Tag / Abraham and Sarah

by In Light Of The Cross

What God Remembers About Abraham

Because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” Genesis 26:5 NKJV

As we study this week’s lesson about Giants of Faith, what do you remember most about people? The good or the bad? We are told,

Cultivate the habit of speaking well of others. Dwell upon the good qualities of those with whom you associate, and see as little as possible of their errors and failings. When tempted to complain of what someone has said or done, praise something in that person’s life or character. Cultivate thankfulness. Praise God for His wonderful love in giving Christ to die for us. It never pays to think of our grievances. God calls upon us to think of His mercy and His matchless love, that we may be inspired with praise.-Ellen White, Help in Daily Living, Page 34. 

I love how God speaks of Abraham after he died. Yes, Abraham made some terrible and costly blunders, like taking Hagar as his wife instead of just trusting God’s promise. Abraham also lied in Egypt instead of just trusting God’s promise of protection. Yet after Abraham ‘s story is over, all God remembers are the good things. Yes, Paul mentions Hagar in Galatians, but he does not go on about how terrible Abraham was. He does not even mention Abraham’s name in that context. He merely refers to the situation. But when speaking directly about Abraham, here is what Scripture has to say: 

Because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”Genesis 26:5 NKJV

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. Hebrews 11:8 NKJV

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,”  concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. Hebrews 11:17-19 NKJV

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?  Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?  And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was [j]accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. James 2:21-23 NKJV

Truly when God forgives He remembers our sins no more. Hebrews 8:12. Even with Sarah, in Hebrews 8:11, God mentions her faith and never mentions that the whole Hagar incident was her idea. The way God talks about Abraham and Sarah, you would get the idea that they never did anything wrong. How beautiful is God’s forgiveness, and the way He only remembers the good and never recalls the bad. 

I have a good friend since childhood, but even though we have been good friends for life, I was not always nice when we were kids. Years ago at a church youth social I had to correct a child for being mean to another child. This reminded me of a time I was mean to my friend when we were kids. I called her that evening and told her how bad I felt about that now. She assured me she had no memory of that incidident and all she could recall about me were good things, like what a wonderful friend I have been for years. When I hung up the phone I marvelled at her graciousness. 

May we be as gracious with others as my friend was with me. May we be as gracious with others as God was with Abraham in Scripture, and as He is now with all of us. 

by In Light Of The Cross

Do we Trust God Enough to be who we Really are?

Photo by Dom J on Pexels.com

A while back, a woman writing to prisoners for her church ministry asked me if she would be dishonest if she does not use her real name. She wanted to hide her real identity for security purposes. I assured her a pseudonym was not being dishonest. After all, the Bible gives many names for God, so why can’t we have many names? 

While living in the Dallas area during the mid ’90s Deion Sanders was playing for the Dallas Cowboys, so I decided it would be fun to invent “Deion” as my restaurant name. So for the last almost 30 years now, when waiting for a table or placing an order to be called out, my name has become Deion. Since then I have learned many people use pseudonyms when giving their names at a restaurant. It’s not being dishonest. The restaurants couldn’t care less what your real name is. They just need to know who to call when your table is ready. A pastor friend told me he uses the name “Wild.” That way when his table is ready the hostess calls out, “Wild party of four, your table is ready.” 

Name games can be fun, but fact is I love being me. God loves me being me too. I am glad God made me to be me. There is a difference between having multiple names and pretending to be a totally different person than I really am. I don’t need to wear a Deion Sanders jersey with his name on the back. I don’t have to be someone else to be happy. I love who God made me. 

While the name game at restaurants is fun, Satan plays a game that is no fun at all. He likes to make us think that the only way we can ever be happy is, we have to be someone other than who God made us. This was his first deception with Eve. 

“God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” Genesis 3:5 NLT

There are two problems here with the serpent’s suggestion. First he is insinuating that Eve cannot be happy unless she becomes someone else. Sadly this is his deceptive suggestion to many people. You can’t be happy being you. You can’t be happy being who God made you to be. You have to become someone else in order to he happy. In this case Eve needed to be God. The second problem with this suggestion is, Eve was already made in God’s image. See Genesis 1:26. While Eve obviously of course was not God Himself, she was already created in God’s image, a truth the serpent’s suggestion seemed to deny.

I suppose since Lucifer thought he could not be happy just being himself he suggested no one could be happy just being themselves, but this is not so. We can be happy just being who God made us to be. However a lack of trust in God led others to skew their own identities. in Genesis 12 Abraham skews his identity, claiming to be Sarai’s brother only, instead of her husband. In Genesis 26 Isaac does practically the same thing, changing his identity and relationship with Rebekah. In Genesis 27 Jacob does not trust God to bless him, so he puts his trust in a lie. That lie causes him to change his identity. Jacob thinks he has to be Esau in order to be blessed. 

David appreciated who he was when he exclaimed, 

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. Psalm 139:14 NLT 

David trusted God enough to be who he really was. Do we trust God enough to be who we really are? Do you realize how special you are to God? Friend, you are no accident. You are not just another face in the crowd. With the billions of beings already to grace the face of the earth God was not content until He made you. He literally loved you into existence! Don’t fall for Stan’s lie that you cannot be happy until you change your identity. Satan’s biggest lie to Eve and all humanity is that you can’t be happy unless you become someone you are not. Don’t fall for that lie. God is love, and God created you to be you because He loves you being you. Don’t try to become someone or something that God never loved into existence. You are you because you are what He loved into existence. Trust God enough to be the you that He loved into existence. 

You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.