God's Love

The Word says each of us are wonderfully made. It tells us we were known by our Creator before anyone saw our form.  This divine Word reminds us we are special in the eyes of God.  This should not be surprising to us as the first chapter of Genesis speaks of the way each one of us bears the imprint of the hand of God as well as the essence of His being.  Add to this the event of the cross which reveals a love for each one of us that is beyond understanding.  God not only chose to share the human experience through the presence of the Son of God, but also allowed His death on the cross to take care of the way our sin separated us from Him.  

There are times when it seems that our life does not matter to God, that He has forgotten us, or that we have done such terrible things that He will never look our way again.  Love does not work that way.  There is no hurt our children can inflict upon us that would cause us to cease loving them.  There is nothing they might say or do which will make us push them away.   One of the most basic truths of the universe is that we are loved by God.  

We are not just loved, but loved in a way that is beyond understanding.  God will never leave us.  He will never turn us loose.  He will never cease seeking ways to bridge the chasm we have created with our sin.  The proof of this is finally seen in that moment of utter darkness on a cross long centuries ago.  The cross is more than a piece of jewelry, but a clear sign of God's love for us.  

Old Books

I have been reading a book written by William Gurnall.  It is entitled "The Christian in Complete Armor."  Do not fret if you do not recognize the title or the author.  Gurnall was a 17th century Puritan who served a single church in England for thirty-five years.  His book was actually a three volume work and the merits of his work is indicated by the fact that it went through six editions before he died in 1679. Everything about his life has passed away except the book he wrote.  Somehow one volume of the three showed up in my library and I have been discovering a remarkable writing from long ago.  It is so easy for us to fill up our shelves with the trendy books written yesterday and when we see a book from another century, we put it on the irrelevant shelf.   

It is a shame old books are regarded as books of no value.  One of the things discovered in these dusty volumes from the past, it is that they often have a relevancy for the church of today and our own personal faith journey.  The language may be different and require a little head scratching, but the linguistic digging is often worth the work.    

When my clergy grandfather died long decades ago, I was privileged to go through his books.  I found authors from another generation I did not know, but I carried them with me into my own unfolding ministry.  They enriched my preaching and opened doors to different ways of thinking. I am grateful for the legacy of libraries shared with me and grateful for the way they have enhanced my ministry.  

Reckoned as Righteous

God does not require perfection in performance from us.  If such were the case Abraham never would have made it to the Faith Hall of Fame.  When we read his story, we see a man who is constantly stumbling as he follows the leading of the Lord.  Despite all those times when he took matters into his own hands instead of trusting in the Lord, the Word says about him, "And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned him as righteous." (Genesis 15:6)   

Centuries after Abraham walked with God, John Wesley, the father of Methodism, would preach a doctrine of Christian perfection.  It was then as it is now greatly misunderstood. Wesley was not teaching about being perfect in our outward behavior, but instead, living as one who sought such heart purity that life was directed solely by the perfect love of God.  As the Word reminds us, God looks not on outward appearance, but on the heart.    

It was according to what was in his heart that Abraham was reckoned as righteous.  It was the same for Wesley and it is the same for us.  I always remember a small child from years ago who climbed on the kitchen counter, put his dirty feet in the dishwater, and reached into the sink to wash the dishes for his sick mother.  His act was imperfect, but his intentions and his love was pure.  So, it can be with all of us who seek to be counted as righteous by God.  

Surprised!

When Abraham and Sarah were well past the child bearing age, Sarah tells her husband she is going to have a child.  The Scripture speaks of the moment with the words, "The Lord dealt with Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised.  Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age..."  (Genesis 21:1-2)  God certainly seems to take great delight in doing the unexpected, in bringing surprises into our lives, and in keeping His promises without fail.  And, of course, in the case of Abraham and Sarah, it is obvious that God is not bound by the calendar we hold so dear.  

Many times we end up taking the route of Abraham.  We know what God has promised.  We wait for Him to act and then when too much time passes, we find ourselves taking matters in our own hands.  We do not wait on God very easily.  When Abraham and Sarah had their son, Isaac, there was no doubt it was a work of God for those two were not just old, but they were very old.  It would seem that sometimes God acts the way He does to show us that He is the One who is doing what He promised to do.   

All of us know about the surprising work of God in our lives.  Maybe it is not something like having a child late in life, but when we look back over the span of the years, we surely can see God doing what seemed impossible at the moment.  Anyone who cannot look back and realize that God has given far more to us than we ever expected or deserved needs to put on a different pair of glasses.  His blessings are not only numerous each day, but they are often more than just a little surprising.      

Two Voices

When I was a would be Michael Jordan on the basketball court of Wheeler County High School, our coach constantly told us we should only be listening to his voice during the game.  As far as he was concerned we could ignore the encouraging voice of our parents in the stands.  We could ignore those chants of the cheerleaders telling those of us on the court we could do anything.  As far as the coach was concerned we should be listening for his voice and no other voice.   

It is too bad someone did not give Abram such advice.  In the 15th chapter of Genesis we hear the voice of God telling a complaining Abram, "I am your shield; your reward shall be very great."  (Genesis 15:1)  The Lord God then took him outside, pointed toward the stars, and said to this man who was worried about not having a son born to him, "...count the stars, if you are able to count them...so shall your descendants be."  (Genesis 15:5)  And finally the Lord opened a vision to Abram that enabled him to see a vast land which would belong to his descendants. With all of this in his ears and in his eyes, he goes into his tent where a nagging wife tells him to take her slave girl and have a child by her so that she and Abram will be childless no more.  

So, here is this man who has been overwhelmed with the voice of the Lord suddenly hearing the differing voice of his wife.  What does he do?  The Word says, "And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai."  (Genesis 16:2)  In the Garden Adam made the mistake of listening to the voice of a woman instead of the voice of the Lord and Abram now is ready to rush into the same sin.  But, let us not be too quick to judge.  We, too, have heard the compromising voices of expediency, personal desires, and getting even instead of the voice of the Lord and like, Abram, we heard those voices and forgot about the voice of the Lord.

The Place of Mercy

When Abram pressed on past the plan of God, he found himself in a passel of trouble.  With a famine in the land to which God had brought him, Abram decided he should move on to the other side of the fence to a land called Egypt.  "Now there was a famine in the land.  So Abram went down to Egypt."  (Genesis 12:10)  As it usually does, one wrong led to another wrong and the second in some ways was worse than the first.  Out of fear for his own life, he told his wife, Sarai, to say she was not his wife, but his sister.  And in such a manner she was taken into Pharoah's house.  And her husband slept safely in his own tent!  

It is always best to stay inside the plan of God.  When Adam was caught with the forbidden fruit, he took another step away from God's plan by trying to shift the blame for his actions to another.  David's desire for Bathsheba finally took him to the place of killing her husband.  Holding prejudice in their hearts made James and John ready to call down fire upon a village of Samaritans. Whenever we venture outside of the plan of God, we venture into a land where the very plan of God for us is put at risk.  

Fortunately for Abram and each one of us, there is a greater desire for mercy than judgment in the heart of God.  As we continue reading the story of Abram, we come to those Words which speak of God's mercy, "He (Abram) journeyed...to the place where his tent had been at the beginning...to the place where he had made an altar at the first and there Abram called on the name of the Lord."  (Genesis 13:3-4)   When Abram chose a way other than the way of the Lord, he was by the mercy of God led back to the place of beginning, the place of faith, the place of living once again inside the plan of God.  May the journey take each of us to such a place.    

The Detour from Faith

It does indeed seem strange that the call of God was still ringing in the ears of Abram when he arrived in Egypt.  When the Lord first spoke to this son of Terah, He said, "Go...to the land that I will show you."  (Genesis 12:1)  With hindsight which has stretched over the generations we know Abram was to find his home in the land of Canaan.  And Abram did arrive in that place (Genesis 12:5), but he did not stay.  Dreams of living in Canaan had been in his mind a long time since Abram's father had also set out to go, but did not make it. (Genesis 11:31)    

The Word records the journey and hardly had he gotten his tent stakes in the ground of Canaan before we find him in Egypt. (Genesis 12:10)  While it is true the Lord did not say in the beginning where He was going to take Abram, it has always seemed that Egypt was not really the place.  Canaan was to be his home so it seems that the man who would be known for his faith in God took matters in his own hands with his detour into Egypt.  It was an easy decision to make.  There was a famine in Canaan, he had family and flocks to feed, and the grass was greener across the Nile.   The failure in faith seen in Abram is often a personal failure which remains unseen.  

There have been times when we have lived as one who wanted to be faithful and trusting in God, but who also lived with a Plan B when God's plan did not seem to be working.  When God did not appear to be providing Abram's needs, he took things in his own hands and went to Egypt.  Too many times we have walked the same road.  We make many decisions justifying them as expedient and practical just in case God is not able to provide what we need, or in some cases what we want.