Author: emmanuelpcgateshead

TUESDAY 8^th

Exodus 4:1-17

NIV (v2) – ‘Then the LORD said to him, What is that in your hand? A staff, he replied.’

ESV (v2) – ‘The LORD said to him, What is that in your hand? He said, A staff.’

We return to Moses’ encounter with the I AM at the burning bush, and in this chapter, he is still making his excuses. Firstly, and understandably, he asks what is going to happen when he gets to Pharaoh and he (Pharaoh) doesn’t believe all that Moses is saying, God deals with this issue in verses 2-9, then secondly Moses brings up a personal problem that he himself was not very good at speaking ‘I am slow of speech and of tongue’. At this point God reminds Moses that he himself is the one who has made man’s mouth, assuring him that he would be with him and would teach him what he should speak. But Moses is still not happy and almost begs God to give the task to someone else. At this point we read that God begins to get angry with Moses, (v14) and it leads to God appointing Moses’ brother Aaron to go on the task with Moses to be his mouthpiece.

When it comes to living for God and in serving him, I guess we have all been a little like Moses, when we have been asked to do something, or go somewhere we have found it easier to make up all the excuses we can rather than to go and do. But this account reminds us that whenever God calls, he will always equip, he will never call us to do something or go somewhere without that he will be with us and will provide for us. When it comes to the equipping, we may already have the skills and tools required, the phrase in our text, is ‘what is that in your hand’, Moses already had the staff, and it was going to become a tool that God would use in his hands as he acted in obedience and went. Up until that point, his staff had been an essential tool in his work as a shepherd with the sheep on the mountain, but now it was going to become an equipping tool as he takes up the responsibility of shepherding the people of Israel from out of Egypt and on their ongoing journey to the promised land. It may be that it is after we have taken the step of obedience that God will provide, what we need to learn to do is trust him, believe that if he has called he will not let us down. I remember when we were called by the Church to go from Suffolk to serve in North Wales, it was a big step for us and although I had already had my own inner conviction about the move prior to our being asked, and I had shared it with Elaine,  I still questioned it when the call came, and around the same time someone not knowing about the situation, gave me a personal word of Scripture which was from Exodus 33:14 ‘And he said, My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ This was an amazing confirmation to me, and a reminder at the time that when God has called, he will not only equip and provide but he will be alongside as the ever-present guide. Interestingly as we continue the story of Moses, he still made excuses (see verse 30 of the same chapter) and God speaks to reassure him again in the following chapter, till eventually verse 6 shows us they went and did just as the Lord had commanded them. And the rest is history, but we will turn to it again tomorrow.

MONDAY 7^th

Exodus 3:7-22

NIV (v14) – ‘God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.’

ESV (v14) – ‘God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM. And he said, Say this to the people of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.’

There is so much we could look at from these verses for our devotion that choosing which to highlight was a difficult choice, the revelation to Moses of the identity of God as the ‘I am’, or there is the whole conversation that Moses had with God, the task he was being given to do, the excuses Moses made, the equipping that God was making available for him, but we can sum it up with the verses that remind us that God was aware of what was happening , he had heard the cry of his people, (Exodus 2:23-24) and that he had made a provision for them and that Moses was the man that God was going to use as his instrument to implement the plan and cause it to happen. A point to mention here is that God had not forgotten his people, and remember that in the middle of any crisis you may go through, God will not forget about you, he will always come to you.

The verse that I finally chose is verse 14 ‘I am who I am’ for everything that is contained in this chapter and what follows through this book, only happened because of who God is, because he was aware of the situation and because he was going to deal with it on their behalf. Despite their number, recall it said in chapter one that they had ‘multiplied and grown very strong’,(vv7,20) they themselves could not do anything about their plight. It required God’s help, and as we read in the Psalms, God was going to be their refuge and strength, a very present help in the time of trouble. (Psalm 46:1) Imagine the plight of the people of Israel if God was not in the equation, what if God was uninterested and had ignored them, even worse, what if God did not exist! But he did exist, and here in our text he reveals himself to Moses as the ‘I AM WHO I AM’, further clarified in the next verse (15) ‘God also said to Moses, Say this to the people of Israel, The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.’ The ‘I am’ is the eternal and everlasting God, the One who has always been and will always be, the one who was the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, this would remind Moses that as God had been with his fathers, (ancestors) so he was going to be with Moses and with the people of Israel, but more specifically he was the one who was calling and commissioning Moses to go to the Pharaoh and demand that he let God’s people go. What a contest it was going to be – the ‘I AM’ versus the Egyptian King.

We wind back here a couple of verses to v11 where after hearing what it is that God has commissioned him to go and do (v10) Moses asks the question, ‘Who am I that I should go . . .’ God replies, ‘. . . But I will be with you . . .’ If Moses had paid more attention, he would have remembered that God had already said, ‘I have seen, . . . I have heard, . . . AND I HAVE COME DOWN to deliver them out of the hand of . . .’  (vv7-8) Moses thought that he was going to have to be doing all the doing, when in fact it was God who was going to be doing all the doing, but through Moses as his channel, his servant. Even with all the instruction that God gave to Moses, notice how many times it says in this chapter ‘I will . . .’ That is ‘that God will’. This is a sure reminder for all whom God has taken up and used, that they are only who they are and what they are because of the call of God and the commission of God upon their lives, anything we do or say or achieve is not through or by any of our own ability, but because God is doing the doing, and  doing it through us as his channels, therefore and this is so important, all the glory must go to him! We live in an age of putting people up on a pedestal and sadly the culture has crept into the Church, where we see individuals being almost idolised, may we always look beyond the individual to one who has called and commissioned and may we always ensure that it is to God be all the glory, for great things he has done and will yet do.

SUNDAY 6^th

Exodus 3:1-6

NIV (v5) – ‘Do not come any closer, God said. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’

ESV (v5) – ‘Then he said, Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’

Whenever I read this portion of Scripture my mind also goes to another portion found in Isaiah, where the prophet Isaiah is also confronted with the holiness of God. ‘In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’ (Isaiah 6:1-3)

In the Moses example, he was told to take his shoes from off his feet because the ground where he was standing was holy ground, Moses was tending sheep, he had come to a place called Horeb for the sheep to graze, so the ground around him was sufficient to be pastureland, and yet at this moment the pastureland became holy ground because the very presence of God was there. What Moses saw must have been amazing, a bush that burned and yet was not consumed, but what he heard was also amazing, for he heard the very voice of God.

Notice what it says in verse 3, ‘And Moses said I will turn aside to see this great sight . . .’ (ESV) ‘So  Moses thought I will go over and see this strange sight . . .’ (NIV) One translation a ‘great sight’ the other a ‘strange sight’ they both sum up what it would have been like for Moses, but what an ‘amazing’ experience as well, to be near to the presence of God, to be treading on holy ground, to be in communication with God, for as we will discover tomorrow what happened next was a crucial conversation regarding the plight of the people of Israel and their deliverance.

For Isaiah, his encounter with God caused him to be aware of his sinfulness in comparison to God’s holiness. ‘Woe is me for I am lost: for I am a man of unclean lips . . .’ (Isaiah 6:5)

The patch of ground where the bush was and where Moses stood was just the same as every other bush around, and the rest of the ground around, except for one important thing, God presence was at that particular spot, and in that particular bush. An encounter with God should always have an impact upon us, and one of the places where we should have those encounters is in the place which has been dedicated for the purpose of worship which for us is Emmanuel Pentecostal Church, it is a building, yes built with bricks, mortar, with a roof and windows just like every other building around it, and yet it is different because it is a place which has been set apart for the worship and glory of God, it is a place where the particular presence of God is to be found with his people. We need always to remember that when we enter a place of worship, for us our building in Caris Street that we are entering holy ground, it is the place to which we draw near to encounter God and to be encouraged and equipped in our walk and relationship with him, and like Moses we can be challenged in regard to the next step in our journey of faith. I personally think that to meet in a building which is only used as a place of Christian worship is a blessing as we always know what has gone on in that building during the week. Let us come to the house of God, which is our burning bush, with expectant hearts, with excited hearts and with anticipation that we will drawing near to God and he will draw near to us. (James 4:8)

SATURDAY 5^th

Exodus 2:1-10

NIV (v3) – ‘But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.’

ESV (v3) – ‘When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the riverbank.’

Just like the story of Joseph, the story of Moses is one that has been the means of many a Sunday School story and lesson. And like Joseph he was Gods man for the moment. The wonder of this story is that because of the decree that the king of Egypt had made concerning the birth of baby boys, Moses shouldn’t have survived more than a few days or weeks, but here he is being rescued or saved, and from the most unlikely of sources, by the daughter of the actual man who demanded that the  baby boys be destroyed! We all know the saying that life is full of surprises and I would imagine that Moses’ mother was more than surprised when she was given the opportunity to be the one who would end up nursing her son, knowing that when he was old enough he would have to be given to Pharaoh’s daughter, but that was a far better and happier option than having him taken and killed.

Speaking of unlikely sources, and the kings own daughter being the means of rescuing Moses and saving his life, God used a very unlikely source in the early days of the Church, a man called Saul who had approved the execution of Stephen (Acts 9:1) was ravaging the Church, dragging men and women who belonged to the Way off to prison, breathing threats and murder against the disciples, he was doing everything in his power to destroy the baby Church, even asking for permission from the synagogues to do it. (Acts 8:3, 9:1-2) But God was going to use this very unlikely source to be a man who would become in Gods own words ‘a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel . . .’ (Acts 9:15) And just as Moses’ mother would have been surprised, the early disciples would have been both surprised and shocked that God was going to use an unlikely source to be the bearer of the good news of the gospel to the Gentiles . . . (See the response from Ananias in v13)

God can use whoever he likes through whatever means he chooses, I wonder how often we have looked at a situation and wondered how things are going to work out and suddenly God uses an unlikely source as far as we are concerned to bring the answer. Over the history of the Church God has used ‘unlikely sources’ think of John Newton, and more recently, from a story I love to hear, (Teen Challenge) Nicky Cruz, who was one of the most violent drug dealers in the city of New York, most definitely an unlikely source, but God’s hand was upon his life and God’s love, grace and mercy met him head on one night in a crusade and his life was transformed beyond recognition, and since then this unlikely source has become a bearer of the gospel. I love surprises and my prayer is that God will yet bring surprises to the Church by taking from unlikely sources, men and women who will bear his name before our generation.

FRIDAY 4^th

Exodus 1:8-22

NIV (v7) – ‘. . . but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.’

ESV (v7) – ‘But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.’

We come today to the Book of Exodus, its name describes what is its main theme, the exodus of the Children of Israel from out of Egypt to commence their journey to the promised land.

The opening verses, 1-7 remind us of how Genesis ended, with the death of Joseph (Genesis 50:26) and tell us that all his brothers and his generation had also died.  But verse 7 says that ‘the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.’

Joseph had been the man of God for the moment in the closing chapters of Genesis and through his relationship with God, and his intervention in the circumstances of the nation of Egypt, and toward his family who were suffering with famine back in their homeland, they were saved from starvation, given a new home and to used an old KJV phrase  ‘they waxed strongly’. They multiplied and increased so much that they eventually became a ‘nuisance’ to the new king over Egypt. (Exodus 1:8)

But God was going to provide another man for the moment who we are introduced to in the second chapter of Exodus, the man Moses.

As we consider the opening verses of Exodus 1, it is a picture of what happened with the Church after the day of Pentecost. Immediately after the Holy Spirit had come and Peter had preached, it says that three thousand souls were added to the Church, then we read that the ‘Lord added daily to their number’, and the more the number of believers grew and multiplied, the more the authorities disliked the believers and all that they were doing in the name of Jesus and they became a persecuted people. It is said of the people of Israel that the more the king of Egypt tried to destroy them (through the killing of the new born baby boys) the more  the people multiplied and grew very strong (Exodus 1:20) and in Acts we discover that the more the authorities persecuted the Church, the early believers, the stronger they became, the more they spread out, the more widely the gospel was preached and the more their numbers multiplied.

This should remind us that God’s people have always known persecution, or have been disliked by those in authority, we have seen it over the generations, we saw it in the last century with the rise and the threat of communism, we see it today in countries where other religions hold sway and our Christian brothers and sisters are persecuted and oppressed. But despite all of the opposition, God is still in control, Jesus is still building his Church, and although the gates of hell have done all they can muster up to destroy the Church it is still growing and multiplying the world over. We declare again today what Paul declared to the early believers in Philippi, ‘Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father’ and every authority on earth, whether through kings, queens, presidents, etc are subject to the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. And one day every knee will bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

The new king of Egypt thought he had the power, but there was one above him who holds all power and all authority, and as the king of Egypt plotted to kill and to destroy, the ‘Great I am’ had a plan of redemption, a plan to deliver the people of Israel from evil and into a land of Promise. Thank God that the ‘Great I am’ also had a redemption plan for the whole of humanity, which he put into effect by sending his Son, to deliver us from the evil kingdom of darkness and into his eternal kingdom of light.

THURSDAY 3^rd

Genesis 50:15-21

NIV (20) – ‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.’

ESV (v20) – ‘As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.’

We have come to the end of our quick look at Genesis, I end with these few verses that really sum up what I have already put in yesterdays devotion. What we see as evil God uses for our good.

Humanly speaking, Joseph could have retaliated against his brothers. ‘You put me down the pit, you sold me as a slave, you meant me harm, therefore you will get what you deserve, no corn, no help, no reunion, nothing except hunger and poverty.’ But because he was in a right relationship with God, he was able to forgive, to forget and to provide more than they could ever have wished for. He was a man who rightfully could have been miserable toward them and held a grudge toward them and punished them brutally, but instead he acted with mercy and showed them grace and pardoned them willingly.

This is such a beautiful picture of how God has acted toward sinful humanity, remember we commenced Genesis by reminding ourselves that it is a book that records ‘beginnings’ and one of them was the beginning of sin in the world, man’s open rebellion against God, his wilful disobedience to the command of God. Man deserves for God to be miserable toward him, God rightfully could hold a grudge toward mankind, and we certainly deserve to be punished. But Genesis also shows that God is gracious and merciful, God is willing to forgive and forget and God is willing to pardon. Genesis ends with the family of Joseph being forgiven and  reunited, being blessed and being provided for, which is a beautiful picture of Calvary, the place where sinful humanity is forgiven and our being reunited or reconciled with God, and being blessed and provided for. ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places . . .’ Ephesians 1:3

WEDNESDAY  2^nd

Genesis 37:12-36

NIV (v4) – ‘When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.’

ESV (v4) – ‘But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.’

The story of Joseph is a fascinating one. For those of us who went to Sunday school, it is a story we will recall about a dreamer, a coat of many colours, jealous brothers, a pit, a prison, and the palace. It is a story that reminds us that God is in control, and despite what may seem like our circumstances working against us, God is there, God is bringing about that which is his sovereign plan, for us personally and in the world generally. For as we look at the life of Joseph, his circumstances had an outcome that affected he himself, the wellbeing of nations, (provision and plenty during famine) of his family and of course eventually the nation of Israel.

One minute, Joseph is standing tall and proud in the magnificent coat his father has given him, off on an errand of kindness taking provision to his brothers who are out in the fields tending the flock, and the next he is stuck down in the bottom of an empty pit, despised by his brothers and coatless. One minute he is doing what his father has asked, the next he is sold as a slave to do what the Egyptian taskmasters command him to do. But God was with him, God was in control.

None of us will ever go through the same kind of exceptional circumstances that Joseph went through, but we will all go through our lives with our own set of difficult circumstances, we may have those around us who despise us or may even be jealous of us, we won’t be thrown into a pit as Joseph was, but we may have circumstances that will throw us into a pit of despair, and there may be times when we feel that others are treating us with disrespect, even treating us as if we were their slaves, we may feel lonely and rejected at times, we may wonder what on earth is lying around the next corner, at times we may feel that we cannot face another week or another day like the one we have just gone through, we may feel lost and hopeless at times, but we need to keep reminding ourselves that God is with us in the midst of the circumstances, God is in control, and what we see as tough or difficult moments, what we see as dark and gloomy tunnels, what we see as exceptionally difficult circumstances, are all part of God’s weaving and working out his plan and his purpose, and they are circumstances that we should allow or use to bring us closer to God, to strengthen us, to make us determined to keep going knowing that God is working everything out for the good of those who know him and who are his called, his family.

The Grand old Duke of York was sometimes up, sometimes down, and sometimes only half way up or down, and when we are up, God is with us, when we are down, he is still with us and when we are only half way up or half way down, he is still there alongside us, he will never let us go. And Joseph, must have often wondered where God was in his circumstances, the answer was that God was there right beside him and as you consider your circumstance at this moment whatever they are, remember God is there with you.

SEPTEMBER

TUESDAY 1^st

Genesis 28:10-22

NIV (v22) – ‘. . . and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.’

ESV (v22) – ‘. . . and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.’

‘To be or not to be?’, this is the question, well not today, today the question is ‘To tithe or not to tithe’?

This story in our text today is a familiar story, where Jacob has a dream of a ladder reaching from earth up to heaven (v12) and he is so moved or overawed by the presence of God in the place that he puts a stone to mark the place, calling it Bethel, making it the house of God. He then makes a vow to God, ‘And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you’. This is the principal of a tithe.

Many today question the practise of tithing, which is a giving back to God a tenth of ones income, (practised by giving it as a tithe to support the local Church to which one attends) saying that it is linked to the Old Testament law and nothing to do with the Church as we are no longer under law but under grace. But as this Scripture here in Genesis records, Jacob was willing to give a tithe before the law was ever given and even prior to this we have a record of Abraham giving a tenth of his income to Melchizedek the priest. (Genesis 14:19-20) To tithe or not to tithe is a question that simply could be answered this way, has God been good in his provision toward us – physically, materially, but more importantly spiritually, consider the Scripture that reminds us ‘He who did not spare his son, but freely gave him up for us all’. If God has given us so much, surely to give something back to him would be the right thing to be willing to do? And this is where the principal of the tithe comes into the equation.

In the New Testament we are encouraged to give to support the work of the Lord, in 1 Corinthians 16 we read ‘On the first day of the week, each of you should put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collection when I come.’ In 2 Corinthians 9 we read, ‘The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!’

Although these Scriptures do not mention the words ‘tenth’ or ‘tithe’ they do talk about our giving and there is no reason why the Old Testament principal should not follow through the New Testament and through to the present age. On one occasion when Jesus was asked about paying taxes, he asked for a coin to be given to him. (Luke 20:24-25) ‘Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have? They said, Caesar’s. He said to them, Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ Jesus made it very clear that the tax should be rendered, but at the same time he indicated that that which belongs to God should be rendered, and taking the analogy of giving out of your income to Caesar, would also indicate that Jesus was referring to giving out of your income to God.

At this point I want to personally thank you all at Emmanuel Pentecostal Church for your faithfulness in your giving, especially over the last few months during the pandemic, we give because we have already received from God’s bountiful supply, not because we want to get, and we give for the work of the Lord to be continued.

MONDAY 31^st

Genesis 22

NIV (v14) – ‘So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.’

ESV (v14) – ‘So Abraham called the name of that place, The LORD will provide; as it is said to this day, On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.’

Fast forward a number of years after Abram had left his homeland, God made to him a promise that he and his wife Sarai would have a son, despite the fact that they were getting on in years and she was barren. At the point of the promise of a son of their own, God changed their names to Abraham and Sarah. (Genesis 17:15-21) In chapter 21, the son who is named Isaac is born, but soon Abraham was going to face a bigger challenge to test his obedience than perhaps the challenge to leave his homeland was! In chapter 22, God says to him, ‘Abraham, . . . take 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.’ You can only begin to think how Abraham must have felt, he had waited for this son, for him to be born was a miracle in itself, they had spent  a few years together as father and son, and yet here was God asking him to sacrifice the son he had longed for and loved. And yet such was Abrahams faith, trust, and confidence in God he went ahead to fulfil what God was asking of him. I cannot think of anything that could be more more difficult than this which God was asking of Abraham.

We know the story, at the point of when the sacrifice was about to be made, God stepped in and spoke to Abraham, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’ And Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in a thicket, and he sacrificed the ram instead of his son. This leads to the verse that I have highlighted for today which says, ‘The Lord will provide’.

What happened in this story was a test of Abrahams faith and obedience toward God, but ultimately was a picture or a shadow of something far greater that was yet to come, God’s provision of a lamb, which was to be his only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ who would be offered up as the sacrificial lamb for the sins of the world. And when Jesus walked up to the hill called mount Calvary, it was like the moment when Abraham walked up the hill toward Mount Moriah, Abrahams heart must have been full of anguish, and I can sense the heart of God the Father weeping, as he walks alongside his Son toward Calvary, knowing the moment had come for him to be the sacrifice on our behalf, and such was the agony of the moment, as the Son hangs dying on the cross, with the sin of the world upon his shoulders, the Father turns away and his Son cries out, ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me.’ Such was the price of our redemption, we needed redeeming, and the one who provided the ram on mount Moriah, provided the lamb on mount Calvary. ‘I should have hung on the Cross in disgrace, but Jesus Gods Son took my place.’

Thank God for his provision, thank you Jesus for your obedience, thank you for Calvary, thank you for your sacrifice on our behalf, thank you for saving us.

SUNDAY 30^th

Genesis 12:1-9

NIV (vv2-3) – ‘And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’

ESV (vv2-3) – ‘For I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’

These few verses of Scripture have been key verses in my life for as long as I can remember. The key word that I would use to sum them up is ‘obedience.’ What we see in Abram is a complete contrast to what we see with Adam. While the one disobeyed, the other obeyed. Adams disobedience led to the curse of sin; Abrams obedience led to blessing.

Abrams obedience to the call of God and to the command of God to ‘go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you’ (v1) is pivotal in the plan of redemption, for in verses 2-3 it continues, ‘For I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ It is as an ongoing result of Abrams obedience that we today can rejoice in knowing Jesus as our Saviour, Abrams obedience led a few thousand years later to the obedience of another man, the Lord Jesus Christ, who said in the garden, ‘. . . not my will, but your will be done.’

As I have said these verses have always been a key in my own life, as they taught me from an early age the importance of obedience toward the will of God. Obedience should be key to the life of every believer, even at the times when what God may be calling us to do goes against what we may want to do, or should I say when what we want to do goes against what God wants us to do. Although it may cost us, obedience will always lead to blessing. Many have heeded the voice of God and responded in sacrificial ways in particular those who have served in the realm of overseas mission, often time going into hostile or difficult territory, but if God has called and commissioned then obedience will lead to blessing.

Abram didn’t always have it easy, sometimes he even failed by doing things his own way, but ultimately because he obeyed the initial call to leave and to go, it was an important piece in the puzzle that led to the momentous event a few thousand years later when the Christ Child was born, and through whose death and triumphant resurrection the nations of the world have been blessed. Fast forward to Revelation 5:9 and we read ‘And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’ A fulfilment of the promise to Abram – ‘and in you all the families (or nations) of the earth shall be blessed.

What is the Lord asking you to do?