Returning from the Wilderness

Psalm 63

O God, you are my God, 

   earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
   my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
   where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary
   and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
   my lips will glorify you. 

I will praise you as long as I live,
   and in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
   with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

On my bed I remember you;
   I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
   I sing in the shadow of your wings.
My soul clings to you;
   your right hand upholds me.

They who seek my life will be destroyed;
   they will go down to the depths of the earth.
They will be given over to the sword
   and become food for jackals.

But the king will rejoice in God;
   all who swear by God’s name will praise him,
   while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

I feel like I'm returning from the wilderness.  I've gotten lackadaisical in my study of God's Word...reading it just to be reading it...mostly so I could check it off my mental to do list, and honestly, so I wouldn't feel guilty for not being in the Word. To be truthful, I may have been reading, but since I was not really reflecting on the meaning of the words as they floated past my eyes, it's as if I haven't been in the Word at all. I've found it very difficult to remember or internalize anything without this process of journal-blogging. And, because I didn't "write" down any of my thoughts as I've read through these last books, I have nothing to review, nothing to jog my memory.

This morning's reading included Psalm 63, a chapter near and dear to my heart and perfectly placed by the Lord on this day. I'd just mentioned to a friend this week that I felt like I'd been in a wilderness...wandering apart from close fellowship with the Lord. I realize it was not Him who moved...it was me. I'm the one who wandered...God was right there all the time, waiting for me to come back. Ah, my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.  I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life,my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live,and in your name I will lift up my hands.

Thank you Lord Jesus for drawing me back...close to Your heart...thank You for loving me.

The Law

The Pentateuch - completed.  Thankfulness for my Savior's sacrifice abounds.  Gratitude to my Lord overflows. Thank you Lord that I am free...free in you...free from the law.  Stick me to You, O Lord, with the stickiest of glue, that I might follow in your paths.  You always keep Your promises, O Lord.  Your eye is always upon me.

Deuteronomy 32:4 - "He is the Rock, His works are perfect and all His ways are just.  A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He."

Deuteronomy 33:26-27a:  "There is no one like the God of Israel.  He rides across the heavens to help you, across the skies in majestic splendor.  The eternal God is your refuge and his everlasting arms are under you."

Psalm 91:14-16:
"The LORD says, 'I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble
I will rescue and honor them.
I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.'"

Grateful...

That one word sums up my heart attitude this morning - grateful. Reading through the book of Exodus and all of the ceremonies and rules and details of the old covenant...the manner in which Aaron and his sons were anointed for service, the offerings made, the process, the ceremony. It's enough to make my head spin. How ever did they keep all those details straight?  It's not like they had a simple way of recording the words of God.  They could not just quickly download them as a .pdf file and store them on their laptop for future use. Did God bless Moses with a superhuman ability to remember? He told all of these things to Moses on the mountain...and Moses had to remember them and put them into practice after he descended to once again be with the people of Israel. I suppose much of my trouble in reading through this passage comes from the fact that it is so unfamiliar to my current-day Christianity...animal sacrifice, priestly garments, law, law, law.

Jesus made it clear in Matthew 22:37-38, the greatest commandment is to "'love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." Two commands...this sums up the law and the prophets. Yet, even with only two commands, I mess up royally on a moment-by-moment basis.

Through Jesus, a new covenant was made. His blood flowed, and by it I am washed clean. His death purchased for me the righteousness of God. May I live in the light of this promise, filled with the knowledge that He died in my place...that I am reconciled to God, cleansed of my sin...completely and wholly undeserved. Thank you Jesus! May my heart continue to overflow with gratefulness for all You have done for me.

Little by Little

In Exodus 23:29-30, God tells the Israelites that He will deliver them into the Promised Land, which is currently filled with other peoples (Hittites, Canaanites, Hivites, etc.). However, the Lord says that He will not drive them out all at once, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals would overrun the land.  So, instead, He tells them, "Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land."

Though it frustrates me at times, it seems this is also the way the Lord works in my life...clearing things out little by little.  Sometimes, I'd like Him to just clear it out all at once and get it over with.  Pruning hurts!  But, I must trust in the wisdom of God and lean into Him.  He wants me to "increase" as He takes over more and more areas of my life.  He wants me to grow!

Don't Just Stand There! Do Something!

The Hebrew people are encamped near the Red Sea and nothing but wilderness separates them from the approaching Egyptian army, fully armored, brandishing weapons and kicking up loads of dust as their mighty chariots advance. Imagine the mass of quivering Israelite humanity...600,000 Hebrew men, plus all of their women and children, all traveling on foot...watching the Egyptian army quickly covering the ground that separates them. They challenge Moses, demanding to know why he hadn't left them in Egypt. After all, weren't there enough graves in Egypt for all of them...why did they have to come out into the wilderness to die?

Moses calmly reassures them, "Don't be afraid. Just stand where you are and watch the LORD rescue you. The Egyptians that you see today will never be seen again.  The LORD himself will fight for you. You won't have to lift a finger in your defense!" (Exodus 14:13-14 NLT)

Side question...how did Moses communicate to what must have been at least 1.2 million people, over the din of panic, the braying animals, and the crying children?

Then the Lord tells Moses, "Don't just stand there...do something."  Well, not exactly in those words, it was more like:  "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving!"  (v. 15)  God commanded Moses to stretch out his staff over the waters of the Red Sea and divide it.  Moses had seen the miraculous ways God had used this same staff in his many meetings with Pharaoh.  Moses didn't hesitate.  The pillars of cloud and fire move in between the Hebrew people and the Egyptians, hiding the Hebrews from their view.  I've always pictured the pillars as not much more than a column on the front of a large museum.  This pillar hid 1.2 million people...I guess that's more like the whole museum and then some!  Further amazing descriptions of how God uses the pillars in verse 20: "The cloud settled between the Israelite and Egyptian camps. As night came, the pillar of cloud turned into a pillar of fire, lighting the Israelite camp. But the cloud became darkness to the Egyptians, and they couldn't find the Israelites."

With the pillars in place, Moses stretches his hand over the sea and God parts the waters.  All through the night, God caused a wind to blow on the exposed seabed (but, this wind did not blow away the pillar of cloud and darkness that separated the two people groups).  In the morning, the Israelites walked through the Red Sea on dry ground.  What must it have been like, walking between two walls of water, the fish and sea creatures staring at you from the temporary God-made boundaries of their watery home?  The Red Sea at it's deepest point is 1.3 miles deep.  Just imagine the height of those walls of water! Ahhh, the magnificent power of God!

The Egyptian armies pursued the people of God into the sea, only to have the waters collapse on them.
I find it interesting that the Pharaoh and his armies were drowned in the Red Sea...sounds a bit like "what goes around, comes around."

Undiscovered Sin

I find it humorous sometimes the things that pop out of Scripture on a particular day.  Today it was the fact that Moses took his wife and family with him to Egypt.  I've known that Moses was married.  But, I always assumed Moses traveled the road to Egypt alone...just him and God.


There's a quirky little passage towards the end of Exodus 4.  In the midst of Moses' obedience - as he's on his way back to Egypt to confront the Pharaoh and ask for the release of the Hebrew people, God confronts Moses.  With little to no explanation in the text, it says that God confronted Moses when he had stopped for the night...and was about to kill him.  WHAT?!  Moses was in the middle of doing God's will.  Why would God kill him?  God is God...and He knew all along that Moses had not circumcised his son.  So, why didn't God confront Moses on this issue from the burning bush, or at some other point before now...when Moses is at the proverbial tip of the sword?  Zipporah, Moses' wife, seems to get it immediately.  She takes a sharp rock and circumcises their son, which puts an immediate end to God's confrontation.  How did she know?  


Circumcision was the mark of the Abrahamic covenant, a sign that the people of God were walking after the Spirit, not after the flesh - that's why God had them cut away the flesh.  It seems that Moses did not "man up" and have his own son circumcised.  Was it a conflict between him and Zipporah?  Was this "mark" a source of marital conflict for the two of them?  There is little else in the text, except that she threw the bloody foreskin at Moses' feet and made a seemingly sarcastic, angry comment about Moses being a bloody husband to her.  


Matthew Henry's commentary on this passage helped to shine a bit of light onto the subject at hand for me:
"...when God discovers to us what is amiss in our lives we must give all diligence to amend it speedily, and particularly return to the duties we have neglected. The putting away of our sins is indispensably necessary to the removal of God’s judgements. This is the voice of every rod, it calls to us to return to him that smites us."


What undiscovered sin is present in my life?  What does God need to uncover in my heart?  May I not ignore His voice.

Faith Blessings

I've always been fascinated with the story of how God protected Moses...the Pharaoh had ordered all newborn Hebrew males to be drowned, but Moses' mother fashioned a basket out of papyrus reeds and waterproofed it with tar and placed Moses inside.  Then, she set the baby-filled basket in the Nile River - the very water the other baby boys were being drowned in.  Miriam, Moses' sister, kept a protective watch over the basket on its journey down the Nile, towards it's unbelievable final destination, the palace of the Pharaoh himself!  The Pharaoh's daughter spied the basket and requests that it be brought to her.  As she opened the basket, she instantly recognizes that Moses is a Hebrew baby.  But, Moses' cry touches her heart and she takes pity on him.  Miriam enters the scene and asks if the princess would like her to find Hebrew wet nurse to nurse the baby.  When the princess wholeheartedly agrees, Miriam runs to get none other than Moses' own mother!  Today, as I was reading, a new little factoid registered in my brain...Exodus 2:9 tells us that the princess commands Moses' mother to take him home and nurse him, and as if that isn't enough, Moses' mother will be paid for her efforts.

Ah, the blessings of faith.  Moses' mother trusted in God's protective hand over her son...she'd hidden him for the first three months of his life and then set him off in a basket down the Nile River.  This story enriches my own faith. I pray that God will increase my faith this day.

When You Rise Up...

As I began my journey into the book of Exodus, I was immediately reminded of the importance of repeating the stories of God's faithfulness to my children - from the Bible, from my own life, and from the lives of those around us.  By the time Jacob (Israel) died, all of his direct descendants had settled in the land of Egypt, approximately 75 in all. As Joseph, and the rest of his generation died, their descendants multiplied quickly and filled the land. 


When the Pharoah, whom Joseph had worked under, passed away, the writer of Exodus tells us that "a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. He told his people, "These Israelites are becoming a threat to us because there are so many of them.  We must find a way to put an end to this. If we don't and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us.  Then they will escape from the country." (Exodus 1:8-10) I read an interesting fact this morning:  Joseph's family "started with five people back in Haran: Jacob, Rachel, Leah, Zilphah, and Bilhah. It grew into a clan of about 100 people in 50 years (the 100 includes the seventy of Genesis 46:27 and Exodus 1:5 plus a few wives of the sons not mentioned and grandchildren). This represents a growth rate of just over 6% per year. At that rate there would be several million descendants by the time of Exodus, 430 years later." If the new Pharaoh was not aware of Joseph's story, it's really no wonder that he was worried about this mass of "aliens" living in his land.


I'm reminded of a quote I heard once, "Christianity is one generation away from extinction."  God inspired the writer of Deuteronomy  with this idea as well.  In chapter 6:4-9, we read: “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."


Today, may I live out the mantra of our home and our home school:  "When you rise up..."  May today be a day filled with reflection on God's epic story...a story that continues in, through, and around us.  May we bring glory to His name as we're on the lookout for the ways He's at work...and may we join Him there!

The God Zone

I remember writing these words just a few days ago:  "I do sense, however, that God may call me to sacrifice my comfort zone lifestyle...to what, I'm not sure.  But I pray that I will have Abraham's mature faith when God's call comes."


Today, as I was reading one of my newfound favorite online stops - Ann Voskamp's A Holy Experience, these words captured my attention:  "We're in the God zone when we're out of our comfort zone and the Holy Spirit, our Comforter, comforts us when we step outside our comfort zone.  It's only in the uncomfortable places that we can experience the tenderness of the Comforter."


Hmm...where are You taking me, Lord?

And we know...

...that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.  Romans 8:28

I made it to the end of Genesis today - with a journey to Job in the middle. This has never happened before. Many times have I begun the journey through Genesis. Many times have I made it through the story of Noah and that marked the end. I'd never even read the book of Job in its entirety. What an awe-inspiring, fruit-producing, thanks-provoking thing, to truly read God's Word for the first time...this Word, filled with such glorious, epic, truthful story. I'm more convinced than ever, that God has created us to love story. The intrigue, the romance, the devastation, the redemption, the overcoming of odds, the transforming power of grace. I'm reminded today that we are written into God's story...our day-to-day lives masterfully woven into the tapestry of history - His Story. I imagine these "life threads" to be like variegated yarn...changing from one color to another and back again...as we walk down the path that is our life. I pray and trust that as my life is continually woven into God's epic, He'll fashion it into something beautiful...even with all the variations of color, the dark hues, the bright and sparkly, the golds and the murky grays...each reflecting the tossings and turnings, the highs and lows, the ebb and flow of my willingness to trust in Him. Today I choose to surrender to His almighty plan for my life. Today I choose to let Him weave the pattern of His choosing.

Back to Genesis...which ends with the death of Joseph. We have the benefit of seeing all of Joseph's life from beginning to end...we see the overarching hand of God in the midst of the trials Joseph found himself in. We see the threads as God weaves them back and forth through the fabric of Joseph's circumstances. As I re-read David Guzik's commentary, this list caught my eye:

• If Joseph’s brothers never sell him to the Midianites, then Joseph never goes to Egypt. 
• If Joseph never goes to Egypt, he never is sold to Potiphar. 
• If he is never sold to Potiphar, Potiphar’s wife never falsely accuses him of rape. 
• If Potiphar’s wife never falsely accuses him of rape, then he is never put in prison. 
• If he is never put in prison, he never meets the baker and butler of Pharaoh. 
• If he never meets the baker and butler of Pharaoh, he never interprets their dreams. 
• If he never interprets their dreams, he never gets to interpret Pharaoh’s dream. 
• If he never gets to interpret Pharaoh’s dream, he never is made prime minister. 
• If he is never made prime minister, he never wisely administrates for the severe famine coming upon the region. 
• If he never wisely administrates for the severe famine coming upon the region, then his family back in Canaan perishes from the famine. 
• If his family back in Canaan perishes from the famine, then the Messiah can’t come forth from a dead family. If the Messiah can’t come forth, then Jesus never came. 
• If Jesus never came, then you are dead in your sins and without hope in this world. We are grateful for God’s great and wise plan.

Oh yes, we are grateful! May my life today reflect that gratefulness...may  my life be a continuous looking forward to the completion of God's eternal, loving, perfect plan.

"Less Than The Least..."

artist unknown

"Less than the least of all God's mercies."  These words of the 17-century English poet and clergyman, George Herbert, echo the cry of Jacob as he looks toward a reunion with his brother, Esau (Genesis 32:10):  "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant." (NKJV)

The New Living Translation uses the words "faithfulness" and "unfailing love" in place of "mercies."  The Hebrew word is chesed which means "God's enduring love."  I pray that my heart attitude would be that of Jacob...humble and utterly unworthy of the chesed which God showers upon me every day...that I would remember that everything I bring to God has been completely desecrated by sin...remembering that my hope cannot be in my own worth.  Rather, I must rest in the promises of God.  He promises to rescue.  He promises to deliver.  He promises to save.

Less than the least of all God's mercies...

Better Than Reality TV!

In my mind, I've always painted the Patriarchs, their wives, and their families in a rather saintly light. But, as I read through the Old Testament, I see all the things that were left out of Sunday School lessons (or more likely, ignored by my Pollyanna self). These stories are way better than anything Hollywood or network television have to offer in the way of deception, lust, revenge, polygamy, incest, envy, jealousy, rage, and dysfunctional families!

• Abraham giving his "sister" Sarah to two different kings to be their wife.  
• Sarah taking her infertility matters into her own hands and giving her servant, Hagar, to Abraham.  
• Lot offering the men of Sodom his two virgin daughters so that they would leave the male "visitors" to his home alone (the men of Sodom were demanding that Lot turn over his house guests so the men of Sodom might have sexual relations with them).  
• Lot's virgin daughters sleeping with their own father in order that they might "preserve their family line."  (Genesis 19:31-38). After watching their cities destroyed, I wonder if they thought the entire world had ended...?  
• Isaac pulls the old "she's my sister" trick with the king of the Philistines, telling Abimelech that Rebekah is his sister. Abimelech finds out differently when he later sees Isaac & Rebekah making out. Abimelech becomes quite angry, knowing that if someone had slept with Rebekah, thinking she was Isaac's sister, they would have committed a grievous sin. Hmm...wonder where Isaac could have learned that one from?  
• Esau "selling" his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew.
• Esau takes two Hittite wives (who make life miserable for Isaac & Rebekah).
• Jacob & Rachel deceiving Isaac so Jacob could have the birthright which rightfully belonged to Esau.  
• An interesting tidbit that I noticed from Ishmael's life:  he also had 12 sons, which became the names of the twelve tribes. I wonder if the Arab/Muslim world considers these 12 tribes as important as the Christian world considers the 12 Tribes of Jacob? 
• Esau, after realizing that his father despised the "local" women, visited his uncle Ishamael's home and took another wife (in addition to the two he already had). This new wife's name was "Mahalath" and she was Ishmael's daughter.
• The polygamy continues in other branches of the family tree:  Jacob allows himself to be a 7-year indentured servant to Laban, his uncle, in order that he might "earn" Rachel's hand in marriage. Laban invited the entire household to a feast in honor of their "wedding." That night, when it was dark, Laban took LEAH in to Jacob's tent and Jacob slept with her, not knowing it was Leah and not Rachel. What a dirty trick! Laban then tells Jacob to wait until the "bridal week" is over and he will receive Rachel as his wife as well, in trade for another SEVEN years of Jacob's servitude.  
• Rachel, trapped in infertility, becomes jealous of her sister (Leah) who was having children with Jacob. Rachel decides to give her maid (Bilhah) to Jacob to sleep with.  She (Bilhah) became pregnant and birthed two sons. Leah was unable to have more children, so she too gave Jacob her maid (Zilpah) to sleep with. Zilpah also gave Jacob two sons. Leah, jealous of Jacob's love for her sister Rachel, bribes Jacob to have sex with her. Out of this union came another son. Finally, God opens Rachel's womb and allows her to have a son. Surprise, surprise...the favored wife has the favored son, Joseph!
• When Jacob responds to God's call to leave Laban's land, Rachel & Leah unite against a common foe - their own father. Jacob's family strikes out towards Jacob's homeland, but not before Rachel steals her father's household idols. Laban chases after them, accusing Jacob of theft. Rachel stashed the idols in her camel's saddle bags and mounts the camel. She claims to have her monthly period and therefore is unable to come down off the camel. Alas, Laban is unable to find his lost idols and assumes innocence on the part of Jacob & his daughters, their servants and members of Jacob's household, and makes a peace treaty with Jacob.

I must say, this is better than anything reality TV can serve up! The Fall in the early chapters of Genesis continues to play out on the screen of Old Testament history and the enemy continues to work his plan to this day. Many of these story lines are played out in the day-to-day lives of billions of people around the world. And, into this sinful world, God sent His one and only Son to save us from these messes, these sin-filled life paths we've walked. God loves us that much! Unbelievable! No reality TV show or movie ending can beat the hope-inspiring final scene God has in mind for all who call on His name: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world, through Him, might be saved."   (John 3:16-17)

Finally...

...immediate obedience to God's call.  In Genesis 22:2, God tells Abraham, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."  In a very un-Abraham-like fashion, we see that he immediately obeys God's instruction. He gets up very early the next morning, follows God's words to the letter and prepares to sacrifice his son. Where did this faith come from?  This is the same Abraham who lied to two different kings, telling them Sarah was his sister, fearing they would kill him if they knew Sarah was his wife. This is the same Abraham who took God's promise of many descendants into his own hands, sleeping with Sarah's maid and having a son, Ishmael. The story of Abraham is one of incremental faith growth. This particular story of Abraham & Isaac shows the culmination of Abraham's years of walking with God.  This story gives me hope. Hope that one day, my faith will be as strong as Abraham's. I do not that fear God will ever call me to such a task as sacrificing my own child. The story of Abraham and Isaac was for a specific time and specific place and specific purpose. David Guzik says, "What Abraham did was something completely unique in God's redemptive history, given for a specific purpose once for all fulfilled."* I do sense, however, that God may call me to sacrifice my comfort zone lifestyle...to what, I'm not sure.  But I pray that I will have Abraham's mature faith when God's call comes.

*(Guzik, David. "Study Guide for Genesis 22." Enduring Word. Blue Letter Bible. 7 Jul 2006.)

Ahh, Baggage!

I've often wondered how Abram and Sarai could have been so impatient.  They heard directly from God that He would cause their descendants to be more numerous than the dust particles of the earth.  Having heard directly from God, yet being barren, Sarai is sure the issue is with her.  After all, she isn't pregnant and she isn't getting any younger!  Ten years have passed since Abram & Sarai came to dwell in Canaan, since the promise of Genesis 13:  "I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.  Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you."

In their human thinking, Abram and Sarai just couldn't wrap their minds around the idea that their offspring would be as numerous as the dust of the earth.  How on earth could this happen if Sarai, at her age, remained barren?    Rather than patiently trusting in God's promise to give Abram and Sarai a son, Sarai takes matters into her own hands and gives over Hagar, her Egyptian maid, to stand in as a "surrogate."  Remember yesterday's reference to "baggage"?  Could it be that she was a part of Pharaoh's "get out of my land" peace offering (AKA the baggage Abram and Sarai carried out of Egypt following the fiasco of Abram's not-so-brilliant plan to have Sarai pose as his sister).  Hagar does indeed become a surrogate and winds up pregnant with Abram's son.  But Sarai, who planned this in the first place, becomes hostile toward Hagar and kicks her out of the house.  Why the hostility?  Personally, I can't imagine giving my husband permission to go sleep with someone...inviting another woman to share in intimate relations with my man.  At the root of this hostility must be regret, right?  And a whole lot of jealousy...both because the woman had slept with her husband but also because Hagar had gotten pregnant very easily, therefore making Hagar "more of a woman" in the eyes of those around them.  After all, Sarai had been married to Abram for years and was still barren.  Hagar's pregnancy pointed out that the problem of infertility was with Sarai.

What was Abram thinking?  Why didn't he stand up and act like a man, like the spiritual head of the household, reminding Sarai of God's promise to give them a son?  Where was he when Sarai opted to kick Hagar and his son out of the house (talk about a dead-beat dad)? I know hindsight is always 20/20.  How differently things would have turned out had Abram stood firmly upon God's promises!

What about Hagar?  Did she perish in the wilderness?  Quite the opposite, actually.  In Genesis 16: 7-12, we see the Lord's loving hand reach out to Hagar:
"The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
"I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied.
The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.”And the angel also said, "You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael,  for the LORD has heard about your misery. This son of yours will be a wild one—free and untamed as a wild donkey! He will be against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live at odds with the rest of his brothers."


Hagar must have been a courageous woman...having been told to go back and submit to Sarai's authority. That took some serious willpower! It seems Hagar had faith that the God who found and cared for her in the wilderness would sustain her in the household she'd been kicked out of.  


I've heard it proposed that Ishmael's descendants become the enemies of the Jews, God's chosen people.  If that's true, think of the truckloads of baggage Abram and Sarai created...and not just for themselves!  Does today's conflict between the Arabs and the Jews have its roots in the "worldly" decisions Abram and Sarai made as they tried to help God out?  Our decisions have long-lasting consequences...for years and ofttimes generations to come.  Ahh, baggage...the more we take out of God's hands to carry ourselves, the more baggage we create.

Play The Movie All The Way To The End

Genesis 12:1-2 says:  Then the LORD told Abram, "Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you. I will cause you to become the father of a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and I will make you a blessing to others."  
If I'm reading this right, God means to take care of Abram and his family in the land that He shows to them. But, Abram doesn't trust God in the right now...a theme we see played out in Abram's life numerous times.  In Genesis 12:10, we are told that a famine came to the land where Abram had settled.  Rather than trusting God to take care of them in the right now, Abram takes things into his own hands and travels with his family out of the land he'd been shown and into the land of Egypt.  This is where things get really weird. Scripture tells us that Sarai (Abram's wife) was "a very beautiful woman."  (Genesis 12:11).  Abram fears that should the Egyptians find out this beautiful woman is his wife, they will have Abram killed.  So, Abram hatches a plan wherein Sarai poses as his sister.  We find out in Genesis 20:12 that this actually half true:  "Besides, she is my sister—we both have the same father, though different mothers—and I married her. "  I can almost hear the words, "Well...it is partly true." rolling through Abram's mind as he tries to justify and rationalize his plans.  But, a half-truth is still a whole lie!  The Egyptians are indeed taken with Sarai's beauty and she eventually is given to Pharaoh to be his wife.  What on earth was Abram thinking?  If he'd only stayed in the place God had led him.  If only he'd trusted God's promise.  If only he'd practiced patience.  In the short-term, this did play out well for Abram (vs. 16):  "Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her—sheep, cattle, donkeys, male and female servants, and camels."  Perhaps this allowed Abram to continue thinking he'd made the right choice. How often does this same scenario play out in our own lives...thinking for the short-term, not allowing the movie in our minds to play all the way the end before making a decision.

Well, as do all such not-so-well-thought-out plans, this one ends up falling apart and creating baggage.  God sends great plagues to the house of Pharaoh because of Abram and Sarai.  I find it really interesting that Pharaoh discerns these plagues are directly connected to the "sister" lie.  With all that goes on in the daily life of a Pharaoh, how did he determine that Abram & Sarai were the source of the plague?  Did God speak to Pharaoh in order to protect the family line?  After all, this is the line of David and the lineage of Jesus Christ.  God needed to protect it.  The NKJV leads me to believe that Pharaoh and Sarai never consummated their marital relationship:  "Why did you say, 'She is my sister'? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way." (Genesis 12:19)  Here comes the baggage.  Remember all those gifts Pharaoh had given to Abram?  He had Abram, Sarai and all those gifts escorted out of his land.  More on that tomorrow...

Get To The Point!

In Romans 3:23, Paul writes "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  Reading through the book of Job, I'm having trouble lining this verse up with what's said about Job.  In chapter 1:1, the writer of Job says:  "This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil."  God himself points out Job's goodness.  In verse 8, the LORD asks Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job?  There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."  Satan argues that the only reason Job is upright and blameless is because he is under God's protection and blessing.  "but stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."  I wonder if Satan was surprised when God gave over everything Job had into Satan's hands (except Job himself).  Satan takes it as far as he possibly can and destroys everything Job could call his own - his possessions and his children.  Yet, "In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing."  (Job 1:22)


When God calls Satan on this in chapter 2, "There's no one quite like him [Job], is there - honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil?  He still has a firm grip on his integrity!  You tried to trick me into destroying him, but it didn't work."  Satan tries a different approach this time, saying, "A human would do anything to save his life.  But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away his health?  He'd curse you to your face, that's what."  Surprisingly, God gives Satan permission to do whatever he'd like with Job, except take his life.  So Satan strikes Job with horrible boils all over his body.  In verse 8 of chapter 2, it says "Job was ulcers from head to foot.  They itched and oozed so badly that he took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself, then went and sat on a trash heap, among the ashes."  And then, even after his wife called him a fool and tried to persuade him to curse God, Job's response is: "You're talking like an empty-headed fool.  We take the good days from God - why not also the bad days?"  Not once did through all this did Job sin.  He said nothing against God.


How is this possible?  How can a mere mortal be upright and righteous in everything?


This divine drama plays out beyond what Job and his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar can see.  In chapter 32, Job's "wise" friends finally shut up.  And Elihu takes up where they left off.  For FIVE chapters!  But in chapter 38, God takes center stage.  It's.  About.  Time.  I'm ready to be to the end...I'm tired of the back and forth.  I keep finding myself wondering why there are 37 chapters of human arguments...the back and forth of human wisdom.  Just get to the point already.  I want God's response.  Perhaps that's the whole point!  I wonder how often God wants me to get to the place of desiring His response alone?  I often read commentaries to discern what God's saying, seek the counsel of the saints, listen to common sense, or seek out circumstantial signs.  Granted, these are all things God uses to communicate with me.  But, how often do I simply listen for His still, small voice?  Hmmm...


And so, even though I'm not supposed to get there for two more days, and I started to read commentaries to answer my questions...today, I opted to read through to the end of the book of Job.  God lays it all out.  He holds nothing back.  I love Job's response:  "I'm convinced: You can do anything and everything.  Nothing and no one can upset your plans.  You asked, 'Who is this muddying the water, ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?' I admit it.  I was the one.  I babbled on about things far beyond me, made small talk about wonders way over my head.  You told me, 'Listen, and let me do the talking.  Let me answer the questions.  You give the answers.'  I admit I once lived by rumors of You; now I have it all firsthand - from my own eyes and ears!  I'm sorry -- forgive me.  I'll never do that again, I promise!  I'll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor."


So, God...I ask that you give me faith and steadfastness like Job.  Keep me in the place where my heart attitude is one of "You can do anything and everything.  Nothing and no one can upset your plans."  Help me to not second-guess Your purposes in my life.  Keep me from being like one of the four "friends" who tried to offer counsel...help me to be a friend who listens and points everything to You.  May my life be a reflection of Your glory...may I not try to keep any of it for myself...for it all belongs to You.  You alone are holy. You alone are worthy.  You alone are God.

I Know That My Redeemer Lives

Even amidst his immense pain and suffering, Job claims the promises of God.  In Job 19:25-27, he says: "But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!"


May this be my stance in life...even when the chaos swirls around me...I know that my Redeemer lives.  He will stand upon the earth at last.  I will see God for myself one day...with my own eyes!  Ahhh, the thought of it brings immense joy to my very core.

Hard Times | Good People

Why does God allow bad things to happen to apparently good people?  In the first verse of the first chapter of the book of Job, we learn that Job was "...blameless, a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil."  Yet, God allows the most horrific of suffering to befall this blameless, upright man.  Why?  


I love the answer Ray Stedman gives in his commentary, Job, the Hardest Question:  "Now, the ultimate answer to that question is given right at the beginning of the book [of Job]. At the opening we are handed certain program notes that explain to us something about the drama, something which even the actors themselves are not permitted to know. The answer given is that senseless suffering arises out of Satan's continual challenge to the government of God."


Ahhh, yes, the very real enemy that prowls around like a hungry lion, looking for a victim to devour (1 Peter 5:8).  It is so easy to think only in terms of the world we can see.  We often forget the unseen realm...where war is raging for the souls of man...for my soul...and yours.  If we were given the ability to see the enemy in all his terrifying and grotesque ugliness, we'd run for our lives.  He wants nothing more than to rip us to shreds, tear us down to nothing, render us completely and utterly defenseless.  He operates out of blind stupidity...forgetting the power...pushing the thought of it to the very deepest, darkest recesses of his mind...pretending he has the power to overcome.  He's never been more wrong about anything in his entire existence.  Jesus' blood and righteousness flows down from that cross to cover the believer, washing us clean and giving us the ability to stand on the rock of Jesus Christ himself...the ability and power to rebuke the enemy and his minions...to send them wherever Jesus deems appropriate.  And so, today, I claim the promises of Jesus in my life.  I venture out into the life He has created for me, though at times it seems fraught with pain and suffering.  With open arms, I embrace the blessings of walking in the light and beauty of His love for me.  Thank you God for loving me.

Whirling Why's

Do you ever find yourself drowning in a personal sea of "why's"?

• Why...?
• Why are my friends unable to have children?  
• Why did God allow me to get pregnant, only to then allow a miscarriage?  THREE times...and on that third time, taking away half of my fertility; then, a year later, steals away the other half, rendering me completely unable to have another child?  
• Why did she have to die, leaving behind 4 little kids?
• Why does my friend have cancer?  
• Why? Why? Why?

If anyone had the right to ask the tough why questions, it was Job.  The man lost every single, solitary thing to his name.  Every possession.  ALL of his children. And, to top it all off, God gave Satan permission to torment him with the physical pain of boils covering his entire body.  WHY?

Wish I had an answer to all of these tough questions.  Yet, I've come to realize God is so much greater than I could ever come close to understanding.  There are things that are just going to have to wait until heaven...and perhaps when the time comes, the questions will no longer matter.  For now, when the storms of life swirl around me; when the "whys" come, I must stand on the foundation of God's word.  The truth that God loves me.  The truth of Romans 8:28 (NLT), that God "causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them."  I must be able to collapse into these foundational, undergirding truths when things around me seem to be falling apart, outside of my control, beyond my understanding.  I must be able to fall back onto what I do understand.  And I understand this:  God LOVES me!  I may not understand the why and how of it all...but I know it is true.  I also know that what I can see of things is very small in comparison with the eternal perspective God possesses.  He can see the end and the beginning of all things, all at the same time.  He knows all and sees all...including my little life and all that's happening in it.  My life rests securely in the palm of His hand.  And, I am perfectly content to stay right there!

Through Thick & Thin

Friendship...what a blessed gift.  My life is peppered with many, many such gifts and I thank God for each one.

As I continue on in the book of Job and read what his friends have to say about Job's intense response to his horrific circumstances, I've come face-to-face with a trouble spot in my life.  I must admit, I struggle with being a "through thick and thin" kind of friend.  It's easy to be someone's friend when everything is all as it should be.  But what about the true majority of time - when things aren't all rosy and wonderful?  How does one approach a friend in turmoil and speak truth to them, without hurting feelings or injuring them on a heart level?  I absolutely despise conflict in any form.  I shrink from it.  I avoid it all cost.  But, what am I to do when my friend's in trouble and I see something in their life that needs to change...perhaps a blind spot that needs to be brought to light?  How can I avoid being fickle?  How can I be the very opposite of Job's description of his friends at the end of chapter six?

Job 6:14-30 (The Message)

"When desperate people give up on God Almighty, their friends, at least, should stick with them. But my brothers are fickle as a gulch in the desert--one day they're gushing with water from melting ice and snow cascading out of the mountains, but by midsummer they're dry, gullies baked dry in the sun.  Travelers who spot them and go out of their way for a drink end up in a waterless gulch and die of thirst.  Merchant caravans from Tema see them and expect water, tourists from Sheba hope for a cool drink.  They arrive so confident—but what a disappointment!  They get there, and their faces fall! And you, my so-called friends, are no better—there's nothing to you! One look at a hard scene and you shrink in fear.  It's not as though I asked you for anything—I didn't ask you for one red cent—nor did I beg you to go out on a limb for me.  So why all this dodging and shuffling? Confront me with the truth and I'll shut up, show me where I've gone off the track.  Honest words never hurt anyone, but what's the point of all this pious bluster?  You pretend to tell me what's wrong with my life, but treat my words of anguish as so much hot air.  Are people mere things to you? Are friends just items of profit and loss? Look me in the eyes!  Do you think I'd lie to your face?  Think it over—no double-talk! Think carefully—my integrity is on the line! Can you detect anything false in what I say? Don't you trust me to discern good from evil?"

I desire to be a source of life for my friends...a haven of rest...a place where honest, truthful, Biblical feedback is spoken in love.  Lord, I pray that you will make this true of me.

Grace To Stand

I subscribed to BlueLetterBible.org's daily Bible reading (chronological order).  Made it through the flood and met Abram - now we're in Job.  Cool to think that Abraham and Job were contemporaries.  Makes me feel really silly to admit...but not until about 3 years ago did I realize the Bible is not written in chronological order from Genesis to Revelation!

Enough about my naivety!  Back to the book of Job. The absolute devastation the enemy was allowed to rain down on Job makes me shiver.  The enemy wants nothing more than to bring down the faithful followers of the one true God.  So thankful for Job's faith...and his transparency.

As I was reading through one of Charles Spurgeon's commentaries on the first chapters of Job, this quote practically leaped out of my screen:  "Oh may God grant us grace, as a Church, to stand against the wiles of Satan and his attacks, that having done his worst he may gain no advantage over us, and after having considered, and considered again, and counted well our towers and bulwarks, he may be compelled to retire because his battering rams cannot jar so much as a stone from our ramparts, and his slings cannot slay one single soldier on the walls."

Rainbows, Promises, and Faith

When Noah was 601 years old, 10.5 months after the flood began, Noah lifted back the cover of the boat to look. Two more months went by and at last the earth was dry!  Noah and his family were in the boat for an entire year!


Ten generations into the life of the earth, God was so frustrated with the people that He flooded the entire planet, wiping out every living thing except Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their sons' wives.  How frustrated, how angry, would God be with us, had He not sent Jesus Christ to pay the penalty price for our sins?  God promises in Genesis 8:21-22:  "I will never again curse the earth, destroying all living things, even though people's thoughts and actions are bent toward evil from childhood.  As long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night." We can trust God's promises! He's kept this one for thousands of years!

In chapter 9:13-16, God makes this covenant with Noah (and all of Noah's descendants), "I am giving you a sign as evidence of my eternal covenant with you and all living creatures. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my permanent promise to you and to all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with everything that lives. Never again will there be a flood that will destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth."


From Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham & Japheth, come all humans on earth today.  Shem's branch of the family tree includes Abram.  Abram (later known as Abraham) is shown to have immense faith.  I look forward to reading again the story of his life.  David Guzik, in his commentary on Genesis 11 says this: "If you despair in knowing you do not have Abram’s faith, take comfort in knowing you have Abram’s God. He can build in you the faith of Abram, because He built it in Abram himself."  What a blessed thought!

I Want Nothing More

Random observations from Genesis 4, 5, 6, and 7

I'd never really thought of this before...Adam & Eve lost both of their sons in one day.  After their eldest son, Cain, killed his only brother, Abel (thus taking one son), God sent him away...to restlessly wander all his days.  Adam and Eve quickly felt the sting of that first sin.  I find it interesting that God curses Cain to be driven from the ground that he had worked, to wander the earth the remainder of his days. Yet, in Genesis 4:17, we see Cain building a city.  It's as if he's defying the curse of God, thumbing his nose at God like a snotty-nosed brat saying, "I'll show you..."

Cain's descendants were quite the entrepreneurs.  Within 8 generations (Adam - Lamech), we have amazing craftsmanship/business/invention.  Serious proof that flies in the face of the theory of evolution.  To think that so quickly after the first man arrives on the face of the planet, we already have musical instruments and iron tools.  Gen 4:19-22 show us a listing of their accomplishments:

• Jabal:  the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock 
• Jubal: the father of all who play the harp and flute
• Tubal-Cain: who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron

I know God could have allowed these things to happen in a nomadic culture...but I find myself wondering if, because Cain settled and built a city if these inventions were quicker to arrive on the scene.  Of particular interest to me, though, is the complete absence of any mention of God or their worship of Him.  It appears that Cain and his family completely turned their backs on the Lord and focus instead on the accomplishments of their hands.

Random observations from Adam's Family Tree

I love genealogy...God's word is chock-full of them.  In his online commentary, Chuck Smith points out that the genealogy in Genesis 5 shows that Noah's father and Adam were alive at the same time.  I just had to check it out for myself.  So, I took pen and paper and sketched out Adam's family tree to Noah.  Sure enough, Noah's dad very likely sat at Adam's feet and listened to first-hand accounts about life in the garden of Eden and the fall of man - directly from the mouth of the man who'd been there...the man who took the fruit from his wife and ate.  Since writing had likely not been developed at this time, it was very important to have first-hand accounts being passed from one generation to the next.  Adam had the privilege of telling these same stories to his sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, great-great-grandsons, and his great-great-great-great-great-great-grandsons.  What would we know of our own families if we'd been granted the same privilege to sit at the feet of our ancestors and listen to their stories?  We have the gift of the written word...may we use it for the benefit of those who come after us.

Enoch & Noah
Enoch was Noah's great-grandfather.  It is said of Enoch (in Gen. 5:24), "He enjoyed a close relationship with God throughout his life. Then suddenly, he disappeared because God took him."  In Gen. 6:9, similar words are written about Noah:  "...Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless man living on earth at the time.  He consistently followed God's will and enjoyed a close relationship with Him."  I pray these same words will be true of me, that my children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren would be able to say "she consistently followed God's will and enjoyed a close relationship with Him."  I want nothing more.

"And God said,..."

I've decided to blog about my observations as God takes me on this adventure of reading through His entire Word in one year.  It's easier for me to put fingers to keyboard than it is pen to paper...and much faster (not to mention spell-checked).  So...the thoughts are likely to be random...but I often find the thing that jumps out at me from the text I read for the day is often the very thing that speaks to my life or causes me to think deeper about my own spiritual journey.

"And God said,..."

That's all...  "And God said..."  With those three words, all of creation came into being.  What a marvelous, awe-inspiring, creative, masterful, audacious God we serve.  All things were created by the words He spoke and crafted by His hands.  You and I were created by the same God who spoke all of creation into existence.  We can rest securely in the palm of His hand, trusting in His divine plan for our lives.  To think...the creator of all things, has written an important part for you and I to play within His-Story.  Wow!

"...and God saw that it was good."  Upon the closing of each day, God looked over the day's work and noted that it was good.  Then, we come to the final day of creation, and God looks at everything He had made (that includes mankind) and said, "It was very good."  That means you and me.  God created us to be "very good."  That thought comforts me and reminds me that He still sees me as "very good" through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Radical Experiment

I'm in the final chapter of the book, "Radical - Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream" by David Platt.  To say I've been challenged doesn't even come close to describing the whirlwind of thoughts, emotions and at-the-core unsettledness this book has stirred up within me.  God has used Platt's book to strip away the rose-colored glasses, the American-dream-filter through which I view the world.  I no longer see myself as I did a few weeks ago. I have come face-to-face with my severe lack of radical compassion for the poor, the lonely and the lost of the world, and I don't like what I see.  Pair all of this with the sermon series we're in at Faith E-Free right now on the book of Galatians and I'm a confused ball of questions.  

Platt calls into question the "true Christianity" of those who don't reflect a radical desire to reach the lost with the gospel and irradicate poverty around the world. On page 111 of his book, Platt says this:  "More pointedly, if our lives do not reflect radical compassion for the poor, there is reason to wonder if Christ is really in us at all."

I know that I am saved by grace through faith.  Yet, this comment shook me to the core.  Is it an inroad for the enemy to whisper his lies?  Or is it the not-so-gentle-nudge of the Spirit calling me to move out in faith into a life of radical compassion I have yet to experience.

In Galatians 1:9, Paul writes:  "As we have already said, I say again:  If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!"  Is Platt adding to the gospel?  Or, is our response to the gospel supposed to be one of radical compassion?  I'm leaning toward the latter...but where do I go with all of this?  Sell everything we have and move to the poorest, most unreached part of the world? What is God calling me to do?  We have so much...yet at times, it seems so difficult to be content with what God has lavished on us.  And, then I read a quote like this:  "Today more than a billion people in the world live and die in desperate poverty.  The attempt to survive on less than a dollar per day.  Close to two billion others live on less than two dollars per day.  That's nearly half the world struggling today to find food, water, and shelter with the same amount of money I spend on french fries for lunch."  (Radical, p. 108)

Platt goes on to say, "Suddenly I began to realize that if I  have been commanded to make disciples of all nations, and if poverty is rampant in the world to which God has called me, then I cannot ignore these realities.  Anyone wanting to proclaim the glory of Christ to the ends of the earth must consider not only how to declare the Gospel verbally but also how to demonstrate the Gospel visibly in a world where so many are urgently hungry.  If I am going to address urgent spiritual need by sharing the Gospel of Christ or building up the body of Christ around the world, then I cannot overlook the dire physical need in the process."  (Radical, p. 109)

So, that's where I am today, standing totally convicted, completely confident that the Gospel is compelling me to do something more.  I am staring the blind spots in my life straight in the face and daring to allow the Spirit to shine the light of God's truth into the voids created by the ideology of the American Dream.

I feel called to take the first "dares" set out by Platt in the final chapter of Radical.
1.  Pray for the entire world in one year.
2.  Read through the entire Word in one year.

These are safe...within my control...but because they are within my control, I also know the weakness of my flesh.  I cannot do this alone!  Father, Son and Holy Spirit,  I pray that you will keep me on track.  I also ask that You protect me from the "ritualistic" rules these could become.  Use this "dare" for good in my life and the lives of those around me.

The next dare is to "Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose."  Hmm...I get to that in my reading tomorrow.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Laundry Monster - TAMED!

I believe we have successfully tamed the laundry monster at our house! We started on July 10th. THIRTEEN days later, and I haven't done a single piece of laundry for the girls! Considering that I used to find the girls' laundry sorter overflowing 5 days after finishing the laundry, I'd say the game worked!

Megan and Hannah tied for 1st Place - with 9 articles of clothing in the laundry (not including undies and socks). They're splitting a pack of "wall stickers" I found at Dollar Tree awhile back. Grace came in a close second with 11 articles of clothing and has her sights set on winning the next round of the LAUNDRY GAME!

I'd highly recommend trying this at your house and see if you can tame your laundry monster!!