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Tag Archives: Sarah

God Didn’t Make You Do Anything

11 Friday Apr 2014

Posted by eisakouo in Our Spiritual Process

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Abraham, choose our obedience, Genesis 20:13, God changes our name, indentity, King Abimelech, Neil Anderson quote, prophet and prayer, Sarah, what God makes us go through, what you do determines who you are

 

Who You Are

 

Sometimes our identity becomes what we think or believe God “makes” us go through in life. Have you ever thought or told someone else that God is making you do something? Abraham sure did. Listen to his words to King Abimelech.

and it came about, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house… Genesis 20:13

 

Abraham had drifted out of the Promise Land, lied about his wife being his wife, and allowed Sarah to be taken into Abimelech’s household… now he had some explaining to do. In his explanation, Abraham accused and blamed God for his troubles. The truth was… God didn’t “make” him do anything … he chose to be obedient the day he left Ur for God’s promise. God didn’t make him “wander“.

When we go through stuff in life (stuff being difficulties, hardships, and trials) it is easy to blame God. The truth is, like Abraham, we also choose our obedience. Stuff always happens because the devil will be given the opportunity to test our words and obedience. Unless we are dead to self and our desires, it can become easy to fall back into old patterns and blame God.

This is one of the reasons God changed Abraham’s name. It is why God calls us by different names. If we do not know who we are, how are we going to convince anyone else we serve the Lord. Like Abraham, God is not making us do anything, we choose our obedience. Calling our obedience anything else is an insult.

We choose our obedience. In other words, we must own our spiritual decisions. Our identity is not what we believe God makes us do, but it’s found in knowing who we are in Him. We are who He says we are. God called Abraham a prophet and told him to pray for Abimelech and his family in this chapter. This is the first mention of the word “prophet” and “prayer” in the Bible. Abraham found out a lot about himself and his mission after he was confronted with his disobedience. We will find our purpose and destiny too – once we repent, choose obedience and find our identity in the Lord.

 

Blessings – From God’s Incubator,

Pastor

 

 

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Growing, Growing, Until Its All Gone!

07 Monday May 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Abraham: Life of Faith

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Tags

Abraham, fleshly impediments, Fraudulent Heir, Galatians 4:29, Genesis 21:8, give back to God our sins, God's legitimate work, God's original word, Isaac, Ishmael, mistake and errors, mock, more critical our obedience, Oswald Chambers quote, persecute, remove the flesh, Sarah, slave woman, the Lord's solution, the Promised child, use your spouse's discernment, view things dfferently

 

 

Isaac grew and sometime between the age of three and five years old he was fully weaned. This was an important and joyous occasion because a child which reached this age was far more likely to survive to adulthood. The family celebrated this event with a great feast. But there was trouble brewing just under the surface. (Genesis 21:8)

Ishmael, who by now was a young man between sixteen and eighteen years old, would not have seen this as a reason to celebrate. Isaac’s survival meant he would not receive Abraham’s fortune or God’s covenant blessings.  So Ishmael began to “mock”- i.e. persecute Isaac.

 

But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. (Galatians 4:29)

 

Sarah understood this to be more than just childish play. She realized as long as Ishmael was around, he would be a threat to Isaac inheriting the promise and blessings of God.  She suggested that Abraham “get rid of that slave woman.”  I find it interesting to note Hagar’s status in the past twenty years.  She began as a handmaid to Sarah. Then she was promoted to be Abraham’s second wife.  Once the promised seed Isaac was born, Sarah called her a “slave.” How we view things differently when God’s promises come to pass in our life.  How differently we talk when we want freedom for ourselves and our children.  If we would just view and speak the way God speaks before the promise comes to pass.

 

Getting the Fraudulent Heir out of Their Hair

 This was a most difficult situation.  Ishmael was still Abraham’s son.   For the last sixteen years he has fathered this boy and loved him.  How could Abraham just toss Ishmael out?  Wouldn’t this be considered child abuse?

Understand, the more critical the issues are, the more critical our obedience. I could literally spend a whole day talking about the ramifications of the decision Abraham made by sending Hagar and Ishmael away. Some have even suggested that Abraham should have sacrificed Ishmael for the future good of the world and Middle East Peace. But this is man’s solution, not the Lord’s.

The real issue here was who would be the heir according to the Promise of God?  God made it clear many years earlier that Isaac was the ONLY child He would receive.  Why could only Isaac be the heir?  Was God being unfair or hard nosed by not receiving Ishmael?  No, Isaac had to be the heir because this was God’s original word.  (By the way… When you have to use the word “orginal” and “God’s word” in the same sentence, something is wrong!) If Abraham’s heir was from any other woman, God’s word would be false and He would be a liar.

What should Abraham and Sarah do?  They have birthed the Promised Child, but in the process have also birthed Ishmael. Should they allow God’s Promised Child to grow up as rivals in the same home with the fraudulent heir?  Should they simply let Isaac fight it out with Ishmael. No, Sarah had a word from the Lord.  “Hagar and Ishmael must go!”

Let me chase a rabbit for just a moment.  Gentlemen….use your spouse’s discernment. What we cannot see due to our proximity to the problem, our wives can easily discern.  Listen, your wife was not given to you by God to torture you.  No, God has blessed you with a helper. This is especially true in the areas of discernment. It is high time you use her gifting.

At some point-in-time we have to give back to God all our sins, errors, and mistakes. Most of these are birthed by our own hands.  Even though we did it doesn’t mean it has to remain this way.

Abraham did exactly what the Lord told him to do and sent Hagar and Ishmael walking. But don’t think for a moment God had abandoned Hagar and Ishmael.  This was the God’s best for both camps. Now God could provide Ishmael the one thing Abraham could not give him, legitimacy.  In Abraham’s world Isaac must be God’s chosen heir.

God cared deeply for Ishmael.  He had previously told Hagar He would take care of them and we learn later that is exactly what the Lord did.

All those who choose to walk in the promises of the Lord must follow the same process as Abraham and Sarah.  What “fleshly impediments” have we left uncrucified which are now challenging God’s real or legitimate work in our life?

 

 

Paul likens the removal of Ishmael with the removal of the flesh. (Galatians 4-5) Why must the “flesh” be removed?  Like Ishmael, the flesh challenges, mocks, and ultimately persecutes the Lord’s spiritual work in our life. If you are going to walk in the Spirit and Power of God, then you must remove the impediments to the Spirit of God. These impediments are our flesh, which belong to our old nature. That which is fleshly can never inherit the promises of God. The Ishmael in you must go!

Allow the Lord through His Holy Spirit to point out to you what things you have allowed to grow in your flesh. Remember, it is these very things which choke the real legitimate work God has desired to accomplish in you. The flesh rivals God’s promises to us. This is one of the main reasons why many men and women of God miss their ultimate calling in life.  They have yet to ask the Holy Spirit to examine them for needless fleshly growths. If you are sitting there today and you want to move higher in your walk than ever before… this is the move you need to make.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

 

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Blaming Someone Else for Our Failure

25 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Abraham: Life of Faith

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Tags

Abraham, Advice, assessing and shifting blame, bear story, blame game, confession and repentance, deal with mistakes, Erica Jong, Genesis 16:5, god has a way, Hagar, miss God's will, never come to the knowledge of the truth, running away from problems, Sarah, wasted time and energy

 

We Miss God’s Plan for Our Life When… We Blame Someone Else for Our Failure.

Then Sarai said to Abram, You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering.(Genesis 16:5)

 

I am sure Abraham said to himself; “What have I done? It was all my wife’s idea.  If she hadn’t insisted on me sleeping with Hagar, then I wouldn’t be in this mess.”  Even though assessing and shifting blame makes us feel better, it accomplishes nothing. The moment we begin to blame others, we lock ourselves into permanently missing God’s will.  Why?  Because we never come to the knowledge of the truth about our own condition.  There is no room for confession and repentance.  If this happens, we hinder ourselves from coming back into God’s will.

How many times has it been beneficial for you to say, “It’s his fault or it’s her fault?”   Has this type of rationalization helped your spiritual walk or simply comforted your flesh?  Everyone loses when we try to play the “blame game.”

 

People who are out to find fault seldom find anything else.

 

In our passage it was Sarah who blamed Abraham for the problems with Hagar’s conception. Maybe Abraham remained quiet because he knew he had stepped out of God’s will.  Even if we blame no one else but ourselves… it is wasted time and energy. The reason is because we don’t move on to learn from our mistakes and correct them.  The time and energy you could have spent on making a U-turn is spent on blaming yourself.

It appears all parties here in this story hope their “problem” would simply disappear.  Sarah mistreated Hagar and Hagar left. Notice Abraham didn’t send a search party to find Hagar, and Sarah wasn’t pleading for Abraham to go out and find her. God has a way of making us deal with our mistakes rather than hoping they take care of themselves.

The story is told of two hunters who came across a bear so big that they dropped their rifles and ran for cover. One man climbed a tree while the other hid in a nearby cave. The bear sat down between the tree and the cave. Suddenly, the hunter in the cave came rushing out, almost ran into the waiting bear, hesitated, and dashed back in the cave. The same thing happened a second time. When he emerged the third time, his friend frantically called out, “Woody, are you crazy? Stay in the cave till he leaves!” “Can’t,” panted Woody. “There’s another bear in there.”

Running only causes our problems to reappear. Whenever we run away from problems we need remember we will often face very same or similar problems down the road. What we don’t deal with today, we will deal with someday.  Running doesn’t solve anything. Even if everyone seems to agree with you, if you are running away from problems and conflicts in your life, you are running the wrong way. Even if everyone is running alongside of you, you are wrong.

The best course of action is to always take it to the Lord, confess, repent, and get directions on how to solve the problem.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

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What Happens When We Abandon God’s Timing…

22 Sunday Apr 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Abraham: Life of Faith

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Abandon God's timing, Abraham, benefit others, detours, Genesis 16:3, God knows best, Hagar, Ishmael, lasting consequences, mistakes, Plato quote, potiential disaster, Sarah, seed of abraham, spiritual speeding tickets, strengthen our faith, waiting on God, weakneses

 

 

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

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