Obedience

“Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there, and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac, and laid himn on the altar on top of the wood.  And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.”  Genesis 22:9-10

I can only imagine the agony that Abraham was going through as he took the journey to the location where he was to offer up his son.  The pain in his heart at what he was going to have to do and the rationalization that he was probably going through to come up with some reason that he wouldnt have to do it!  The building of the altar and the binding of his son!  Dreadful!!

Why did God ask Abraham to do this?  Why after promising to make a great nation out of Abrahams son would He then have that promise sacrificed?  Why would God put Abraham through this misery?

One thing we all need to come to an understanding about first, if you are truly a christian, you were bought with the blood of Christ.  You are no longer your own but rather you belong to God.  So, it isnt about us!  Not that God doesnt care but His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His plans bigger and way better than ours!

If you think of how much Abraham must have loved Isaac.  The promise fulfilled, his destiny, his seed that was going to become a mighty nation!  I know the love that i have for the monchers and can only imagine the amount of love that Abraham had for Isaac!  I would think that to a certain extent Isaac had become an idol in Abrahams life!

An idol?  Really?  Well lets look at what an idol is.

i·dol  
1.a. An image used as an object of worship.
  b. A false god.
2. One that is adored, often blindly or excessively.
3. Something visible but without substance.

Abraham didnt worship Isaac but he adored him!  Im sure he spent every waking moment with Isaac or thinking about him.  Abrahams life was probably consumed with his son and not necessarily God.

God wants to be first in our life!  God first!  How else are we going to walk out our salvation and work on our sanctification if we arent loving God and learning more about Him above everything else?  How many things have you placed in your life before God?

What consumes the most of your time?  Work?  TV?  The internet?  Children?  Money?  Spouse?  Sports?  Here is a good way to figure out what is an idol in your life, when you have free time what do you do with it?  Is it always pretty much the same thing?

The internet had become a huge idol in my life!  I had gotten involved in several on line forums that revolved around fitness and health and working out.  Every minute that i wasnt working was sent on the computer!

I still did my morning God time, I still went to church and prayed and did all the service things that i was supposed to but the internet was the most consuming part of my life!  It controlled me!  I could get irritated at something and ruin my whole day because of one post that some person that i didnt even know had made!  My emotions and my time and my energy were all directed at a computer screen!

I knew in my heart that i was too dedicated to the computer but let me tell you, i had a million rationalizations for it!  Its my down time; its my me time; its my relaxing time; i had an excuse for everything!  I didnt want to give up my idol!  God finally had to bring very painful circumstances into my life to get me to leave my idol.

God doesnt want anything in our life to come before Him!  He will give you many opportunities to sacrifice your idol but if you refuse, He will take if from you!  God asked Abraham to sacrifice the idol in his life and Abrahan was obedient even to the point of killing his own son.  Are you willing to be obedient?  Are you willing to sacrifice your idol?  What will God have to take from you or do to you until you are willing to put Him first?

Jesus, thank you for dying for me and providing for me an eternal sacrifice!  You died that i might live!  Strengthen me to resist idol development in my life!  Pull the blinders off my eyes that i may see it for what it is!  No excuse, no rationalizations, only obedience!

Promises

“And God said, ‘this is the sign of the covenant which i am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.”  Genesis 9:12-13

How often do you promise someone something knowing that you arent going to do it?  Or wanting to do it but never putting it as a priority so that it never gets done?  How often do you say the words, I promise, to your kids or your spouse and never give a second thought to that promise?

In todays world, a promise means nothing!  People dont follow through on promises!  They are broken as easily as a piece a glass dropped to the ground and are swept and thrown away just as easily!  God does not do promises that way!

Because we are living in a time where a promise means nothing, it is easy to put that on God as well.  To rationalize ones sins because even though God promised us great things if we lived holy as He is holy, He really didnt mean it.  Right?  All the stuff that is in His word isnt really true to todays world, right?  How could God keep a promise for thousands of years?

Well, let me tell you something, God KEEPS ALL OF HIS PROMISES!  He is not like man!  He is not weak and torn down by sin!  He is not about rationalizations and excuses!  Every word in the bible is as true today as it was the day it was written!  Every promise God made He upholds!  He never changes!  His word is living and active!

We cant judge God or put mans standards upon God!  I dont care how many promises you have not had upheld for you or how many you yourself have not upheld, God keeps His promises!

He gives us and Himself a reminder!  How often do you promise to your kids something and hope that they forget?  God doesnt forget!  He placed in the sky a rainbow to remind not only us but Himself of His promise!  Are you willing to put out a big reminder of your promise?

I challenge you to stop making empty promises!  I challenge you to not say, I promise, to anyone unless you are going to follow through!  If you say, I promise, make a big sign and put it up by your bathroom mirror or on the fridge or on the wall where you will see it everyday and be reminded of your promise!  Stop treating a promise like it means nothing!

It is no wonder that we christians are so empty and weak!  We have no faith in God because we ourselves dont follow through on our word and we put that assumption off on God!  We are so used to a promise meaning nothing that our faith is weak!  Let me tell you, if God promises something, He is going to keep that promise!

If you want your faith to grow, keep your promises!  Teach yourself and hold yourself accountable!  Be an example to your children and your childrens children!  God has many great and wonderful promises for His children that we dont believe because we never keep our promises!  STOP!  Take hold of the promises of God!  Hold fast to the promises you make!

Jesus, thank you that you have many great and wonderful promises for my life!  Thank you that as i search for you, you are there for me!  You never leave me or forsake me!  Your word is my strength as i learn of your ways!  Teach me to be a promise keeper!  Teach me your promises that i may hold fast to them daily!

Building an Ark

“Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.  and this is how you shall make it;  the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.  you shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.” Genesis 6:14-16

It is easy to read the word of God and because a story is familiar to just skim over it and not really think much about what it is saying.  Everybody knows the story of Noah and the ark and then the fact that it is in the old testament, geez, there is nothing to be gleaned from it, right?

How many times have you heard that the old testament is old and doesnt count because we have the new testament?  Dont you think if God didnt have stuff in the old testament that we should live by and learn from He would have done away with it?  YES!  Gods word is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword!  It is applicable to today as it was the day it was written.  If you seek, you will find!  If you want more, then dont just skim over the stories but read them and ponder on them and ask God to reveal to you how they apply to you today in your circumstance!

Ok, pre devotion done and on to the real one   What was the purpose of the ark?  Easy question right, to save Noah and his family from the waters that God was going to allow to flood and destroy the earth with.  God promised to never flood the earth again so there is no need for us to build an ark right?  Wrong!

The ark protected Noah and his family from death.  In a literal sense, we should all be in the process of building an ark for ourselves to protect us from the death and destruction that the enemy is pouring out all around us!  If you have done no work to set up walls around yourself when the floods of trials and temptations come, how are you going to survive?

As i have written about many many times, i pretty much only listen to christian music.  Not that i dont love some of the secular stuff out there, believe me i do!  I have many cds that i have purchased that are still in their cases because i bought them when God was working on me on this idea of only letting His praise and worship into my ears.  I would do good for awhile and then rationalize the purchase of a cd and God would convict me and i would never listen to it.

How does that pertain to an ark?  Glad you asked.  From a figurative standpoint, i am building an ark to protect me from the worldly floods.  Music is a huge huge influence in peoples lives and it affects our subconscious and mood and thoughts more than one realizes!

How does a song that sings about going into a school and shooting the students bring anything good to your life or thought life?  Sure it has been packaged in a nice catchy tune and it sounds cool but the words are pure evil!  run, run, run faster than my bullet, or something like that.  What good could possibly come from listening to a song about murder?

Seems pretty innocent and im sure you are rationalizing, im not going to go out and kill kids so what difference does it make?  It lowers your defenses, it gives the enemy an into your mind.  The next song after that one is about sex and adultery and before long one is rationalizing why it is ok to have an affair with someone elses spouse!  But im so unhappy and my spouse doesnt love me and heck, listen to all the songs and look at the TV programs, everybody is doing it!!  And before you know it so are you and because you have not done the hard work of building an ark so that you are protected when the floods come, you are wiped out and the enemy is trying to drown you!

Building an ark is not easy work!  Building an ark is going to make people make fun of you.  It took Noah years to build the ark and people made fun of him and laughed at him and yet when the waters started, he got into his ark!  We need to be setting before ourselves standards that we are going to uphold and live out that during the flood, we can go into and be safe!  We need to be building an ark that is made of what we will or will not allow ourselves to do or see or hear!

Who cares if people make fun of you!  They made fun of Noah but when the floods came and he was safe inside the ark and they all drown, who got the last laugh?  Start putting up some walls, start building an ark and setting standards for yourself so that you have protection when temptation and trials come upon you!  I urge you to reconsider what you are listening to and what you are allowing your eyes to see and your mouth to speak!

When the floods come will you be swept away with the rest of the world because you have not done the hard work of setting yourself apart?  Did you stop working on your ark because your friends and family were making fun of you?  What are you going to do when the floods come?  Where are you going to go?  How long can you hold your breath and hope that the waters recede?  Will it be long enough?

Jesus, thank you that NONE of your word is null or void or not applicable to my life!  Open my eyes and increase my understanding of your word and your desire for me to live holy before you!  Help me to build my ark that when the floods come i am protected because of the hard work i have done to set standards around me!  Show me areas of weakness in my life that might cause my ark to sink!