Category: Genesis-BibleTrekToday
Trek through Genesis
Healing a Barren Womb
Scripture reading for July 20: Genesis 17:15-18 “And God said to Abram, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.””
As we continue to explore what Scripture says about healing, we go back to Genesis where we read the story of Abram and Sarai. At seventy five years of age, God called them to leave their home and go to a land that He would show them. God promised to bless them and to make them a great nation and through them to bless the nations of the earth. (Genesis 12:1-3) They began their journey of faith, trusting God’s Word. But nearly twenty five years later they found themselves still with no children of their own, only Ismael, the son of Abram through Sarai’s slave Hagar.
God appears to Abram again at this point and renews His promise. God gave Abram a new name–Abraham, meaning “father of a multitude” and to Sarai, a new name, Sarah–meaning princess. These names were exchanged as a part of a new or renewed covenant. God was showing them that He would do what they had not been able to do naturally–have a child. Abraham and Sarah had both laughed at the possibility of having a child in their advanced ages, so God gave the child that was to come the name “Isaac” which literally means laughter! Faith rests not on our age or ability, but on God and His faithfulness to fulfil His promises. God healed Sarah’s womb and restored Abraham’s sexual vigor and Isaac was born as He had promised! Everyone laughed with joy, including God!
Prayer: Father God, as I study Your Word to find faith for healing, thank You for stories like that of Abraham and Sarah. I am reminded of Your faithfulness to Your Word. I am reminded that faith rests in You and waits on You. Nothing is too hard for You or to old and dead. Bring me the laughter of faith. Amen.
Week 20–Day 1-Fire Fighters as ‘God’s Angels’
Scripture reading for May 11: Genesis 19:24, 27-29 “Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. . . .And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. So it was that when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.”
This is the first mention of burning fire in the Scriptures. You may be thinking, how does this passage relate to firefighting? We know that fire can be beneficial as well as destructive. It is beneficial to keep us warm, cook our food, and even to worship God through sacrifice. Here, God sent burning sulfur on several small cities where their inhabitants had rebelled against God’s revealed plans. This fire was holy judgment from a just and righteous God.
But one man, Abraham, had stood before the Lord and interceded for his family who lived among those in the cities mentioned. Abraham appealed to God’s mercy and He responded to his plea by sending two angels to warn nephew Lot and his family. The residents of the city surrounded Lot’s home and resisted God’s mercy and mocked his messengers. The angels urged Lot to gather his family and leave. It is recorded that Lot lingered, but the angel took them by the hand and escorted them away before fire fell and consumed the cities. Abraham looked and saw the smoke rising, like the smoke of a furnace. He thanked God that He had remembered his plea for Lot and his daughters.
We in the fire service always stand ready to be sent to a fire. The first sign of a fire is usually smoke rising from an unnatural place. We are part of God’s emergency response service to save those involved. As Abraham prayed, we should be people of prayer who call on the Lord on behalf of those caught in fires. We offer ourselves as those who will go and take victims by the hand and lead them out.
Prayer: Father God, thank You for Your amazing mercy towards all made in Your image. Use first responders to rescue those caught in fire. Amen.
Week 15–Day 1–Urgent but lingering!
Scripture reading for April 6: Genesis 19:14-17 “So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting. As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.”
First responders are always conscious of time. When the call comes for someone in urgent need, we are aware that time is of the essence. Several months ago, our department received a call of a terrible wreck with overturned vehicle, entrapment, and vehicle fire with possible casualties. I was only five miles from the scene and quickly sped to the station, meeting two other responders there as well. Praying as we headed out, we knew we needed God’s help and wise use of our time. It was certainly not a time to linger!
In the story from today’s Scripture, God had sent angels to warn Lot of coming judgment by fire on the city where he lived. It was urgent that Lot gather his family and get out quickly. Lot went to his sons-in-law and urged them to leave. They thought he was joking and did not move. Lot waited until morning and the angels urged him to take his wife and two daughters and leave quickly. The tragedy is that Lot lingered in spite of the warning of imminent danger. God, in His amazing mercy, had the angels grab Lot and his daughter’s hands and physically brought them out of the city. As they headed out, fire and brimstone was falling on the city. Lot’s wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt! Genesis 19:26.
This story stands as a warning to all believers to heed God’s warnings immediately. We must maintain a sense of urgency to save our lives and that of our family. Timely response indicates faith which pleases God. Lingering indicates unbelief which is a sin leading to death.
Prayer: Father God, thank You for the warning of Scripture concerning our need for timely action on Your Word. Help us as responders to act in a timely manner and also to warn those in danger of their need to escape before it’s too late. Amen.
Day 3–Walking with God
Scripture reading for January 21: Genesis 6:8-9 “But Noah found favor (grace) in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.”
When I was in my early teens, my father and I were called by a frantic neighbor to come help rescue his son who had an accident with a tractor. This son had been up all night at a prom, and was doing chores on the dairy farm. He was hauling manure and spreading it on a field when he fell asleep and went down a sharp embankment to the creek-bed below. My dad and I were the first on the scene and dad helped me to lift a tractor tire off this boy and asked me to hold his head out of the water of the creek. I held up the tire and began to pray. His legs were still trapped in the soft mud under the overturned tractor. I called upon the Lord and prayed the scripture that I had just memorized, Psalm 23. My dad got a spade and dug under the trapped leg, freeing him. He was bruised, lacerated, but saved from death that day. God’s grace had provided for this young man and the responders!
Noah was a blameless man who found favor with God because of his simple faith. God had revealed a coming flood that would destroy the world. He asked Noah to build an ark for himself, his family, and two of every species of animals. Noah chose to walk with God through this process and follow His specific directions. A side note, the ark God had Noah build did not have an engine, sail, or rudder. God would guide them through the flood!
As first responders, we can face impossible or trying situations that are beyond our natural understanding or abilities. Not only does God answer prayers, He often leads us to provide the answer. It strengthens us to know that we are not alone as we say ‘yes’ to cries for help. All things are possible to those who walk in faith.
Prayer: Father God, thank You for inviting us all to walk with You throughout life. Teach me Your ways and lead me through the trials. As a responder, I know that I need Your grace and favor each day. Amen.
Day 2–Our Lord God Responds First!
Scripture for January 2nd: Genesis 1-3
Genesis 3:9 “But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:21 “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”
As we begin our year’s devotions, we start out with basic truths of Scripture. My aim is to keep these daily readings as simple as possible, yet to let God’s Word bring hope and inspiration to those sent to help hurting people. God our Father is full of compassion and is loving towards all mankind.
In Genesis 1 through 3 we have the record of creation and man’s fall into sin. God created the world and everything in it. The last act of creation was man made in His image and likeness. Adam and Eve were given rulership and care of creation as their assignment. This was to be under God’s authority and direction. They were warned not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or they would die. They walked and talked with God the Father regularly in His garden before temptation and disobedience.
Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s simple command, eating of the forbidden tree, and instantly felt guilt and shame, hiding from God and making coverings of fig leaves. God responded first–coming to the Garden and calling out, “Adam, where are you?” (Genesis 3:9) God loved Adam and Eve, but sin had caused separation and would bring death. God acted to intervene by seeking Adam’s confession and then Eve’s. Instead, they blamed others and God. He then killed an innocent animal and clothed them with the bloody skins. He sent them out of the garden under the curse they had brought upon their own lives through disobeying.
But God did not leave Adam and Eve and their children without a remedy. His response was a plan to show His love and mercy through sending His own Son as the second Adam, only without sin. He demonstrated that love by His Son laying down His life blood on behalf of sinners. The greatest love, God’s Son given, made available the greatest deliverance from death to eternal life by greatest number of people who would simply believe on Jesus Christ. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Prayer: Father God, Thank You for responding to my great need of deliverance from sin and death. I respond to Your great Love by believing Your Word and receiving Your Son. Teach me to respond to Jesus each day in humble obedience. Amen.
Jesus loves “Short” people!
Scripture reading for March 28: Luke 19
“And behold there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see Who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd, he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received Him joyfully.” Luke 19:2-6
My mother loved to tell this story about Jesus. She was a short woman and I inherited her stature. This story had impacted her life and she shared it with her children and the Sunday School she helped to lead at our country church. She even had a song she taught to her children that I remember yet today! “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he!” was the first line!
Zacchaeus was a short person who was also ‘short’ on spiritual stature according to his fellow Jews. He had become a tax collector for the Roman government and was viewed as the lowest of sinners. But Zacchaeus had a desire to know more about this Jesus Who was drawing crowds and healing people. He made a plan to get a view of Jesus by climbing a tree. As Jesus passed by, Jesus looked up and called out to Zacchaeus to come down. Jesus wanted to spend some time with him at his house! Zacchaeus received Him joyfully! This created a real stir among the religious folks and they began to grumble and complain. Zacchaeus stood and announced a change of heart (and stature)! In true repentance, he would restore four times all he had stolen to become rich. He would give half his goods to the poor. Jesus announced to him that “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.” (Luke 19:8-10) It was Jesus mission to seek and save the lost!
Have you ever had a desire to know more about this Man Jesus? What kind of a plan might you make today to get a better understanding of Him? Can you believe that He wants to spend time with you and bring salvation to your house and family?
Prayer: Father God, thank You for my godly mother who faithfully told me and others Your great love for all the “short” people of this world. Use me today to reach out to those who may feel ‘short’ because of rejection, sin and shame, or others judgments. I am receiving You in my house with rejoicing! Amen!
The day of the Son of Man
Scripture reading for March 26: Luke 17
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot–they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all–so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” Luke 17:26-30
There is a common view of life that takes for granted that life will go on as usual indefinitely. Life’s common activities, such as eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, and marriage and celebrating are thought to continue because no consideration is given to God the Creator or to the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. But Jesus’ world view was shaped by God’s Word that describes a sudden and abrupt ending of all life’s activities at the arrival of Jesus for judgment.
Jesus used the Scriptures to tell of the days of Noah. Life was going on as usual and Noah was building the ark and warning of a judgment by water. On the day appointed by God, except for Noah’s family and two of each animal, all of earth’s inhabitants and animals perished. (Genesis 7:11-12) Likewise, years later, Abraham’s nephew Lot was warned by God to escape Sodom. He hesitated but gathered his wife and two daughters and began to leave. God sent fire and brimstone and Sodom was destroyed. Lot’s wife looked back and was also destroyed. (Genesis 19:23-26) Jesus said these examples tell how it will be when He is revealed.
Do you tend to take life for granted each day, expecting life to continue on as usual? How does Jesus help us to see life from His perspective? As you think of these Bible stories of Noah and Lot, how do you think you might have responded to Noah’s preaching or Lot’s call to leave Sodom?
Prayer: Father God, I am thankful that you never send judgment unless you warn Your people. In response to Your warning, I have taken refuge in the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. I offer myself to be used to warn others and share this truth of a sudden ending when Jesus returns. Amen.
It’s by faith!
Scripture reading for December 13: Hebrews 11-13
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” Hebrews 11:1-3
One of the foundational aspects of our faith is trusting God as creator of all things. God alone has the wisdom and power to create the universe or cosmos out of nothing with His simple command! This particular aspect of faith is attacked in our land today by those who put their faith in the theory of evolution. Evolution is a type of religious system that puts time and chance as key ingredients to finding the basis of beginning in all things. A creator is ruled out and intelligent design is believed to be the simple product of chance or random happenings over millions or billions of years.
We who trust God and His Word know by His revelation how creation began. God simply spoke a command and it happened. Faith trusts what we cannot see but what God has said. Faith’s object is always God or His Word. God does not lie. He is absolute Truth and His Word is also Truth! The Bible records a number of human beings who trusted God’s Word and were commended by Him. There is a portion of that list in the rest of Hebrews 11! I want to focus on just one of these ancients, Enoch, who was the seventh generation from Adam through Seth.
“By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:5-6)
Enoch was known as a man who walked with God. He was a prophet who warned of the coming of the Lord with His holy angels in judgment. His only recorded message is found in Jude 14-15. Enoch began to walk with God after the birth of his son, Methuselah. (Genesis 5:21-24) The name “Methuselah” has a meaning of judgment coming when he dies. The flood came in the year Methuselah died and he lived longer than any other man recorded in Scripture. Enoch so walked with God, that he was snatched up to heaven without death and became a type of faith-walker that would inspire others throughout the ages!
There is no other means of pleasing God! Jesus is coming again. Will you walk with God today as if that were true and warn others about this coming event? Your reward will be better than Methuselah’s! We have a better resurrection in Jesus Christ! (Hebrews 11:39-40)
King of Pride
Scripture reading for August 23: Ezekiel 24-28
Satan is not mentioned by name often in the Old Testament. This fallen angel inhabited the body of a serpent in the Garden of Eden and enticed Eve to eat the forbidden fruit in rebellion to God’s express command. The serpent was told by God that the Seed of woman would crush his head one day and he would bruise the Seed’s heel. (Genesis 3:1-6, 14-15) In perhaps the oldest book of the Bible, Job underwent a difficult trial as a result of Satan’s accusations of him before the throne of God. Satan was given permission to test Job by first taking his possessions and children and then taking Job’s health. In 1st Chronicles 21:1, Satan stood up against Israel and enticed King David to number the people and take pride in how many fighting men he had. In Zechariah 3:1-2, Satan stood before the Lord and accused Joshua, the high priest, and was rebuked by the Lord.
There are two other passages that commentators say refer to Satan because the descriptions go beyond that of an earthly man or king. One is found in Isaiah 14 and the other is here in Ezekiel 28:11-19 and is a lament composed by Ezekiel concerning the king of Tyre. This lament describes this ‘king’ as being the model of perfection and full of wisdom and beauty. He was in Eden, the Garden of God and covered with many precious stones. This king was anointed by God to be a guardian cherub on the holy mountain of God. There he walked among the fiery stones and was blameless from the day he was created. Then wickedness was found in him and he was filled with violence and sinned. God drove him from the mountain of God in disgrace. The sin was pride because of his beauty and wisdom. God threw him down to earth and by his many sins and dishonest trade he corrupted mankind with pride . God brought him to a fiery end and reduced him to ashes in the sight of all who watched.
You might say Satan is the king of Pride and of all the proud of the earth. All mankind has fallen under his spell because of Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden. But God has provided One who has crushed the head of this serpent, Jesus Christ the Lord. The end of time will see Satan (the Devil) cast into the Lake of Fire to endure his fiery torment that lasts forever! (Revelation 20:10) Check out your heart for pride today and allow the cleansing blood of Jesus to wash it away!
Our Precious Cornerstone!
Scripture reading for July 24: Isaiah 28-30
Beer and alcoholic beverages have been a source of trouble from ancient times. Noah planted a vineyard after the flood and then proceeded to get drunk and exposed his nakedness. (Genesis 9:20-24) In today’s reading, the officials of Ephraim and Israel had a drinking problem. (Isaiah 28:1, 7) They were proud and thought they knew more than God. They were under a delusion and lie of the devil, which was likened to drunkenness. (Isaiah 28:15) They thought that their “religion” had made them immune to any foreign invasion or correction from God. They were “good people” who were a part of “God’s chosen” and they had Abraham as their father! What more could God want?
Part of the delusion was false religion. The priest and prophets were “blinded” and “drunken” by their refusal to truly love and obey God from their hearts. They were honoring God with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him! Their worship of Him was merely rules taught by men, not in Spirit and truth! When we engage in false religion, we become drunk and delusional, but not with wine or beer! They thought that they were doing fine but were really lost and heading for judgment! (Isaiah 29:9-10) In this state, they were worse off than an unbeliever because they were deceived! Jesus quoted Isaiah 29:13 (Matthew 15:8-9) when confronting the scribes and Pharisees of His day.
God has a strong foundation for His people who are trusting in Him. He has a solid Cornerstone that He has placed in Zion. It is a tested Stone that is precious and those who trust in this Stone will never be deceived or dismayed! (Isaiah 28:16) This Stone is a living Stone. (1st Peter 2:4) This Stone is none other than Jesus Christ who has become the living Cornerstone of the New Temple. We who trust and believe are resting on this Cornerstone and become ‘living stones’ in His temple! Those who reject this Stone and stumble over Him do so because they disobey the message of God because of their pride and hard hearts! (1st Peter 2:7, Isaiah 8:14) In repentance and rest on this Stone will be salvation for all who will trust in Him! (Isaiah 30:15)
The only sure foundation for our life today is to repent and rest on Jesus Christ and His finished work! False religion keeps us trying to work our way into God’s favor. This is a lie and delusion that results in drunken deception! It is only by faith through grace we are saved from false religion and the lie of trusting in our own work. What a place of quietness and confidence we have in Christ! (1st Peter 2:9-11)