Promise 52 Gen. 21:1

Gen. 21:1 - "Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised." We knew Sarah was going to have a baby because God said, a couple of times, that she would. But its so exciting to see it happen. I know I'm not going to be able to articulate this in the way I want to but here goes the try. Often times I'll be given a promise by God or know something about God that I know He'll work in a way that is true of His character and of who He is, and I can get excited about that promise, or the anticipation of His work, but for some reason I'm still amazingly surprised when the promise happens or when God does a miracle. For example, just last night (written April 17, 2010), my computer froze so I shut it down for a couple of hours. When I went to boot it up it wouldn't let me type in the 9's that I needed for my password. All keys worked except the 9's. I took the 9 cap off, maked sure there was no dust or hair blocking the connection, tried everything, it didn't work. My friend called, I said, "pray for my computer, I can't log in." She said, "just pray healing over it, computer be healed right now in Jesus' name!" So I tried the 9 again, nothing. Now I knew that God could touch my computer and make it work, I knew He would touch it, there was no doubt in my mind. So when it didn't work, I knew I just needed to pray over it again, because I knew God was going to fix it. I put my hand over the 9, said "9 work right now" in my mind I was thinking, "You (meaning the 9) have no authority over this computer, God has. And, Lord bring this computer into order." I tapped the 9 twice, nothing! Then suddenly those two wonderful dots (meaning in the password) after a two second delay, popped up on their own and I was able to log on. The 9's were back into submission for the rest of the work I needed to do. I texted my friend back, "Hey, it worked! PTL!" Even though I knew God would to it, it still surprised me when it happened. I don't think its because I have an underlying doubt, it's because God is so great that when I see Him fulfill His promises or perform miracles its an AWESOME surprise. Nothing He does ever grows old or gets stale, He just always amazes me. The promise is! He will keep His promises. So..... Stand on them, anticipate them, expect them to happen then enjoy the awe of it when it does.

Promise 51 Gen. 20:17-18

Gen. 20:17-18 - "Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maids, so that they bore children. For the Lord had closed fast all the wombs of the household of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife." There is a lot going on here in these two verses. Abraham prayed and God answered; God healed closed wombs; God had closed wombs because of Sarah. Let's do a backward chain here. It appears cruel that God would close the wombs of women so that they can't bear children, however if you look at the big story here, If Abimelech could have had children then he would not have taken Sarah for another wife and Abraham and all who were with him would have just passed on through the place, but because of this encounter, and God is working His plan in Abraham's life, Abraham gained favour in Abimelech's eyes and was given open passage to settle wherever he wanted, was given more livestock and lots of money. This all factors into the covenant that God made with Abraham. Now, God healed the closed wombs, I know many women who live in silent despair because they are not able to conceive children. God healed Abimelech's women, every singe one of them, in the household. Is He not the same God today as He was then and will be tomorrow? He can, is and will continue to heal closed wombs. We must NEVER give up praying for this to happen and believing that it will happen. The third promise here is that when we pray, God answers. Abraham prayed for Abimelech and the women. He was the intercessor on their behalf. There is power in prayer. Because He loves us, He will listen to us. He will move in other's lives when His beloved children go to Him. So keep speaking to Him, keep the communication lines open with Him. He knows what's going on in our lives and what we are concerned about, but He wants to hear it straight from us, not through the angel grapevine. Pray!

Promise 50 Gen. 20:6

Gen. 20:6 - "Then God said to him (Abimelech) in the dream, 'Yes I know that In the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her." There are many things in this world we can be tempted by. The enemy seems to know those areas where we are most vulnerable and he doesn't hold back alluring us toward those things. Its different sin triggers for different people, for some they are drawn to over eating, over drinking, gossip, for others pornography or sexual promiscuity or maybe frivolous spending or gambling. Most, if not everyone has an area or two of "weakness". There is a promise however that gives hope to those who frequently cave into their temptation. This verse ways that God knows our hearts. He knows the struggle, the pain, the guilt and the remorse we feel when we do those things we don't desire to do. He hears us and knows our desires. And just like what He did for Abimelech, He can do for us, He can "keep us from sinning against Him." He can do that and He will do that for us. But we need to do our part. God came to Abimelech, they were engaged in conversation; while in the situation, talk to God, Abimelech pleaded his case. Plead your case to Him, "Lord I don't want to do this, yet it's pulling me." God will listen and intervene. There is also a warning too; God told Abimelech if he didn't restore Sarah to Abraham, (if he sinned anyway) then there will be harsh consequences. It is true for us too, if we go to Him, hear His voice and yet continue to sin, then we suffer the consequence of that. Those consequences are different depending on the sin and person. So stand firm on God's promise to you and to me that He will keep us from sinning against Him. and act accordingly.

Promise 49 Gen. 19:17a, 18, 19b., 21a, 23, 30

Gen. 19: 17a, 18, 19b., 21a., 23, 30 - "One (an angel of the Lord) said, 'escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.' But Lot said to them, 'Oh no, my lords! But I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die.' He said to him, 'Behold I grant you this request also.' The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Lot went up from Zoar, and stayed in the mountains, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters." God is a patient God. He saves Lot's life and tells him exactly where he should take his family, where it would be best for him and Lot says, "no" to Him. At this point, Lot deserved to join his wife as a salt pillar, but God didn't give him what he deserved. God let Lot find out for himself that the mountains would be the best place for him. And that's just what happened. We don't know if God allowed Lot to go to Zoar for a specific purpose, nor why he was afraid to stay there. My guess is that the people weren't much better there than they were in Sodom and Gomorrah, but God let him find that out himself. Maybe the Lord just knew that Lot would eventually get to where He wanted him to be so He let him have his way. The promise is, God is not going to lead us astray. He knows what is best for us, and even though it looks very scary to us and looks as though we would never survive through it, God knows that we will. We need to listen to what He is telling us to do, then go there. Life is too short to waste time in the Zoars of our choosing.

Promise 48 Gen. 19:15-16

Gen. 19:15-16 - "When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot saying, "Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city." But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city." I just love this! The angels of the Lord warned Lot what would happen to the city and that He should get away with his family. I don't know if it was fear, or doubt or sadness for his daughters, because the future son-in-laws wouldn't join them, maybe he wanted to try to persuade them to come with them, but he hesitated. The angels could have just left the whole lot (ok... pun intended) but they didn't, they grabbed him and his family and led them out of the city. No matter if it was fear or stubbornness or doubt that caused Lot to hesitate, because of God's compassion for them, He took them by the hand and lead them to safety. We often times find ourselves in positions that require action, a step of faith. I think it's our nature to hesitate, to question and even to fear stepping into the unknown, but our great compassionate God is right there to take us by the hand and to lead us to where we need to go. Have no fear, He is here, can you feel His hand? Just grab it!

Promise 47 Gen. 19:10

Gen. 19:10 - "But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with (to) them and shut the door." This account is just like something you would see in a "Heroes" episode. The angels, and it was probably just one of them, reached out their hand (the literal says) and the door flew open, Lot flew to them and the door was shut again in a split second. It doesn't say, "they got up, opened the door, pulled Lot back into the house and then managed to shut the door with the crowd of men pressing in to get through." What happened, happened by the powerful hand of God to save Lot. Now this would seem like such a far fetched story and most people (even me until now) think they just got up and opened the door, but I had a similar incident. While leaning over a railing from a 2nd floor balcony to hand a heavy ladder down to a girl, the railing gave way from the wall and I started falling toward the ground below. As I released the ladder, a hand grabbed me from behind and pulling me (from a horizontal position) straight up to my feet. I turned around and there was nobody there. Then the voice of the Lord said, "Now, this would have been too much for you to handle." Lot found himself in an impossible situation, one that he couldn't get out of himself, the Lord intervened, by just an outstretched hand. If God could create the heavens, earth, all the animals and man by the breath of a word and can save Lot and myself with just an outstretched hand, just think what He can do for you!

Promise 46 Gen. 18:32

Gen. 18:32 - "Then he said, 'Oh may the Lord not be angry and I shall speak only this one; suppose ten are found there?' and He said, 'I will not destroy it in account of the ten.'" God is a just God. Abraham was concerned about his family living in Sodom and Gomorrah, he was afraid that God will wipe out those two towns with his family in them. He didn't plead specifically for his family but did ask if the Lord would smite the righteous too. He said he would spare the city if even ten righteous were found there. I've often wondered why God doesn't just rain down His wrath on some of the cities of the world who are just so corrupt, but He promises, for the sake of the righteous, He would spare them. I believe it's because the righteous carry the hope of salvation to the unrighteous so that they may have the opportunity to turn away from their sin and become "right". Not only that, God loves the righteous and He is a just God. He does as He knows is right for each individual where eternity is concerned.

Promise 45 Gen. 18:13-14

Gen. 18: 13-14 - "And the Lord said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?' is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son'." That is the big question we need to consider isn't it? "Is anything too difficult for the Lord?" Life often times brings things that seem so enormous and even impossible to be resolved, such as cancer or other long term illness' such as chronic Fatique Syndrome. These illnesses are those that cause people to question God's ability very quickly. God has such a simple answer to such a complicated question. There is nothing too difficult for the Lord! So why does He 'allow' then these terrible things to happen? Because He loves these people too much to let them stay as they are. Every single person in this world will suffer pain at some point in their lives, some suffer longer and more intense than others, but God is working with and in each individual person in a unique way. Yes, it's not fun to suffer, and it is not the way that most people would choose to live this life (and to be honest, it isn't God's "choice" for people to suffer either), in pain or in a wheelchair or whatever, but this life is but a glimpse of what our true lives are, this is nothing compared to eternity, where there is no pain. Maybe, just maybe, the endurance demanded of people now will have some bearing on what they will be like for all eternity. ONLY God knows that. But the main point, is, 'there is NOTHING that God can't handle or remedy here on earth.' Its a fact, the Lord Himself said it, we MUST believe it.

Promise 44 Gen. 18:1-2

Gen. 18:1-2 - "Now the Lord appeared to him by the oak of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. When he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth." How did Abraham know that it was the Lord? They didn't present themselves, He didn't ask them, were they glowing with that Glory glow? Scripture doesn't say, but Abraham KNEW it was His Lord, He knew immediately and he jumped up and put his face to the ground before them. God is such a personal God. He doesn't play "peek-a-boo" games with us. He comes to us and meets us right where we are at and reveals Himself in a way where we have no doubt, whatsoever that it is Him. What should our response be? Just like Abraham, we need to take notice, worship Him and celebrate His presence with us. Halleluia, He is alive and longs to spend time with us! Yay Jesus, Yay Father, Yay Holy Spirit!

Promise 43 Gen. 17:20

Gen. 17:20 - "As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation." I'm sure that Ishamael thought he had a bum wrap, to be the eldest son of Abraham, the one with all the attention for the 1st 14 years of his life, just to be bumped off the "favor" wagon by his brother Isaac. But even though Ismael did not receive the covenant of God, God still loved him enough to promise blessings; he will have a big family and will be a great nation. Even though some people have more, or seem to be blessed with greater giftings or it "seems" that God's hand is on others more, God's love is still the same. He loves those who have had to struggle and strive their whole lives, who stumble and fall over and over again, just as much as He loves those whose lives always seem to be "together." God blesses us all equally, anytime God's hand is on us we are blessed. Each day brings a blessing from God we just need to look for it.

Promise 42 Gen. 17:16

Gen. 17:16 - "I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people will come from her." God is in the blessing business. He likes to throw unexpected surprises at us. He doesn't like us to get too settled into the predictable, that's too boring for Him. He loves to see that look of surprise on our faces, and our eyes light up when great things happen. He created us to laugh and smile, that's why we have so many muscles in our faces. Don't get too comfy in the mundane, wait with anticipation for the surprise, for the blessing.