The Lord said, “You have the strength”

The Lord’s messenger appeared and said to him, “The Lord is with you, courageous warrior!” Gideon said to him, “Pardon me, but if the Lord is with us, why has such disaster overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us about? They said, ‘Did the Lord not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.” Then the Lord himself turned to him and said, “You have the strength. Deliver Israel from the power of the Midianites! Have I not sent you?” Gideon said to him, “But Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Just look! My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my family.” The Lord said to him, “Ah, but I will be with you! Judges 6:12-16

Many of us are familiar with the story of Gideon and how he destroyed the Midianites. We recall his constant misgivings and repeated testing of the Lord...to ensure the Lord was with him. Gideon was an anxious man. It didn’t prevent him from accomplishing God’s purpose. 

Life was hard under the Midianites. Gideon, was threshing wheat by hand in the bottom of a grape press—a pit where grapes were pressed to make wine—because he was hiding from the Midianites. He couldn’t even farm his land openly for fear his harvest would be stolen. The Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty soldier, the Lord is with you!” 

In an inauspicious start, Gideon misunderstood...or misinterpreted...the angel’s words. The angel said “Mighty soldier, the Lord is with you!”. Gideon didn’t take this personally. He took it collectively, meaning he heard “the Lord is with Israel”. So right away, Gideon had difficulty reconciling the words with reality. He replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? The Lord has thrown us away and has let the Midianites completely ruin us.”

The Lord turned to him and said, “I will make you strong! I am sending you!” Go and save Israel from the Midianites! 

Once Gideon understood, he went on to great victory but...this initial misstep taught him a lesson: Listen carefully! If we don’t hear, precisely, what the Lord is telling us we increase the likelihood that things will go wrong. So, Gideon developed the habit of testing God to ensure he heard correctly.

• How can I save Israel? And...Lord said “I will be with you”! 
• If it is really true prove it is really Jehovah who is talking to me!
• Prove it to me in this way: I’ll put some wool on the threshing floor and in the morning, make the fleece wet and the ground dry.
• Let me make one more test: this time let the fleece remain dry.

That was enough for Gideon but God wasn’t done proving Himself...He looked at 30,000 men and said to Gideon, 

• “There are too many of you!  Send home any of your men who are timid and frightened..
• “There are still too many! I’ll show you which ones shall go with you and which ones shall not.”

Out of 30,000...only 300 remained. But...by this point, Gideon was certain God was with him and went on to a mighty victory over the Midianites. This should encourage us. God is still God and He intends to address the problems that plague us today. If God wants to use us...and He does...He will prove Himself and will give us the tools we need to be successful. Our biggest problem is, we are so busy saying “somebody should do something!” that we miss the Angel sitting beside us calling our name

And we don’t get to participate in God’s mighty plans...

Do you hear the Angel? Listen...carefully!

Live boldly out there today...

The Lord said “I will no longer drive out the nations which Joshua left when he died”.

“But it came about when the judge died, that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways. So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers and has not listened to My voice, I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died”. (Judges 2:19-21)

After the conquest of Canaan, Joshua dismissed the People and they went off to claim their allotted territories. The people worshiped God throughout the lifetime of Joshua. 

Eventually that entire generation died and was buried. Then another generation grew up that didn’t know anything of God or the work he had done for Israel.

How could they forget so quickly? 

They deserted the God of their parents and worshipped the gods of the peoples around them. Remember how God told them to destroy, or drive out, all the nations living in their promised land? Well, they failed to do so...with dire consequences. God’s anger was hot against Israel: He handed them off to plunderers who sold them cheap to enemies on all sides. They were helpless before their enemies. 

Then God, in His grace, raised up judges who saved them from their plunderers. When God raised up a judge, he would be right there with the judge as long as the judge was alive. But when the judge died, the people went right back to their old ways...even worse...stubborn as mules.

And God said, “Because these people have thrown out my covenant that I commanded their parents and haven’t listened to me, I’m not driving out one more person from the nations that Joshua left behind when he died. I’ll use them to test Israel and see whether they stay on God’s road and walk down it as their parents did.”

Which, of course, brings us to...us.

I can’t count the number of times my life has been plundered by my own sin. The joy of the Lord, the power of the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of God’s Word all fail me. I weep. I plead. I promise. I get no relief. I feel abandoned...like the Israelites of old. It’s as though there is not a God in heaven.

And then I look around at the corners of my life and I’m not surprised. I have allowed false god’s and sinful temptations to accumulate in my life. Not necessarily from wicked intent, but often from laziness or compromise.

I’m reminded of what God told Haggai... “Ask the priests about the law. If someone carries holy meat in a fold of his garment and that fold touches bread, a boiled dish, wine, olive oil, or any other food, will that item become holy?’” The priests answered, “It will not.” 


We are Holy vessels...cleansed by the eternal blood of our savior. That does not mean the things we touch become holy. it means...when we touch things that are unclean, we become unclean (not “unsaved”) and God will no longer March before us to make our way straight. It tells me that if I want to remain clean I must remove the unclean things from my life. After all, the only reason I sin is because I let unclean things close enough to tempt me.

But...until I demonstrate obedience and start cleaning house, God will not clean house for me. By His grace He will surely come alongside me and point out the things that need to go. He may even send Judges, in the form of friends or spiritual elders. Just remember, when God puts something in the”to go” pile, leave it there!

And then...the joy, the power and the wisdom return.

Live boldly out there today...

God said, “There are things under the ban in your midst"

God of Israel, has said, “There are things under the ban in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst.” Joshua 7:13

On the heels of a great victory over Jericho, the Israelites planned to conquer Ai.

But Israel had acted unfaithfully, for Achan took some things from Jericho (as plunder) God had banned. Therefore the Lord was angry against all of Israel. So, when Joshua sent about 3,000 men from Jericho to destroy Ai, the men of Ai killed thirty-six of Johua’s men, and chased the rest of them from their gates and struck them down

Joshua tore his clothes and fell on his face (along with the elders) before the ark of the Lord. Joshua asked, “O Lord God, why did You ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us?” So the Lord said to Joshua, “Israel has sinned, and taken things under the ban and have also put them among their own things. Therefore I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban.”

Two important lessons...
1. When we sin against the Lord we cannot expect Him to bless our endeavors and make them fruitful and, 2. When we sin against the Lord there are consequences for those around us even if they have not sinned.

When things go wrong for us we are not generally inclined to ask God where we have gone wrong. We are more inclined to make a logical assessment and take corrective action. After all, asking God implies the possibility of moral failure and...who really wants to admit that? I’d far prefer admitting  to a failure in knowledge or skill. They don’t make me a “bad person”...only a dumb person. And, I can fix that!

Well, we can fix moral failure as well. It begins with admitting we are sinners (saved by grace) who need constant forgiveness. It continues with a devotion to obeying God’s directions in our lives. But...admitting we have profound existential flaws based on the judgement of another (even if it is God) is a blow to our pride so, we try to avoid doing so.

And...we can continue in denial if we choose. The real question is...how long do we want to ruin our lives as well as the lives of people we love?

Live boldly out there today...

God said, “I am going to make a covenant.

God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.  Exodus 34:10

A covenant is a Divine promise...sealed with a ritual. In the case of the Abrahamic Covenant the ritual involved circumcision. God said "This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me".

The promise was fruitfulness, influence, a home...and  Divine protection. In return, God demanded unwavering devotion.

Why Circumcision? Cutting the flesh intended to symbolize acknowledgement that none of these blessings could be dependably accomplished through human effort...only by God. Peter Leithart, in his book Delivered from the Elements of the World, says from the beginning, circumcision ritualized the impotence and infertility of flesh. Flesh is not the solution to the human dilemma...flesh is the problem. The obstacle that needs to be removed is flesh itself. Circumcision was a casting-away of flesh that began in infancy. The children of Abraham were marked by a sign of distrust in flesh. At the same time the circumcised renounce flesh, they are entrusted to the life-giving God.

So...a visible sign of subordination and dependence upon God.

As with most things, we humans managed to completely misconstrue the importance of the ritual. We began to believe in the ritual itself rather than the truth to which the ritual pointed. The truth God intended to  convey through circumcision is far more personal and intrusive.In Deuteronomy the Israelites are told "The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live" (30:6).

When Israel strayed from God, Jeremiah said "Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, (God's) wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it, because of your evil deeds." (4:4)

It's easy to feel the rituals of our faith bring no real value. We pray, we read scripture, we go to church...and nothing changes. I suggest it is because we are only going through the motions. Until our hearts are broken by the incredible grace of God...until our hearts cannot help but love Him with all our soul and strength...until we humbly kneel before our God in gratitude for His mercy we are simply performing rituals...not sacraments.

This kind of gratitude is marked by an insatiable desire to please God and obey Him. But, every morning, we need let God circumcise our hearts all over again.

The promise is still there...is your heart circumcised?

Live boldly out there today...

The Lord said “Let My people go, that they may serve Me".

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me". Exodus 9:1

We recall how the Israelites found themselves in Egypt; Jacob and his sons went there because of a famine. Jacob's son, Joseph, was a powerful prince in Egypt and invited them to stay. Because of Joseph the Israelites were treated well and enjoyed a peaceful existence for over 100 years.

Eventually a new king arose over Egypt, who did not remember Joseph. He said, “The people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. Let us deal with them, or else in the event of war, they will join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and leave". So  taskmasters were appointed over them and they were subjected to slave labor...building storage cities for Pharaoh. The more they were abused, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they became a potential threat. The Egyptians increase the labor demands and made the Israelite lives bitter.  

Then the king of Egypt directed the Hebrew midwives to kill any male children who were born. The midwives feared God, and did not do as the king commanded. God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty. But...things only got worse. Finally, the sons of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and God heard them and remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them...

Abraham Harold Maslow (1908 – 1970) was an American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization. The most important thing to take away from Maslow's Hierarchy of Human Needs is his assertion that all human beings start fulfilling their needs at the bottom levels of the pyramid. In short, we fill our lower physiological needs first.

Assuming validity in Maslow's theory, It's not difficult to recognize the Israelites could not effectively cultivate a meaningful relationship with God when they were struggling for their very existence. And, God had always coveted intimacy with His people.

So...Yahweh called on Moses to fix things. He commanded Moses to tell the King of Egypt “Let My people go, that they may serve Me".  In Maslow's terminology, quit abusing them; provide for their safety; treat them with care; make them feel valuable. Of course, Pharaoh would never do this so God intended to take them out of Egypt so He could do these things for Israel Himself.

It took time. In today's vernacular, the entire tribe probably exhibited symptoms of PTSD. Only God's faithful loving nurture could overcome the trauma. Eventually the children of Israel grew back into a trusting obedient relationship with God...and began serving Him

When we are enslaved by temptations and struggles in this world we are unable to remain intimate with God and walk faithfully with Him as He desires. We have more immediate survival concerns. God is surely disappointed but, in truth, we are the ones that suffer most from the estrangement. We lose peace, we lose fellowship, we lose confidence,  we lose hope.

Whatever is preventing us from moving close to God is not important. What is important is...we need to cry out to Yahweh as the children of Israel did. When we do, God will hear us. He will demand of Satan, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me". It may be a struggle. We see it took a multitude of plagues before Pharaoh finally relented and submitted to God.

But...our God won. He always does...

When sin and Satan finally release their grip, the results are transformative and we can serve God joyfully the way we have always wanted to...but couldn't. King David explains in his first Psalm...
Oh, the joys of those who do not follow evil men’s advice, who do not hang around with sinners, scoffing at the things of God.  They delight in doing everything God wants them to, and day and night are always meditating on his laws and thinking about ways to follow him more closely. They are like trees along a riverbank bearing luscious fruit each season without fail. Their leaves shall never wither, and all they do shall prosper.  For the Lord watches over all the plans and paths of godly men, but the paths of the godless lead to doom.
 Live boldly out there today...

God said “I AM WHO I AM"

Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”  God said to Moses, "I AM THE I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, "I AM" has sent me to you.” Exodus 3:13, 14

Moses understood there were many gods recognized throughout the region. Remember, He was raised as grandson to the Pharaoh. He had an "Ivy League" education  and was not unfamiliar with surrounding cultures. So...it makes sense that Moses would ask..."who are you?"

Here is a list of, at least some of, the gods Moses would likely recognize.

Adrammelech	Sepharvites	2 Kin 17:31	Sun-god
Amon	Thebes In Egypt	Jer 46:25	Sun-god
Anammelech	Sepharvites	2 Kin 17:31	Moon-goddess
Asherah (Asherim)	Canaan	Judges 6:25,26,28,30	Fertility goddess
Ashima	Hammath In Syria	2 Kin 17:30	------------------------------
Ashtoreth (Ashtaroth)	Syria/Phoenicia/Canaan	1 Kin 11:5,33	Love, fertility goddess
Baal	Syria/Phoenicia/Canaan	2 Kin 10:18-23,25-28	Principal god
Baal-berith	Shechem in Canaan	Judg 8:33, Judg 9:4	Name means "lord of covenant"
Baal-Peor	Moabites	Num 25:3,5	------------------------------
Baal-Zebub (Beelzebub in NT )	Ekron In Philistine	2 Kin 1:2,3,6,16	Name means "lord of flies" (protection from)
Bel (possibly same as Baal)	Moabites/Babylonians/Ammonites	Isa 46:1 Jer 50:2, Jer 51:44	Principal god
Castor/Pollux (Twin Brothers)	Greeks	Acts 28:11	Twin sons of Zeus. Protection for sailors.
Chemosh	Moabites	1 Kin 11:7,33	Destroyer, subduer. Child sacrifices made for
Dagon	Philistines	1 Sam 5:2-5,7	Grain god
Diana/Artemis	Ephesus In Greece	Acts 19:24,27-28,34-35	Moon, hunting, virginity goddess
Gad (Fortune)	Israel	Isa 65:11	------------------------------
Golden Calf	Israel (Borrowed from Egypt)	Story in Ex 32	------------------------------
Jupiter/Zeus	Greek	Acts 14:12	King god, ruler of heaven and all other gods
Kalwan (Chiun)	Babylonians	Amos 5:26	Possibly star god
Meni (Destiny)	Israel	Isa 65:11	------------------------------
Mercury/Hermes	Greek	Acts 14:12	Messenger for the gods
Merodach/Marduk	Babylonians	Jer 50:2	Possibly associated with Mars, war god
Milcom (Malcham, Malcam)	Ammonites	1 Kin 11:5,33	------------------------------
Molech (Moloch)	Ammonites	Lev 20:2,3,4,5	Destroyer, consumer. Child sacrifices made for
Nebo	Chaldea In Babylon	Isa 46:1	Writing, speech, literature, arts god
Nehushtan	Israel	2 Kin 18:4	Serpent Moses made in wilderness (Num 21:4-9)
Nergal	Cuth in Babylon	2 Kin 17:30	War and hunting god
Nibhaz	Avvites	2 Kin 17:31	------------------------------
Nisroch	Assyrians	2 Kin 19:37, Isa 37:38	------------------------------
Queen Of Heaven (Known as Ishtar)	Assyria/Babylon	Jer 7:18, Jer 44:17,18,19,25	Love, war, fertility goddess
Rimmon	Syria	2 Kin 5:18	Weather god
Sikkuth	Babylonians	Amos 5:26	Saturn god
Succoth Benoth	Babylonians/Samarians	2 Kin 17:30	goddess
Tammuz	Babylonians/Samarians	Ezek 8:14	Vegetation god
Tartak	Avvites	2 Kin 17:31	Prince of darkness

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And, he heard a name he had not heard before. Elohim (God of creation) settled the issue...אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה  (Yahweh asher Yahweh). I AM THE I AM. "This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations".  Matthew Poole tells us the words are with equal precision rendered, I WILL BE WHAT I AM, or, I AM WHAT I WILL BE, or, I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE. Not only I am what I am at present, but I am what I have been, and I am what I shall be, and shall be what I am.

The verb hâyâh (to be) expresses not "to be" essentially, but "to be" phenomenally; it denotes, in Delitzsch’s words, not the idea of inactive, abstract existence, but the active manifestation of existence. Think about this...everything that "is", exists as a reflection of Elohim's being. The two cannot be separated. We see the same essence presiding over the final chapter of creation , "I am the Alpha and the Omega--the beginning and the end, I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come--the Almighty One." (Revelation 1:8) The great God of creation (Elohim) is the same great God who will make all things new.

The name is all encompassing and all consuming. None of the other gods actually exist...they exist only in the minds of the pagans who invented them.

This, of course, means you and I have a decision to make. We either subordinate ourselves to the self-proclaiming, self-existing, Lord of all existence...or we look for other options that can exist only in our little minds.  Blaise Pascal (1623–62) reminds us what a foolish endeavor that might be. He posits that humans bet with their lives that God either exists or does not. A rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does not actually exist, such a person will have only a finite loss (some pleasures, luxury, etc.), whereas he stands to receive infinite gains (as represented by eternity in Heaven) and avoid infinite losses (eternity in Hell).

But, you know, the pleasure of that fruit was so tempting to Eve. She wanted it more than she wanted God. And, the pleasure of Eve was so tempting to Adam that he wanted her more than he wanted God.

We all know how that turned out...

Live boldly out there today...

The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people

The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey". Exodus 3:7

I once was in the middle of an extremely chaotic situation and was attempting to figure out a solution. I couldn't seem to get my mind focused sufficiently to properly analyze the situation and develop a promising plan. A friend of mine opined "It's hard to remember you came to drain the swamp when you're up to your hips in alligators!"

Very true. Often life seems that way...even for good people who have done nothing to warrant the stress. King David once said "The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all". (Palm 34:19) Most of us know the first part by heart; The righteous person may have many troubles. It's the second half of the statement that we often lose sight of.

I believe we already know why remembering the promise of deliverance is so difficult in times of trouble. When God asked Adam where he was, Adam said "I was naked". When God asked what Adam had done Adam said "The woman you gave me..." When God asked Eve if she had eaten the forbidden fruit she said "The serpent deceived me".

Lots of "I's" and "me's"...

Looking inward is no way to overcome trouble. All it does is magnify our discomfort and encourage us to do anything...often the wrong thing...to escape our problems. . In fact, James tells us in his epistle "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions" (James 4:3). My personal experience says James is referring to our most common prayer; "Why, God?", as though God must justify himself to us. A better prayer might be "what now, God?"  It allows us to concentrate on the way forward.

1 Peter 3:12 says "the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer".

This is a confirmation of what we read in Exodus 3:7. But, we only seem to remember the promised deliverance if our hearts and minds are focused on the deliverer, not on the problem (ourselves). The Children of Israel, while in Egypt, had the spiritual sense to cry out to God for deliverance and...God heard them. Even more, He said "I have come down to deliver them".

This life is a swamp and some day we will be delivered. Until then, why battle the alligators? Its a fight we cannot win. We have a far better solution. "If we know that God hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him" (1 John 5:15). So..."do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God". (Philippians 4:6)

And...let God drain the swamp...

Live boldly out there today...

The Lord said “Moses! Moses!.”

When the Lord saw that Moses turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” Exodus 3:4

You and I are not alone...sometimes feeling estranged from the God we love because of our own stubborn insistence on having it our own way. We feel like we are alone in a wilderness. This has happened all through history and every time we lose sight of where God might be, he calls us.

"Lee! Lee!"

The first time was when God called "Adam! Adam!"  Then again, with Moses at the burning bush. Moses was tending his father-in-law's and was on the west side of the wilderness near Horeb, the mountain of God. An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and Moses said, “I have to go and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” Moses replied "Here I am!".  And...God declared himself saying "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

God is always calling us. Unfortunately, we usually fail to hear Him. There are reasons for this. The children of Israel where in exile...estranged from their God Yahweh. They longed to live in fellowship with Him once again but despaired of it ever happening. The prophet Jeremiah comforted them with a letter outlining Yahweh's words to them. "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (Jer 29:13)

Elijah ran for his life and hid in a cave...at Horeb...the same place Moses found Yahweh, after Jezebel threatened to kill him. The Word of the Lord came to him, and He said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?...Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! A powerful wind was pounding the mountain and breaking it in pieces. But...the Lord was not in the wind. And an earthquake came after the wind , but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire came, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing...and the voice of Yahweh was in the gentle blowing.

We learn two important lessons here. First, we will find God only when we search for Him with all our hearts. Second, when God calls it may be in the least expected manner. You may be wandering but, there is a way out of the wilderness. God is calling you...can you hear his voice? Listen! Harder!

Sadly, millions of people will never experience the overwhelming elation, the exhilaration, the  intoxicating pleasure found through intimacy with God because they never seek Him. It's sadder still when people of faith fail to ever find perfect fellowship with their Savior because they simply will not seek Him with all their heart.

I can choose to be a believer and live in the spiritual wilderness or I can choose to be a believer and dwell securely in the arms of the God who called my name.

Who are you?

Live boldly out there today...

The Lord said, “I am the God of your father Abraham...I am with you for the sake of My servant Abraham.”

The Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.” Genesis 26:24

There was a famine in the land similar to the earlier one during Abraham’s time. So Isaac went to King Abimelech of the Philistines. The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Don’t go to Egypt. Stay where I tell you.  Live here in this land for a while, and I will be with you and bless you. I will give all these lands to you and your descendants. I will keep the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.  So Isaac stayed where he was.

Isaac planted crops and harvested a hundred times as much as he had planted because the Lord had blessed him.  He continued to be successful, becoming very rich. Because he owned so many flocks, herds, and servants, the Philistines became jealous of him  and filled in all the wells that his father’s servants had dug during his father Abraham’s lifetime.

So Isaac dug out the wells that had been dug during his father Abraham’s time and gave them the same names that his father had given them and said, “Now the Lord has made room for us, and we will prosper in this land.”

He went from there to Beersheba...where the Lord appeared to hem and said “I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.”
We lose our way when we begin to believe the goodness of God is a result of our own righteousness. In truth...God blesses us for the sake of his servant Abram...and all the righteous men that followed him...all the way down to my father George. The only question remaining is, "will I be part of the chain of righteous servants who ensure the blessings pass to the next generation?" 

Live boldly out there today...

The Lord God said: “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless".

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh (the Lord) appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty (el Shaddai); Walk before (with) Me, and be blameless. “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.” Genesis 17:1, 2

The covenant had been made with Abram for at least fourteen years, and yet Abram remained without any visible sign of its accomplishment. Yahweh now appeared to Him again, when he was ninety-nine years old, twenty-four years after his Journey to Canaan, and thirteen after the birth of Ishmael, to fulfill the covenant. This time Yahweh inserted an additional condition to the covenant...Walk before (with) me and be perfect.

Of course, as the prophet Amos asked..."Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?"

So...Abram agreed. He "walked with God" and he was perfect. How did Abram get there?

Just a year earlier Yahweh had responded to a comment from Abram asking if his possessions would be inherited by a servant, since he was childless. Yahweh responded, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.”

"Then Abram believed in Yahweh; and He credited it to him as righteousness" (Gen 15:6). Righteousness is acting in accord with divine law; the condition of being morally right or justified; free from the guilt of sin.

Notice this important point: We aren't told "Abram believed God", or "believed what God said". We are told "Abram believed "IN" God", or believed  in the credible nature of Yahweh to the degree that whatever Yahweh proclaimed was a fait accompli...something that could or would not change.

Abram wasn't declared righteous because he followed Yahweh to Canaan. He only ended up in Canaan because that's where God was going while Abram was walking with Him. Abram wasn't declared righteous because of anything He did. In fact, we can point to a few Abramic actions that would never pass for righteous. He let his wife convince him to sleep with Hagar. He told a "half truth" to Abimelech saying Sarah was his sister. Abram was declared righteous because he believed in the God who revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush.

All else is academic...

Which is why the Apostle Paul could boldly say to the Corinthian jailer "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved." Our Nicene Creed reminds us...We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth, of things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the begotten of God the Father, the Only-begotten, that is of the essence of the Father. God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten and not made; of the very same nature of the Father...

It is impossible to believe in God and NOT believe in Jesus Christ. They are the same. And when we do...we are credited as acting in accord with divine law; as being morally right or justified; free from the guilt of sin. "Walk with Me, and I will declare you blameless. I will give you eternal life". But..."Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?"

Is it possible to believe in somebody we don't know? Is it possible to agree to walk with somebody about whom we know nothing? No. God has solved this dilemma by revealing Himself to us through His Word, Holy Scripture. This is how we get to know Him and believe in Him. This is how we find ourselves willing to step out in faith and agree to walk with Him.

So...the condition of being morally right or justified; free from the guilt of sin is, at once, simple and complex. It is as simple as believing in God (the innocent faith of a child) and as complex as agreeing to walk with Him...whatever that means and wherever that leads. 2 Timothy 3:16 says "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness".  Actually, the Apostle Paul says "it is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe" (Romans 1:16)

Here we have it: We apply His declaration of reality to our lives, however imperfectly, and we are declared righteous. And before we realize it...we have walked with God all the way to the Promise Land.

Live boldly out there today...

 

The Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country...to the land which I will show you"

Now the Lord (Yahweh) said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you...
And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you, And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Genesis 12:1-3

A friend recently wrote to me and said "you will never know what a blessing you have been to me and my family". I humbly assure you, through forty years of ministry, including some surprising accomplishments, it is these words that give me the greatest satisfaction because they stamp the imprimatur of God's faithful presence over it all.

We live in a country of "safe spaces". Our colleges and universities are now designed in a way that nobody has to be exposed to information or experiences that make them uncomfortable. Our tax system in America allows us to stay in the safety and comfort of our parents' home until we are 26 years old and they can continue to claim us as dependents. I suppose the thought is...we want to protect young people from pain and discomfort so they can grow and learn without struggle. Unfortunately, the very definition of growth implies struggle. So, we are in fact accomplishing the perfect opposite. We are teaching our youth that life doesn't have to be difficult...and doesn't have a destination. We are ensuring they never embark on a journey. And, in the process, we are ensuring they never amount to anything or accomplish anything great...

A destination is always preceded by a journey... 

Abram was a great man...who accomplished great things. Keil/Delitzsch tells us...The Call. - The word of Jehovah, by which Abram was called, contained a command and a promise. Abram was to leave everything - his country, his family and his home - and to follow the Lord into the land which He would show him. He was to trust entirely to the guidance of God, and to follow wherever He might lead him. But as he went in consequence of this divine summons into the land of Canaan - the Lord gave him the inconceivably great promise, "I will make of you a great nation; and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing." Abram was not only to receive blessing, but to be a blessing; not only to be blessed by God, but to become a blessing, or the medium of blessing, to others.

Blessing...בְּרָכָה...from barak; (benediction), implies prosperity. Here are a few examples...

 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.  The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.   Psalms 121:7, 8

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.  Romans 15:13

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:7

God shall supply all you need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.  Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever.  Amen.  Philippians 4:19,20

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever.  Amen.  Hebrews 13:20,21

Prosperity, yes...wealth, perhaps.

 More to the point...imagine what it would be like to utter any of these words to a friend and be certain God would fulfill them. That would constitute true greatness. And...most of us want to make a difference. We want to have influence. Unfortunately, most of us don't want to do what it takes to be "change makers".

It's a difficult path but it always has a destination...

The path may not be, precisely, Abram's path but the path to greatness always involves following God obediently. The physical journey may be incidental. God may simply lead you to the next city or the next block. Yet...it is the act of following that accrues the blessings. And, the first step into the unknown is frightening. Ask anybody who has left for basic training, or university, or marriage.

We can follow fame, or wealth, or power but these are only distractions. That is not following God. We will achieve them and realize we have achieved nothing. God wants to bless us by making us a blessing to others...and may give us these things in our pursuit of Him...so we might use them to bless others. Only the relentless pursuit of God, Himself, infers a promise of the kind of greatness that calls down the power and presence of God into the lives of others. But...we must take that first step, wherever it leads.

Live boldly out there today...