Category Archives: Abraham: Life of Faith

Allowing Someone to Talk Us Into Known Sin

23 Monday Apr 2012

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We Miss God’s Plan for Our Life When…

We Allow Someone to Talk Us Into Known Sin

 

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. (Genesis 16:2)

 

Did your mother or father ever say to you, “If Joe jumps off a bridge, are you going to jump off the bridge too?  You will follow anyone. You need to learn to stand on your own.”  This was their way of saying, “You are easily manipulated.”

Go visit any county jail or prison.  There you will find a high percentage of inmates who allowed someone else to talk them into doing something they knew was wrong. If we allow people to talk us into things in a physical sense, we can fall victim to allowing others to cause us to compromise our spiritual principles as well.

How many times have your friends or your spouse talked you into doing something which caused you to compromise your spiritual principles? They offered up suggestions like, “You can go to church next Sunday. You can pray later. You can read your Bible when you get home. You can tithe next time.”

If you really want to stay in the center of God’s will, you must listen to only One Voice, the voice of your Lord. Abraham had already received a word from the Lord.  He was told he would have a son and that son would eventually become a great nation.  Sarah had a bright idea. This scheme allowed Abraham to sleep with another woman and forgo God’s waiting period. It didn’t appear Sarah had twisted her hubby’s arm. So, in a seemly insignificant moment, he agreed.  Such moments define our character and destiny.

Here is a short list of problems caused by Abraham following Sarah into sin.

Unwanted Pregnancy – “She conceived” (Genesis 16:4) Almost immediately after conception, this pregnancy was no longer desired.

Pride – “When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.” (Genesis 16:4) Hagar had achieved something Sarah could not accomplish. She used her pregnancy as a source of pride to torment Sarah.

Marriage Problems – “Then Sarai said to Abram, It’s all your fault! Now this servant of mine is pregnant, and she despises me, though I myself gave her the privilege of sleeping with you. The Lord will make you pay for doing this to me!” (Genesis 16:5-6) No marriage can experience moral shortcuts and not have problems!

Hypocrisy – “Then Sarai said to Abram, “It’s all your fault!”  A trademark of the hypocrite is to blame others for the sin the hypocrite committed.

Betrayal – “Your servant is in your hands,” Abram said. Do with her whatever you think best. Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.” (16:6). Hagar found out, as many other men and women have discovered over the ages, that those who encouraged the sinful shortcuts will not stand with you when problems come as a result of their immoral behavior.

Injustice – “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar;” (16:6).  Sounds as if Hagar is the only one to blame for this act.  Remember, these two women are both Abraham’s wives.  Yet Hagar was the only one considered guilty. Sarah was not condemned. She had encouraged the sin, yet she was given a free hand to do whatever she wanted to do to Hagar. Abraham took no blame either. He had gotten Hagar pregnant; but he assumed no responsibility. It was the ugly picture of injustice which is one of the products of a sin.

Cruelty – “Then Sarai mistreated Hagar” (16:6). Before the shortcut occurred in Abraham’s household, things flowed along fine. Sarah treated Hagar kindly, but an immoral shortcut changed how people were treated.

Unemployment –  “So she (Hagar) fled from her.” (16:6). Hagar was working for Sarah, but their shortcut to success resulted in Hagar being put out in the wilderness without a job. Security quickly turned into insecurity.

Sorrow – Ultimately, the sinful shortcut that originally was intended to bring success.  Tragically, it brought only sorrow. Sarah was upset. Hagar was upset. Abraham was upset. Most importantly, God was not pleased.

It seemed such a small insignificant decision, when Abraham agreed with Sarah to sleep with Hagar.  Yet the devastating outcomes were apparent.  The bigger problem was that God was left out of the picture and could do nothing to prevent the outcome or its effects.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

 

What Happens When We Abandon God’s Timing…

22 Sunday Apr 2012

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We Miss God’s Plan for Our Life When…

We Abandon God’s Timing and Settle for Self Timing

 

So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. (Genesis 16:3)

 

It is a mistake to forsake Godly foresight, especially when it is surely given.  One mistake often births a second and then a third.  I don’t know about you, but I barely recover from one detour, never mind a second or third detour.  The scriptures reveal that Ishmael was born because Abraham and Sarah couldn’t wait any longer. Because they couldn’t wait for God, they also failed to detect the potential disaster their mistakes would create for millennia to come.

Now maybe you still don’t think that looking ahead is important and disobeying God is no big deal. Maybe you think that your mistakes are “your mistakes” and they do not affect anyone else.  As believers, it is imperative we look ahead and seek Godly foresight.

Our sins, errors, or mistakes have lasting consequences.  In the case of our passage today, Abraham and Sarah missed the fact that their “Ishmael” would create dissention.  First, Hagar and Sarah began to argue and disagree due to jealousy and envy.  Eventually, God’s promised child was born.  Now this same dissention carried over to the next generation.  As you know, the conflicts between the seed of Abraham (Isaac and Ishmael) continue to this day.  Does all this seem like a good idea? What seemed like a good idea soon became a colossal disaster.  Now it might have seemed like a good idea for Abraham to have a son by Hagar, after all Sarah was too old, but they failed to look ahead.

Have you ever received a speeding ticket?  Did you conclude, “I shouldn’t have received that ticket.  I wasn’t speeding.”  But I ask – Are there consequences to speeding?  You may think not if you conclude… “There are no consequences if I don’t get caught.”

Yet the ones who do not get caught are the same ones who wreck and cause others to wreck or kill themselves.  Speeding has consequences.  One teenager in Philadelphia has received 440 tickets! He faces possible fines of up to $88,000, 6 years in prison, and a lifetime ban on driving.

One of our prayers should be –  “Lord, catch me now.  Give me a ticket now before I make a big mistake.  Help me to look ahead with Godly foresight. Help me to slow down and go in Your speed and time.”

SPEEDING – Is thinking your “time” is more important than the law.

SPIRITUAL SPEEDING – Is thinking God is moving too slow, therefore I need to speed things up.

If God were passing out spiritual speeding tickets today or if Gabriel were to pull you over, would he give you a spiritual speeding ticket for getting out of God’s timing?  It is far better for the Lord to “ticket” you before you get out of His timing and bring lasting consequences upon you and your family.

  • Sometimes we must wait so God can prepare us for what lies ahead.
  • Sometimes God makes us wait so that He can work on some weaknesses we have.
  • Sometimes God makes us wait to strengthen our faith.
  • Sometimes God makes us wait to benefit those who are watching our life.
  • Sometimes God makes us wait in order to give us His very best, not just what is adequate for the moment.
  • Sometimes God makes us wait for reasons only He knows.

Whatever the case, the better choice is to wait upon the Lord.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

God Doesn’t Need Our Help to Get Things Accomplished

19 Thursday Apr 2012

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Now Sarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.  Genesis 16:1-2

 

Notice who Sarah blamed for her inability to have children. She blamed God.  Now the Lord had told these two on numerous occasions they were going to have a child of promise. Since the Lord’s word had yet to come to pass… it was totally God’s fault. In Sarah’s mind God was working behind the scenes preventing her from having children.  The truth was God was working on the character of Abraham and Sarah so that they might value and cherish the child He provided. It is one thing to receive a promise from God.  It is another thing to keep or maintain a promise from God once it is provided.

Sarah wrongly concluded that she needed to help God. Her thought processes probably flowed along these lines… “God has had ten years to give us a child.  God needs a hand to get it done.  Maybe God has been waiting on me!  Hagar is fit and can bear children.  I will give her to Abraham and maybe the Lord will bless this alternate plan. Others have produced heirs in this fashion, maybe it will work for us.”

The problem was Abraham believed the voice of Sarah over the words God had already spoken to Him. He traded “God’s Idea” for a “good idea“.

Many believers have fallen prey to this type of thinking.  Sarah wasn’t the first and our generation will not be the last.  I have heard some say, “If I don’t give my money this church, it will not make it.” Even pastors have wrongly concluded, “This church would be nothing without me.”

The truth is God does not need our money, our presence, or our help to continue His work. If the Lord’s work is dependent upon us, then it is probably not the Lord’s work.  He simply invites us to join Him and work alongside in faith where He is already moving.  If His will is dependent upon us moving in the flesh to accomplish His tasks, then we are the ones who will get the glory.  When we truly follow the Lord’s plan and will, He receives all the glory.

Who are you working for today?

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

Underestimating God’s Power To Do the Supernatural

18 Wednesday Apr 2012

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We miss God’s plan for our life when… We Underestimate God’s Power to do the Supernatural.

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar. Genesis 16:1

 

Let me first say that God’s will is never dependent on what we do or do not have at our disposal.  A lot of times, we look at the facts around us and we say, “There is no way God  can do something in this situation. This situation is even too much for God to turn around into good.”  Even though we may not say it aloud… we believe it in our hearts.

Sarah knew that her womb was barren and past child-bearing age. Making matters worse, Abraham was ten years her senior. It had been ten plus years since God had promised them a child.  Evidently, she got to the place where she didn’t believe God could do something supernatural.  She possibly thought, “Well God could have moved if I had just been younger and healthier.”

When Abraham thought that his problem was bigger than God could handle, he decided that it was a good idea to try and help God out. Later in Abraham’s life, God reminded him of this very issue.

 

Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.” Genesis 18:14 (NIV)

 

Is anything too hard or difficult for God?  Of course not.  But how we behave towards God in the middle of our tribulations reveals exactly how much we believe God.

Everyday, it is our behavior which reveals the truth of our beliefs, not our lips. God desires us to possess real integrity towards Him.  It is easy to keep and employ God as the option of last resort. So often it’s only when we come to the end of ourselves that we begin to seek God.  If God doesn’t start opening the doors of opportunity quickly, an internal alarm is triggered and panic arises.  Many begin kicking all available doors to see if God is behind any of them.  We think of God’s delay as being His weakness.  Unfortunately, like the afore-mentioned, we remain clueless to the timing of God.

Sarah and Abraham became frustrated while waiting, so they wrongly concluded, “if God isn’t going to move then we might as well go to plan B, Ishmael.”  Hasn’t  frustration with the apparent “non-activity” of heaven stopped more movements of God in your life than anything else?

You may not be familiar with his name, but a great New England preacher, Phillips Brooks of yesteryear, was noted for his poise and quiet manner. At times, however, he suffered moments of frustration and irritability like most of us. One day a friend saw him pacing the floor like a caged lion. “What’s the trouble, Dr. Brooks?” asked the friend. “The trouble is that I am in a hurry,” said Brooks, “but God isn’t.”  Can you agree?  Haven’t we often felt the same? Brooks was also quoted as saying “The hardest task in my life is to sit down and wait for God to catch up with me.”

Yet patience is part of God’s strategy for maturing us. It’s a lost skill we all need to cultivate.   Frustration is easy.  It allows pride to grow and ultimately reject God’s will and timing. If you are waiting for God to act and wondering what’s taking Him so long, don’t make the mistake Abraham made and rush ahead of God and produce an Ishmael.

 

 

God continually reminds us to stick with the plan and continue to believe. If we don’t believe God can do the supernatural, we will miss His best plan for our life. God doesn’t need our help, especially help gained from Egypt. God wants to do far more than simply answer our prayers.  His will is to answer our prayers and 100 other prayers we didn’t even mention or think about because He loves us.  God may not be early… but He is never late!

 

Blessings,

Pastor

I Wish I Had Waited On God!

17 Tuesday Apr 2012

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Have you noticed a reoccurring pattern in Abraham and Sarah’s life?   Every time they gain spiritual ground or receive a revelation, testing or trials immediately follow to evaluate God’s word.

How many of us have had to learn the hard way…there are no shortcuts in obtaining God’s blessings.  Shortcuts are any paths that miss God’s perfect will for our lives.  Simply put, a shortcut is an alternative route that is shorter or quicker than the one prescribed by the Lord.  We usually find at a later date that we also didn’t exactly arrive at the Lord’s destination.

Just because everyone else says, “it is ok” to choose the alternative route, doesn’t necessarily mean it is God’s will.  Everyone approved of Abraham and Sarah’s “shortcut” to obtaining the Promise of God.

 

“Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said.”  Genesis 16:2

 

Society Approved. This arrangement was common and encouraged among the people of Abraham and Sarah’s day. If Abraham was given Hagar as a wife and had a child by her, society would not criticize, despise, or reject the results. Instead, they would have applauded. What society of their time did frown upon was not having an heir.

Sarah Approved. Sarah plainly accepted the norms of society. This shortcut must have her unqualified seal of approval, or neither party would hardly consider such a plan. With Sarah making the proposition of the shortcut to God’s perfect will, it was clear she approved of the plan.

God Rejected. Abraham approved, Sarah approved, and society approved, what more could anyone ask? They all could have and should have asked for God’s approval!

There is one thing worse than waiting on God, IT IS WISHING YOU HAD WAITED ON GOD.

In the next few blogs I will spend some time on how Abraham and Sarah missed God’s will.  They didn’t ultimately miss God’s will entirely.  They simply took a side road or shortcut God never intended them to travel.  Like most of us know, these are easy roads to travel.  Follow the blog and see if you agree.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

Lot, A Believer Who Never Grew Up

12 Thursday Apr 2012

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 1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, 3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?  1 Corinthians 3:1-3

 

This verse explains exactly why Lot was in such awful spiritual shape. He never grew in his faith or out of Abraham’s shadow. He only grew to a certain stage because he never pursued God outside Abraham’s faith.  The end result was that Lot was spiritually dwarfed. Lot’s heart continued to pursue things of the world rather than spiritual things.

Lot had a righteous soul but was living in sin and was miserable because of it. He was trying to have the best of two worlds. That prevented him from being able to enjoy either one. He felt all twisted inside and had a continual knot in his stomach that just would not go away, no matter how he tried to get rid of it.

Did you know that Christians can be more miserable that nonbelievers?  You would think that even in their worst state, a Christian would still score less on the misery index.  Why?  It is absolutely impossible to live in two worlds.

I grew up under TVA power lines and heard them constantly buzz from the flow of electricity. I used to wonder why birds never got electrocuted standing on those hot wires all day.  I came up with all sorts of reasons why the birds did not die.  I began to believe if I climbed the tower and grabbed the wire, I too would not be shocked.  How faulty was this thinking?

Before I ever had the opportunity to try out his little experiment, someone told me the truth.  The reason that the birds were not hurt was because they were touching nothing but the cable.  I, on the other hand, could not reach the cable without being connected to something else that was touching the ground. The reason the electricity would kill me is because I would have tried to grab hold of something high in the sky without letting go of his world below.

Lot fought those same temptations. He wanted the high-powered cable in the sky, but he also wanted the life on the ground. Since he could not let go, he was suffering greatly.

What causes a person to continue living in the midst of a situation that is tormenting their very soul?  They have no true peace or joy.  They can’t fully enjoy sin in reality. Did the king of Sodom chain Lot to the city gate?  Was Lot made to live in Sodom or was he free to leave at any time?  Even though Lot was free to leave, he was bound.

A rancher once described how cows wander off and get lost.  “The cow starts nibbling on a tuft of green grass, and when it finishes, it looks ahead to the next tuft of green grass and starts nibbling on that one, and then it nibbles on the tuft of grass right next to the hole in the fence. It then sees another tuft of green grass on the other side of the fence, so it nibbles on that one and then goes on to the next tuft. The next thing you know the cow has nibbled itself into being lost.”

I have never talked to one believer who thought or said, “Today I am going to start wandering away from God and in a few weeks or months I will be so far away I will be unable to connect with Him.”  No, most gradually nibble their way right out of the green pastures God has provided. The means may differ, but the result is the same.

This is a real life story to illustrate how quickly things can get mixed up when we go the wrong way.   A woman attended a large funeral at a church one afternoon.  Since she had appointments to make later in the day, she decided not to join the procession to the cemetery, but to just go her separate way after the funeral. After the service she drove out of the parking lot as planned. However, as she reached the street, the officer directing traffic slapped a sticker on her car and instructed her to put on her headlights. Then he signaled her to fall into line with the other cars going to the cemetery. She rolled down her window to explain that she wanted to go in the opposite direction, but he had already moved on to the car behind her. It was too late. She was stuck.

Feeling awkward, she had no choice but to follow the long line of cars winding its way to the cemetery. Along the route, she noticed the entrance to a supermarket parking lot. She suddenly had a clever idea, she thought, then she acted upon it. With resolve, she turned into the driveway to pull herself out of the string of cars. At last, she assumed, she was free and could proceed to her appointments. But to her horror, the entire procession behind her followed her into the supermarket parking lot! It took half an hour and two policemen to straighten out the confusion. Furthermore, she missed all of her appointments because of the delay.

Sometimes, for seemingly innocent reasons, we allow ourselves to be forced into following the crowd. When that happens, we must force ourselves to break away from the wrong direction we are going, and proceed on to our God-appointed direction.  Even though we are believers, unless you and I take appropriate action we all will be drawn into the world’s gravitational pull. The world wants us to go with its flow, which can often seem so reasonable and logical to the natural mind, but we must only flow with the Holy Spirit if we are to live a victorious, fruitful life.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

Being Tormented Day After Day

11 Wednesday Apr 2012

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I thought about leaving my man Lot alone and move on to another issue about Abraham.  But in actuality, Lot is like most believers I know.  He lived more in the world than he did in the spirit.  In the end, his fence riding cost him everything. Listen to what the New Testament reveals about him.

 

7 and if He (God) rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men 8 for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds, 2 Peter 2:7-8

 

I am not saying Lot had his act so together that we should follow his example in living for the Lord. Everything that we know about Lot speaks of the fact that he cared only for himself. He took the opportunity to get the best from his uncle Abraham, who had been like a father to him. He put his family in jeopardy in order to be in a place where he could achieve financial and political power. In addition, Lot did not internalize God’s law or build his own altars to worship God.  Therefore, he was certainly not able to declare God’s truth to others, including his closest family members.

The only sense in which Lot was righteous was in that fact that he had, at some point in his past, established a relationship with God. He had placed his faith in God as the truth-teller, the creator of the universe, and the only one who could forgive him of his sins. He was what we would call today, a Christian. Lot was like many Christians today. He was on his way to heaven, but he was making the most out of fleshly situations while he was here on earth.

Lot’s story reminds me of “rocket man“. His story is below.

The Arizona highway patrol were mystified when they came upon a pile of smoldering wreckage embedded in the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve. The metal debris resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it turned out to be the vaporized remains of an automobile. The make of the vehicle was unidentifiable at the scene.  The folks in the lab finally figured out what it was and pieced together the events that led up to its demise.  It seems that a former Air Force sergeant had somehow got hold of a Jet-Assisted Take-Off unit. JATO units are solid-fuel rockets used to give heavy military transport airplanes an extra push for takeoff from short airfields. The sergeant took the JATO unit into the Arizona desert and found a long, straight stretch of road. He attached the JATO unit to his car, jumped in, accelerated to a high-speed, and fired off the rocket. The facts, as best as could be determined, are as follows:  The operator was driving a 1967 Chevy Impala. He ignited the JATO unit approximately 3.9 miles from the crash site. This was established by the location of a prominently scorched and melted strip of asphalt. The vehicle quickly reached a speed of between 250 and 300 miles per hour and continued at that speed, under full power, for an additional twenty to twenty-five seconds. The soon-to-be pilot experienced G-forces usually reserved for dog-fighting F-14 jocks under full afterburners.  The Chevy remained on the straight highway for approximately 2.6 miles (15 to 20 seconds) before the driver applied the brakes, completely melting them, blowing the tires, and leaving thick rubber marks on the road surface. The vehicle then became airborne for an additional 1.3 miles, impacted the cliff face at a height of 125 feet, and left a blackened crater three feet deep in the rock.  Most of the diver’s remains were not recovered; however, small fragments of bone, teeth, and hair were extracted from the crater. Fingernail and bone shards were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering wheel.

There are consequences to our actions.  If you ignore the consequences of strapping JATO’s on your back you will have a thrilling ride for about 20 seconds, but understand the rock wall is coming. Sin is a blast for a while but the consequences of such actions will impact your life and of those closest to you.

Understand, when anyone actively disobeys God’s convictions and disciplines, they are a ready target for all the devil’s traps and snares.  These are merely the consequences of living out and away from God’s will.  God’s children should not have to be dragged out of Sodom at the last moment from sin and disobedience.

We will look deeper into Lot’s life again tomorrow.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

When God Gives Us Our Defining Moment

10 Tuesday Apr 2012

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Often when we are separated from our family, mentor, leader, or close friend our true character is defined.  Just like Abraham and Lot had to eventually separate, so all God’s children must learn to stand alone. When we break away and stand alone, we stand on our own convictions, standards, and promises.  When Lot and his family moved away, it became their defining moment.

This moment also further defined Abraham.  He did something very unselfish by giving Lot the best land, which had been promised to him. Abraham should have never been in this position of having to sacrifice God’s promise, but in character, Abraham offered Lot the best of the land. The only problem was Sodom and Gomorrah were part of the land.

There are three scriptures that summarize Lot’s life defining moment.

  • 13:10 lifted up his eyes toward Sodom
  • 13:12 pitched his tent toward Sodom
  • 19:1 sitting in the gate (living there)

I can picture Lot and his family creeping closer and closer to Sodom.  At first they kept their distance.  The day came when they moved right into town!

It would be easy to say “well if Lot had never left Abraham he would not have gotten mixed up in Sodom”.  This was not necessarily true. For anyone to fall away physically they must fall away in their heart first.  Our hearts actually define us long before we are given our defining moment. Falling away from the things of God is more than an event that happens.  It is a condition of the heart before it becomes an event.

Gen. 13:10 says that Lot chose Sodom because it reminded him of the land of Egypt. 

Lot asked Abraham if it was a good place to raise cattle, but he should have asked if it was a good place to raise kids!  Unlike Abraham, Lot wasn’t concerned about the generations to follow. Lot was interested in “making money”, but not “growing spiritually”.  He chose badly because he only saw the world and flesh.

Somewhere in Lot’s journey he became worldly in his desires.  Sodom was a very worldly city full sexual promiscuity. He obviously knew of it’s reputation.  As a whole, it reminded him of what he had experienced in Egypt and he liked it.

Jesus pointedly wanted us to “remember Lot’s wife.”  She was worldly too. By looking back longingly at what God had saved her from, she revealed for all generations what was in her heart. Even if she didn’t practice a promiscuous lifestyle, she was very comfortable around it.  When it was all blown away by the hand of God, she longed for it because Sodom was still in her heart.

Up until this point, Lot had all the possessions just like his uncle Abraham.  But he had never built his own altar and discovered the relationship that comes from worshiping the Lord.  When it was all said and done, it was Abraham’s altar, worship, and intercession that kept Lot and his family alive. Even though Lot had hung around the altar of his uncle and had seen the benefits, he never followed hard after God himself.  The truth is no one can hang around someone else’s spiritual life and be fulfilled.  True fulfillment comes via “asking, seeking and knocking” yourself.

Sooner or later you have got to develop that personal, intimate, one on one, daily relationship with God. If you never learn to “feed yourself” you will eventually starve to death spiritually.  How healthy would you be if you only ate one or two meals a week and at those meals you ate only baby food someone else gave you?

Understand God always allows us to choose and then own our decisions.  God allowed Lot to choose and He will allow you to choose.  God allows us to choose our own path, but He doesn’t allow us to choose the destination. God will allow us to choose anything we want, except for the consequences.  We can’t choose those! As a matter of fact, we have to live with the consequences of our choices. Decisions may seem small at the time, but we never know where those roads will lead.  The big lie we tell ourselves in self-delusion is “oh, this will not harm me and will not matter. I will be ok.”

The day Lot chose Sodom, his life was changed forever along with his family. Ultimately Lot wrecked his family’s future. After barely escaping destruction, Lot and his two girls ended up living in a cave.  Sadly, he chose once again to get drunk with the help of his girls.  In this drunken state he committed incest with both of his daughters.  The result of those relations was his daughters gave birth to leaders of enemy nations (Ammonites/Moabites) which would plague Israel for years to come.  The power of a single decision!  I am sure Lot started out in life wanting to be a blessing to his uncle who helped him so many times after his father died. Instead, he became a curse to all God was doing in Abraham’s life.  When God gave Lot his defining moment he wasn’t able to stand alone.

I don’t want to end on a bummer. There are numerous examples of men and women of God who prospered and became blessings when God gave them their defining moment. Are you ready to have a defining moment?

 

Blessings,

Pastor

A “Lot” of Compromise

09 Monday Apr 2012

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Lot was an example of a “believer” following another believer.  For his entire life he had been following Abraham’s faith, worshiping at Abraham’s altar, and witnessing Abraham’s faith tested.  Lot had been maintaining Abraham’s convictions and following his example until he was given a choice to live differently.  It was only after he separated himself from his mentor that we really got to see what kind of faith, principles and convictions he made in his life.  Lot kept moving closer and closer to Sodom.

 

12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the LORD.  Genesis 13:12-13

 

Every believer will eventually walk out their Christian life according to their own personal convictions. You can follow a parent, teacher, pastor, or loved one for a period of time, but eventually the day will come when you will have to follow your own personal convictions.  In these moments your real faith, principles, and convictions are revealed to yourself and everyone else around.  This is why you will be judged according to your own decisions, not according to some other spiritual leader.

Back several years ago when I was in youth work, a survey was done to determine what was happening to the youth of Christian homes.  This was done across denominational lines.  The “falling away” rate of children raised in Christian homes was extremely high.  I believe it was around 70-80%. Similar surveys have been conducted since.   The question was why were so many Christian young people deserting the faith?  It was discovered that these kids, although raised in Christian environments (they went to church regularly and participated in church youth activities, etc) were never taught to stand alone.  It was then that the youth ministry in which I worked determined to produce kids who could stand alone in college, work, and in adult type relationships.  We determined to teach them to stand alone and develop their own convictions before they faced those larger temptations.

Lot shows us the necessity of developing our own faith and belief system.  Unfortunately, Lot and his family have become examples of “what not to do.” Tomorrow we will discover some of the mistakes he made.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

When God Takes You Back to the Place…

04 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by in Abraham: Life of Faith

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It was time for Abraham’s lesson in Egypt to end.  Fortunately, God terminated this painful lesson of Egypt in Abraham’s life. At the deepest moment of his agony, crushed with humiliation and sick at heart, Abraham exited Egypt. Yes he had more wealth than ever before, but His spiritual life was in shambles.  Now God led Abraham back to “the place” where his spiritual journey began.

 

 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him into the Negev. Now Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And he journeyed on from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. (Genesis 13:1-4 RSV)

 

Please note – God wants us all to be corrected via kindness, gentleness, goodness, and love. God doesn’t want you to experience sickness, brokenness, danger or other physical loss. God always corrects us privately first.  God always approaches with the gentle rebuke of His word.  It is only after we have neglected responding to His gentle rebukes that God allows something more drastic to speak to us.

I am sure God never wanted Abraham to undergo being rebuked by Pharaoh.  How embarrassing it is when the world corrects God’s people. Like Abraham, we are to leave Egypt blessed, not broke, busted, and disgusted.

Like Pharaoh, we are to listen when God speaks and stand up for morality even when God’s man doesn’t.  Pharaoh was blessed too!  Why? Because those who blessed Abraham would be blessed as well.

Thankfully, Abraham did leave Egypt.  This was his obedience.  As soon as Abraham was back in the land, it didn’t take long until he discovered God’s altar once again. As long as Abraham stayed in Egypt he and his family would have been spiritually weak.  Why?  Because Egypt was not the land of God’s promise.

Any place not of God’s promise will only deplete you. There was no altar in Egypt, no place of worship, no cleansing, or fellowship. Yes, Abraham could have built an altar, but it would not have been an altar of promise. Time spent in Egypt (outside of God’s will) was wasted time!

Abraham had to come right back to where he was when he took the detour down to Egypt. He had material gain to show for the time in Egypt, but nothing but barrenness and weakness spiritually.

The same is true of you. When you forsake the pathway of faith, when you refuse to walk in fellowship with God, when you depend upon the resources of the world to satisfy the empty hunger of the heart… these are wasted years! They may be literal years. I know Christians who have lived almost all their lives in Egypt and all they have to show for it is a barren, wasted, empty, boring existence.

The moment you turn around and head back to the place of your obedience you start growing again. The place you return to is that last place you had true fellowship with God.  This place is where you built your last altar.  People ask me, “What should I do now?”  — Simply do what you were doing before you became sidetracked by choosing Egypt.

When Abraham finally returned home, what did he find? There was no mention of famine when he returned. I think the famine was still a reality. Remember, Abraham was driven out of Egypt. Since Abraham was not ready to leave Egypt by his own choice, this would indicate the famine was still raging in Canaan. Also, the quarrel which developed with Lot’s herdsmen over the pasture land suggests there was still a severe shortage of feed.

Though the famine still continued, Abraham was no longer troubled by it. Why not? Because, when he reached the land, the first thing he did was to call on the name of the Lord! This was what he should have done and could have done when the famine first struck.

When Abraham called on the name of the Lord he discovered the resources of God. He discovered that God was able to meet his needs despite the famine, the trial, or the circumstances.

Just as Paul proclaimed, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 4:19).

 

Blessings,

Pastor