Sodom and Gomorrah is destroyed and Lot and hs daughters act crazy (Gen. 19), while Abraham revisits an old sin for the sake of self-preservation again (Gen. 20) – what does this next chapter hold? Let’s see…
Gen. 21:1-5 (inclusive) – Genesis 21 starts off with three verses saying the same thing, but in three different ways. Emphasizing the central point – God does what He says He’s going to do. No matter how odd or impossible it may seem – He said it and He WILL do it! In obedience Abraham gave the boy the name Isaac, and brought “the son of promise” into the covenant which he was to carry out as everlasting through circumcision on his eighth day in this world. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born, making Ishmael 14 years Isaac’s senior.
Gen. 21:6-7 (inclusive) – Sarah, the one who had laughed when she heard she was to bear a child in both Abraham’s and her old age, now invites people to laugh with her at the miracle of God.
If u missed the review of Genesis 18, then you missed the discourse on Abraham’s negotiation skills, and the parameters for God’s coming actions. You may wanna check that out before moving forward.
Gen. 19:1 - In this verse the bible dispels my notion that all three men were in fact God representing His triune nature, but that instead it was in fact the Lord God and two of His angels. Of note, Lot, in his current spiritual state (some claim he had backslid) was able to identify the men as angels of the Lord and ran to them, bowed down and greeted them with respect and reverence.
Gen. 19:2 – Lot, similarly to Abraham, beseeches the men to tarry with him so that he may offer them a kind service. Contrary to Abraham’s experience however, the men refuse Lot’s invitation – indicating that they have intentions of staying in the midst of the people they have come to examine.
Something about the combination of today’s devotions (Our Daily Bread, My Utmost for His Highest, Moments Together) re-energized me and changed my outlook on my ailment. My illness was no longer an excuse to shirk my duties to proclaim my great God and His boundless love for me, but instead an opportunity to tell Him that I acknowledge Him as Lord, Saviour and King even when I’m down and out of it. That, for better or worse, His praise shall forever be on my lips!
Today’s updates will be missed/delayed as I’m not well. See you tomorrow or later hopefully.
This is something that’s been said for a number of years – to a number of people… and it’s even shaken some. So today, I want to put my own foot down on behalf of everyone else that has heard this.
“Smart” usually refers to someone who displays the ability to combine knowledge (a storehouse of processed information) and the physical/social capacity to respond to situations life throws at them correctly – and consistently so. The “smarter” you are, the more quickly you can do said combination and produce consistent results. Now all you have to do is mix in a little arrogance, a touch of exhibitionism and dobs of creativity and you get what most refer to as a genius! Agreed? If you don’t then you’re probably not smart enough to have Googled the word “smart” by now 
– just kidding!
Wow… so Genesis 17 showed us God doing a brand new thing with brand new people. One of the things that may have been missed in that write-up is WHEN the “promised son” was meant to be born. God declared that Isaac was going to be born within 1 year from the date of the covenant was established (in Abraham’s 100th year). Let’s get into Genesis 18 to see what happens next:
Gen. 18:1-2 (inclusive) – God appears to Abraham as three people – taken as an indication of His triune nature. Notably, upon seeing the three men Abraham recognized them as his Lord and God. Some of us struggle to recognize God’s voice when He speaks to us – but not Abraham – Abraham was able to recognize his God even when His appearance was out of the ordinary.
Gen. 18:3-5 (inclusive) – Abraham runs over and asks a question followed by a request. What is atypical of Abraham’s response to God’s presence, is not that he made a request (as we all tend to d0), no – what was atypical was the essence of the request Abraham made. Abraham didn’t ask to be blessed; he didn’t even ask for increases in what he had – no – Abraham asked the Lord to spend some time with him. He entreated the very God of the universe to sit with him, so that he (Abraham) could pamper him as best he knew how. How many of us entreat the Lord to stay when He shows up? or do we like Adam run and hide thinking that if God took the time to show up it must be to punish us? Abraham pleads with the Lord to spend time with him, so that he may offer worship through service – through the refreshment of water, the washing of His feet and the comfort of the shade provided by a nearby tree… and the Lord agrees 
– wow – can you imagine asking the Lord to tabernacle with you so that you may worship Him and Him saying – “Very well… do as you say.”
If you’ve been to the website and tried out the Christ-Minded Worship YouTube widget on the left-hand side, then you’ve probably been blessed and frustrated all at once. This is more likely than not because though the music is good, every time you move to another page – the playlist needs to be reloaded and the music restarts. Well. We’ve fixed that! By clicking the “Watch this playlist in a new window” button the CM Worship playlist will be loaded in a new window – allowing you to listen to the entire playlist uninterrupted while navigating the rest of the Christ-Minded website.
The new “popped out” playlist also offers some more functionality thanks to the people at YouTube. Hope you enjoy the changes – and.. be blessed!
Gen. 17:1 – Thirteen years after Ishmael’s birth the Lord God appears to Abram. God re-introduces the concept of blamelessness initially seen with Moses.
Gen. 17:2 – God tells Abram that He is going to confirm His covenant (first made back in Genesis 12:1-3) with him (Abram). This is interesting because of two things: The first – the fact that it actually happened. We know it was a number of years between God telling Noah of the flood and the flood actually happening – we don’t know exactly how long that period was because there is no indication of exactly when God appeared to tell Noah of the flood; but we know that it had been at least 24 years between the initial promise and this “reminder” (Abram left Haran at 75 as per Genesis 12:4, and he was receiving this reminder in his 99th year). The second point of interest is one that only becomes clear a little later on: God felt it fit not only to remind Abram of the covenant, but also to institute the “new creature” principle right here in Genesis. In order to remain true to the way we’ve been looking at these verses (i.e. without taking into account teachings on “things to come” further on in the bible) I’ll simply make this notation and move on.
After reading and looking over the devotions for the last 2 days (ODB Jan. 26/27; MUFHH Jan. 26/27; MT Jan. 26/27) I couldn’t help but thinking of the numerous times in the New Testament that Jesus or one of the apostles say stuff that just really don’t sound sensible. “..the last will be the first, and the first will be the last“; “…do not worry about your life, what you will eat of drink…“; “Whoever finds His life will lose it…“; are just a few said by Jesus in the book of Matthew… but I realize that the only reason I regard these as none-sensical is because in each case I have to give up on those things which make me human in order for it to make sense! The UNcommon sense of God is that our humanity is a shackle, anchoring us to a temporal world and shrouding our eyes from Him and His vision for us!
