Continue to trust in the Lord even in the midst of the wait.

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“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?” (Genesis 17:17)

What strikes me most this morning as I read the Abraham narrative, the covenants God makes with him, is the length of time that passes between the promise and its fulfillment. Abraham first encounters God when he is in his 70’s. God not only promises him land but also offspring. Again, in chapter 15, Abraham receives a promise from God regarding offspring. Abraham is in his mid 80’s at this point. Still Abraham and Sarah remain childless. God’s promise doesn’t come to fruition and Abraham has a child through Sarah’s servant, Hagar. But Hagar’s son is not the son of promise. God makes that clear when He visits them again. Once again He promises to provide them with child. Both Abraham and Sarah are in their late nineties at this point. Abraham is pushing one hundred and Sarah is just a year behind. It is amazing but God’s promise comes to fruition. Abraham and Sarah have a child together. Isaac is born! 

God held true to His promise, but it didn’t happen over night. It took thirty some odd years for Abraham to finally have a child and get his family started with Sarah. The family God promised would be a blessing to the nations. 

The time between God’s initial promise and His fulfillment took decades. Decades that I am sure seemed like an eternity. Decades that led them to disbelieve God, so much so Sarah offered Hagar to Abraham so that he might have a child. Decades that made Sarah laugh when God visited them at the oaks of Mamre as they looked out over Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18). Decades that eventually came to culmination with the birth of Isaac. 

God’s timing is not our timing. Days, months, years and even decades can go by without an answer to prayer. What appears to never happen is right on time according to the Lord. His plan is perfect. He perfects us through His plan. We must trust the Lord knows best and His timing is right.

Continue to trust in the Lord even in the midst of the wait. It can be difficult, but the Lord has a plan!

We cannot succeed in making our name greater than the Lord’s.

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After man was expelled from the garden for rebelling against God, man’s rebellion did not cease. Even after a worldwide flood wiped out everyone on the face of the planet except Noah’s family, man continued to rebelled against God. In Genesis 11:4 we read,

“Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:4)

We are not sure how many years, but several generations (see Gen 10) removed from Noah, man has a new technology. They are able to make bricks and put them together in such a way as to build stronger and grander structures. Instead of spreading out on the face of the earth exercising dominion for God’s glory, they decide to stay and build a city that will bring them glory. 

Man has been after their own glory since the beginning. Adam and Eve desired to determine what was right and wrong according to their own judgment. Lamech killed a man for wounding him and bragged to his wive’s that his justice would be greater than the justice God promised Caan (Genesis 4:23-24). In Noah’s day, men did what was right in their own eyes so much so that God regretted making man (Genesis 6:5-8). They had no care for God at all. Whatever glory they had earned for themselves was taken in a worldwide flood (Genesis 6-9).

Mankind is still doing the same today. Armed with newer technologies, man seeks to carve out a name for themselves. Man, however, will never succeed in making a name for themselves. Death comes to us all. None will live forever. 

As we have seen recently, even those who succeed in making their way into the history books, have schools named after them, and statues erected in their honor, face the real possibility of being cancelled, erased from the history books and the public eye forever. 

Try as we might, we cannot succeed in making our name greater than the Lord’s.

Turn to the Lord, submit your life to Him, He cares for you.

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At the end of the book of revelation we read these encouraging yet unbelievable words:

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” (Revelation 21:3)

The gods of other nations are always distant. They don’t have time for humans. Human’s are second class in their mind, servants who were created through various means for their own pleasure and use. Gods don’t typically come to take up residence with their creation, just as kings typically don’t take up residence with their people. No, they live in a castle distanced and protected from the people.

The God of Israel, the God of the Scriptures, does not distance Himself from man. We are the pinnacle of His creation, created in His image to reign and rule on His behalf (Genesis 1-2). He placed the first humans in the garden in Eden to work and keep it on His behalf. They were to serve as little “k” kings, reigning and ruling over all creation. They, however, didn’t recognize their privileged place and sinned against the Lord. You can read about in Genesis 3. Their sin plunged the whole world into a corrupted state.

God did not give up. He went on a rescue mission for His people, even sending His own Son to die in their place as a means to bring His people back into fellowship with Him and so He could tabernacle among us once again. Here, at the end of the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, we see God doing just that. He brings His kingdom, described as a new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1), so that He can live among us once again. 

We don’t become His slaves, instead we are His children who live a blessed life. A return to Eden, if you will, takes place when God’s holy city drops out of the sky. The promise in verse 4 is amazing, awe and hope inspiring: 

Revelation 21:4 reads,

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

What an amazing God we serve! A God who actually cares for His people. Don’t turn to the counterfeit gods of the world who cannot and will not deliver on their promises. They do not care for you, nor will they provide you what they say they will. Only heartache and death results from following the gods of the world. But life and peace is the result of following the Lord our God. 

Turn to the Lord, submit your life to Him, He cares for you. 

Your Works are Not Good Enough

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Your Works are not Good Enough

“And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.”

(Re 20:13)

A time is coming when all will stand before the throne of Jesus. Judgment will occur. Those who are found wanting will be thrown into the lake of fire. Not a hopeful picture for us because judgment is based on our own actions. Yes, everything you have ever done will be judged. Every thought and action will testify against you at the judgment. 

You might be thinking, “That is ok. I have done more good than bad. I should be ok” While you might have lived a good life, your good works mean nothing to God. God is holy and we are not. Every action we undertake, no matter how good it is, does not earn us favor with a holy, perfect God. In reality, even our best works are not good enough. They are counted as filthy rags before the throne of God.

“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

(Is 64:6)

The only way we can hope to escape the judgment seat of Christ is if our name has been written in the book of life.

“And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

(Re 20:15)

The only one’s who have their names written in the book of life are those who have turned to Jesus, who have repented of their unbelief and have exercised faith in Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. Only those who have turned from living in rebellion to God to admit and live as if He is King of all creation, will find entrance into the heavenly kingdom. 

Do you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Or are you hoping your good works will gain you entrance into heaven? My prayer for you is that you believe in former and not the latter. 

We serve an amazing God who will bring His purposes about!

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.”

(Rev 17:16-17)

There is a vivid and scary scene near the end of the book of Revelation. In chapter 17, John sees a vision of a prostitute arrayed in purple and scarlet with gold and jewels and pearls. She has a golden cup in her hand and she is drunk on the blood of martyred Jesus followers. She is Babylon’s the great. She is riding on a scarlet beast with seven heads and 10 horns who has come from the bottomless pit (Rev 17:1-13). The beast with seven heads and horns represents nations and kings who have power. Who wage ware against Jesus and His followers (Rev 17:14).

The interesting part of John’s vision is not so much the vivid imagery but what happens to the prostitute. She is destroyed by the beast and the kings who are represented by the ten horns (Rev 17:16). But why? Why do they war against one another? Verse 17 reveals the answer:

“for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.”

(Rev 17:17)

Her destruction occurs due God’s providence. God works His will even in the hearts of evil men who completely and utterly oppose Him. God is that great! He is absolutely sovereign, turning even the hearts of wicked men to accomplish His purposes. As one commentator puts it:

“You cannot overcome such a God! They are his enemies, and he puts it into their hearts to carry out his purposes by doing their wicked deeds. God is holy, righteous, and good. He is not evil. He is not tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone to it. He never does evil. But no evil is outside God’s control.”

(James Hamilton, Revelation, 331)

We serve an amazing God who will bring His purposes about!

The Lord is just in all He does

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!” 

(Rev 16:7)

Judgement is coming. It is unavoidable. God has providentially purposed to judge all those who do not submit to His reign and rule. In this section of Revelation, we see God pouring out judgment on those who have taken the mark of the beast — those who have chosen to follow the satanic world order, rejecting the Lord and His right to rule over them. Judgment is poured out in a number of ways in this section. 

What is interesting is that as judgment is poured out the people do not repent and turn to the Lord, pleading for Him to exercise grace and mercy on them. No, they curse the name of the Lord (Rev 16:9). They gnaw at their tongues for the pain and curse the God of heaven (Rev 16:10-11). Even as hailstones a hundred pounds each fell on them, they continued to curse God for the plague (Rev 16:21). 

Man, apart from God’s intervention will continue to run from the Lord even as great and powerful plagues are being poured out on them. Man hates the Lord because He is a threat to their reign and rule. Ever since the garden we have desired to reign and rule in God’s place. Instead of submit to God, we rage against Him (Ps 2). We desire to call the shots, to be the big “K” king. 

While these plagues are horrendous, the Lord is just in His judgment. He does not act unfairly. He is absolutely justified in pouring out His wrath on mankind for their continue and unceasing rebellion against Him. 

We must recognize our proper place in this world. It is not to reign and rule. Rather it is to bring the Lord glory as we submit to His reign and rule, recognizing His wisdom is greater than our own.