The Name Change

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

THE NAME CHANGE

Gen 17:1-8

17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers." 3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."

NIV

Who would not fall face down if God Almighty showed up and appeared to us? And yet, here we are with God Almighty, the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, and we walk around as normal, doing our daily stuff, as if nothing special is happening, even in our religious world. Abram fell face down, and the great I AM, God Almighty, tells him to walk before him and be blameless. We know we are blameless because of the blood of Jesus, but we cannot be sure our daily walk is blameless, for we still struggle with the self and its flaws as we allow various temptations to influence our attitudes and behaviors. The LORD God Almighty confirmed his covenant with Abram and changed his name to Abraham. We know Abraham means father of many nations, but the facts surrounding a covenant are impressive. Historically, when two men made a treaty, or covenant, with each other, especially a blood covenant, they would exchange middle names, the middle letter of their name, cut their palms and bind them with two ropes. Within the language of Abram, God's name would have been spelled JHHW, unpronounceable, unspoken because that name is too holy, too righteous. However, when God Almighty appeared to Abram to confirm the covenant, he placed one of the middle letters of his name into Abram's name, making it AbraHam. That is so awesome, yet God Almighty, the great I AM, through his Son, Jesus, has made a new covenant with us, and the proof is that he poured out His Spirit upon us, filling us with his presence. Now we have the grace of God, his divine influence upon our hearts, and we should be reflecting that in our daily lives. God gave the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession to Abraham and his descendants, and He promised to be their God. We have the promise of Jesus, the promise of the Holy Spirit as an everlasting presence in our lives, but we are His possessions, and He is still our God. He changed our names from self to son, or sinner to saint. 

No Room for Misery

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

NO ROOM FOR MISERY

Gen 16:7-16

7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?" "I'm running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered. 9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her." 10 The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count." 11 The angel of the LORD also said to her:

"You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."

13 She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me." 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered. 15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

NIV

Although Hagar was Egyptian, the LORD did not withhold from her visiting or speaking the truth into her life. Interestingly, the LORD already knew everything that had happened and was happening in Hagar's life. Yet, his first communication with her was a question: "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?"  The story continues, and the LORD directs her to return to her mistress and submit to her. Does any of this relate to our lives? We should notice the LORD tells her to name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. The Hebrew word Ishmael means "the LORD hears." We should understand that the Lord also hears our hearts' cry. We may not be in the same misery that Hagar experienced, but there are many forms of misery. However, we can be assured that as we go through those times when we feel a sense of misery, the Lord hears our hearts. He already knew Hagar's misery, and he already knows ours, or that we will experience some. That is not to say we must feel misery, for we can live with joy; in fact, we can live full of peace and joy. When Jesus said that he was the vine and we are the branches, and about the Father's love, he told us that he gives us his joy and puts his joy in us, so that our joy will be complete. Hagar knew only misery, not that joy. We should remember when those times come when we might submit to misery, feeling alone, left out, not experiencing or sensing the presence of the Lord, not receiving a healing or some other blessing, that Jesus put his joy within us. We know we are redeemed; our salvation is secure in Jesus; he will come back to take us where he is, so why should we want the pain of misery when we can have the joy of Jesus? We sing that we have the joy, joy, joy down in our hearts, where? Down in my heart, we've got the joy, joy, joy down in our hearts to stay. Because the joy of Jesus is there to stay, there is no room there for misery. 

Own it

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

OWN IT

Gen 16:1-6

16:1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me." 6 "Your servant is in your hands," Abram said. "Do with her whatever you think best." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

NIV

Whose idea was it that Abram took Hagar and was intimate with her, so that she conceived? It was Sarai who put that into motion. Hagar was her maidservant, meaning she had no rights and had to do as her mistress desired or ordered. Yet, after Hagar became pregnant, she began to despise Sarai. We don't know exactly why, but we wonder if Hagar was fine with getting to be intimate with her mistress's husband, but she was not counting on getting pregnant, although that was Sarai's purpose for giving her to Abram. The story, or the point that is a lesson for us, is how Sarai responded. Once what she had purposed happened, she blamed Abram because of the way Hagar was acting toward her. He would have nothing to do with it, telling her Hagar was in her hands, not his. This is your own fault; don't blame me. We are right back to Adam blaming Eve, and Eve blaming the serpent. We should understand that if, for any reason, we fall on hard times, it is nobody's fault but our own. All too often, we hear people blame the government for charging us high taxes, for the price of this or that, or for their inability to get ahead. Who is in charge of our lives? Do believers blame the Lord because they are experiencing difficult times? Do we have nothing to do with how our lives play out? We do not think Sarai consulted with the LORD before making her choice that caused her pain. How many choices in life do we make without consulting the Lord? We are not just pawns in his heavenly chess game; he has given us the freedom to choose or to make mistakes all on our own. So then, when we make that mistake, we need to own it, not blame anyone else, including the Lord. There is no excuse good enough; it was our choice; we need to own it. 

Being Still

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

BEING STILL

Gen 15:7-21

7 He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it." 8 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?" 9 So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon." 10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." 17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates —  19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites."

NIV

This is the moment the LORD made a covenant with Abram. The three animals, each three years old, have significance because three is perfect; it represents the triune God. Cutting them in half was a cultural way of the time for making a peace covenant between two parties. Abram must have known that when he was given those instructions by the LORD, there was going to be a covenant. However, there is something very important for us to notice. When the sun set, Abram fell into a deep sleep; a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. In other words, Abram was in some kind of trance,  completely void of any thoughts of his daily concerns with life. This is when he was visited by the LORD, who spoke to him and made the covenant. Some people wonder why they have never heard the voice of the Lord. That is not to say that we always hear his voice, but we wonder if the reason we do not hear from the Lord is that we have become too preoccupied with the concerns of life. Psalm 46:10 puts it in the right order. First, we must be still; then we can know he is God. What does "be still" look like? God caused Abram to be still, to be in a deep sleep. But we may not experience that kind of sleep, but we still must quiet our hearts and our minds if we are going to hear from the Lord. He is not going to break in while we are so busy with ourselves, our own cares, concerns, worries, or pleasures. When we are so wrapped up in selfness, we will never be still enough to know he is God. Although we understand the new covenant through Jesus, we cannot survive as believers with just knowledge. If we are going to not just survive, but live abundantly, we need to quiet ourselves, listen, meditate on the Lord, and we will know he is God. He will confirm himself to us, show himself in a way that we will know who he is, and we might just hear his voice. 

What A Reward!

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

WHAT A REWARD!

Gen 15:1-6

15:1 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:

"Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."

2 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir." 4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." 5 He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars — if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." 6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

NIV

We should focus just on the fact that God told Abram that he was his shield and very great reward. Is that not a promise for us as well? We know that God is our shield; he is our protection, our protector against the forces of evil. We know that he clothes us in his armor, which includes the shield of faith.  If we think that our faith is the shield, we are sadly mistaken, for whom do we have faith in? We also know that faith is a gift from God, as he gives every man a measure of faith. So we would have to believe the shield of faith is God himself. He is our shield, but we must stand behind that shield; we must believe in God. First, we should believe that he is our very great reward. We wonder how much we struggle in this life to receive some kind of reward. These earthly rewards could be financially based or emotional, such as recognition, prestige, or being looked up to (pride-based), or success in varied areas of life (self-based). However, the only reward that is worth everything is knowing God, for he is our very great reward. Everything we struggle to obtain in this world will all fade away, vanish, disappear, and literally perish. However, God, our very great reward, is eternal. Secondly, we should note that Abram believed the LORD. The Hebrew does not include the word "in"; it simply states, "Abram believed the LORD." That is the basis of our lives. It may be good to say that we believe in God, or we believe in Jesus, but then many people who do not know God, or who are not living for God, may say they believe in him, but who believes God is the question. If we believe God, then our lives should reflect that fact. We do need to be careful about being distracted and starting to believe other things that we think are important.  Because Abram believed the LORD, he was credited as being righteous. We know that Jesus is our righteousness; therefore, as we are in Christ, we are credited as righteous. What a reward! 

Look to the Lord

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

LOOK TO THE LORD

Gen 14:18-24

18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself." 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.' 24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me — to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their share."

NIV

Although we looked at the blessing of Abram by Melchizedek, we did not consider this tenth of everything that Abram gave him. This is one of those beginning verses where we take the rule of tithing to the Lord, or rather to the church. However, we generally take our cue, or rule, from the verses in Malachi about how a man robs God by not bringing a tenth into the storehouse that they might be food in his house. In ancient times, this was meant for provisions in the temple for the Levite priests who served in the temple courts and to maintain the temple provisions. In our modern times, it is still fitting that the tenth of our income should support the material needs of the church. Today's church has financial expenses the temple did not, such as heat, air conditioning, lights, salaries for staff, support of missionaries, etc. Sometimes the cost of staff can get blurred with pastors living so large that it is obnoxious. But there is another story here that deserves our attention. Abram would not keep any of the spoils for himself, as he did not want the king of Sodom to think he made Abram rich, for Abram believed that God would provide for him. We should take our lesson from that principle. Sure, we must work, or labor all the days of our lives, which was the command of God to Adam. He must labor for his own sustenance. Again, we might have taken that in another context: we do work, but not all the days of our lives; instead, we work to store up for our retirement. Then stop working to do whatever we please. However, the point is that we should not be looking to our own efforts, but always look to the LORD for everything in our lives. We should not need others to give into our hands, but raise our hands to the LORD; He will bless us. He will direct our paths, how we should work, and how we should earn our sustainability. Then, because all comes from the hand of God, we give him back a tenth of it, keeping the rest. On the other hand, Abram did believe others deserved their share because of their part in the victory. Nevertheless, let us always look to the LORD, praising and thanking him for his provisions for our lives. Let us not look to others to make us rich; but look to the Lord; he will see we have enough. 

Setting the Captives Free

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

SETTING THE CAPTIVES FREE

Gen 14:1-20

14:1 At this time Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim 2 went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3 All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (the Salt Sea). 4 For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim 6 and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert. 7 Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar. 8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim 9 against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar — four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. 11 The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. 12 They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom. 13 One who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people. 17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying,

"Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand."

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

That is a lot of kings and a lot of rebellion, fighting, killing, violence, which is normal for mankind. There will always be war between those who have, but want more. Each of those men was a king of their own city or area of land, living the good life. But greed is at the center of their plans to take from another so they could have more. None of this involved Abram until those kings overcame the city of Sodom and took the people captive and their possessions, including Lot. So, because they messed with his relative, Abram went into action and routed those kings and their armies, taking back Lot, his possessions, together with the women and the other people. Abram took care of his own family and did what was needed to secure Lot and return him to his home. All this culminated in Melchizedek, the king of Jerusalem, serving bread and wine to Abram. Of course, this foreshadows the bread and wine Jesus served his disciples in Salem, or Jerusalem. Jesus has also been referred to as a priest in the order of Melchizedek according to the writer of Hebrews, with a quote from the Psalms. Melchizedek has no lineage, as there is no record of a father or mother. Again, foreshadowing the high priesthood of Jesus. Although Jesus uses the term Father, Jesus is God, having no beginning and no end. We could spend days with Melchizedek and Jesus, but the truth we want to focus on is this blessing he gave Abram and Abram's response with the tenth of everything. First, Melchizedek made sure Abram knew that the God Most High was the Creator of heaven and earth. Everything was created by God Most High, and in his great power and might, his mighty hand was responsible for Abram's victory over his enemies. Sure, Abram, with his 318 fighting men, had to fight a battle and put forth an effort to win, but the victory was won because God Most High was with Abram and caused the victory. We can take that lesson for our lives. We cannot sit in our easy chair and wait for God Most High to give us everything; we must go forth to fight the battle and put forth effort; however, that effort must be under the direction of the Lord. Abram did not fight just to fight, but to free Lot from captivity. Abram had to be inspired by the LORD to free Lot. We believe it matters what we do in life, because we live among people whom we can have some influence on in their lives, so that they may know the power of God Most High.  Abram fought for the release of Lot. Jesus set the captive, us, free. Are we meant to simply live for ourselves, or to live for each other, fighting for their release from captivity by the prince of darkness?