Promises Kept and Answered Prayers

The Story: Chapter 2              The Bible: Genesis 15-16

Genesis 15:12-16  When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, and great terror overwhelmed him. Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for 400 years. But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will come out with many possessions. But as for you, you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.” [meanwhile…]

Genesis 16:1   Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children…

            Abram had already received a promise from the LORD that his descendants would be like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted (c.f., Genesis 13:16). However at this point, the promise has not yet been fulfilled and even a quick glance at the nations around him fills Abram’s heart with concerns of what will happen to his children, grandchildren, and so on. Abram sleeps but it is a night filled with terror and overwhelming imaginations.

            The LORD God steps in to give Abram reassurance that his promise to Abram will be kept. It comes with a bit of somber news. Abram will not live to see the complete fulfillment of God’s promise, but he will die in peace at a good old age. The promise will be kept and Abram can know this for certain (Gen. 15:13).

            The lesson we learn is that God never gives up. The prayers we offer for our children and grandchildren will remain in God’s memory even when we are no longer living. What a tremendous comfort for those of us who continually pray for the salvation of children, grandchildren, friends, and neighbors. We are not promised absence of difficulty or challenges in our life nor theirs, but we are promised God’s continual presence, love, and grace to those who call upon him.

Today’s Prayer Suggestion:  Continue to offer prayers for the salvation of loved ones. In addition, offer prayers of thanksgiving to the LORD that he hears our prayers and for the answers that will come whether we remain alive to see them fulfilled or whether they are fulfilled after our life comes to a close. Either way, thank the LORD for answered prayers.

 

The devotional Promises Kept and Answered Prayers appeared first on Write From My Heart at

https://writefrommyheartblog.blogspot.com

Email: Dotty Willmon, writefrommyheartblog@gmail.com

The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible^® http://netbible.com copyright © 1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

General format for WFMH devotionals will follow the pattern of chapters outlined in The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People, M. Lucado & R. Frazee, Zondervan, 2005, 2008, 2011.

From Faith to Obedience to Completion

The Story: Chapter 2              The Bible: Genesis 12-13

Genesis 12:1  Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you.”

Genesis 12:4  So Abram left, just as the LORD had told him to do, and Lot went with him. (Now Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.) And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possession they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they left for the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan.

The first step is faith.

            There are so many small details in Abram’s story and I find more each time I read. Abram was 75 when he obeyed God’s command. He is told specifically what he is to leave behind, (e.g., homeland, relatives, father’s household perhaps indicates family heirlooms, servants and workers) but Abram is not given the final destination, just God’s assurance that he will know when he gets there. To me, that speaks of amazing faith. While one might argue that due to the longevity of the times, Abram was 75 but still comparatively young by the days’ standards; nevertheless it takes real courage to leave family and friends behind and strike off on a trip with an unknown destination.

The next step is obedience.

Genesis 12:9  Abram continually journeyed by stages down to the Negev.

Genesis 13:5-6  Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents. But the land could not support them while they were living side by side. Because their possessions were so great, they were not able to live alongside one another.

            Abram left, just as the LORD told him to do. Some translations use the word sojourn which means to stay for a while.  We understand why such a huge caravan of people and animals would need to travel in stages; stopping for a while to rest and regain strength before striking off again. It is mind-boggling to imagine everything involved in setting up camp then taking it down over and over again. Most sources record the trip from Haran to Hebron taking some 450+ miles, and this does not include the 225-mile trek to Egypt and 225-mile trek back; all of this travel by foot, not tour bus. It was not an easy trip, but Abram was obedient.

The third step is completion.

Genesis 13:18  So Abram moved his tents and went to live by the oaks of Mamre in Hebron, and he built an altar to the LORD there.

            How many times would the temptation to stop, give up, stay in one place invade Abram’s thoughts. Perhaps having to listen to the weariness of others in the caravan. Nevertheless, Abram continued to move forward until God gave clarity of the destination.

Genesis 13:14-15   …the LORD said to Abram, “Look from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west. I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants forever. … Get up and walk throughout the land, for I will give it to you.”

            I stand humbly amazed at how little my LORD requires of me. The lesson I find in the story of Abram reminds me that it is not my own efforts, but God’s plan that is the most important. Even if the task is small; faith, obedience, and follow through to completion is all my Heavenly Father asks of me.

Today’s Prayer Suggestion: Ask for faith to obey in the small things and follow through to completion.

The devotional From Faith to Obedience to Completion appeared first on Write From My Heart at

https://writefrommyheartblog.blogspot.com

Email: Dotty Willmon, writefrommyheartblog@gmail.com

The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible^® http://netbible.com copyright © 1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

General format for WFMH devotionals will follow the pattern of chapters outlined in The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People, M. Lucado & R. Frazee, Zondervan, 2005, 2008, 2011.

 

The Knowledge of Good and Evil

The Story: Chapter 1                          The Bible: Genesis 6-9

Genesis 2:16-17  Then the LORD God commanded the man, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.”

Genesis 4:6-8  Then the LORD said to Cain, “… But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.”  Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Genesis 6:5-7  But the LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time. The LORD regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended. So the LORD said, “I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—everything from humankind to animals, including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them.”

            In the battle of the knowledge of good and evil, it is evil that desires to dominate. And here is a sobering thought, the consequences of Adam and Eve’s choices not only affected them, not only affected their children, not only affected following generations, but also affected every living creature created by God. All of creation had become tainted and marred. And as for humankind, they had become so corrupted God was willing to wipe all creation away for He regretted making it all.

Genesis 6:8  But Noah found favor in the sight of the LORD.

Today’s Prayer Suggestion:  Express your thankfulness that in a world so corrupted by evil, one man—Noah—was found faithful. Confess any personal wrongs you are aware of that are crouching at the door of your heart and ask your Heavenly Father for the strength to subdue (i.e., conquer) it, for He is faithful to all who call upon His Name.

 

The devotional The Knowledge of Good and Evil appeared first on Write From My Heart at

https://writefrommyheartblog.blogspot.com

Email: Dotty Willmon, writefrommyheartblog@gmail.com

The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible^® http://netbible.com copyright © 1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

General format for WFMH devotionals will follow the pattern of chapters outlined in The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People, M. Lucado & R. Frazee, Zondervan, 2005, 2008, 2011.