Good Monday to you all. If you have a Bible that does not have the daily readings listed follow this link: daily Bible reading. Thanks pipedi.
Before discussing today's readings I have to make sure you all noticed Genesis 12:3b.
All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.
In case you missed it, "all the families of the earth" means you and me. Take a minute and thank God for this promise to Abram.
Abram cried out to God. He poured out his deepest desire to God. He wanted a son. He recognized that God was Sovereign in all things. He knew he was blessed but still he wanted a son. Girls, we can pour out our deepest desires to God and trust Him with the information. Abram trusted God with His deepest longing and God responds with the promise of a lifetime that you are I are blessed through.
"Look up in to the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that -too many to count!" (v5)
Did you noticed Abram's response?Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD declared him righteous because of his faith.(v6)
Unbelief keeps us from experiencing what God has for us. Abram did not respond with "I believe you, Lord." So how did God know that Abram believed? God knew Abram's heart. Another example of how our hearts must be right before the Lord.
So if Abram believed God and was declared righteous because of his faith then why did the debacle with Sarai and Hagar happen? I will be honest until this reading of the Word, I thought Abraham was a weak man. I mean, why could he not just wait on the Lord and why couldn't he "be the man" and control those women. This reading the Holy Spirit shook me up a bit and conviction took over. Ouch!
I looked at Abraham through different eyes. The eyes of someone who has tried to "help" God with His revealed plan. Also through the eyes of someone who "thought" she was following God's leading and honestly just did they wrong thing. Is anyone with me? Can anyone see through these lenses?
I decided to give Abram a break and give him grace. Especially about the "be the man" part. I mean really, what man could control those two women?
Lastly, I love the name that Hagar gave God. El Roi is the Hebrew translation of the God who sees. I love that El Roi is my God, don't you?
21 Comments:
I like your point, Wendy, our unbelief keeps us from what God has in store for us. Abraham obeyed God. Our daily challenge of faith is to "obey now and receive later." Not keeping our eyes on "now," but "looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God[!] Heb. 11:10.
Through faith we please God. God rewards those who earnestly seek him.
I liked how God referred to himself as, El-Shaddai-God Almighty. El-Shaddai, means, God-the Mountain-One." It's comforting to me to know that our God, is BIG, he's POWERFUL, he's INVINCIBLE!
Today...I look forward to walking with my God Almighty! Lori P.
Yes I do!
Today my main take-away was all about 'waiting'. I titled my post, "God's Waiting Room". Not always an easy room to be in, but He waits with us. We are not alone.
Waiting is a tough action. There is nothing passive about it. It requires greatness. We have to wait on Him – not on His answers. He will tenderly hold our hearts as He accomplishes all that concerns us, Psalm 138:8
“Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” Isaiah 40:31
God always keeps His Word.
Waiting on Him,
Joy
Wendy, what an amazing gift it is to read your comments and those of the women joining you on this one year journey. How pleased God is to the see the hunger and passion on display each and every day as women meet Him in His Word. I pray He will continually reveal Himself to each of you in very real and personal ways as you seek Him daily.
Love you,
Wendy B.
Today, what stood out to me is the number of times that God reminded Abram of the covenant that God had with him.
I am so thankful for the new covenant--the covenant of the heart that does not require following the "law"--but requires a circumcision of the heart.
I am praying for a soft heart today--and praying for all of you!
This scripture is personal to me in that I am too, like Abram, waiting to be blessed with children.
I agree that 'waiting' is not always an easy thing to do and sometimes we try to rush God's plans by doing things ourselves. For example, In my prayer I ask God to provide the means by which conception will be possible (as various Doctors has expressed that natural conception is impossible given the condition of my fallopian tubes). Some months later I started to research the Invitro fertilisation (IVF)process and thought that God had provided the answer to my prayers. The only thing left to fully confirm that this was devine was the provision of the finances. Well I applied for a loan and guess what.... I got it.
It was not until I went through the process and failed that I had realised that maybe IVF was not God's answer and that I should just put my faith in practice and wait because no matter what the Doctors say, God has the final say!!!
So today, this scripture is further confirmation that once we have faith and obey God's word, he will grant us the desires of our hearts!!
Hey Wendy. The Christmas season was pretty busy for my family. I have two little ones and my husband took some time off from work. I did receive a Chronological Bible for Christmas and have started the daily reading. I am really excited about this journey in the Word. I hope it is not too late to be added to your map. I am from Staunton, VA. It is near Charlottesville, closer to Harrisonburg actually. Thank you. Kristi
I too love how God SEES and hears us....I am so thankful we can cry out to him and he is the one who sees and knows all and gives us the comfort, direction, wisdom that we need and places those around us who will build us up and encourage us.
Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD declared him righteous because of his faith. This verse also grab me this morning.
There are times,I just sit with God an remember how He was there when I couldn't see Him.
It's in those times my faith for tomorrow reaches deeper into my heart and I KNOW my answer is coming!
After reading yesterday's as well as today's verses on Abram, what sticks out to me is how often Abram had to sacrifice first and to obtain the blessing later.
This is a great lesson for me to take to heart and learn. Afterall, God, like with Abram, is always so good to give us reminders of His promises along the way.
Wow Wendy, I also had "the Lord counted Abram righteous because of his faith" as my primary takeaway. I thought about how Christ makes us righteous because of our faith in Him.
Also, I have a great deal of sympathy for Abram, Sarai and Hagar all of whom were in difficult situations. I think that Abram wanted to please his wife and obtain an heir and it was apparently common practice for wives who couldn't conceive to give their servants to their husbands and thus produce an heir. Maybe he thought this was how God was going to do it. He was 86 when Ishmael was born for goodness sake! We often can't conceive of the miraculous ways in which God works. We have so limited creativity and imagination.
Hi, Wendy! I am realizing (with the lovely assistance of Chatty Kelly) that my NIV Chrono Bible does not have the exact daily readings as the NLT most of the gals are using.
I am LOVING the daily reading. If I don't post comments, it's only because perhaps I am in a slightly different spot. :)
Thanks again for your commitment to this most precious part of our every day...God's Word! :)
Hugs,
Sharon
I wondered about the significance of Gen 15:11 - when it states that: Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.
Any thoughts? Or am I reading too much into it?
I was posting on WordWise and not here and not seeing all these great posts. I see many others are doing the same. Is there a way to tell everyone to be on the same blog? this is for Jan, on Word wise....
Jan,
Take heart...you are surely not alone. You sound like you have your hands full. God will provide the time...be faithful and listen to HIM!!! My prayers go out to you and your family.
this is what i posted on the other blog...any thoughts?
As I read and contemplate today's reading, I see that we have not changed much in all these years. Abram is ungrateful for all he has and only wants a son in verse 2. In verse 8 he doubts God's goodness in giving him the land. Also, how would we feel today if we were told we have to suffer for 400 years, as in verse 13?! I pray that I can undo these attitudes and become more of the person God wants me to be....
Thank you SO much for posting the readings that we need each day!!! Bless your heart!
I need to catch up!
Hugs,
Susan
I'm throughly enjoying reading God's word and your blog. He has been faithful in helping me to daily focus and dig in and hang on for what i know should be a glorious ride for us all !
Thank you for your commitment to Him and your love for the Lord. It's contagious !!!
What seems to strike me every time I read this story is how their actions of the flesh is so common with how we act now. We want everything now. Hagar getting high and mighty, is a normal fleshly reaction. Ha! I can do what you can't. Sad but true. But it also strikes me how Loving of a God we have, that he cuts through our crud looks at our hearts even when our flesh is messed up, then blesses us beyond our wildest dreams. The father of many nations.
Like Wendy said and I love it - "All the families of the earth will be blessed through you."
This is so great I am loving the reading.
Lynn R. - Oregon
Wendy and gals,
I love reading all your comments and seeing how we see the same things and how different words stick out to different people. so neat! We do have a God that sees!!
I am feverishly trying to update my blog with my thoughts too. I hope to visit all of you personally on this journey!
Praying for you along the road,
Lisa
Morgen, I was also wondering about that and also the significance of Gen 15:10 when it says he didn't cut the birds in half.
Rochelle and Morgen, I had the same question about that verse.
The primary point for me in this I think was what several others have mentioned about Abram believing God and God crediting him with righteousness because of His faith.
I did come away with a slightly different viewpoint of Hagar this time, though. I don't know if it is correct, but it is the first time that I have ever thought of it in this way.
When it talks about Hagar treating Sarai with contempt after learning she was pregnant, I had always thought before that she was "holding it over her head," so to speak. But when reading the passage this time, I wondered if the contempt stemmed from being angry with Sarai that she had become pregnant by Abram. Perhaps that was not what she wanted. Just a different thought I had not had before.
What has struck me today was that we never hear much of Abrahams' second wife. As Isaac has become the nation of Isreal and Ishmael the Arab nation, I wonder what people came from Keturah. I also found it interesting that after Lot's daughters' slept with him, they gave birth to Moab and Ammon, who although throughout the bible always resisted Isreal, Ruth came from the line of Moab, Hence Mary's lineage
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