Fri, Aug 31st - 1:07AM
ABRAHAM, SARAH, AND HAGAR - Blog 14
Read Genesis 21:11-14 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring." Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba. Abraham was understandably grieved at the prospect of sending Ishmael away. But God was there to guide him through this difficulty, and told him this was the way it had to be. Isaac, after all, was the son God had promised to give him. Of course, we can look back and see all that God had planned for Isaac's descendants, even the birth of the Messiah, who would save mankind from sin. But because Ishmael was Abraham's son also, God would give him many descendants as well. As we have seen all through his life, Abraham obeyed immediately, even though his heart must still have been in great turmoil. How hard it must have been to send his son away into the desert with only food and water! But God always knows best, even when things don't make perfect sense to us. He knows the end from the beginning, and we are wise to trust and obey, always. Is there something you know God wants you to do, but you are dragging your feet, or even refusing to do it? Maybe it's something or someone you need to give up. Just because it's hard doesn't mean it isn't right. Conversely, something that "feels so right," as the song says, can be absolutely wrong. As you are on your knees with God, what is His still, small voice speaking to your heart? Does what you are hearing agree with what He tells us in the Bible, His written word to us?
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Wed, Aug 29th - 4:32AM
ABRAHAM, SARAH, AND HAGAR - Blog 13
In the last blog, we looked at Isaac's birth, and the fact that God always delivers what He promises. Now, we will see that when we fail to make the best choices, or when we sin against Him, there are consequences for our actions. God is there to walk us through it when we will listen to Him. Read Genesis 21:8-10 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac." Remember how Abraham and Sarah took matters into their own hands? Though God had promised them a child, they decided He needed their help, and Sarah gave her Egyptian servant to Abraham to produce an heir for him. This brought grief and dissension into their household. Now, roughly 14 years later, it's all coming to a head. God has surely given Abraham and Sarah a son, though they are 90 and 100 years old. (Never give up on God!) And now, their remedy for Sarah's barrenness has collided with God's stated purpose from the beginning. Sarah has realized that Ishmael, as Abraham's son, is a threat to her son, Isaac, and his inheritance and standing as the legal first-born of Abraham. Being entirely unacceptable to her, she is demanding that Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael away. In spite of the fact that total chaos has erupted, and heartbreak is inevitable, God is in control.
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Sun, Aug 26th - 3:32AM
ABRAHAM, SARAH, AND HAGAR Blog 12
Read Genesis 21:2-7 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me. And she added, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age." Can't you just feel Sarah's joy?? Now she's laughing for all the right reasons! Though I know of no specific scripture telling us this, we know Abraham had a new spring in his step, twinkle in his eye, and "ho-ho-ho" in his voice! God delights to delight His children. Read Matthew 7:7-11 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Have you learned something new about the way God relates to us through this lesson? If so, what? How will this change the way you relate to Him, and live your life?
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Sat, Aug 25th - 4:46AM
ABRAHAM, SARAH, AND HAGAR - Blog 11
Our last blog stopped at the end of Genesis 17, with Abraham circumcising all males in his household, in response to God's command. You may read, on your own, chapters 18-20, but for this study's purposes, we will pick up at chapter 21. God has repeated the message that Sarah will indeed have a son. When Sarah laughed (and then denied it!) God called her on it, but her disbelief didn't change His plan. If He weren't God, (and nothing catches Him by surprise), He probably would've been a little incredulous that anyone could disbelieve anything the God of the universe had to say about anything. He did ask, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" Of course, He answered His own question by that time the next year when Sarah delivered her bouncing baby boy, at the age of ninety years old! There is no God like our God! Is there a promise you find it difficult to believe, even though you would really like to? Now answer the question God put to Abraham and Sarah, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" Read Genesis 21:1 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised. Incredible! Incredible that Almighty God wants a relationship with finite, sinful human beings! Incredible that He promised them their own real, live miracle by His hand! Incredible that imperfect, impatient, and disbelieving as they had sometimes been,"the Lord was gracious to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised!" What does this say to you? Among other things, it says to me that the Lord our God can be trusted to deliver whatever He promises. He's incredible! What has He promised us? He is faithful to deliver, so let's "unwrap" some of the gifts He has given us, if we will only receive them! Read Revelation 3:20 and John 6:35-37 He wants a relationship with us Read John 1:12 and John 10:25-28 We can choose to belong to Him Read Isaiah 41:10 and Matthew 28:19-20 He is with us Read James 1:5 He gives us wisdom Read 1 Corinthians 10:6-13 and James 1:12-18 He gives us a way out of temptation and sin Read Isaiah 1:18 and 1 John 1:5-9 When we repent, He forgives us Read Psalm 23, Psalm 91, and Psalm 32:8-9 He comforts, protects, and guides us Read Philippians 4:6-7 and Matthew 11:28-29 He gives us peace and rest These are just a few of the promises God gives those who, by faith in and submission to His Son, are His adopted children. As you read all the things He has said He will do for us and wants to give us, are you bowing before Him, while chuckling to yourself, like Abraham and Sarah did? Was anything too hard for God then? You can be certain there is nothing too hard for Him now. The centuries have not worn Him down, or made Him old and tired. What He promises, He will deliver. This God is our God. Praise His awesome and holy Name! Referring to the list above, write the promise of God from scripture that you will claim, believe, and act on. Memorize this verse and repeat it to yourself often. Remember that God didn't act overnight even though, as we've seen, Abraham and Sarah became impatient. It was in His own time and way. We must let God be God - and endure - until He faithfully delivers what He has promised.
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Fri, Aug 24th - 7:18PM
ABRAHAM, SARAH, AND HAGAR - Blog 10
Read Genesis 17:23-27 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, and his son Ishmael was thirteen; Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. And every male in Abraham's household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him. That very day Abraham obeyed God completely. When God told Abraham to leave his father's people and go to a land God would show him, Abraham packed up his whole household and moved out. When God told him to go walk through the length and breadth of the land God was giving him, Abraham moved his tents and began demonstrating that he believed God would do what He promised. At a later time in his life, when God asked something incredibly difficult of him, the Bible tells us, "early the next morning" Abraham moved out to obey God. Do you want to have the kind of fellowship with God that Abraham did? One of the things we all must do is obey Him. Abraham didn't complain or argue or hesitate. He didn't ask God to let someone else do it. He moved out in obedience, and that is what we will do, if we want sweet fellowship with God. Abraham wasn't perfect, as we have seen, but his life was characterized by obedience and faith. Read James 1:22-25. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does. What does God want you to learn, and put into practice?
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Thu, Aug 23rd - 2:53AM
ABRAHAM, SARAH, AND HAGAR - Blog 9
Read Genesis 17:15-22 "God also said to Abraham, " 'As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 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 people will come from her.' 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?' And Abraham said to God, 'If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!' 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. 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. But my covenant I will establish wth Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.' When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him." God changed Sarah's name, as well as Abraham's, and distinguished her by making her the "mother of many nations." She was also to serve the Lord's purpose in establishing His covenant with the Israelite people. How does it make you feel to know that, while He created women for a different role than men, God doesn't see you as being "less than" anyone else? No matter how you may have been treated by others at times, God esteems you and desires to elevate and increase you, not make you "less than." God also wanted them to know that because they may have given up on Him at times and/or tried to serve His purpose by their own methods, He had not changed His mind about what He would do for them. And while Abraham "fell on his face" in reverence before God, the Bible says he was laughing to himself at the idea that his 90-year-old wife would bear him a son. And what did God tell him the name of this son would be? Abraham was to name him, "Isaac," meaning, "he laughs." What pleasure God must have taken in doing this for them! Abraham was still holding to his plan, and wishing for Ishmael to have God's blessing. And yes, God said, Ishmael would be blessed, in answer to Abraham's prayer for him. But God's plan was above all, and Isaac would be the son of the promise, just as God had said from the beginning. He would be born the son of Abraham and Sarah, just as God had said. And this would happen within the next year. Notice how patient God is with Abraham and Sarah! Read Psalm 103:13-14 "As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust." Does this give us license to sin? Read Romans 6:1-4 "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." Truly walking with Jesus means that things are going to change. I heard somewhere along the way, "Although He loves us just as we are, He loves us too much to leave us that way!" Well said.
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Wed, Aug 1st - 4:33AM
ABRAHAM, SARAH, AND HAGAR - Blog 8
Read Deuteronomy 10:12-16 And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good. To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the Lord set His affection on your forefathers and loved them, and He chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today. Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. Now read Romans 2:28-29 A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God. What does it mean to be circumcised in heart? Just as the Israelites were circumcised in their bodies as a sign of their consecration and sole commitment to Almighty God, we are to be singularly surrendered to God, through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior. When we have fully accepted Him and His Lordship into our hearts and lives, His Holy Spirit takes up residence within us and regenerates, or changes and transforms us. The goal is for us to become a reflection of Jesus Christ. Read Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God -- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will. The more we are transformed, the more we will look like Jesus, exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit increasingly. (See Galatians 5:22-26, blog 5) As you read these verses, what do you see as strengths, and weaknesses, in your own life? Yield to the Holy Spirit in those areas where you need to be strengthened, and God will do the transforming.
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Wed, Aug 1st - 4:10AM
ABRAHAM, SARAH, AND HAGAR - Blog 7
Read Genesis 17:9 Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. In verses 1-8, God began His covenant by telling Abraham what His part of the agreement would be (see blog 4). Now He turns to Abraham and says, "As for you..." A covenant is a pact, an agreement; each party to the contract has a responsibility outlined in the agreement. Notice all that God would do for Abraham and his descendants. Now let's look at what they were to do that would be a sign of their exclusive commitment to the One true God--their part of the covenant. Read Genesis 17:10-14 "This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner--those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant." Although the Hebrews were not the only ancient people who circumcised the male population, they were the only ones for whom it was an expression of their covenant relationship with God. No one is sure when the practice began, although it may well have begun with God's command to Abraham. Ishmael was 13 years old at the time his father circumcised him, in obedience to God. His descendants, the Arabs, also circumcise 13-year-old males as a rite of passage from childhood to manhood, as do other peoples. Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised, but God told him from then on to circumcise at eight days, signifying the baby's birth into covenant with God, as an Israelite. If they failed to be circumcised, God said they would be removed from the covenant people because of their refusal, having broken the covenant. What does God require of us, under the new covenant? (See Hebrews 10-12) What happens if we refuse God's plan of salvation? Read John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because He has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
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