Not Dead Yet

Though Abraham was practically dead, from this one man came as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, as many as the numberless grains of sand on the seashore. Hebrews 11:12 (GNT)

I have to be honest. When I read this text I thought of the Monty Python I’m Not Dead Yet scene in The Holy Grail where they are going through each town picking up the dead. One man is slung over someone’s shoulder yelling “I’m not dead yet!” This made me laugh.

When this text says that Abraham was practically dead (it is translated similarly in other versions), it is referring to his ability to reproduce. God promised him a son and at age 99, he still had not had one. Sarah was 90. She was also physically unable to have children. So what do you do when God has promised something and it looks impossible? When you look at the situation and there is no human possibility it can happen? When you are too old? When your schedule/finances/location are shouting “NO!”?

You do what Abraham and Sarah did. You realize that you are not dead yet and if God says it’s going to happen, you do your part. Isaac was not immaculately conceived (if you know what I mean). Sarah and Abraham had to do their part even though from everything they could see, this was physically impossible. 

They did their part and then God did his part and his part made the impossible possible. 

Isn’t that what God asked them? Is anything too hard for the Lord? (Genesis 18:14)  Obviously, since Isaac was born the next year, the answer to that question is a resounding NO! 

This is the lesson for us today. We are not dead yet. When God asks us to do something, we need to remember that even though it looks impossible to us; it is always possible for God. We need to do our part.

A Minute In It - Faith-Walking

A minute in God’s Word will change your life. Take a moment to read the text below and then answer the questions at the bottom of the post..

4 It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith.

5 It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him.” For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God. 6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

7 It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.

8 It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. 9 And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. 10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.

11 It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise. 12 And so a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead—a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them.

13 All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. 14 Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. 15 If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. 16 But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

17 It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, 18 even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” 19 Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead. Hebrews 11:4-19 (NLT)

Look at the examples of faith listed in this chapter, when these people were called to do these extraordinary things, do you think they could see the outcome that God provided in advance?

What would you do if you were asked to do any of these things?

What motivated them to live their faith?

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you now? What is he calling you to do?

Faith Alive

Abraham reckoned that God was able to raise Isaac from death—and, so to speak, Abraham did receive Isaac back from death.  ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:19‬ ‭GNT‬‬

We each have a different level of faith. Some of us have faith because we believe in God. We believe he exists. We believe that when we choose Jesus, we will have eternal life. We believe that heaven is going to be way better than here. We have all sorts of doctrinal beliefs and we have faith in those. 

Sometimes though, I think that is where our faith ends. It’s intellectual. It’s not alive. 

When God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, do you think he had this kind of conversation with himself? What, you don’t have conversations with yourself?  😊

Abraham: God asked me to sacrifice Isaac. This can’t be right. Why would he wait all those years to give me this promise that he clearly said would be the fulfillment of his promise to me to be the father of many nations only to take it away? Why would he give me a son to take care of, to grow close to, to love only to have me kill him? This does’t sound right. 

I imagine that Abraham prayed a lot about this and wrestled with God. He finally came to this.

Abraham: God, I trust you. I’ve seen your hand in my life over and over again. I will do this thing that you are asking me to do. I don’t want to, but Lord, I know who you are. I know you can raise Isaac from the dead. I know you will fulfill the promise you made to me because you can’t do anything else. It goes against who You are.

You see, Abraham knew God. He knew who he was and that caused him to live out his faith. Abraham’s faith was not just intellectual. It was lived out. He walked it day by day trusting in God. 

How is your faith? If God called you to do something that was outside the realm of your comprehension, would you do it? Will you know in your heart that God will take care of it? And most importantly, will you walk the walk of faith and step out following God’s lead?

Unseen but There

To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.  ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:1‬ ‭(GNT)‬‬

I don’t know about you but I hope for a lot. I am always thinking of things I want. I guess a more accurate statement would be that I am always thinking of how I want things to be. I think of plans, how great it would be if things were _________________ (fill in the blank.)

But life rarely looks like how I imagine it. I read today’s verse and want to fill in my blanks. I can’t stop there though, I have to dig a little deeper. 

Faith isn’t just hoping for things. It isn’t believing that the things I want will come to pass. It’s about walking the walk of faith.

For example, if I am in the middle of a problem; pick one. Could be loss of a job, a difficult health diagnosis, trouble with a child, someone being divisive and hurting me or my loved ones. Really, pick any problem. I can sit here and hope for better things and I can be certain they things are going to look like I want them to at some point….even if I can’t see it.

But it doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes, God allows things that hurt. He allows the difficult trials and heart wrenching events. He does this for our growth. 

That, I think is the thing we have to believe in. We can believe that God is good and that no matter what is happening in our life, he is in the middle of it. We can believe that he only wants our best and sometimes to get there, we have to experience a “worst.” The character that grows and the trust that blossoms from having to go to him when you can’t do anything else, those are more important to him than things being easy. 

He is more interested in your final destination than your momentary happiness. Another thing we can believe even though we can’t always see it? Jesus is in the middle of all of it with you. He has not left you to figure it out. He will not abandon you during the process. He is with you. He is leading and fighting for you - even though you might not be able to see it. You are loved.

Believing that, leaning into that....especially during the hard times…...that is faith.

Blessings

Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. Deuteronomy 8:2 (NLT)

This past New Year’s Day, I sat down with my Blessings Book. What is a Blessings Book? Let me explain.

A while ago a friend of mine told me that he wrote down the ways God showed up throughout the year in a journal. This was a separate book that he kept so he could write down all that God did along the way. I decided to start a book like this and I called it my Blessings Book.

I don’t write in it every day. As I feel moved by God’s presence, I go to it and write down the way that God has showed up. Sometimes, I write about how he provided when we thought we were not going to make it (like paying a bill or sending extra money when needed). Sometimes, I write about an encounter that led to a great relationship or a spiritual conversation with someone that had God’s hand all over it. Other times, I write about help we received from people or about when God clearly speaks into my life.

Sometimes I write a lot. Then, there are months that I don’t write much at all.

This year, on January 1, I picked up my Blessings Book and read through 2019. What a gift that was! Tracing all the way back to the beginning of 2019, I relived the stories of how God provided, spoke, showed up and generally loved on me (us).

And I remembered. I remembered how awesome he is! I remembered how much I love him and his ways of showing up. I remembered my struggles to obey. I remembered and was awed by his love.

I whole-heartedly recommend starting a Blessings Book. It moved me to worship in a way nothing else could. And isn’t that why we are here?

God’s New in 2020!

For I am about to do something new.
    See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? Isaiah 43:19 (NLT)

So, here it is…New Year’s Eve. The last day of 2019. And I don’t have any plans for tonight. I am not that bring in the New Year with a party kind of person. Mostly, because when I wake up tomorrow, nothing will really have changed except the last two digits of the year.

Sounds cynical doesn’t it? Same problems. Same bills. Same struggle with my schedule. Same family. LOL! Just kidding! I love my family! But seriously, nothing changes……so why celebrate?

This year, I am actually excited about 2020. Not because it looks so cool and saying 2020 sounds like we got to the Jetson’s future but because of God. Will there be hard times in 2020? I am sure there will be. There are hard moments in every year. But I know God will walk us through them.

You see, God is always working. He’s got something up his sleeve all the time. And I am especially excited about 2020. We are getting ready to plant a church. Can’t wait to see what God does there! God’s been teaching me to stay focused on Jesus and let him be in charge of my life and my schedule. Can’t wait to see what he continues there! People I know are getting excited about discipleship and I see God moving in more hearts than ever. Can’t wait to see how he moves people more!

In 2020, I am really excited to see God’s “Something New.”

Happy New Year Everyone! Let’s ring in the New Year celebrating what God is going to do. I pray that God will be a bigger part of all of our lives, that our relationship with him will grow deeper than ever and that each and every one of us will be about the business of sharing his love.

To God be the Glory!

Seeing With Wonder

Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 18:3-4 (NLT)

The other day my daughter and I went shopping together. I was looking for some new clothes and a store near us was having a “Going Out of Business” sale. We took her children (one baby and one toddler). We are not crazy. We honestly didn’t expect to get a lot of shopping done but we were going to try.

In an effort to engage the oldest, I said “Will you help me find something to buy?” He looked around and pointed to a bright white and pink dress with a very full skirt and lots of glitter on it. I said “You want me to buy that?” He said “Yes, it’s a princess dress!”

Now, after my heart finished melting, I started thinking. My grandson thinks I can pull off a princess dress. Trust me, there are not many of my family members that would even suggest it. I am not really a princessy kind of person. But I loved the thought.

And then I thought that the only person who would see me as a princess (other than my grandson) was Jesus. And I am. I am the daughter of a King. I am accepted into the royal family and all the rights that are given to heirs are bestowed upon me. And you. We receive this because of the love and sacrifice of Jesus. King Jesus.

As I pondered this, I remembered that Jesus said we should become like little children. Maybe one of the reasons is so we will then see people the way he does. My grandson sees me with a heart of love that believes all the wonderful things about me that I don’t believe about myself.

Maybe that is how we should spend 2020. Believing in each other with the wonder of a child.

Happy New Year! I pray Jesus will be the center of your world in 2020!

Not One Thing

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. Romans 8:38 (NLT)

There is a song by Matthew West called The God Who Stays. There is a line in it that really spoke to me recently. It says:

Somehow you don’t see me like I do.

WOW! Each of us sees ourselves negatively now and then. In reality, more than we should. We beat ourselves up for things we’ve done in the past, for sins we’ve committed recently and even for things we didn’t do but think we should have done. Thoughts pop into our heads about how we could do better or opportunities we’ve missed.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a place for healthy conviction from the Holy Spirit but the voices from Him, the thoughts in our heads would be just that, healthy.

When the thoughts that pop into your head are damning, when they make you feel like less, like you are not worthwhile and like you are a failure, those are not from the Holy Spirit. When you think you have no value and God cannot use you, those are not from the Holy Spirit. And especially when you think you have to get yourself all straightened out before you come to Jesus. Again, not from the Holy Spirit.

In today’s text we are told that NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING, will get in the way of God loving us. Nothing thinkable or unthinkable. I have done some unthinkable things. Jesus still loves me. And if you’ve done unthinkable things too, Jesus still loves you.

As we head into the New Year, remember this truth. Hold on to it tightly. Fight for it.

You are loved. There is nothing, not one thing no matter how big or small that will cause Jesus not to love you. Lean in and be loved.