Day 9

Gen. 20-22, Matt. 7:15-29, Psalm 9:1-12, Prov. 2:16-22

Remember how I said Abraham didn't always display that faith that made him the "father of our faith?" Well, here we are again and he's telling someone else that his wife is his sister because he is afraid of what might happen if he doesn't. By doing so, once again he put someone else (Abimelech) at risk of sinning greatly.  God spares the king because of his innocence and when confronted about it, Abraham goes to justifying his actions. I have a little saying I use when people start justifying their actions to me. "If you have to justify it, you already know it's wrong."  All you are doing when you try to justify your actions is convince everyone around you that you aren't nearly as bad as it seems. "There is a reason I don't like that person." "Here's why I think it's okay to act this way."  "It's okay for me to get divorced because...."  Hang with me in reading through the bible and we are going to see God sees through our excuses and into our hearts.  Scary!

By the way Sarah was believed to be Abraham's half-sister which at the time was a some what common practice to marry in order to keep the family lineage close. It wasn't until later that those types of close relational marriages were prohibited.

Sarah concieves and has a son. They name him Isaac.  Why? His name means "he laughs." Which is what Abraham and Sarah both did when God said they would have a son at such a late age. 
Side note for you here. This is where I got the name for my son. I was reading this one day while Joy was pregnant. I'm not even sure if we knew we were having a boy yet. But I read this and thought, "what a great name." If any of you know my son, you know he lives up to this name. He is one of the goofiest kids I've ever met and he loves to laugh and make me laugh. There really is something to a name.

Chapter 22 - Now we see the true faith of Abraham come out. All you parents out there, read this again. Could you do this?  Talk about a last minute intervention.  Abraham has his son tied laying on the altar and the knife over his head before God intervenes.  We are all willing to be tested by God...to a point.  But where is the line that you cross before you say, "that's it God, no more?"  Abraham traveled for three days just to get to where God was leading them to build the altar. He had three days to think about this.  What conversation do you have with your son while you are traveling?  What do you think about?  Are you looking behind every rock and bush for some sort of deliverance?  Yet, nothing came. They just kept walking.  All the way to the place, all the way up the hill, all the way to the point of near death. THEN, God shows his provision. This is what it takes to have the faith of Abraham.  Being willing to go...until God shows Himself. We give up too soon sometimes I believe.  We have great faith in the beginning but when things start to get rough we start taking back control of the situation. Soon we have completly strayed from the path and never arrive at the point of God's salvation.  Stay with God's plan, see it all the way through.  There will be provision at the place of His choosing.

Matthew - We need to not get caught up in the carisma of man.  We can't become followers of someone's teaching just because they have a great delivery, they look good and it sounds good to our ears. Jesus is telling us in this passage you need to look at the whole package and to weigh it against the word of God.  Fruits here includes their actions and their words. Do they practice what they preach? Are they living a godly lifestyle?  What is their language like outside the pulpit? Do they become a different person on stage then they are off stage?  Don't get caught up in the public character but dig into their private character. 

21-23 - We all know about God, but do you really know Him. I coined a phrase a couple years ago in a message I preached on this passage.  "God-stalkers"  If we are not careful that's what we become. We read His word, we go to His house, we talk about Him a lot to other people, but we never really know Him. Just like people can talk about their favorite celebrity. They feel like they know them becuase they have observed them on screen, through magazines, etc... Let's be honest though, if they went up to them on the street, that celebrity will look at them and say, "I don't know you."  The same will be said of us if we never persue a true relationship with God. He is not some far off being that is unaccessible. He's right there waiting for us to truely get to know Him.

24-27 - Notice both men heard the words of Jesus?  The only difference was the wise man acted on them and foolish man did not.  The foundation of our lives is not simply hearing the word of God, but rather doing the word of God.  Act out your faith.

Proverbs 2:16 - This kind of goes along with the passage from Matthew. Notice what the "seductress" uses? She "flatters with her words."  Again, we have to start looking past the words of man and look into their hearts. This is why Proverbs encourages us to pray for wisdom and discernment.  We need that discernment in our lives everyday.