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Promises…Promises

Have you ever heard the phrase, “God of Abraham?” Have you ever sang this phrase in a song or used it in a prayer? If your answer was yes to any of those three questions, then you, my friend, have fulfilled an everlasting promise God made to Abraham. In Genesis 7:17, God said to Abraham:

I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. NLT

And guess what? Every time we say “God of Abraham,” we are affirming God’s everlasting promise to be a God to Abraham always. Even thousands of years after Abraham has been dead, the promise still remains. For this to happen, Abraham had to fulfill his part of the covenant, which was circumcision of each male in his household and lineage.

Do you know that God has made the same promise to you? By faith, we share in the inheritance of Abraham and have become part of his household. And as members of Abraham’s household, this is what God says of us:

Listen to me, descendants of Jacob, all you who remain in Israel. I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born. I will be your God throughout your lifetime— until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.

Isaiah 46:3-4 NLT

God promises to be our God throughout our lifetime just as he promised Abraham. We too, just like Abraham have a part to play: circumcision. Unlike Abraham though, this circumcision is not one of the foreskin but of the heart (Jeremiah 4:4, Romans 2:29). Circumcision of the heart is a metaphor for changing your heart and this can only be achieved by the help of God’s spirit.

…true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

Romans 2:29 NLT

God’s spirit changes us to be conformed to the image and likeness of God (2 Cor 3:18)- if we let Him. For Abraham, a big part of circumcision was about obedience and it is same for us. Though our daily obedience to God, and the Spirit’s leading and nudging our hearts are changed. We are transformed into the image of Christ and can fully enjoy God’s promise to be our God throughout our lifetime.

Such reassuring words: to have God be our portion for a lifetime- and even forever! This week, I leave you with a scripture to remind you of God’s everlasting promise to you:

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:26 NIV

Yours Truly.

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Obedience: A matter of the heart

This past month, I have been on a roll with the theme of obedience and today I share the lessons I have learnt on obedience by looking at four different biblical characters: Moses, Saul, Gideon, and the unwilling son. For almost a year now, I have been ruminating on the parable of the unwilling son and what the implication of that story might be. And as I have followed the Israelites on their journey to the promised land, this story seems to be more relevant.

The parable of the two sons can be found in Matthew 21:28-32. The gist of the story is of a man with two sons who told them to go work in the vineyard. The first son refused, but later obeyed and went. The second son initially expressed obedience, but actually disobeyed and refused to work in the vineyard. The son who ultimately did the will of his father was the first son because he eventually obeyed. As I have studied obedience from this parable and through the lives of the Israelites, my biggest lesson has been that obedience is about the heart. Actions matter, in fact what we do matter a lot! But the state of one’s heart is even more important than what we do. King Saul, the first king of Israel is a perfect example of this lesson.

God had instructed that all the nations that the Israelites conquered be completely destroyed (people and livestock alike) but when Saul defeated the Amalekites, he decided to spare their king, Agag and keep the choicest animals for sacrifice to God. One might hear this story and think it was noble thing that Saul had done but God was not pleased. He rebuked Saul sternly,

“What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams”

The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

1 Samuel 15:22 NLT and 1 Samuel 16: 7b NIV

Apart from the fact that the All-knowing God knew that one day, a descendant of King Agag named Haman would make it his life’s mission to wipe out all the jews from the face of the earth when he demanded the total destruction of the foreign nations, he was more concerned with the state of the heart of Israel’s ruler. A heart of obedience was a prerequisite for a long and fruitful reign (Deuteronomy 17:19). Saul’s grand gesture of saving the choicest livestock and sacrificing them contravened God’s edict and was in direct violation of the priestly mandate. His intentions did not matter, his actions even mattered less- because God saw his heart and he dishonored God in his heart and that cost him a great deal.

Moses was another person who dishonored God in his heart and it cost him greatly. Forty years had passed since the Israelites left Egypt to go to the land that the Lord had promised them. After camping in Kadesh, they ran out of water. When the people complained to Moses and Aaron, the Lord commanded Moses to speak to a rock so that water would miraculously gush from it. Instead of obeying the Lord, Moses chose to deliver an angry lecture to the people and then strike the rock twice with his staff. I have always wondered what was so bad about Moses hitting the rock with his staff when God had asked him to speak to the rock. Surely the Israelites deserved the stern rebuke! Why did his actions cost him the promise land even though the rock produced water? Well, scriptures clues us in that it was not so much about what he did as it was about his heart in that moment. Moses dishonored God in his heart and that spilled over into his angry outburst and actions. That is what God punished… the dishonor.

“…for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes.”

Numbers 27:14 NIV

Many times, obedience is perceived with a “do not question; do as you are told” mentality. However, if obedience is more about the heart and less the actions, then there is opportunity to seek clarification and ask questions of God when we do not understand what is being asked of us. Gideon is a good example of this (Judges 6-8). I have been intrigued with the story of Gideon and how he appeared to question all of God’s directions without any repercussions. After carefully analyzing the story of Gideon, I conclude that even though he asked God to prove Himself over and over again, he never dishonored God in his heart through the process. His acts of questioning and clarifying were not acts of disobedience (dishonoring God in his heart) or blatant defiance and were actually welcomed by God. In this story, I see God respond to the frailty of humanity through tenderness. Gideon’s tests were designed to draw him into a deeper understanding of who God is and God indulged him.

An obedient heart may be one that has self doubt but says, “God, can you tell me some more about what you are asking of me?” “Can you show me what I ought to do and how I ought to do it?” An obedient heart may not always do the right thing but is quick to admit its wrongdoings and say “Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.” An obedient heart may not be one that jumps for joy when asked by the Father to work in the vineyard but still goes any way.

My prayer for you and for myself is for a heart of obedience… and as our hearts respond in obedience to the King, may our actions follow suit.

Yours Truly

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Advent Calendar day 18: Our Secret Thoughts

Yesterday I met with a group of my friends who have been constant in my life for the past few years. During this meeting, one of them shared about the most impactful things he has learned all year. Here is a summary of it:

He spoke about the power of our thoughts and the fact that God responds to our thoughts more than we think. He illustrated using the story of when the devil thought in his heart to be like God and by the many times Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because of what they were thinking in their hearts. In the words of my friend, prayer is not just about what we say aloud to God- our whole life is prayer and so is our thoughts. What have your thoughts been saying to God recently? How would God judge your thoughts? How well do your thoughts represent you before God? as i pondered over what he said a scripture came to mind:

O LORD, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up [my entire life, everything I do]; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And You are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue [still unspoken], Behold, O LORD, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, And [You have] placed Your hand upon me. Such [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high [above me], I cannot reach it.

Psalm 139:1-6 AMP

God is interested in every detail of our lives including our thoughts. That is an area that we must also surrender to the lordship of Jesus. Many of us think as long as thoughts reside in our minds and hearts and we never speak them then we are entitled to the privacy of those thoughts. However, this scripture tell us no thought is as private as we think it is. God is intimately acquainted with those secret thoughts- good or bad. So today my prayer for you as is for myself is simple: that the peace of God would garrison our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4: 7) and that every single one of our thoughts would be taken captive to make it obedient to Christ (2 Cor 10:5).

Yours Truly

P.s. Thanks Bari

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Advent Calendar day 16: A Wise Heart

I recall in my younger years I did something that I still regret to this day. Although it was a single incident that perhaps may not even be remembered by parties involved, I certainly remember and it colors that time of my life. Have you had a moment’s lapse in judgement where you said or did something that changed everything? Today’s reading hits the nail right on the head with this proverb:

As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

Ecclesiastes 10:1 NIV

In this scripture, folly is contrasted against wisdom and honor and has been described to be the undoing of both. Folly can come in many forms- a small act of unkindness, a moment of anger, a rash decision or a harsh word can cost a person a great deal. It can cast a shadow on one’s bright future, can close doors of opportunity and can bring great misfortune. We need to apply ourselves to wisdom in all our endeavors and a wise heart dictates that there is a proper time and place for everything

Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery.

Ecclesiastes 8:5-6 NIV

So how do we respond to this advice? The psalmist prays “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12) and I today I pray same of God.

Dear Heavenly Father, teach us to realize the brevity of life, help us to number our days and redeem the time you have given us. And above all, give us a heart of wisdom so we are not entrapped by folly. Amen.

Yours Truly