God…Was That You?

Verse of the day: Genesis 22:2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

In John 10:27, Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” How well do we know Jesus voice? When we stop and think about what God commanded Abraham to do, and how Abraham, without hesitation, and by faith, responded to God, it is definitely a reflection of the intimate relationship he enjoyed with the Lord. As a matter of fact, because of his faith James 2:23 tells us that Abraham was called a friend of God. The bottom line is that it is possible to recognize the voice of God, and be able to differentiate between His voice, and that of the enemy. How often have we been in a crowd, or just walking along, and heard the voice of a friend or a loved one call out to us, and we immediately recognized it and turned to acknowledge them? This is how easily we, as born again believers, should be able to recognize our Savior’s voice. When we consider what is happening in Abraham’s life at this moment, we must consider where he came from. Being from Ur of Chaldees, Abraham would have been very familiar with pagan gods and the practices that went along with worshiping them, to include human sacrifices. So, in hearing God command him to sacrifice his only son, he would have to have known, without a shadow of a doubt, that this was indeed the One True and Holy God. When we read this command, besides the fact that God had every intention of stopping Abraham before he actually killed Isaac, how would we reconcile this if God had actually allowed it? Well, the answer to that is that God is the Creator of life, and therefore has every right to command the death of anyone He pleases to accomplish His will and plan. As a matter of fact, this was one of the reasons King Saul lost the throne, for disobeying God’s command to kill the Amalekites (men, women, children, and all their animals) in 1 Samuel 15. God can choose to work “outside of the box” in how He uses His servants. In Judges we have the account of how Samson desired to marry a Philistine woman, which was contrary to God’s command to not intermarry with those who were of other idolatrous cultures. Yet, the Scripture clearly tells us that when his father and mother objected and asked if there was no woman among the daughters of their people (the Israelites), they did not know that what Samson was doing was of the Lord (Judges 14:1-4). In both the case of Abraham, and Samson, God was working “outside of the box” to accomplish His will and plan in both their lives. However, in Abraham’s case, he heard the command directly from God Himself; and although seemingly contrary to what God would ask, he recognized that this came from the One True God. How are we doing in our walk with the Lord? Are we missing out on great blessings because we do not recognize the voice of our Lord? Are we allowing our own inner voice or the voice of the devil to guide us, rather than the voice of God? Judas listened to Satan’s voice in Matthew 26:14-16, and he betrayed Jesus. Peter listened to the voice of Satan and received a rebuke from Jesus (Mark 8:31-33). Unlike in Abraham’s day when God would speak directly to His people, we today have God’s Word, and this is the method God uses to speak to us today; for this reason, it is of utmost importance that we read and study God’s Word, and pray continually. When we commit God’s Word to memory, and learn His principles, the Holy Spirit uses it to guide us in our walk and daily decision-making. Knowing God’s voice means knowing God’s Word, and being sensitive to the Holy Spirit speaking to us; and when we hear it, obeying it. Hebrews 3:7 tells us that the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” There may those times when God seems to be leading us in a direction that may not make sense to us. Abraham chose to obey God’s voice, rather than hold on to the son that he loved because he trusted, without a shadow of a doubt, that God would still fulfill His promise to multiply his seed, even if he gave back his only son; simply because He is God. Do we know our God so well that we can differentiate between His voice and all those other voices that would like to lead us astray in our walk and faith?

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing their sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).

Daily Devotional Audio Track: What Would We Give?

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What Would We Give?

Verse of the day: Genesis 22:2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

The ultimate test of our faith…what would we give to prove that we trust the Lord with all our heart? What has the Lord already asked us for that we are holding back? So many born again believers say that they love God and trust Him; yet, when it comes to giving God what He asks for, we make excuses. Following Jesus will always cost us something, whether it is our time, talents, or resources. We may have to give up a way of living or something we hold dear to us, our car, our house, or some other material things, in order to follow Him and serve Him in a way we did not anticipate in our walk with Him. Are we willing to give that which is most precious to us in order to give our lives to Him? That my friends, is the ultimate test of our faith. Abraham and Sarah had been supernaturally blessed when God gave them their son Isaac. Now, God is asking Abraham to offer up his only son. Sound familiar? When we read this account, we do not often think about what they must have gone through emotionally to think that God would want them to offer up there only Son. For what, to prove that they trusted God? Had they not already demonstrated their faith to Him? Brothers and sisters, God is continually testing our faith. Not to find out where we are at; He already knows. He tests our faith to show us where we stand, and show us what is in our hearts when it comes to completely trusting and depending on Him. Abraham, regardless of what he may have been feeling, did not hesitate to give the one thing that would have been most precious to Him. Think about this…he agonized over having to send Ishmael away. How much more would he now agonize over sacrificing his only son? How often has God asked us for less than this, and we have responded by making excuses? Something as simple as giving of our time or talents to teach a Sunday School class, or maybe go to Bible college, or go out onto the mission field? Maybe something as simple as giving of our time to minister to someone who has a need? Giving of our tithes and offerings to the local church? You name it. We are told in Proverbs 3:9-10, that if we honor God with our wealth, and from our first fruits, He will provide for us all that we need. This is not to say that we should give to receive, but God is debtor to no one, and we will never out-give Him. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 tells us that if we give sparingly, we will receive sparingly, and if we give generously, we will receive generously. It further states that we must determine in our hearts what we will give, then give it cheerfully because God loves a cheerful giver. Why? Because when we give cheerfully it is an indication of our faith in trusting God with what we have. Why do we hold back that which belongs to God in the first place? God asked Abraham to give his only son to prove his faith. Once Abraham took the steps to do that, God provided him with a substitutional sacrifice (v. 13), and Abraham received the great blessing of getting to know God on a more intimate level. It is one thing to say that God is Provider because we read it somewhere, or someone told us; it is another to give Him all we have and personally experience His provision. We so often rob ourselves of the blessing of seeing God at work in our lives, providing for us, because we hold back so much from Him. We allow the crooked people who claim to be Christians determine whether or not we will give. We use this preacher or that preacher, this church or that church, as an excuse to hold back what we really did not want to give in the first place. When we give to the church or to someone else, whether or time, talents, money, or any other resource, we are giving it to God. If the receiver misuses it, then he/she will be accountable to God. What will we be willing to give in order to prove our faith, and show that we will follow the Lord, regardless of what He asks of us? In Luke 9:57-62, Jesus told interacted with a few people who said they would follow Him wherever He went, but when He called them to follow, they gave Him excuses. “Lord, let me go first bury my father.” In other words, Lord I would follow you, but my family… Another responded, “Lord, let me go say goodbye to those in my household.” In Luke 14:25:33, Jesus told the multitude that if they were not willing to love Him more than wife, child, father, mother, or siblings, they could not follow Him. If they were not willing to take up their cross daily, they could not follow Him. So I ask of us today, what are we holding back from God that He desires us to give back to Him so that we can prove our faith, and prove that we will follow Him regardless of what we need to sacrifice in order to be used by Him, for His glory?

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing their sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).

Daily Devotional Audio Track: Forgetfulness and Blind Spots

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Forgetfulness and Blind Spots

Verse of the day: Genesis 21:18 “Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.”

Hagar finds herself in great distress as she and Ishmael are sent away from Abraham and Sarah as a result of Ishmael’s mocking of Isaac, Sarah’s demand to send her away, and God’s confirmation to Abraham that this was what was right to do at this time. As she travels back toward her home in Egypt, she finds herself wandering in the Wilderness of Beersheba with no water. In her panic and distress, she puts Ishmael down and walks away from him, not wanting to see him perish. What we see take place here is something that happens even to us who are children of God. We find ourselves in situations that bring us great distress and we panic, forgetting that we have a God who watches over us, and has made promises that He will keep, in seeing us through our moments of difficulties. We allow ourselves to be robbed of our peace, and our joy, when we are told to bring our cares (anxieties) to God, because He cares for us (1 Petr 5:7). Furthermore, we are told to be anxious for nothing; instead, we are to bring our concerns to Him in prayer, and He’ll give us the peace that passes all understanding that guards our hearts and minds (Philippians 4:6-7). God also promised that He would never leave us nor forsake us, and would be our Helper (Hebrews 13:5-6). Finally, He tells us that we can boldly go before His throne to receive mercy, and find grace, in our times of need (Hebrews 4:16). With all that said, we see that Hagar, in her distress, forgot her previous interaction with the Lord in Genesis 16:12, where God said to her about Ishmael, “He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man’s hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.” Hagar already had confirmation from God Himself that Ishmael would live. How often we forget God’s promises when we allow our emotions to take control of our thinking. Emotions are not a bad thing. God created us in His image, and our God is an emotional God. It is okay to show emotions, as long as we do not sin in the process. If we are angry, we are to be angry and sin not (Ephesians 4:26). We are to mourn, but not like the world (1 Thessalonians 4:13). The bottom line is that when we allow our emotions to overtake us and control us, we forget the promises that should bring us peace, and joy, even in the midst of the most troubling of circumstances. We also see that the Lord was very gracious to Hagar in that He did not berate her for failing to remember their previous interaction, but was very gentle with her; by adding to His previous promise that He would make of Ishmael a great nation. The other observation here is that in the midst of her distress she failed to see what was before her. How often have we looked for something and failed to see it, but someone else has walked right up to us and pointed out that it was right in front of us? I have experienced this many times in my lifetime. Here, God had to open Hagar’s eyes so that she could see the well of water that was there within her line of sight. As born again believers, we must always be ready to encourage other believers who are in distress by reminding them of what God has promised us in taking care of us and seeing us through the difficulties in life. Just like God reminded Hagar, we must continually be in prayer, and in His Word, so that God can remind us of His promises, even before difficult times come. We must prepare our hearts and minds ahead of time so that we are not operating in “panic mode” every time a trial comes. Once again we see God’s mercy and grace in dealing with Hagar and Ishmael, especially since their troubles were not of their own doing, but the result of Abraham’s and Sarah’s actions. Sadly, too many people do not see God’s goodness when they are in the midst of troubling times. As Christians, we must learn to take our eyes off of our stresses, and put them on the One who is always bigger than any situation He allows us to encounter.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing their sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).

Daily Devotional Audio Track: The Tale of Two Seeds

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The Tale of Two Seeds

Verse of the day: Genesis 21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. 

More consequences are coming out of Abraham’s and Sarah’s impatience in waiting on God to fulfill His promise to give them a son. Ishmael, who is about fourteen years older than his brother Isaac, is seen mocking his little brother, causing Sarah to demand that he and his mother, Hagar, be put out and told to go away from them. Although this is a grievous thing to Abraham, God intervenes and tells Abraham to do as Sarah has demanded. Humanly speaking, this would be heart wrenching for any of us. However, we must take a step back and note a few things. First, we must remember that God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah to make a great nation from their seed was to be fulfilled through Isaac who was the promised son. Ishmael, on the other hand, though the seed of Abraham, came to be born of Sarah and Abraham’s devices. Therefore, he would not be heir to the Promise Land. The consequences to their decision, and the future conflict that still exists today has now begun, as the son of the Egyptian, who is a picture of the world, now begins to persecute the son of promise. Today there still exists a conflict between both the descendants of Ishmael and the descendants of Isaac over that land that was promised to the seed of Abraham; that being Isaac. We also see a picture here of what happens to us today in being persecuted by the world. The world, pictured here by Ishmael, persecuting the promised seed of Abraham. We, the children of God, have been adopted into God’s family and are now considered the seed of Abraham, and heirs to the promise, because we belong to Christ (Galatians 3:29); because of this, we ought not to see persecution as a strange thing that happens to us. Jesus warned us that we would be persecuted, just as He was, because we belong to Him (John 15:18-20). As long as we are on this earth, born again believers will always be persecuted by those who reject God, or who are religious but do not know Jesus as their personal Savior. We also see, in this, the coming enslavement of God’s people in Egypt. The son of an Egyptian woman persecuting the son of promise; for four hundred years the Israelites were slaves in Egypt until God rescued them and led them into the Promise Land. We too were enslaved to sin, and the fear of death. Praise be to God who sent His only begotten Son to set us free from the oppression of sin (John 3:16), and the fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15)! Finally, we see that in order for Abraham and Sarah to enjoy the promise made to them, God first had to move Abraham to correct that which he had complicated by following Sarah’s advice in taking Hagar as his wife to bare him a son. Time and time again we hinder the progress of the work God wants to do in us, and through us, when we choose to do things our way. The consequences that we have to deal with in correcting what we have messed up can be a very painful process, sometimes physically, but so often emotionally. It is foolish for the child of God, the born again believer, to resort to worldly wisdom, and the world’s way, and expect the outcome to be what God intended it to be in the first place. This is not to say that God cannot still accomplish His will and plan in our lives, but it will come at great expense, and will yield consequences that will potentially hurt us, and those around us. We see that this did not only affect Abraham and Sarah, but it also affected Hagar and Ishmael. We must praise God for His unfailing mercy and grace, for even though He directs Abraham to send the Egyptian and her son away, He also promises to take care of Ishmael, and make a nation of him (verse 13). We, who are called by His Name, have inherited the promise of Heaven, and we must not forget this in the midst of persecution. We must also do all we can to live life in accordance to God’s direction, by His Word, and not our own wisdom; trusting that the best route is always the path God sets for us, for there are many dangers that lurk on the roads we choose for ourselves, dangers that can hinder what God is trying to accomplish in us and through us.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing their sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).