Week 31, Day 2: Circumcision
Today’s Reading: Genesis 17:1-27
Some thoughts from the reading…
God changes Abram’s name to Abraham, meaning “father of a multitude”. Sarai’s name is also changed to Sarah. Abraham is now 99 years old and Sarah is 90. God tells Abraham that he will have a child with Sarah. Abraham laughs in his heart thinking about how old they are. But God tells him that he will have a child with Sarah and name him Isaac, meaning “he laughs”. Abraham had now been waiting at least 13 years to receive the son promised to him (he was promised a son in chapter 15, in chapter 16 we are told Abraham is 86 and now he is 99). You can understand why Abraham would laugh in his heart, to think that such an elderly man could have a son with an elderly woman. But with God all things are possible. This should be a reminder to us that God can do the impossible and that we should never loose heart, God will always keep his promises, even if we have to wait longer than we would prefer before we see them fulfilled.
Abraham is told to circumcise all in his household as a sign of the covenant with God. We are told that Abraham did this that same day. I believe the quick obedience of Abraham is an indication that Abraham believed what God told him. We are told by Paul in Rom 4:20-21 that Abraham did not waver in unbelief regarding God’s promise. I believe we can see from Abraham’s quick response to the command to circumcise himself and his household his committment to God and his acceptance that God would do as he told him.
One last note. It was pointed out to me one time what significance Abraham’s name had. We don’t usually have a meaning behind the names we have or give to our children. We just like how the name sounds and select to name our child such because of that. Often in the OT we see a child named something and the meaning of the name given. Often their names had significance and a message behind it. Abraham meant father of a multitude. Here is a 99 year old man with one son by a maid who is given this name. Can you imagine when Abraham met someone and told them his name, I can see them asking him how many children he had. One. But another is coming! This would probably seem very odd to those who would come across Abraham. The father of a multitude with one child and claiming that he will have another at 99. Again, no matter what the situation looks like to man, all things are possible with God. Do we believe this. Do we believe that God hears our prayers and will answer them. Pray believing and we will receive. God can cure the sick and God can aid us, comfort us and give us peace. Let us keep in mind that although the way may seem hard or impossible, God is able. We walk by faith not by sight. Faith in God, not in the things we see or what man thinks are possible.
Week 29, Day 4: The Covenant
Today’s Reading: Genesis 9:1-28
Some thoughts from the reading…
Noah and his sons are to now go forth and be fruitful and multiply. The Lord repeats some principles to them before they set out. Man is to be master over all the creatures of the earth. The animals will fear man and be food for him. God also reminds Noah that they are not to eat the animal with its life (its blood). It has been pointed out before that it is impossible to remove every drop of blood from meat. I do not believe this prohibition prohibits eating meat that might have a few drops of blood in it, but rather the that blood is to be drained from the body (Lev 17:13, Acts 15:20).
Here we have the first reference to the blood being refered to as the “life” of the animal. This concept is an important one and will be restated under the law of Moses. Long before man understood the workings of the body and the function for blood, Noah was told that the “life” is in the blood.
We can see here that God gave Noah instructions for how to be pleasing to Him and what He expected from them.
Another principle stated is to not shed man’s blood. Killing another person is prohibited because they have been made in the image of God. Man is not just another animal who just happens to have evolved further along. Rather, man was created with a uniqueness. This quality makes him different and deserves a level of respect from all mankind. It is unfortunate and sad that much of our society no longer values human life or considers the taking of a life as evil. Today it is called a “woman’s choice” to destroy her child. On the other hand we see that the destruction of eagle eggs is a federal offense punishable by severe penalties. Why would destroying an eagle’s egg, an unborn eagle, be so bad if it is nothing more than just a growth and not really a living thing? Because people recognize what will become of that eagle egg and therefore protect such things very aggressively, more so than they do the baby that has been made in the image of God. How sad!
Chapter 9 is where God gives a sign of the covenant between God, man and every creature that He will not destroy the earth again with flooding. The sign is the rainbow. Each time we see the rainbow let it be a remider to us that God keeps His promises. He has kept this promise for over 4,000 years now and will continue to be true to all the things He has promised us.
Week 29, Day 1: The Great Flood
Today’s Reading: Genesis 6:1-22
Some thoughts from the reading…
It did not take man long to turn his thoughts to doing evil. And man did evil to the extent that it grieved God that He had ever made man. But there was one man who “walked with God”. Can you imagine seeing everyone around you following after their corrupt desires. You alone stand upright and blameless. People just think they have it tough today! And yet Noah found a way to remain comitted to God. Our faithfulness to God does not depend necessarily upon those around us or circumstances. Let us stand up for what is right no matter how crooked things get or even if we must stand alone.
God tells Noah to build the ark. This is a good example of someone obeying God fully. There is no indication that there were rain storms back then like we know them today. As far as we know flooding was not something that they were accustomed to nor had to worry about. And yet here Noah is told to build a boat, and not just any boat but a BIG boat. The ark was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. The boat’s length was equal to a football field and a half = Massive. We also do not know what kind of tools Noah had to make this boat with but for certain it would have taken lots of work and persistence. All the while I imagine that Noah would have been receiving quite a bit of attention from those around him. What did they have to say about this? Did they ridicule Noah? Was Noah the talk of the town, thought of as being crazy? And yet Noah did all that God had commanded him – he didn’t change any of it and completed the task given him to do.
We are also told that God was going to send the animals to Noah. “…two of every kind will come to you” vs. 20. Some skeptics have scoffed at the thought of Noah filling the ark with all of these animals. Noah didn’t have to go chase anything down, they came to him. God sent them to him and aided him in completing his task. God did not command something impossible of Noah. Some have challenged the feasability of Noah being able to house all of the animals in his ark. We are not told how it all happened. I have sometimes wondered if the animals that came were very young. For example; baby elephants coming instead of their massive parents. And it would not be beyond God’s power to cause the animals to hibernate while onboard the ark. The fact is that when people scoff at what the Bible says they simply do not believe that with God all things are possible. The Bible does not give us every detail specifying how things happened. But we know that God’s word is true and when it tells us that these things happened, we can know that they did. Let us not be led into doubt or disarray by the nay sayers.
Week 25, Day 2: The throne scene
Today’s Reading: Revelation 5:1-6:17
Some thoughts from yesterday’s reading…
A door standing open in heaven. Chapter 4 begins John’s vision of things in heaven. John sees a door in heaven standing open, and he is able to look in! This chapter, although a vision and uses symbolic images, really should cause us to long to be there. To be able to witness these things for ourselves. The majesty and awe of heaven will be beyond our imagination. To be in the midst of God’s glory and see the things of heaven – wow! Rom 8:18
In verse 10 we are told that the 24 elders fall down before the throne and cast their crowns before the throne. Consider the image here. Paul said in 2 Timm 4:8-9 that there is a crown of righteousness laid up for him and for all who have loved the appearing of Jesus. I believe these crowns represent the reward given to those who have been faithful in their service. These 24 elders have received their reward, and yet they cast it down before the throne. Why? Because He is worthy! “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” No matter what you have sacrificed in this life. No matter how much you suffer or go through in your service to God, He is worthy. And when we get before His throne we will say “worthy are You our Lord to receive all the glory, honor & power.
Again, chapter 4 should excite us to think about what heaven will be like.
Week 23, Day 4: They will hate you
Today’s Reading: John 17:1-18:40
Some thoughts from yesterday’s reading…
Jesus continues to prepare the apostles for His departure. The world had hated Jesus. They had mistreated Him and persecuted Him. What do you think they will do to those who serve Him? They would treat them the same way. The apostles were commanded to love one another right before being told that they would be hated by the world. During these times of hardship and pain, they would need each other. They would need to be able to count on each other and know that they had each other’s love. Loving one another would be so critical for them to endure and persevere through the harsh treatment they were going to receive.
In 16:1 Jesus says that He tells them these things so that they may be kept from stumbling. Knowing that hardships are coming helps us to prepare mentally to endure them. Understanding that they hate us because of who we serve should also help us to deal with the persecutions. As Christians we need to prepare ourselves mentally to accept that the world will not view us favorably and will not always treat us well because we are not of the world but are of God. Resolve yourself that come what may, you will continue to serve God and not be suprised at the fiery ordeals that we have to go through. Knowing and accepting that these things will come helps us not stumble when hit by hardships. Our mindset and attitude has a lot to do with how we deal with these things.
Finally, I want to make a comment about Jesus referring to how they hated Him without cause (15:25). Sometimes we hear people say, “why is this happening to me!” Jesus suffered for no wrong that He had done. He committed no sin to deserve the hatred and persecution. When we have bad things happen to us, let us consider that sometimes things can happen without a cause. Yes, hardship can teach us many lessons and cause us to examine ourselve, but let us not become despairing and dwell on why bad things happen to us. Searching for the why has caused many people distress and sorrow when they cannot see the reason. Accept that we will suffer at times for doing what is good and that bad things happening is just a part of life, not necessarily an indication that we are being told by God to change something in our lives.
Week 14, Day 2: Dealing with the Penitent Sinner
Today’s Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:1-5:21
Some thoughts from yesterday’s reading…
Paul addresses a subject in 2 Corinthians 2 that seems to be very difficult for many Christians to put into application. In 2 Corinthians 2:6-11, Paul writes about the response of those who had been rebuked in his first letter. He had written to the church, and had demanded that they deal with one who was living in adultery (1 Corinthians 5), giving very specific instructions as to a plan of action. It seems, from reading this chapter, that the church had done what Paul demanded, and their actions had brought the sinner to repentance. The problem in this chapter is that there were some who were not accepting him back, and were treating him in a way that was not appropriate.
Paul gives instructions in these verses pertaining to the church’s responsibilities when one repents. Their discipline had worked, and now the sinner was trying to be a part of their work once again. Paul told the Corinthians that they were to forgive and comfort this one, lest he be swallowed up in too much sorrow. He told them that they were to reaffirm their love for him.
There are many Christians that just do not seem capable of forgiveness. They will hold a sin over a brother or sister’s head forever. They simply will not accept repentance. But, that is not the way that we are to be. Our responsibility (and it should be our loving concern) is to forgive those who repent of wrongdoing, and accept them back into the number of the saints. Far too often, churches put further requirements or punishments on those who sin than what God requires!
The church has been given the role of keeping itself pure. If sin is in its midst, then it must be dealt with. Sometimes that means that the church must inflict the unpleasant task of disciplining an errant saint. But, if the actions revealed in scripture work to return the sinner to the fold of God, then we have no further obligations to impose further judgment against them. In fact, the contrary is true. Paul said to forgive and comfort. The returning sinner is in a weakened state, and will need support and encouragement. Rather than “piling on” more guilt, we should be conscious of what we can do to help build such a one up.
Interestingly enough, if Paul is indeed discussing the situation that he first wrote of in 1 Corinthians 5, it is interesting to note how he speaks of it in this chapter. He is intentionally (it seems) vague on the details of the one he is writing about. He was not going to call him out, causing him even more harm, and perhaps causing him to be separated even further from his brethren in Corinth. Paul was not going to join in the rejection of this man by emphasizing his sin (which was forgiven) once again. We should learn from Paul. We need to be an encouragement to those who confess their sins, and build them up. If we did this more often, perhaps the idea of confessing sins one to another would not bear such a negative connotation. We would begin to see it as a method of gaining support during our times of struggles. And, we all have times of struggles!
Aristotle’s Four States of Man
I thought that I would share with you an idea that I plan to use in my sermon tomorrow morning. This is Aristotle’s 4 states of man, which describe where a person is in their battle against wickedness.
- Perfect temperance: Reason rules over passion, and the fight is won
- Unbridled lust: Passion rules over reason and the fight is lost
- Incontinence: Reason fights, but passion prevails. The battle is on, but at the moment, reason is losing
- Self Control: passion fights, but reason prevails. The battle is on, but at the moment reason is winning.
The first is what we should all seek to attain, even though we know that we will certainly never reach perfection in this life. Hopefully, we avoid the second at all costs. However, we can look around us and see that there are plenty of people who have that very attitude toward sin. It seems that they are trying to be as wicked as humanly possible! Typically, we will find ourselves bouncing back and forth between the last two possibilities. The battle is certainly raging, and sometimes we are winning the battle, but sometimes we are losing the battle. Our goal should be to spend as much time as possible in the last category. We need to grow to the point that we can control our own desires, and have reason win out over the passions of life and lust!
Fear Not…God is In Control!
In Luke chapter 12:4-7 Jesus warns that we need to remember who is in control. Sometimes, it may seem to us that certain people control the world around us. Or perhaps, with the increase in evil, we may be tempted to think that Satan is somehow currently in control. But, Jesus reminds us taht God is the One that is always in control.
If we lose perspective, it may be a temptation for us to give up. Jesus was speaking to people who would have their lives threatened. He did not tell them that it was ok then to give up–after all, you might lose your life. Instead, He gave them some perspective on life. Those people who can kill your physical body have very little real power. I know that it may be hard for us to view things from that perspective, but Jesus was pointing His audience toward eternity. We need to have a “view toward eternity” as well.
If we give in now, then we face a far greater horror than just losing our physical lives. We face the One Who has the power to punish eternally, not just physically. He is the One Who can cast us into Hell for eternal punishment.
But, we should not have to fear this punishment, if we are obedient to God. In fact, in the same verses, Jesus speaks of the sparrows which are sold in the market place, and they are not forgotten by God. How can we not be comforted by the fact that God knows when a bird is sold or killed, and He values us far more than the birds? He will not forget us.
We may have to suffer as Christians. The scriptures teach that all who are faithful will suffer persecution. Wickedness around us continues to increase. But, we can and should be comforted by the fact that God is in control, and He will not forget us. This is the message of the book of Revelation to the first century Christians. God would be there for them throughout their tribulation, helping them to be successful. In the end, He would take them to an eternal home with Him in Heaven. That is the same goal we need to stay focused on. Serve God first, and He will certainly take care of you!