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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Tuesday, 19 November 2024:
Genesis 17:1 — “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.”
God’s standard for His people has not changed. God’s expectation for His chosen people is clear and consistent throughout the whole Bible: “Walk before me, and be blameless…. Keep the way of the Lord.” Previously in Matthew we heard Jesus say, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven…. depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21, 23)
Though we are saved by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8, 9), we are expected to obey in response to grace. The Great Commission says, “Go therefore and make disciples [not merely ‘believers’ like the demons described in James] of all nations…. teaching them to observe [obey] all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19, 20) We are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. Or as James says, “faith without deeds is useless (James 2:20).” Genuine faith inevitably produces a changed life from a changed heart. We are saved not by our works but by faith; but genuine faith works. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17)!” Jesus said, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance (Luke 3:8).” The “fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:22, 23).”
The Bible is clear that, of our own merit, no one is righteous (Psalm 143:2; Romans 3:10), rather we are made righteous through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 4). However, in our state of grace, we are compelled to “seek righteousness”. (Zephaniah 2:3; Matthew 6:33) With all our heart (desire and will) and might (effort and actions), we “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness (1 Timothy 6:11),” not to earn salvation but to experience and evince salvation; not to get more blessings but rather to get closer to the Blesser, to fulfill our purpose of oneness with Him (see John 17 and Romans 8:29) as His image bearers (Genesis 1:26, 27; Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:24; 2 Corinthians 3:18) and His ambassadors to the world (2 Corinthians 5:20).
The genuinely saved person will change for the better (2 Corinthians 5:17). That person is saved “for good works” (Ephesians 2:10), and there is no way (s)he can fail to bring forth, over time, the fruit that characterizes the redeemed (Matthew 7:17). That person’s desires are transformed; (s)he begins to hate sin and love righteousness. The disciple will not be sinless, but the pattern of his life will be decreasingly sinful and increasingly righteousness. The fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 begins in love and ends in self-control. The love of Christ compels us to have the self-control required to obey God, a self-control which was never in us before we accepted Jesus Christ, a self-control which could not be manifested in us by the law, only genuine love. Where there is love, there is obedience.
Genesis 17:2-4 – “…that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.
It had been 25 years since God made His covenant with Abram and thirteen years since the LORD spoke with Abram directly (Genesis 16:15-16). For thirteen years Abram waited. Charles Spurgeon commented, “All these thirteen years, so far as Scripture informs us, Abram had not a single visit from his God. We do not find any record of his either doing anything memorable or having so much as a single audience with the Most High.” Abram developed great faith over the years, not primarily because of great miraculous moments but rather by developing patient and perseverant fidelity through every day, mundane life, and in the little things. Our character is developed the same way. Often Christians feel ineffective or immature because they are not experiencing extraordinary spiritual events in their lives, but in actuality, Jesus has made it quite clear that its in the little, unnoticed things where the evidence of our salvation is revealed, and only those weak in faith need extraordinary moments to obey. Jesus said many who do mighty and even miraculous works in His name will not enter into the kingdom, while others who quietly minister to the basic needs of strangers, one at a time, will.
God can work miraculously through anything and any one for His purposes and the benefit of His people. Throughout our readings, you will see God use wicked kings, prostitutes, liars, cheats, murderers, etc,. some of whom never follow God or enter into salvation but who are used by God anyway. God even speaks through a donkey (Numbers 22:22-35). Matthew 7:21-23 below demonstrates that someone can even proclaim Christ and cast out demons to no personal advantage. God is not seeking your help, He is seeking your heart. He doesn’t need you to do big things for Him; He wants you to be just like Him and do all things, every little thing, for His glory – “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)
- Matthew 7:21-23 — “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
- Matthew 25:31-46 — “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
- Matthew 12:39 — But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Genesis 17:5-6 — No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
In Hebrew, the name Abram means exalted father and Abraham means father of a multitude. As Abram grows in His faith with many ups and downs, successes and failures, God continues to expand Abram’s blessings. In Genesis 12:2, God says to Abram, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great….” Now God says, Abram will be the father of a multitude of nations and kings shall come from him. Despite his many failures, Abram was growing in his fidelity as were his blessings. Despite your mistakes, press forward in repentance and recommitment, and wait for God to bless you beyond your imagination, perhaps in this life, but definitely in eternal life.
Note also that God equally blessed Sarai (Sarah). (Genesis 17:15, 16) In God’s eyes, the two are one. Also, what God does in your life and through your life is primarily for the benefit of others around you.
Genesis 17:23-24 — Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
This sign of the Covenant would not be forgotten and served as an important reminder during reproduction when the next generation of God’s people were being fathered. God’s promise to Abraham was to be realized through generations of fidelity. God’s Covenant sign was a reminder to parents to honor God in parenting and to raise up godly offspring.
- Malachi 2:13-16 — And this second thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”
If you are parent with regrets in your marriage or your parenting, repent, accept God’s grace fully, rejoice, and then, with all your heart, seek to honor God in your current relationships, helping others learn from your mistakes:
- Philippians 3:12-17 — Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 19 November 2024: Today, focus on doing all things, the little, seemingly insignificant things, faithfully, wholeheartedly, and to God’s glory. Trust God with the outcomes. Learn from the past and then put it behind you; don’t worry about the future, which is in your Loving Father’s hands; focus on what you are doing right now – “Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.” (1 Samuel 12:24)
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 