RTW January 5

God is…

“Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.”
Genesis 15:1

 

My Takeaways

Something Old

I love that we know Abram was afraid. (Genesis 15:1) I am afraid sometimes too.

Something New

God is our shield.

Abram was afraid.

He had just defeated more successful armies and a retaliation could come at any time. God was assuring Abram that He doesn’t need to worry about being attacked again.

Shield- Defense and protection

Psalm 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. (ESV)

God is our reward.

Abram gave up the spoils of war.

Rewards—wages or compensation

Hebrews 6:10
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. (NIV)

God is our Assurer.

Abram doubted.

Abram demonstrated that its OK for us to take our doubts and fears to God.

Ephesians 3:20
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. (NIV)

Something to Do

God is believable.

Abram believed God. I need to believe God.

 

 

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15 Comments

    4. Thanks Carolyn for this song Knowing You Jesus! I loved listening to it. I have never heard of it before and now it is probably going to be one of my favorite songs that I am going to be listening a lot. I always love listening to songs especially new ones.

  2. My Takeaways:

    So much in this lesson. So many takeaways. Where do I start?

    Something Old:
    “And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteousness because of his faith.” Genesis 15:6
    Notice not his actions (thank goodness), but because he believed in the Lord he was made right with God. I need to remember that going to church, praying, and doing good deeds does not save me. A right relationship is what I need based on believing the truth that God gives. Knowing what God says he will do is what he will do. I have the Bible, God’s words to read, understand and follow. Abram did not.Doing right doesn’t save me. But because I am saved I will want to do what is right. Abram believed, that’s what matters in the end. Everyone who is saved must believe, but it is the power of Christ that saves.

    Something New:
    Genesis 16: 1-5
    Though it was a common practice at this time in history to do what Hagar did, it still didn’t make it right with God. God would never approve of any arrangement like this. This incident took me back to Adam and Eve. Abram makes the same mistake as Adam. Neither one stepped up to their role as the spiritual leader. Imagine how things would have been different had Abram lead Sarai at that moment in the direction that God desires. I think we women need our husbands to be the spiritual head of the household. I often need my husband to make the spiritual decisions. If my husband doesn’t take this responsibility in leading me when I go wrong, disaster most often is a result. Abram was as much to blame in this situation as Sarai. They were both wrong in what they did. Because of Abram and Sarai’s lack of faithfulness many problems came about. But isn’t that the way sin is. We get what we want, at least that’s what we think, but our life turns out to be miserable, until we make it right with God.

    Something To Do:
    I can sometimes try to fulfill God’s will in my own ways — and complicate things. But God can even be in my mistakes and use my mistakes to work out His plans. Just like he did for Abram and Sarai. When I make mistakes I need to do two things. First, own up to it. Admit what I did was wrong. Confess my sin. Take responsibility for my actions. Then, once I have done this, move on. Trust that God, in His sovereignty, can even bring good from my mistakes, and that my mistakes never change God’s plan and purposes for me. Even though Abram and Sarai messed up, God kept his promise to them.

  3. I loved that God told Abram not to be afraid. I know that angels do that all the time (the Bible is full of Fear Nots) but this one e . God himself.

    (I am slowly making my way thru watching the complete series of Touched By An Angel)- so,- hopefully- I will be hearing many fear Nots of my own.

    1. Hi Adele,
      I have never seen the tv show Touched by an Angel. Is it a good show? I am watching the series Highway to Heaven with my mom right now and I love it so much. It is so good.

      Yes I love how throughout the Bible that there are many angels that come to different people telling them not to be afraid. But it is interesting how God told Abram not to be afraid and not an angel.

  5. Something Old: Sarai took matters into her own hands, gives Hagar to Abram as a second wife. Hagar gets pregnant and begins to treat Sarai with contempt. Then Sarai blames Abram for the problem that she herself perpetuated.

    Something New: God is Abram’s Devine protector – He is also my Devine protector. Nothing happens to me that God has not allowed. In everything that happens to me, even the bad things, God is with me, he will take all bad things and turn them into something good. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28, ESV)

    Something to Remember: Wait on God, do not take matters into my own hands to make circumstances come out to the way that I think they should. Then, if I do take matters into my own hands, don’t blame others for the outcome that I perpetuated.

    Remember that God doesn’t need my help.

    Trust God in every situation, every circumstance of my life. His plan is so much greater than any plan that I can devise.

    1. your response rings very true to me. It’s hard to remember in hard times that Gods the one who wants me there for whatever reason.

      I tend to rush everything and try to do things my way. always rushing and not waiting to hear from the One who knows.

  7. What stands out to me again is that by taking matters in own hand, this situation can get really complicated. How often do I do that ? I ask God for help and I give tough situations over in his hands. I trust Him to take care of me and my needs, I really do. But only for a matter of time. Then I feel like I need to “help out” a little bit and even tell my self that God surely approves of me taking action as I feel that it is good. But there is where I often go wrong. What I feel is a good action can be far off from what God thinks is a good action, or, in much cases, He does not want me to take any actions. His plans get carried out all the same but I can really make it very complicated and last longer than it should by acting on my own understanding. I know it and I want to get rid of that but I still tend to do it. This lesson is a very good reminder. I love how God, even though matters were carried out different from what He said, still loved on Abraham and Sarah, He didn’t tell them to forget about the promise if they couldn’t properly wait. He did fulfil what He told them. He also took care of Hagar and Ishmael, I love to read that as they couldn’t be held “guilty” for getting pregnant and being born. Others decided that for them. I love how God shows how loving He is to keep them under His protection.
    What also struck me was the sentence that Abram was considered righteous by his faith. I love that. Not by good deeds, but by his faith. This is how I want to be called: righteous by my faith. I long to be in that relationship with God…

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