29th Week Genesis 14-18 (Click on Title for Video Introduction)

 

Click on Title for Video Intro

Monday, Genesis Chapter 14

Genesis 14

Verses 14-16

Heather Williams

July 21, 2006

Verses 14-16:  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.  During the night Abram divided his men to attack them, and he routed them, pursing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.  

THOUGHT

Rereading Genesis has reminded me of what strong faith and courage Abraham had. Here we see Abraham’s faith displayed again through his actions. Lot was taken captive, and Abraham hears about it and reacts.  A couple things we learn from his response and actions are 1) He had courage! Wow, he really trusted God to react and confront that king and his armies. This was a powerful adversary, yet he didn’t even pause before going out and facing him. 2) He was prepared. He had trained men ready to go and fight. 

I could learn a lot from this. I know often my courage is lacking, and I tend to be a bit of a procrastinator. Shocking I know. I often put things off, but this shows us that we should be prepared. This doesn’t just mean to be prepared in our physical life, but in our spiritual life as well. We should be prepared to give a testimony of our faith at a moment’s notice. (I Peter 3:15) 

The part of this story that really convicted me was Abraham’s willingness to go and rescue Lot from this terrible capture. So often I tend to avoid bad situations. I tend to think, “That person got themselves in that trouble, and so they should get themselves out”. However, that’s not what Abraham did or what Jesus did. We learned from Abraham in the Old Testament and from Jesus all throughout the New Testament, that we are called to help those in need. Jesus loved those who were the hardest to love and so should we. We should be willing to get our hands dirty and get involved in painful, uneasy situations to help others. This is very challenging to me.

PRAYER

Lord, we just read about the courage, faith, and love that Abraham had and reflected. We want to be like that, Lord. We want to be courageous enough to face whatever challenges come our way, without flinching. Lord, help us to prepare our lives, our hearts, and our ways for any situation that may cross our paths. Give us the confidence to know You are there standing right beside us, often holding us up. Help us also to love as Jesus did. We want to model our lives after Him, and we recognize how He loved any and every one, Lord, even those people that are very difficult to love. Change our hearts to have compassion and love for all of Your precious children. AMEN

Tuesday, Genesis Chapter 15

Genesis 15

Verse 6

Mindy Strayer

July 23, 2006

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

THOUGHT

Before God gives Abram His big promise of descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky he first says, “Abram do not fear. I am your shield of protection and I will bless you.” God’s promises are credible because He is God. Whenever we have doubts, God always reminds us of who He is. When God told Abram His promise, the Bible says that Abram believed God. It sounds simple enough to believe God. To believe that God is who He says that He is and does what He says He will do. But it isn’t always so simple. This is where faith comes in. 

Do we really trust God? What if believing in God’s promise means that we need to rearrange our priorities in life a little or maybe a lot in order for God to make His promises come through to fruition? What if it means that we have to get out of our comfort zone and be uncomfortable for a time? This is where it gets tough because our faith must be accompanied by action. James says in James 2:l7 that faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead. Is it really our heart’s greatest desire to love and follow God? Or are we getting caught up in the world’s desires? If God has given us a promise, but we just can’t seem to make that our priority, then we probably need to have God examine our hearts.  Then we need to ask him to change our desires to match up with His. We need to ask Him to help us to resist and dispense that which does not go along with His promise. We can be assured that He will do this for us because Jesus says that anything that is asked for in His Name according to the Will of God will be done.

PRAYER

Father God, thank You for Your promises to us. I pray that You would strengthen our faith so that we would dare to do great things for You, Lord.  How blessed we are to have Your love. I pray that You would be with each Salt Shaker this week and speak to them of Your specific promises for their lives here on earth. Thank You, Jesus, for we find our purpose in Your love for us. We love You, Lord. AMEN

Wednesday, Genesis Chapter 16

Genesis l6

Verse 2

Mindy Strayer

July 24, 2006

Verse 2:  Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.

THOUGHT

Does this sound like a plan that is relying on faith in God? Just the small part that says, ‘maybe I can build’, lets us know that this idea is not based on Sarai’s faith in God. She is not confident because she is relying on her own plan, not God’s. Chapter 16 in summary is just a big mess. I was actually quite disturbed while reading it. You know what it is like to read something disturbing. My mouth opened, I got a frown on my face, slapped my forehead and yelled, “NOOOO! Don’t do that!”  This was definitely not these peoples’ best moments. 

We all fall subject to having too little faith in God. We become impatient with His timing. We try to problem solve with solutions not of God. When we go along with our un-godly plan, and it fails, we like to place blame on someone else, refuse to help make the situation right or just plain run away and try to forget about it just like Sarai, Abram and Hagar. What a great lesson on waiting upon the Lord. It is always better to do it God’s way. If we try to do it our way, problems and consequences will arise either now or later.

PRAYER

Lord, how awesome You are!  Lord, that You care about each one of us and every decision that we face in life is beyond our comprehension, but You do.  You care because You love us and want us to live the life that You have prepared for us.  Father, we confess that at times our faith is weak.  We get impatient, and we try and take control, doing things our way. Jesus, forgive us. Holy Spirit, place within our hearts patience and trust in God’s timing. We ask this In Jesus Name. AMEN

Thursday, Genesis Chapter 17

Genesis 17

Verse 1

Mindy Strayer

July 27, 2006

Verse 1:  When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.”

THOUGHT

This message is still true for us today. We obey God because He is God.  Enough said. This really should be enough of a reason for us to completely obey the Lord. So how come we don’t always? Yes, sin in our lives causes us to go against God. I will suggest also that a big reason we don’t always obey God is because we are not in the right relationship with Him. The only way to understand who God is, is to get to know Him for ourselves. God invites us with the prompting of His Holy Spirit, but we must respond to His invitation.  This isn’t just when we first get saved but it is to continue all throughout our lives; because God is always inviting us to commune with him. This is His desire.  

Hard to comprehend that the God of the universe desires communion with us all the time. Not just a couple times a week, but ALL the time throughout the day. Look at Abram, Mr. Faithful, he was 99 years old when God said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.” This age of 99 sounds so old, and yet God is still reminding Abram who He is and calling him to obey. Do we know God well enough to trust Him? Do we know Him enough to understand His ways so that we can obey them? Are we constantly communicating with the Lord throughout the day? He speaks to us and guides us when we do.

PRAYER

Father God, we praise You this morning because of who You are! Lord, we confess that there are times when we do not walk before You obediently and with a heart of repentance for our sins. Jesus, please forgive us and wash us in Your cleansing blood, which makes us blameless in front of the Father. How thankful we are to have You as the Lord of our lives. Lord, help us daily to walk in Your righteousness, holiness, and truth so that we would be pleasing to You and so that others might learn of Your greatness through our lives. We ask this In Jesus Name. AMEN

Friday, Genesis Chapter 18

Genesis 18

Verses 20-21, 32

Mindy Strayer

July 27, 2006

Verse 20-21:  Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”

Verses 32:  He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

THOUGHT

I chose these two verses because both showcase God’s justice on sin but also shows God’s great patience, His fairness, and His mercy. Judgment day has not yet arrived. God is patient. Yet, even with all of the wickedness, selfish desires, and un-Godliness that exist in our world today, God is still waiting for those that have not yet turned to Him for mercy and forgiveness. All will have one last chance to go to God and repent.

PRAYER

God, we thank You for Your patience, fairness, mercy, and forgiveness.  Jesus, we can never repay You for Your great sacrifice on the cross. But we will strive to live our lives holy in response to Your gift of salvation, Jesus.  We love You so much. Thank You for loving us. AMEN