Category: Abraham

A Lot to Learn in 2016, part 2 - Decisions

1/18/2016

A Lot to learn in 2016 part 2 - Decisions

Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. 13 Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord. Genesis 13:10-13

Lot had a problem. He did not have his own walk with the Lord. Abraham interacted with God - both hearing and speaking to Him - and Lot just followed Abraham. There is a problem with this kind of living. Eventually you will have to walk on your own. What will happen then? How will you know, follow, and experience an interactive relationship with God? What will counteract your heart - which according to Scripture is deceitful and wicked. This was Lot’s problem - and as we will see in this part of, “A Lot to Learn in 2016,” it does not go well for those who follow in Lot’s steps.

Abraham and his nephew Lot were both in the business of raising livestock. When you prosper in this endeavor you will eventually have problems - and they did. Their herdsmen began go quarrel over pasture land. Rather than have a growing enmity between their servants, Abraham proposed that they separate from each other so that enough pasture land would be available for their herds. This was the moment where Lot would have to make his own decisions - and the first one is indicative of a man who does not know how to follow God himself - but who relies on other people to hear God for him.

Abram offers him any of the land that was before them. Lot got first choice. What he chose was the land near Sodom and Gomorrah. He chooses a place where the people were wicked and sinning greatly against the Lord. He chose on the basis of what "he" saw. Scripture says that he looked and saw that this land was “like the land of Egypt” and therefore he chose it. In Scripture, Egypt is not considered a good place to be. In addition to this - we also learn from the passage that the place Lot chooses is “near” Sodom. The problem here is that we also learn that the men of Sodom were considered “wicked exceedingly and sinners against Jehovah.” Lot’s first choice was to live by what his eyes saw and what his selfish desires wanted. He didn’t consider that by doing this he was moving closer and closer to sin. He did not consider that he would be taking his family into a place where there would no longer be Abraham’s godly influence - but the influence of exceedingly wicked sinners.

Lot moved his tents as far as Sodom. The phrase used here in Hebrew means he moved “near” Sodom. There was enough in Lot to know he shouldn’t go into Sodom - so he did the next best thing - he moved near it. Here is a lesson we need to learn from Lot. What you move toward in your life - is likely what you are going to become. Having followed a godly man (Abraham) Lot now was going to have as his strongest influence, ungodly, exceedingly wicked men. If Lot had his own relationship with God he may have done this to influence those men - but we know that what he saw was their prosperity - and the “good life” and place they lived. There is going to be more - much more to this in our next installment. But . . . before we go there let’s consider something in our journey together. There is a “Lot” to learn even at this point.

What drives your decisions in life? If our decisions are made with what we see with our eyes as our primary information - we will wind up in a mess. If we are seeking “the good life” as defined by the world around us - we will once again wind up in a mess. If we joyfully grab first choice in things (and don’t consider others better than ourselves - Philippians 2:1-3) and want first place - we will surely wind up in a mess. Lot’s decisions were driven by the (1) Lust of his eyes; (2) the lust of his flesh; and (3) the boastful pride of life. By the way, these three things are all defined as sin and worldliness in 1 John 2:15-17. Lot made a choice that increased the worldliness in his life - and then deceived himself by thinking that only by moving “near” sin he would be fine. These kind of choices don’t bring blessing - except in the immediate gratification of our fleshly lusts. The long-term results of these kind of decisions - are disastrous in our lives. Let me state this positively though - so you will have something to do on when making decisions.

First - make decisions by wisdom, which is defined as seeing life from God’s perspective. We look at things through His Word, His Spirit, and the wisdom that comes from spiritual sight. Don’t just seek an answer - seek Him and ask Him to give you His eternal perspective on your choices. Second - make decisions in light of long-term (honestly - eternal) joy and delight. Ask yourself, what is going to last? What is going to be an eternal blessing? What will benefit me spiritually - so that I can take it with me when I leave this world? Lastly, make decisions that move away from sin - not toward it. Consider the sins of your past - and the sins God wants to deliver you from in life. Don’t move toward those things - and especially don’t think you can get nearer to them without them influencing you. If God wants you to minister to someone or minister somewhere that is one thing - because that doesn’t move you closer to sin - it moves you closer to sinners - but only for God’s purposes of leading them to Christ and influencing them for godliness and the gospel. A parallel question to this might be, “Am I moving toward influencing others - or being influenced by them?” You can move toward sinners or sinful situations if the first is true - your seeking TO influence them. But if you are going to BE INFLUENCED - you need to move toward godliness and be sure that their influence brings you closer to God.

May God help us to make good, godly decisions. May we be wise and seek and desire His perspective in all things. May we be seeking eternal benefit in life rather than a quick fix high. And may we truly learn from Lot in this situation (as well as in any we face this year) that there are much better ways of decision making than the ones he chose.

0 Comments

A "Lot" to Learn in 2016, part 1

1/6/2016

0 Comments

"Genesis 12:4 - So Abram went forth as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him.
One man heard and knew intimacy with God and one did not. One man walked with God and one man did not. One man knew an amazing level of blessing in his life and one did not. One man experienced immediate satisfaction of his desires and one did not. One man was directed by himself and his wants and one was not. One man eventually lost just about everything in his life and one did not. One man had a legacy of godly descendants and one did not. Such is the history of Abram and Lot. And if you will pardon the pun - there is a "Lot" we can learn in 2016 from this man , Lot, and his choices. I hope you will join me for several posts as we seek to learn a "Lot" that will benefit us in this coming year.

This passage begins with a man who walked with God and responded to Him when God initiated in his life. Abram was a man drawn, led, and blessed by the grace of God. God started this relationship - and Abram followed as he gave himself to God and the plans He had for him. He "went forth as the LORD had spoken to him." God spoke to Abram and he immediately obeyed and went with the LORD. Abram was not a picture of perfect obedience - but rather of a man who entered into a relationship with God and embraced submission to God's will. Whether it led to immediate obedience or at times to an eventual obedience colored with discipline on the edges, Abram 's desire was to hear God and go forth in a direction led by Him.

Lot's introduction is that he was a man who "went with Abram." What we see in Lot is that he was willing to tag along with the man of God - but he himself was not walking with the Lord. Thus, there was a measure of blessing because of his nearness to a man who was following God. The problem though was that Lot was not building his own walk with the Lord - and eventually the abundance of our heart is going to be expressed in our lifestyle and our choices. Please understand that the blessing of following God is that you get God - not that you get blessed. You do get blessed, but even that is tempered by the reality that your blessing is what God considers as blessing - not what you want at the time. Lot was along for the ride with Abram, but what would happen if a situation arose where he no longer was around him? That is actually what we will learn before these articles are over.

So . . . how goes it with you? I know many who have little or no relationship with God in their lives. They either have a man or woman of God whom they tag along with in life - or they are living off the spirituality of their teachers - whether they be a pastor, a Sunday School or Community Group teacher - or even a favorite radio or TV preacher or podcast. Will they be blessed - yes, in a measure, but what happens when that influence is no longer around? What happens when more and more the manifest state of their heart or inner man is expressed through their life? How much of life is truly us "following" the Lord, hearing Him and and going where He leads - and how much is that I've either heard or seen a man of God hear from God and I come along for the ride.
Lord, help us to have a genuine experience with You this year. Please deliver us from Lot's error, and just tag along with others who have genuinely walked with You and sought You. We want to experience You ourselves - and walk and teach as one who has an intimate knowledge of the God of Whom we speak.

0 Comments

Joy in Weakness and Need, part 1

7/15/2015

0 Comments

I do not like being weak. I also am not exactly a fan of admitting that I have serious needs in my life. Yet one of the most important principles of spiritual health and welfare is to both recognize and joyfully embrace the FACT that we are spiritually weak and needy people. For the next several weeks I want to tackle this topic. It is one that we often don’t understand. We want to hear about victory, about our riches in Christ, about how God will instantly answer prayer. We want to hear about health, wealth, and prosperity in Christ. To even speak about weakness is considered in some Christian circles to be sin – or unbelief.

When we don’t know about God’s purposes for weakness and failure in our lives, we can become very depressed, confused, and downright angry when these things do make an appearance in our walk with God. Please do not misunderstand – I do believe in God’s riches being ours in Christ. I do believe God answers prayer. I do believe God wants to bless and strengthen us. And as long as we understand that it is spiritual blessings rather than just material wealth – I can even agree that God desires for us to prosper. I diverge with many though, when it comes to how God brings us into the actual possession of these riches. When it comes to the way that God brings true spiritual prosperity to us – I believe that we have to know His purpose behind failure, frustration, defeat, and desperation.

Too many in our day just want to be able to name a promise, claim it, and then have it show up in our lives. We prefer a McDonald’s drive-thru type of spiritual experience to the kind of long-term, pain and frustration ridden path that was walked by the majority of those in Scripture. Too often people preach based on the end of the story – without addressing the whole story in the process. A basic perusal of the majority of Bible stories will help acquaint us with some of the less popular tools in God’s spiritual tool box. Allow me to mention a few of these tools.

Abraham and Sarah had a miracle baby in their 90’s – but it was only after years of disappointment and painful discouragement. It was only after seeing the folly of taking matters into their own hands (Hagar and Ishmael). It was only after reaching the point of having little hope – and yet believing God’s promise. All too often we bypass the years 25-90 in their lives. We miss that they were thoroughly convinced of their own inability – and had to hold fast to the Lord in weakness and need. More is accomplished in those days of dryness, darkness, and sorrow than we can imagine. Things happen in the wake of religious fervor becoming religious failure that cannot happen anywhere else.

We don’t usually talk about such things. We don’t invite people who are in the midst of their dark and dry times to address conferences and big meetings. Yet it would be wonderful if someone would help us walk through them. The average new believer comes to Christ in the midst of thrill and joy. They can walk with God out of sheer exhilaration for 12-18 months (by the way some don’t make it this long). The problem comes when God begins to address the issue of living out of ourselves as a source. Difficulties arise as we face the cross – the self-life – the descent into the problem of indwelling sin – and the depth of our need and inability to live for God without resurrection power.

God’s school of true spirituality involves breaking our love affair with ourselves and our own relative comfort. It involves turning us from our own wisdom and thoughts to a life reliant on God’s wisdom – and an ability to think the thoughts of God day and night. It is a school where the fundamentals of denying ourselves and taking up our cross are reviewed again and again in real life situations. We will find that our Father is astoundingly patient and longsuffering in His quest for us to truly grasp the cross-centered life. That life – and the full experience of His life involves taking the Romans 7 highway – the death to self turnpike – and the “I am crucified with Christ” freeway.

It is on these well travelled roads that we will learn the “secret” to the Christian life is only secret because we wrongly despise need, weakness, and the way to brokenness. Rather than be discouraged by these things – we should be filled with joy when God engineers them in our lives. It is my hope before this series of articles are over to help you see why Paul said that he would gladly boast in his weaknesses. It is my hope that rather than send you constantly in a tailspin of depression and sadness – times of recognizing weakness will become a reason for gladness and joy. Whether we see it yet or not – these momentary difficulties (when viewed in light of eternity) are truly working for us a “weight of glory” as we learn to approach God fully aware of our great weakness and need.

0 Comments

What's Your Inner Posture Like?

7/14/2014

0 Comments

May the Lord grant you grace to move into the proper inner posture to be able to hear what He IS saying to you TODAY! This past week I was blessed to read a chapter in a book by A. W. Tozer. The chapter had to do with Abraham's relationship with God. The gist of what Tozer said was this. The reason Abraham heard God and eventually obeyed Him was because of being in the proper spiritual posture. God was on His throne speaking - and Abraham was on his face listening. There is a whole lot being said in that statement. Let's look at it for a few minutes this week together.

The first proper inner (or spiritual) posture for us to know is the posture of God. He IS seated on His throne. In understanding that posture we are grappling with the fact that God is king, that He rules and reigns over all things, and that He is seated in the place of absolute, ultimate, unquestioned authority over ALL THINGS (and by the way - that "all things" includes you and everything that ever has or will pertain to you).

Some think God is in a posture other than this. Some consider that throne to be empty and non-existent - but we know that the fool is the one who says in his heart, "There is no God." Others think God, after winding up the earth, took a break from it all and is allowing the earth to wind down on its own. He is not active in the scope of human affairs. Some would place another chair next to God. Seated in that chair opposite Him is the devil who, according to their thinking, is somewhat equal with God as the two of them "duke it out" for supremacy over earth and the spiritual realms.

Here are the facts! In Isaiah 37:16 we read the following, "O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth." In addition to this we read 5 other times in the Psalms that God is enthroned in the heavens as well. In Ephesians 1:20 we read that Jesus was exalted, after His resurrection, to the right hand of God's throne. God is seated on His throne - and what we read in the Bible is His revelation - i.e. Him speaking to us! But if we are going to hear Him as we should - we need to remember and submit to the fact that when He speaks - it is from the place of ultimate authority - on everything!

What this means is that when God says it - we have heard ultimate truth spoken with ultimate authority. We can debate it in our minds and even with others - but - when we're done God is right and we are still called to respond obediently. Our other choice is rebellion. We are truly ready to hear from God when we acknowledge from where He is speaking and with what authority those Words come to us.

The second inner or spiritual posture Abraham portrays for us is that he was on his face listening. The posture here is unmistakable. It is a posture of submission - to listen - to hear - to understand - and then to obey. Think about this - even when God tested Abraham with the request to sacrifice Issac - Abraham did not rebel. He chose to obey God and head to Mount Moriah to do what God said. We read in the New Testament that Abraham thought that God would raise his son from the dead if he had to. Such was the faith and the truth that Abraham had for God and His commands.

Are you in a spiritual posture to listen to God? Can you hear what He is saying through the Spirit to the church? Does He speak to you through His Word? Are you getting it - understanding what He is saying and dealing with the ramifications and the obedience that He is calling you to in life? Is hearing God resulting in action in your life - a choice for obedience and a choice to DO what He says you should do? Is your obedience instant - or delayed - or even subject to what you think in the end? Your spiritual posture often has a lot to do with whether you will hear Him at all. What is your spiritual or inner posture? Are you on your face - ready to obey OR are you sitting on a throne of your own making? Have you set up a rival throne to God from which you speak over your own life?

Dearest saints of God, THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION YOU FACE DAILY IS THIS, "WHAT IS YOUR INNER, SPIRITUAL POSTURE BEFORE GOD?" Nothing is more important that this. Nothing supercedes it. It is THE determining factor on how your life will ultimately go each and every day you live. Join me, saints, in assuming an "on your face" posture of hearing, listening, understanding, and obeying God. There is another word for this - it is WORSHIP. Romans 12:1 tells us that posture when we read there, "I urge you therefore, brethren, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship." You could almost switch the word "posture" for "service" here and lose little in the translation. Our posture before God - our whole selves as a sacrifice to God. Oh, may God's grace make such a wonderful thing possible - and may our passionate obedience follow Him entirely in the way our inner posture is set daily. See you Sunday as we continue our study in 1 Peter!

0 Comments

Articles

A Lot to Learn in 2016, part 2 - Decisions

A "Lot" to Learn in 2016, part 1

Joy in Weakness and Need, part 1

What's Your Inner Posture Like?

Biblical Articles

Categories

​Articles

A Lot to Learn in 2016, part 2 - Decisions﻿

A "Lot" to Learn in 2016, part 1

Joy in Weakness and Need, part 1

What's Your Inner Posture Like?

Biblical Articles

Categories

Articles

A Lot to Learn in 2016, part 2 - Decisions