Today the Lord has had me praying and fasting for the men on Quest and the staff (as you know two of our ironsharpeners on serving). I have a family member on Quest and that’s how I’ve spent my day today. No huge revelations.
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Clarity
I don’t know what today is going to look like with Papa. I’ve got some things I need to seek clarity on and some stuff I need to seek Him on how to handle and see it through His perspective and not my own. My heart is heavy. It may be a day of prayer. It may include some reading, it will have to include some worship. This may be all I post today, however I might post more as I receive more. Somehow, typing these blogs often gets things solidified for me. We’ll see what it holds and please don’t take this as a “cop out” post. It’s legit.
Gen 17 & 18
Gen 17:1-3 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 2 And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him,
This is the only position to be in when before God. God speaks to us in our brokenness and humility.
Gen 17:23 So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day,
Note Abram’s immediate obedience, immediate, radical, complete obedience… regardless of the pain, regardless of what others though.. “you want me to do what on my where?”
Gen 18:2 So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground,
Abram is 100 years old… and he’s running and bowing before guests who are approaching. The text isn’t clear that Abram recognized the three visitors at this point, he merely saw them from a distance and went to serve them.
Gen 18:4-5 4 Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.”
Washing feet; Breaking Bread; serving – these are all the major components of communion and what Christ did at the Last Supper with the disciples. Could this be the first communion?
Gen 18:9 Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?”
These visitors clearly were not human, as God himself had changed Sarah’s name from Sarai to Sarah, and here she is referenced as Sarah – the new name God had given her.
Lots of nuggets.
Waiting On God
Genesis 15
After Abram’s meeting and interaction with Melchizedek, Abram has a vision and meeting with God, through a vision. In this vision and interaction with the Lord, Abram is promised that “… one who will come from your own body will be your heir.” (Gen 15:4) In fact, the Lord then tells Abram to go outside and count the stars – if he’s able – because that’s how many descendants Abram will have.
I mention this to set the time of day of this vision. It is clearly nighttime, otherwise Abram would not have seen any stars. Keep that in mind.
Abram, in a sense, asks for some “proof” – “… how shall I know…?” (v8) and the Lord gives him some instructions to gather some animals and bring them to him. So Abram does. He cuts them in two and placed them opposite of each other. Then he waits on the Lord. Verse 11 says that Abram waited so long, he had chase away vultures who were trying to come eat the dead carcasses. Verse 12 begins to discuss what happens as the sun begins to set.
Gen 15:17: And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.
OK. Abram has been up all night (remember, he counted the stars), thru the morning, the afternoon, the evening and into the night again before the Lord showed up and passed through the sacrifice and made covenant with Abram.
I, for one, am very impatient with the Lord. In my “everything gets wrapped up in a 30 minute episode” world, I expect that I will pray it, and God will do it, and then I’ll move on to the next thing.
Sometimes God’s timing isn’t my timing. Sometimes following His directions can be a little confusing. I can imagine while Abram is chasing off the vultures, he’s thinking “Uh… Hello… Lord…. remember me? Down here! It’s me Abram…. I got the animals you asked for. What do you want me to do next?” ….. (silence) …. (crickets chriping) … (more silence) ….
I know I feel that way sometimes. “OK God. I’ve done X-Y-Z as you asked me to. Now what?”… “Hello!”… “Are you there?”….” Did I do something wrong?“… This is where the enemy likes to start throwing in the seeds of doubt. This is where he says I didn’t hear God right, or I missed God, or I’m out of God’s will. Sound familiar?
The pictures of the vultures is a GREAT visual here! I don’t believe for a minute that it is coincidence that it’s in the bible. Moses didn’t need any “filler” when he penned it. There is a spiritual truth to that physical episode. Isn’t the enemy just like those pesky vultures? How often does the enemy come and try to steal, destroy and eat away at that which God has told us, or promised us, or instructed us to do! Just like Abram, we have to drive them off! (v11)
But, in His timing, God DOES come and he DOES deliver and he DOES promise and he DOES bless. Thank you God!
Teach me Dad to wait for you in quiet confidence and in complete belief and faith.
Running After Papa…
The Tent and The Altar
In Genesis 12-13, Abram sets out after he gets a his call from the Lord and God meets with him personally to assure him of his calling. How cool is that? After that meeting, Abram builds an altar to the Lord (v7) to remember this place and this time he spent in the very presence of God where he heard Him so clearly.
Then Abram goes to Egypt and deceives Pharoah about who Sarai is. We all know the story. One of the commentaries I read made an interesting point about this:
Then Abram goes to Egypt and deceives Pharoah about who Sarai is. We all know the story. One of the commentaries I read made an interesting point about this:
What a shame that believing Abraham should be rebuked by an unbelieving king. Until he knew the truth about Sarah, Pharaoh “bestowed favors” upon Abraham, but once God stepped in and exposed the lie, Pharaoh had to ask them to leave. What a poor testimony the Christian is when he or she mingles with the world and compromises. Someone has said, “Faith is living without scheming.” Abraham and all his descendants have needed to learn that lesson! Lot lived with the world and lost his testimony (19:12–14); and Peter sat by the enemy fire and denied his Lord.
Wiersbe, W. W. (1993). Wiersbe’s expository outlines on the Old Testament (Ge 12:1). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
Then after that debacle, Abram goes back to the place where he built the first altar. (Gen 13:1-4)
1 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
I totally relate to this. When I went on my Quest, almost 3 years ago now, I heard God speak over me things I will never forget. I met with him for 5 days on a ranch in Hunt, Texas. So often how I long to go back to Hunt! I know many men who desire to be there – on that ranch – or to the place of their Quest where – perhaps for the first time – they really met face to face with God. Man, I long to be there… in His presence… in that place. That’s one of the reasons I love to serve on as many Quests as I can. From that same commentary:
Abraham could not have confessed his sin and remained in Egypt! No, he had to get back to the place of the tent and the altar, back to the place where he could call upon the Lord and receive blessing. This is a good principle for Christians to follow: go nowhere in this world where you must leave your testimony behind. Any place where we cannot build the altar and pitch the tent is out of bounds.
Great thought to live by… “Any place we cannot build the altar and pitch the tent is out of bounds.” In his commentary, Wiersby describes the tent as the pilgrim, the person who trusts God a day at a time and is always ready to move. He describes the altar as the worshiper who brings a sacrifice and offers it to God.
Restated, “…any place we cannot worship and offer God our sacrifice and be ready to move in complete trust of Him is no place for the Christ follower.”
Building and pitching and …
Running After Papa…
Grace, Grace
I spent part of the evening at Barnes and Noble waiting for cheer practice to end. In doing so, I picked up and read the first chapter in one of Kenny’s recommended books “The Ragamuffin Gospel” by Brennen Manning.
The first chapter (perhaps the whole book) is all about how we (the Big-C church) have trivialized and minimized the meaning of the grace of God. I’ve just been reflecting on that for the last hour or so. I can’t get it out of my head. I continued to read in 1 Corinthians, but I can’t get my mind off the Grace of God.
The refrain of that old hymn just keeps singing in my head….
1. Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt! Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured, there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt. Refrain: Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within; grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all our sin! 2. Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold, threaten the soul with infinite loss; grace that is greater, yes, grace untold, points to the refuge, the mighty cross. (Refrain) 3. Dark is the stain that we cannot hide. What can avail to wash it away? Look! There is flowing a crimson tide, brighter than snow you may be today. (Refrain) 4. Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe! You that are longing to see his face, will you this moment his grace receive? (Refrain)
Grace that is greater than all of my sin.
I’m undone with that tonight. Thank you God for your grace that covers all my sin.
Changing the routine…
Today I spent my day just worshiping Him, memorizing scripture, and praying for others. It was very cool. Not all in one “block” of time, but consistently throughout the day my attention was turned to Him. As I focused on the Lord, he brought to mind several of my posts and is ‘connecting the dots’, slowly on just how crucial it is to not “turn off” our minds in the name of faith. There is certainly more to come on this topic as it seems to be a culmination of sorts of what the Lord’s been speaking to me for the last few months.
I leave for Quest tomorrow, so this is my last post until Monday, Feb 9th.
At the prayer gym…
In light of my post on Dec 13, “Off to the prayer gym…“, today God’s asking me to spend time interceding for the 23 men who are on Day 4 of their prep for the Feb 3-8 Quest on which I will be serving. So this is all the post you’re going to get from me today… unless Papa drops something on me during my prayer time, in which case, I’ll update this blog. After my time of intercession, I will update this posting in order to share how the “workout” went, so to speak….
A Kind Father
Romans 2:4
It didn’t take long for Dad to hit me between the eyes today (metaphorically speaking of course – especially since this blog is about the kindness of God!)
Romans 2:4 (ESV) Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
Lots of words in this verse. I had to look up “forbearance” and it means “a refraining from the enforcement of something (as a debt, right, or obligation) that is due.“
The NIV translates “presume” as “show contempt” while NKJV translates it as “despise.” When I abuse his kindness, I basically spit in his face.
All of that to say this… while God has every right to punish, reprimand, destroy and wipe me from the face of the earth – because I deserve it – He chooses to use kindness, leniency, patience, mercy and grace to get me to repent – which in simplest terms means to change my mind. For that, I am so grateful and thankful.
The application for me is: How do I mirror that, represent that, to my earthly children? When they read this passage as an adult, will they have a hard time visualizing, understanding, or accepting the truth of it because of my actions as their father? Will my parenting today, make it easier or more difficult for them to see Papa as their Heavenly Father?
Do I model grace to my children? Do I show mercy to my children? A more difficult question is will I impede their ability to accept Papa’s love, grace, and mercy as they mature in the Lord? A sobering thought.
Selflessness… use it or lose it
“…futile in their thinking…” is a really nice way to translate this. I looked up the word translated into “futile” and it actually means “vain.” So, in essence, what 1:21 is saying is humanity took its focus off God and put it on itself. It began looking at itself. I see that every day in my own life, in the lives of my kids, in the grocery store parking lot, at football games, wherever. We are a selfish and self-centered people by nature. Our selfishness leads down a road we don’t want to go down. Verses 21-27 describe how this self-centered, me-centric view led to all kinds of depravity that must have just broken God’s heart and sickened him.
Verse 28 uses “… a debased mind…” That is another nice way to put it. The word means “reprobate” which, according to Webesters, means “to foreordain to damnation; morally corrupt,” and then a laundry list of man’s depravity follows in the next verses.
The point for me this morning is that it is easy to take my eyes off Him, even if only for a second. One minute leads to two minutes leads to 4 minutes, etc. The self-centered road is a slippery one that is easy to walk down. Think about it, we don’t have to teach our children to be selfish. It starts early and comes naturally. One of the first words any toddler learns is “MINE!” Selflessness – the way Christ lived – is something that has to be learned. It is an on-going lesson that must be used and practiced daily or it goes away – like a foreign language – use it or lose it.
Dad, I need you today. Fix my eyes on you in all that I do. Don’t let my heart wander down the road that starts with Me. My only hope is to have spiritual blinders, as a thoroughbred in a race, to keep me looking only in the direction I am to run. Thank you for your amazing grace and mercy on me, on all of us. Thank you for your love. Help me be aware for opportunities to be selfless today. Amen.
Running After Papa…