting is a sweet story and filled with lessons about faith and obedience.

They had twin sons, who were as opposite as night and day. Esau, the rough and tumbled hunter. Jacob, the deceiving home-body. Esau, who lived for the moment. Jacob, who began to fashion a future to his liking.

I would suggest that neither extreme is pleasing to God. I think the young Rebekah’s story is a better example of how we should live. She, while still living with her father, had been given expensive jewelry and honor by Abraham’s servant. She enjoyed her new-found riches, but she didn’t just stay there. She got on her camel and moved ahead toward  a life she couldn’t have been real sure about.

Sometimes, I admit, I don’t live in the moment enough. I don’t allow myself to smell roses or enjoy a sunrise on the beach. I don’t talk to a friend about God every time I feel Him nudging me toward that. Sometimes I miss recognizing a blessing because I’m not paying attention.

And sometimes I find myself making decision, or living as though there is no tomorrow, so caught up in the “now” I don’t pay attention to God’s promptings about what He has in store for me up ahead.

I think the Bible teaches us to keep our eye on the sky, watching for Christ’s return, preparing to meet Him, while making every day count. A little Esau, a little Jacob, and a bit of Rebekah.

Dear God, I want to soak in everything You have given me and are doing in me today. I want to live my life with eternity my focus. I don’t want to miss a blessing or a challenge that comes from You. Thank you for walking with me today. May I be intentional about walking with You. 

Genesis 23 – I Can’t Accept That Gift

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Abraham and his very large group of servants, plus livestock had settled in Canaan. But it sounds like he didn’t own any of the land he was living on. “I am an alien and a stranger among you,” he told the Hittites when he asked them if he could buy a plot of land to bury his wife.

He must have been a pretty good neighbor because several Hittites offered to give him a cave for Sarah’s tomb. Abraham refused the gift, and insisted on paying a fair price instead.

So after a few refusals of free land, Abraham finally paid Ephron the going rate, and bought Ephron’s field in Machpelah.

The Bible tells us not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14). If Abraham had accepted a gift of land, he would have been indebted to unbelievers. He had to buy a tomb, and pay a fair price in order to be free from obligation.

Sometimes we might be too quick to align ourselves with non-Christians. Not just in marriage, although that is certainly part of God’s instructions about tying ourselves to unbelievers. But I think God would have us consider who we hang out with, who we do business with, the places we frequent. Now I am not suggesting we not go into the world to share the Gospel. I’m not saying we shouldn’t become all things to all men in order to win some. I’m just wondering if we should take a page from Abraham’s life and consider who we are under obligation to.

Abraham lived in the land. He just remained separate from them. “Come out from among them and be separate” (2 Corinthians 6:17).

I hope you have attached yourself to a Bible believing group of people who love the Lord and are reaching out to the lost. I hope that is where your loyalties and obligations lie. And I hope when people think about you, they recognize there is something different about you, for Jesus’ sake.

Genesis 21-22 I Believe Him

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The Father offered His Son as a living sacrifice. The Son, obedient to the Father, hung on the cross, and willingly laid down His life. The Son, the sacrifice, the Lamb that was slain, lives again.

Was God’s instruction to Abraham some random test of faith? Or was it a foreshadowing of what was to come, a beautiful picture of Jesus?

Abraham might have been confused. God just got done telling him Isaac would be the father of nations. But Isaac hadn’t had his first child yet when God told Abraham to sacrifice his son. I love the fact that Abraham obeyed anyway.

For three days he walked with his son. The son carried the wood for the sacrifice. The father carried the knife.

Didn’t Jesus carry His cross? Was it God the Father or the Jews who held the “knife?”

Abraham had time to change his mind, but he kept moving. His faith in God seems to have prevented him from disobeying. “God will provide the lamb,” he told Isaac. And I love how Abraham’s faith was revealed when he spoke to his servants.

He said, “We (Isaac and I) are going ahead to make a sacrifice to God. You wait here. WE’LL be right back.”

Abraham might not have known HOW God was going to keep His promise. He only knew God WOULD keep His promise.

And that’s how I want to live my life. God has promised never to leave or forsake me, He promised to forgive my sins when I repent, He promised to go prepare a place for me to live with Him forever. And I believe Him.

Dear Father, I want to live my life with faith like Abraham’s. I want to go about my day with the same determination to obey You. I want to take those steps of faith even when I don’t see how Your will can be accomplished in and through me. May I be yielded to You, sensitive to Your voice, believing You and trusting You. Thank you for providing the Lamb. Your promises are true. I love You. And I believe.