Category: barren

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Genesis 47 God’s Grace

God is sufficient

racInterestingly as we follow God’s leading, we see His hand on His people to bless them. Joseph was faithful and God blessed him in many ways. God never wastes our trials but uses them to bring prosperity to us and others around us just as He did with Pharaoh through Joseph. 

Years before Abraham went to Egypt in a time of famine but it was there that he lied and was escorted from there ..in haste. Now God uses another famine to bring blessing to Pharaoh and his court because Joseph was faithful.  Jacob now can receive this blessing because of his son’s faithfulness even though it had been years and years! Jacob, for once, has been truthful about his life. It is almost as if he has finally recognized that his sin of deceit has been revealed and he is humbled. 

How often does God reveal to us our sin so we can be a recipient of His grace? Lesson, keep your account short before God. Humble yourself before God and He will bring His blessing to you. 

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The Heart of the Matter

Mark 11 Fruit or Fruitlessness

We read this story of the barren fig tree and Jesus banishing it, leaves us with a bitter taste in our mouths, but Jesus was teaching about what looks on the outside is not necessarily or on the inside.  What the disciples, and us, see is just a tree with leaves but to Jesus, He saw a picture of Israel which looked wonderful on the outside but was barren on the inside. When Jesus looks at each of us, what does He see? This reminds me of a lady at church that always is dressed in her finery but if you stop to talk to her, you can sense her judgmental spirit because she looks at you with disdain because you are not dressed as she. If asked why she dressed so, she would reply, I was taught and I do as my mother taught me years ago. It wasn’t the mode of dress, but her attitude that was revealed. Is that what Jesus sees in me? Do I look beautiful on the outside but dead on the inside? 

This story reveals what Jesus saw in the religious leaders and yes, even some of the people. They outwardly were doing the “right thing” but inside their hearts were hard and judgmental. This is a warning to me to check my heart as I enter the sanctuary. God told Samuel that God looks at the heart not the outward dress and that should be true for me as well. “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t be impressed by his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way people do. People look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”[1Sam16:7]

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One Thing

Psalm 27 “One Thing”
Have you ever pondered about the ‘one thing’ that you need or desire above all else? Jesus once told Martha, “you are worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is needed.” What could that ‘one thing’ be? Could we find a clue in Psalm 27: “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.”

The psalmist’s desire to dwell in the house of the Lord was not just a wish but a yearning to be in the presence of the Almighty. As he said in Ps 26, it is where the splendor of God is revealed. It is where God resides, described by Isaiah as where He is “enthroned on the cherubim! God over all the kingdoms of the earth.” [maker] of the sky and the earth.” “He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon.” Can you imagine the majesty of such a place?

The psalmist found solace in the dwelling place of the Most High. There, he could contemplate and meditate upon the Lord’s precepts and statutes, finding guidance and peace. Is this the peace and tranquility we seek in our lives?

These are the “one things” that should be a part of our wish list if we could but have a moment in the very presence of Him… then we can have that moment as we read, meditate, and bask in the Holy Word knowing that His Word is fresh every morning. [Lam 3:23]

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Climate Change?

Joel 1-3 Climate Change is the buzzword of the day. We hear about it and are reminded that the cause is humans and their thirst for fossil fuels. Yet, in the years 1930-1939, the USA experienced what has been termed the Dust Bowl. It was because the farmers in the Midwest over-plowed and removed the grasslands that had been there for centuries and, in times of extreme weather, could protect the land. It was 6 long years before the drought abated and the land would rest. Joel saw the devastation of the land not by wind or drought but by the invasion of locusts. History tells us that this lasted over three years. In that time, the seed saved from the previous year was eaten, the harvest of the current year and the seed to be used for the next year. Joel used that picture to show the Israelites the ravages of sin in their lives and how God would use the impending judgment of the Babylonians to get their attention.

What does God have to do to get ‘my’ attention? Does He have to use droughts, locusts, or another natural disaster to cause you and me to fall to our knees to repent? Here in Texas, we have gone over 55 days without a drop of rain and extreme temperatures, but are we seeking His face or just complaining like the people in Malachi did? How often do we behave like petulant children when God is seeking our return to Him? Joel reminded the people to wake up and seek His face for restoration. Sadly, they did not, and our nation seems to be on the same wavelength. Today may we seek the Lord and live! Seek the Lord while He may be found! 

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Will you go?

                                

Jonah 1-4    Jonah is not only a Hebrew but also a Hebrew who worships the Lord, the God of heaven. Yet, Jonah is a picture of the selfish racial condemnation of others. God said in Isaiah, who will go for us and Isaiah said, “send me.” Yet, Jonah hearing that same call turns a blind eye and says, “send another, not me.” Does this sound familiar? Do we have excuses why we do not say “send me?” Look within and see why we take a ship to Tarshish and sleep away the opportunities God has placed before us. We are the Jonahs of today with our plethora of excuses.

Yet as the Psalmist said, “The Lord is merciful and fair; our God is compassionate.” [Ps 116:5] He will not relent when He has a plan to send men/women to the lost fields of Nineveh to bring them hope and the message of salvation. He may send a fish or a neighbor, or another believer to accost us in our tracks and redirect us to the lost. God is the antithesis of Jonah, and we are to be His messengers of hope as He is the God of hope.

Where is God directing you this day? To whom will you bring the message of God’s love and hope?

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A Crisis of Belief

When God speaks, do you have a crisis of belief

Judges 13-15 Back in the day of the Judges, the Israelites were excited when a baby was coming, but for some, like Mrs. Manoah, there was only sadness because she was barren. Was she sitting out in the field bemoaning her plight? Did God look down from heaven and say that there is a godly woman who needs a child? God knows the heart of women; men too, but this story is about a woman:

Whatever the circumstances were, she was out in the field, and Mr. Manoah was “house sitting.” What was he doing? Watching the sports channel? Anyway, he missed the blessing, but she was granted an audience with the Angel of the Lord.

Is there a time I miss the blessing because I am in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Enter God’s grace and patience. The Angel of the Lord appears again, and this time both parents-to-be are granted God’s vision and blessing. Excitedly, Mr. Manoah prepares a feast, and the Angel tells him to expect a child soon. Then unexpectedly, the Angel disappears, and Mr. Manoah has a “crisis of belief.” 🙁 “We will certainly die because we have seen a supernatural being.” In light of all that has happened, Mrs. Manoah gathers up her skirts, looks him in the eye, and says: LOOK! If the Lord wanted to kill us, don’t you think he would have done it then? “rolling eyes here”

You know God has a way of sharing his blessings, but we must be prepared and believe God when they come.

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Nothing Is Impossible with God, Pt 2

Nothing is impossible with God

1Peter 3 Nothing is Impossible with God pt.2

Sarah is a woman of many twists and turns. We find her in Genesis, Galatians, and then Hebrews. She called Abraham’ lord,’ which Peter recalls. He also reminds the wives to whom he is speaking that, like Sarah’s condition, nothing is too hard for God when we do what is good and have no fear. As a subordinate to Abraham and considered inferior in her culture, she remains a true picture of faith, obedience, and submission.

But, who was she really?

As the wife of Abraham, she was externally beautiful, perhaps arrayed with jewels and braided hair. Or perhaps it was her inner beauty, gentleness, and tranquil spirit that captured the eye of Pharaoh and then King Abimelech. Taken by them due to Abraham’s foolish and irresponsible decision, she had to trust God when there was no other solution. Her life is a picture of the truth of Peter’s words; God’s power will protect you through faith. [1 Pet 1:5]

She was a woman who hoped and prayed for a child but remained barren. Finally, she overruled her husband, and it ended with disastrous results. Coaxed by Sarah, Abraham impregnated her maid, Hagar. A child was born from this relationship—Ishmael—and with it came the stigma—he would never truly be Sarah’s child, but always Hagar’s.

But her final triumph of faith came when she realized truly nothing is beyond the scope of God’s plan and promise when Isaac was born as a child out of due season.

Wives, will you trust God? Will your faith sustain you as it did for Sarah?

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The Healing Stream

God works to change us from barrenness to fruitfulness

Ezekiel 46-48 When God created the heavens and the earth, He included a river that flowed from Eden to water the orchard. But, man’s sin caused those rivers to run dry, and God “turned streams into desert, springs of water into arid land.” [Ps 107:33] But, one day, that river will again flow, and with it will come healing for the desert. It will again be flowing streams that yield fruit in its season. [Ps 1] It will heal that Dead Sea, and once again, the fruit trees will push down roots, and trees will produce fruit, and fish will be in abundance. Fishermen will stand with their nets, and the fish will fill them just like Peter and John saw when Jesus told them to put the net on the right side of the boat. There will be so many that they cannot pull the net in for the large number of fish. [Jn 21:6] There will be a stream that flows from the Temple where the Prince will offer his sacrifices. And this river will be like the children’s song: “Deep and wide, deep and wide, there is a fountain flowing deep and wide.”

When Jesus enters our barrenness, our spiritual desert, His love pours forth to heal and is abundant, deep, and wide. It flows, heals, and brings forth fruit in abundance. We once were a desert but now will spring forth new life of joy and peace, producing fruit that will feed others.

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Faithfulness is rewarded

Will you trust God

2Kings 7-10 God devotes two chapters to the Shunammite woman as a lesson in obedience and faithfulness. 

First, a Shunammite woman desires to honor the ‘man of God,” by providing a place for him to rest when he passes that way. He finds out she is barren and prophesies that she will have a child in a year. She has the child, but at some point, the child dies and she seeks to find Elisha for help. Although unaware he comes and restores the child to life. Sometime later he comes to her with what seems an illogical command to leave her home as there will be a famine. We might ask; why should she obey when there is no logical reason? Yet, she obeys because she has seen the evidence of his being a true prophet of God. Upon her return she finds her land confiscated and seeks to have it restored to her. In some miraculous way, Elisha’s servant tells the backdrop to the story to the king. Amazed at this story, he does what she requests! 

God has placed this story to teach us about faithfulness whether we understand the logic or not. Sometimes, God asks us to do or go and there seems to be no logical reason why yet when we obey, God reveals His purpose and we are rewarded with increased faith and sometimes even material blessings! 

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God is our Provider

God provides

1Kings 17-19 Jehovah Jireh

Like many, people grumble when their comfort zone has been disrupted— even about God.  We live in an instant gratification society and we want the problem fixed.  Enter the prophet Elijah to remind us that God doesn’t work on our timetable because He is the God of creativity and nothing is too hard for God, for He is Jehovah Jireh, our provider.

God’s ways are not our ways. [Is. 55:9]  Who would ever have thought that God would/could use ravens who are scavengers, not providers to bring Elijah food day after day while he waits on God’s next assignment!  Then God uses a desperate Gentile widow outside Israel to provide a meal when the cupboard was bare!  To add to that, her son dies while Elijah is living with them!  At this point, Elijah may have returned to his depression, but instead, he goes to God in prayer, and God revives the child.  In the meantime, back in Israel, Obadiah has been busy snatching food from King Ahab’s kitchen for 100 prophets he has hidden, yet Elijah doesn’t know any of this.  Sometimes God works in front of us and sometimes behind the scenes.  Lastly, when Elijah was weary, He provided a replacement in Elisha!  In all of that, He teaches Elijah, and us, that no problem is too hard for Him.

If God can use unclean ravens, a Gentile widow, an Obadiah, or an Elisha, will He not provide for our every need?  Do we trust Him to take care of our essentials this day?

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