Abraham had a special relationship with God. The Creator chose Him and James gives us insight into this relationship when he says:
“and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”--and he was called a friend of God.” (James 2:23 ESV).
A friend of God… what an awesome thing to be called. What was it about this patriarch that God called him His friend? In all likelihood, he served idols with his family when God first called him to follow Him (Joshua 24:2). And when he did, Abraham wasn’t perfect in his faith. Twice, he lied to save his own skin rather than trust in the Lord who had already promised to protect him.
And when God promised to make him a great nation, Abraham took it upon himself to fulfill the Lord’s promise, even going as far as to have a child with his wife’s slave woman. And yet, this man was called the friend of God. Because when all was said and done, he believed God. He may not have understood how God would do all the things He promised, but he nonetheless believed.
His faith was a journey. God showed loving kindness, patience and mercy to Abraham who learned to love this God who called him out of his father’s land. And God allowed Abraham to grow in His love for Him. And though not perfect, when all was said and done, Abraham believed God, and God counted it to him as righteousness.
Sometimes we think that God is a sniper, propped on a rooftop with us in His sights, just waiting for us to step out of line so He can take us down for our missteps. But that is not the God of Abraham, our father. It is not the God that Jesus teaches us about. Our God is patient with us, longsuffering, full of mercy and abundant in forgiveness.
Our God is a God who helps His children succeed, not one who waits for them to fall. He is a God who is committed to investing in our transformation into the image of His dear Son. Paul says it like this:
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6 ESV).
God loved Abraham because Abraham believed Him, not because he was perfect. And this belief caused Abraham to do what God asked him to do: leave his father’s land; sacrifice the son he loved; worship Him as the only true and living God. And when Abraham had his moments of sin, God didn’t throw up His hands and write off His friend. He continued to work on him because Abraham continued to believe Him.
Do you believe God? Not a mental exercise like the demons believe; but do you believe God? Do you know He is the Creator and that there is none like Him? Do you believe that He has only asked you to do the things that are in your best interest? Do you believe that He will never leave or forsake you? Do you believe that God will faithfully carry out all His good promises to you? Is that belief causing you to leave your life of sin and sojourn in a foreign land as He leads you home?
God loves His children, not because we are perfect, but in spite of our imperfection. And as long as we continue to walk in faith, seeking Him and a relationship with Him, confessing our sins and repenting, then He is committed to completing that work in us.
Satan would have you believe that you are a failure in God’s eyes when you falter in your walk with Him. He would love nothing more than to have you give up your relationship with God in resignation that the Almighty sniper in heaven has shot you dead because you were not perfect. But that is not the God of Abraham. That is not the God that Jesus tells us about.
And the disciple whom Jesus loved reminds us of this fact:
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9 ESV).
Never give up believing God. He will never give up on you.
A hidden sin cannot be forgiven,
But a confessed sin repented of is forgotten forever.
We may be able to fool each other, but God sees truth always. He knows the heart. For those who have a whole heart, we find joy that when all may condemn us, the Father will confess us.
And when we put on a good show for others, but have a heart of deceit, God also knows that. We cannot mock God. Consider the ominous warning that King Jesus gives to the church at Sardis:
“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: 'The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “'I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” (Revelation 3:1 ESV).
For those with a whole heart, this is of immense comfort. For those with a heart that harbors sin and hypocrisy, it is an eye-opening revelation to the truth of our all-knowing and all-seeing King.
And yet even those with an evil heart are still loved by our God. That is why He mercifully pleads with the people at Sardis to choose life and repent:
“Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.” (Revelation 3:3 ESV).
God does not want His people to die. He wants to shower them with blessings they cannot fathom. And so He tells us plainly that He sees all and we cannot hide anything from Him. Knowing this, we should wake up and repent before the King. Only then, will we receive His eternal blessings.
If someone asked me if I believed in the doctrine of Limited Atonement, it may surprise you that I'd tell him, “Yes, I do.” But not in the way that most people think of it when they use that term.
Most people who follow the Calvinistic doctrine, believe that God chose His elect to be saved and when Jesus died, His atoning blood was limited to only the elect that God had already predestined to save.
I do not believe that this definition of Limited Atonement is biblical in the slightest.
I believe that Jesus died to save the world, and that is everyone in the world. Among many verses that teach this is the beloved John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 ESV).
But unlike some who believe that God’s love will overlook all sins and the atoning blood of Jesus will save everyone regardless of whether they follow Jesus or not, I believe the atonement is limited to those who accept the gift of salvation; to those who call upon the name of the Lord:
“For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13 ESV).
The problem arises when we conflate these two truths to create a false doctrine that denies both truths; 1) That Jesus died for the world and, 2) That His blood’s atonement is limited to those who accept it.
Then we get the false doctrine that teaches a man has no free will because God has already chosen who to save and that the blood of Jesus is limited to only those who were predestined to salvation.
Yes, I believe in the biblical principle of Limited Atonement, but the good news of the Gospel is that His atoning blood is freely available to all who call upon His name, but it is also limited to only those people who freely accept it.
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12 ESV).
I am back in the book of Exodus in my daily reading. It seems that every time I read through the story of the ten plagues, I learn something new. What I am writing about today is a hard lesson. It applies to mothers and fathers, to elders, to anyone whose decisions have an effect on others.
Part of being responsible for someone else is to ensure to the best of your ability that you minimize consequences by steering them in wisdom toward the right path. But what happens if that right path is the cause of terrible consequences? The godly man and woman then has a gut-wrenching choice: Do I make a choice that sacrifices what God wants and keeps harm from falling on people I am leading; or do I lead them in the way of God knowing it will bring suffering on them?
This is what Moses faced. God told him to go to Pharaoh and say, “Let My people go!” Do you remember the consequences of that obedience to God?
“The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, 'Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.'“ (Exodus 5:6-8 ESV).
Because Moses did what God wanted, the people he was sent to help ended up suffering because of his actions. How easy it could have been for Moses to apologize to Pharaoh to ease his people’s burdens. How tempting it could have been for Moses to rationalize how it could have been the right thing to do not to provoke Pharaoh.
But Moses did what God commanded and let the consequences fall where they may. Leaders, there is a lesson in this for us. Do we trust God enough to lead people in God’s way knowing it may have tough consequences on them? This is an act of faith for us. Do we trust God enough to know that obedience to Him will ultimately lead to a greater reward that will justify the consequences we bring on the people we lead?
Or does the vision of our leadership focus on the immediate consequences to the neglect of the eternal consequences? Having that heavenly, eternal perspective will help us make the tough choices in the moment.
Moses saw the land flowing with milk and honey, and because he let his people gather straw for a moment, they ended up inheriting a paradise on earth. When we are faced with a tough choice in our leadership role, we need to keep our eyes focused on the land flowing with milk and honey that we are leading our people toward.
How many times have we read a small verse that seems insignificant to us, especially when surrounded by powerful lessons that capture our attention? Sometimes it’s in these verses that we breeze by that some of the most powerful lessons are found. In my reading today, I stumbled on just such a verse. Let’s look at it and then see the awesome way it glorifies the Lord together.
“The LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.” (Exodus 14:15 ESV).
To set the stage, God has led the people out of Egypt and He has decided to take them to the Red Sea. He makes an interesting observation that He is choosing this route instead of the more direct route because He knows the Israelites are not ready to see war with the Philistines (Exodus 13:17). Don’t we serve an awesome God who knows all things and always leads us in the right way?
But the Egyptians come to their senses and realize that their whole workforce is gone. When they see that the Israelites made a terrible blunder by boxing themselves against the Red Sea, they see that this is their moment to bring them home. Honestly, this is very sound military wisdom.
But God’s wisdom is greater than man’s wisdom. God knew exactly what He was doing and He was setting up something that would glorify His name for all times, both to the people of Israel and the whole world. When the people cry to Moses because they find themselves in an impossible situation, we read our verse:
“The LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.” (Exodus 14:15 ESV).
How many times do we have to see that God is the God of the impossible? Is there anything too hard for Him? The Israelites could not have predicted how God would deliver them. It would have been futile to try to figure it out.
The next time you run into an impossible situation, then pray to the God who sees no impossibilities. Don’t try to tell Him how to deliver you, just ask and watch what He does. If you are dead set on one course of delivery, you may be disappointed and you may miss the deliverance He has in store for you.
When you are against your Red Sea, remember, you are a child of the I AM. You are a redeemed son of the only true and living God. Ask for His impossible deliverance and see how He chooses to glorify Himself in answering your prayer. He will. It may not be the way you want, but it will certainly be the way that brings glory to His name. Ask for wisdom that you may see His deliverance, that you may see how He is glorifying Himself when you face the impossible.
We serve a great and awesome God!
It is a new year. The old is gone. Let us forget what has passed away and set our minds on what glory we can bring to the Lord anew.
Satan will tempt us to focus 2022 on ourselves. Let us remember the admonition of Moses to the people of Israel:
“Beware lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.' You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” (Deuteronomy 8:17-18 ESV).
May God richly bless us in the new year, but let us never forget that it is He who blesses us, and let us give praise to Him in whom all blessings flow.
So, as I am reading through the Bible again, I often come up with questions that pose curiosities to me. Things that on the surface seem inconsistent, or contradictions, within the text. There are a few ways we can handle these perplexing questions.
As some do, we can assume that the apparent contradictions are just that: errant writings that prove that the Bible does not issue from the divine, since the divine could not error. In fact, many people lose their faith because they cannot reconcile the questions that they have.
Or, we can refuse to dwell on these questions of faith and harbor a deep troubling spirit that causes us to ignore these things, yet leaving the needling questions to chip away at our faith.
I propose another option. Approach these questions with these assumptions:
1. Assume that there is always a perfectly good and rational explanation for what we are reading that seem to be contradictions or inconsistencies. We just may not be able to see them at the moment. That does not mean that a rational answer does not exist.
2. Sometimes, we may never be able to see the answer for 2 reasons: First, there are secret things that belong to the Lord that we may never know (Deuteronomy 29:29) and second, sometimes God wants us to live by faith, and take the leap that shows we believe in Him even when we cannot see by sight. For without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
With that in mind, let me pose an interesting thing that I came across in my daily reading. I am in Exodus where God is talking about the grain offering and the bread that is made from wheat. Yet, we know that there was no food in the wilderness and the Israelites cried out to God for food, lest they starve. And God provided manna to sustain them for 40 years.
So, where did this wheat and grain for the offering come from? Some may read this and say, “Aha! See, a contradiction!” These people may be looking for a reason to find fault with a holy inspired Word to show that no such work really exists.
Some may read this and say, “I don’t know- It’s foolish to think about these things” and never give it another thought.
Or you can look at this and say, “I believe the Bible is correct. God did provide manna to feed the people and the priest did offer grain offerings in the wilderness and make bread of wheat. Just because I don’t know where the grain and wheat came from, doesn’t mean that both truths cannot co-exist.”
Perhaps the grain and wheat were taken as plunder when the Israelites defeated the Amalekites in Exodus 17.
Perhaps the Israelites traded for these provisions with the people around them. They may not have been able to trade for enough to feed the entire nation, but they could certainly trade for the relatively small amount needed to keep the Lord’s law.
The bottom line is that these types of questions do not challenge my faith. I don’t always have to know the details of every answer I have in order to have a strong faith. I assume that the text is accurate and just because I don’t see the answer now doesn’t mean that the text is in error. It may simply mean that I don’t know what the answer is.
If you are looking for a reason to disbelieve God, you will always be able to find it. If you are looking for reasons to believe Him, you will always be able to find it as well. You will always be able to find what you are looking for. God has given everything needed for a good and honest heart to find Him and have faith in His Word.
Once you truly grasp the sovereignty of God, your question changes from,
“How much can I do before I sin?”
To
“How much more can I do to glorify You?”
I was reading the story in Genesis 24 where Abraham sends his servant back to his family to find a wife for his son, Isaac. The servant took the responsibility seriously. Obviously, Abraham had done a good job in teaching his people about the power and holiness of the one true God. So, after taking an oath, he sets off on this crucial mission.
When he arrives in the land, the servant appeals to the Lord for success, and to help him by making known the Lord’s choice for Isaac. We read:
“Let the young woman to whom I shall say, 'Please let down your jar that I may drink,' and who shall say, 'Drink, and I will water your camels'--let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.” (Genesis 24:14 ESV).
As the words were still in the servant’s mouth, God sends Rebekah to him. And she not only offers to give him water, but to water his camels as well. This was the answer to his prayer.
Do you suppose Rebekah had any idea of the momentous consequence that this simple act of kindness would bring not only to her, but to all the seed of Adam? It reminds me of something that Jesus teaches us:
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.” (Luke 16:10 ESV).
Sometimes we want so much to do something momentous for Jesus, that we may forget that God can turn the little things we do into something big. Never underestimate the importance of even a small act of service.
Do you have any idea what a kind word and disposition toward a waitress may have on her? Perhaps her life is falling apart and you do or say something that allows God to show her the peace she has been praying for.
After a long day at work, do you suppose that a loving word or your loving attention shown to your spouse or children can create a lasting memory that will one day help them through a terrible trial they will face?
What about a prayer offered for someone who flips you off in traffic because you were going too slow? Could that prayer bring blessings that they need to help them combat their anger, or could it help you learn to be more like the Lord who has done far more for us who have done far worse to Him?
Never underestimate the power of being faithful in the little things. Perhaps they are not as little as they seem to us at the moment.
I have long since passed the ten plagues in my daily Bible reading, but the lessons still linger with me. In Exodus 8, the Lord sends frogs to the land of Egypt and Pharaoh pleads with Moses to ask God to remove them, which he does (more on this in my Tuesdays With Tony post tomorrow).
We often find ourselves in Pharaoh’s situation where something bad happens and we plead with the Lord to take away the thing that is troubling us. In fact, we often make rash vows to the Lord when we become stressed or totally lost and find we are in a situation beyond our control.
What happens if the Lord answers our prayers? What does that deliverance cause us to do? God always expects that we look at answered prayers as something to strengthen our faith in Him and something that humbles us in His eyes.
But I fear that when the Lord answers us and delivers us from our troubles, we often have the same reaction that Pharaoh had when God removed the plague of frogs:
“But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.” (Exodus 8:15 ESV).
When the Lord answers our prayers and we no longer feel the intense desperation of that which was causing us to cry out to Him for deliverance, and He gives us respite, what do we do? Do we praise Him and strengthen our walk in obedience to Him with all thanksgiving or do we harden our heart and go back to walking in our own way now that we no longer feel a need for the Lord?
The Lord knows our response and we will not mock Him in our actions. We cannot keep calling out to Him for deliverance and expect that He will always be there for us if we always forget Him when it is no longer convenient for us to follow Him.
God goes on to bring plagues of gnats and flies upon Egypt. After the flies, pharaoh even agrees to let the people go and worship. He just wanted these plagues to end. Notice Moses’ response to him:
“Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you and I will plead with the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow. Only let not Pharaoh cheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.” (Exodus 8:29 ESV).
“Only let not Pharaoh cheat again…” Pharaoh’s habit was to plead for deliverance, and then when deliverance was given, to forget the Lord and go back to his wicked ways. What a lesson for us today. Deliverance is primarily to bring us closer to God and help us to realize how much we need Him. It should strengthen our walk with Him.
But when we go back to our evil ways when the Lord gives us respite, we cheat Him. And the Lord sees it. Let us all be humbled in the presence of the Lord’s care and let us use deliverance as something that will strengthen our walk with Him, and let us not be so quick to forget Him when we have respite.
Last Sunday, Jordan Shouse had a remarkable lesson on Noah, which you can watch on the Campbell Road Church Of Christ’s YouTube page. In it, he made the observation that it is possible that it had never rained upon the earth until the flood. He then ends with a wonderful message about the rainbow being a sign to us and to God of his covenant with all living creatures to never again destroy the earth by water.
That got me thinking… if it indeed had never rained upon the earth until the flood, perhaps the sign of the rainbow initially had a much more dramatic impact upon people than it does even to us today. Consider…
For the 600 years that he was alive, Noah had never seen rain. I wonder what he envisioned when God tried to explain what He was about to do. He couldn’t draw on his own experiences to really know what it would be like.
For hundreds, even thousands of years before him, his relatives and ancestors had never talked about rain. There was nothing in their collective consciousness that could even understand what rain would be like- if indeed, it had never rained on the earth before.
And I could imagine his sons Ham, Shem, and Japheth asking their dad to again explain what rain was as they were building the mammoth ark designed to protect them from it. And no wonder Peter tells us that the people Noah preached to while building the ark scoffed.
And then it happened. The rain fell. And the fountains of the deep broke forth. And the waters above the heavens were released. We may know what rain is, but I am convinced that if we were on the ark, nothing in our experience could prepare us for what Noah and his family witnessed.
We often see scenes of cute animals boarding a cartoonish ark painted on the walls in children’s rooms. And while I think there is nothing wrong with that, as adults, we should never forget that the real story of the rain that Noah witnessed was more of a horror story than a cute children’s story. When all was said and done, God’s wrath and justice had killed all living land creatures and birds except those alive in the ark.
Which brings me back to the rainbow. If this was the first time that Noah had ever seen rain, what do you think raced through his mind the first time after the flood that he heard the crack of thunder and felt the first drops of a new shower fall onto the earth? Perhaps he would experience something akin to PTSD.
And yet, God in his tender care, assured him that no other rain would do what this first rain had done. And every time Noah and his family were frozen in their tracks when the thunder started rolling, all they had to do was to look at the rainbow to know everything would be okay.
Thousands of years have passed and we no longer have PTSD when we hear thunder, see lightning, or feel the rain fall. But we still have the rainbow. To us, it is a reminder that our God is still faithful to His promises, even thousands of years later. The rainbow to us might not have the same calming effect it had upon the first generations after the flood, but it is a comfort nonetheless that our God always keeps His promises.