Dem Bones

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And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord God, you know."  --Ezekiel 37:3

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed this week, and someone had posted the meme above.  Knowing the friend who posted it, most likely it was meant to be humorous because the last figure says "pirate."  Like, if you find a skeleton, you most likely wouldn't know anything about the person, unless it had a leg amputated at the knee.  Then, by deductive reasoning, one could surmise that this person may have had a peg leg, therefore they must have been a pirate.

I am fairly certain that the person who originally made up this meme was making a point other than the joke about a peg leg.  I believe he or she may have been trying to say that deep down, we are all the same--that we all bleed red, that our bones are the same, that biologically we are indistinguishable one from another.  The point, I believe, is that it doesn't matter whether one is white or black, gay or straight, religious or atheist.  The only thing that matters is our humanity, our equality, and we should not discriminate against anyone because of their chosen identity.

Sadly, the creator of this meme is ignorant of basic biology.  A physician can look at a skeleton and tell whether that person was male or female.  A forensic biologist could tell whether the bones had a story to tell, such as age, height, weight, whether the person had any fractures or injuries during their lifetime, and even whether they had sexually transmitted diseases.  An anthropologist may even try to determine how long ago the person lived.  So we see that the bones do, indeed, tell a story.

It is interesting to me that people with a humanistic or atheistic agenda will argue against creation by looking at DNA evidence, carbon-dating, and other scientific "evidence" for evolution.  And yet their children will ignore science altogether, and declare that they are transgender; that they are a woman trapped inside a man's body, or that they are some other gender altogether, one of their own choosing, and that "God made them" that way.  Bless their hearts, I know they are confused, and I also know that it is not politically correct to tell them so.  However, a thousand years from now when an archaeologist uncovers their bones, he or she will observe that they were male or female.  The archaeologist will look at the context clues, the cultural relics, and may even be able to tell their race, religion, and even their sexual practices.

It is also interesting to me that humanist-atheists will proclaim themselves as "pro-choice".  This, of course, is a catch-word in the abortion debate; they are trying to say that those of us who support life would dictate our morals to others in a legalistic or paternalistic way by suppressing the choices they want to make.  In fact, it all does come down to choice.

The choices we make will ultimately determine our destiny.  If I chose to get drunk or high before reporting to work, I should not be surprised when I am fired from the job.  I am free to use any mind-altering substance I choose, but I am not shielded from the consequences.  Alas, consequence is not a subject that we like to discuss.  We would much rather dwell on our freedoms.

The Bible speaks of this, as well. 

"All things are lawful for me," but not all things are  helpful.  "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be dominated by anything.  "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food"--and God will destroy both one and the other.  --1 Corinthians 6:12, 13a

When you are confronted about the choices you made, you may utilize this defense: I'm not doing anything illegal.  While this may be true in whatever country, state, or jurisdiction you reside, God's law supersedes man's law every time.  When you die and stand before God, He will not ask you whether you followed the cultural norms or followed the rules set by society.  He will ask you whether you violated His perfect law.  When it becomes evident that you did not, your only hope is the blood of Jesus.

Please do not get lost in the noise of our culture.  The arguments of secularism and humanism and atheism are all contradictory.  The only last truth is the word of God.  Seek Him.  Seek His word.  That is the only way to overcome the world, and devil, who is the ruler of this world.  Revelation 12:11 says, "And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lam and by the word of their testimony."

Overcoming Fear

My flesh and heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  --Psalm 73.26

A couple of weeks ago I had my car inspected.  The tech, of course, had to drive it around to make sure all the safety systems were in working order.  When I got back into the car, the radio station had been changed.  I don't know if the auto tech didn't like the news radio station I was listening to when I got there, or if he accidentally hit a pre-set button, or if he preferred Christian music (maybe that was his own attempt at mission evangelism).

Anyway, as I was driving away, I heard a modern worship song that is very popular right now.  I have stood in a mega-church worship service with others in the congregation who had their hands raised and their eyes closed to the message, "My fear doesn't stand a chance when I stand in Your love."

With apologies to all the Rita Springer fans, I don't like that song very much, for a number of reasons.  We might get into some of those reasons a bit later.  I couldn't wait to turn the station, but before I could, the Lord brought to my mind another song that I learned years ago when I was very young.  It was never very popular because it is written in a more operatic style, but it is based on Psalm 27.  "The Lord is my Light and my Salvation; whom then shall I fear? Whom then shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life, the Lord is the strength of my life, of whom then shall I be afraid."

Find a Bible and turn to Psalm 27, and read it.  It's not very long; I'll wait.  As you think of that passage, here is an interesting fact: the word "fear" appears in the Bible some 400 times.  We know that the Word of God speaks to our weaknesses.  We can either wallow in our weakness, or we can trust in the Father who told Abraham in a vision in Genesis 15:1, "Fear not, Abram; I am your shield and your exceeding great reward."  We can fail in our fears, or we can trust Jesus the Son of God who said in John 14:27, "My peace I give to you, not as the world gives.  Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."  We can be awash in anxiety, or we can trust in the Holy Spirit who spoke through the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Fear is paralyzing.  Fear is a consuming fire.  Fear is a result of our fallen condition, and evidence that we are not living by the Spirit, because the Bible says in 2 Timothy 1:7,  "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."  Think about the last time you were paralyzed with fear.  Did you feel powerful, or powerless?  Did you feel loved, or all alone  Were you able to think clearly (that is, have a sound mind), or were crazy thoughts filling your head?

I said earlier that  didn't like that chorus, "My fear doesn't stand a chance when I stand on Your love."  One of the reasons is in the sentence structure itself.  In English class, we all learned that a sentence has a subject, an action, and sometimes an object.  When you look at that sentence, which is repeated 15 times in that song, what is the subject?  It is "my fear."  If we are going to overcome our fear, we need to place our focus on something else, something besides fear.  Remember when Peter walked on the water?  Jesus called him, Jesus showed him that it could be done and how to do it.  But Peter saw the wind and the waves, and he was overcome by fear. 

First, remember that God is our strength.  Look at Psalm 27:1.  The Lord is my Light.  1 John 1:5 says, "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all."  We all know that "things that go bump in the night" almost always happen in the dark, and that's a really scary place to be.  Not only is He our Light, but He is our Salvation.  Remember that we cannot save ourselves.  It is no coincidence that Jesus called us His sheep.  Sheep are dumb, short-sighted, and get lost easily.  One thing we must remember, though, is that sheep are not meant to be load bearing animals.

Second, we know that the world is going to try to eat us up.  Psalm 27:2-3 says, "When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.  Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise against me, yet will I be confident."  We must not be consumed by fear.  Remember Ephesians 5:18, "Do not be drunk with wine...but be filled by the Spirit."  I would rather bow the knee to an awesome God than to have my knees fail as I am consumed by fear.  Malachi 3:6 says, "For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed."  We must remember that our faith is not in ourselves, but in our Savior.

Third, we need to stay closer to God than to our fears.  Psalm 27:4-8 says

One thing I have 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.  For He will  hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; He will conceal me  under the cover of His tent; He will lift me high upon a rock.  And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord.  You have said, "Seek my face."  My heart says to You, "Your face, Lord, do I seek."

I think dwelling in the house of the Lord could be a foreshadowing of heaven, but I believe it also speaks to where we are right now.  If we desire always to be in the presence of the Lord, we would revel in His glory, but we can also seek His counsel.  Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Doesn't that sound like seeking His face always?  If we continue in His presence, we can expect to hear His voice. 

Psalm 27:8 says, "You have said to me, 'Seek my face.'  My heart says to You, 'Your face, O Lord, do I seek'."  It reminds me of another popular Christian hymn from my childhood.  "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace."  Focus on His glory and grace, and fear melts away.

 

Same Kind Of Broken As Me

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.  --Psalm 51:17

He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.  --Proverbs 29:1

20th century Methodist Evangelist D. T. Niles said, "Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread."  The apostle Paul called us saints, but an honest inventory of behaviors reveals us as blatant sinners.  We are all forgiven: utterly and completely and individually.  Unfortunately ours is not a Christian nation.  We cannot claim, as some believe, a cultural cleanliness based on our nationality.

We are as broken as broken can be.

Last Sunday at our church, a young woman described a Christian missionary group that sends teams to Haiti to establish orphanages.  In that island nation, 60 percent hold to some form of  Catholicism, 40 percent hold to some form of Protestantism, but 100% believe in Voodoo.  In her lesson, the young lady described in detail how Haitian people who are born with disabilities are cast out--out of their homes, and onto the streets; out of society, and into a life of poverty.  The majority of Haitians believe that deformed or disabled people are cursed, and that is why in their culture they are given no shelter, no food, no assistance whatsoever.

Thankfully, there are Christian groups who go into the region and establish orphanages, where people who range in age from zero to thirty can get food, shelter, and clothing, as well as a message of hope.  The outcasts are people for whom Christ died, regardless of their status.

Most Americans are outraged at such a story.  They might be heartbroken at such savage treatment of  fellow human beings.  Yet we are guilty of much the same thing in our country.  Last week, there were stories in the news about various states broadening access to abortion.  The New York legislature passed a bill stating that a pregnant woman can opt for an abortion up to her due date.  When the law was passed, there was a standing ovation in the state house.

In Virginia, a bill sponsored by Democratic Delegate Kathy Tran was narrowly defeated that would allow an abortion for a woman while she is in labor.  The governor of that state, Ralph Northam, described it like this:

Procedures like this are done in cases where there may be severe deformities.  There may be a fetus that is not viable.  So in this particular example, if a mother's in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen.  The infant would be delivered, the infant would be kept comfortable.  And then a discussion would ensue between the physician and the mother.

The unspoken truth is that this "discussion between the physician and the mother" centers around whether this infant, after he or she has been delivered, should be allowed to live.  In the context of abortion rights, the decision to withhold care would result in the baby dying.  Some people rightfully call this infanticide.

Why is this practice acceptable, but the Haitian shunning of children with disabilities is not?  Aren't they saying the same thing?  Not viable...Severely deformed...Cursed...Not worth living.

Ironically, some of the same people who applauded Governor Northam's stance on killing unwanted babies are now calling for his resignation because a 35  year old photo has surfaced this week of him in black-face.  He is being castigated for marginalizing an entire race of people.  As Ron Hall wrote in Same Kind Of Different As Me, "Life produces some inglorious moments that live forever in your mind." Those moments certainly live forever in the media.

The point is our society is as broken as any third-world country, overrun with prejudice and superstition and Original Sin.  It is not just our society, but individually we are all broken.  Isaiah 53:6 says, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."  There is none holy; not even one.  Each of us will have to stand before God and give an answer for our sins.

Thankfully, the One on whom God has laid all our iniquities is able to deliver each of us totally and completely.  If our faith is in Him, He will deliver us.  If we place our faith in ourselves or in any other, then the promise of Isaiah 1:28 holds true: "But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed."

We are all broken.  "For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God."  None of us deserves grace.  God is merciful, praise His Name.  Do not turn your back on His mercy.

Pray As If Your Life Depended Upon It

Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.  To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.  --Ephesians 6:18

We had a great sermon yesterday at our church.  The message was entitled, "Don't look back," an appropriate message for the New Year.  A lot of us look back on past mistakes and get discouraged.  We get overwhelmed by past sins, when God wants us to look forward to future victories.  The Bible says,

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it on 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.  --Philippians 3:13-16

What about those sins that keep us awake at night?  Scripture says that God has removed them "as far as the east is from the west." (Psalm 103:12).  How far is that?  If you walked north, eventually you would hit the North Pole and start walking south.  But no matter how far you walked toward the east, you will never be going west.  In the same way, God will never bring your sins up again once they are forgiven.  (I believe God is omniscient, so He cannot truly "forget" our sins; rather, He chooses not to think of them, placing them on His Son at the Cross.)

That's a comforting thought for the New Year, as we look forward to the goals and accomplishments we want to make going forward.  We can forget about the past.  In fact, that was one of the pastor's statements yesterday.  He asked for a show of hands, who had heard the phrase "the sea of forgetfulness".  He reminded us that this was a great thought, but it was not actually in the Bible.  God never spoke of the sea of forgetfulness, because He is omniscient, and cannot forget; also, as vast as the earth's oceans are, they do  have a limit--they can go no further than the shore line, and are only as deep as He made them.  So even this is a flawed example of God's unfailing love.  Besides, in Revelation it says that in the new heaven and new earth, there will be no more sea.

Sometimes we take comforting thoughts like that and mis-attribute them to Scripture.  Recently I was helping my fiancee prepare a Sunday School lesson.  The topic was prayer, and she had me look up scripture references.  I got to the one in Ephesians 6 quoted above, and she recognized the passage as the one describing the whole armor of God.  She began listing them off: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.  Where was prayer in that list?

It turns out that prayer is not in the list of pieces of the armor, but it is no less important.  Prayer is as vital to the Christian walk as any of the other things Paul listed.  In fact, it is so close to the description of the Sword of the Spirit that it seems to complement the word of God.  Look closely:

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. --Ephesians 6:16-18a

Many of us remember the movie A Few Good Men starring Tom Cruise, Kevin Bacon, and Jack Nicholson.  The most memorable line in that film, of course was when Tom Cruise's character was cross examining Jack Nicholson's character, who blurted out, "You want the truth?  YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH."  The cartoon above is a parody of that line, showing that too often when a phrase get's permeated into our culture, it gets corrupted over time, and the corruptions end up in our sub-conscious mind more than the original thought.

If you asked 100 Christians if prayer was part of the Armor of God example that Paul gave in Ephesians 6, I'll bet that the majority of them would say yes.  They would probably be surprised if you showed them that it was not.

There was another line in the movie that comes to mind.  When Kevin Bacon's character, the Army prosecutor, was questioning a Marine stationed in Cuba, Kevin handed him a copy of the Marine Corps Outline for Recruit Training and asked him to look up "code red".  The Marine admitted that although code reds were practiced in their platoon, the phrase was not in the handbook.  Kevin then presented a copy of the Standard Operating Procedures, Rifle Company, Guantanamo Bay.  Where in this book, he asked, does it mention a code red?  Again, the witness admitted that this was not mentioned in the SOP.  At the end of this interrogation, Cruise grabs the volume out of Bacon's hand, and asks, "Would you turn to the page where it says where the mess hall is?"  The Marine explains that there is no mention of the mess hall in this volume.  Even though the platoon is regularly fed there, the chow hall is not specifically mentioned in the handbook.

In the same way, while prayer is not listed as a piece of the Armor of God, I believe it is the fuel for the Soldier in God's Army.  Prayer is what sustains us as we wield the Sword of the Spirit.  Prayer gives us strength to stand firm against evil with the Belt of Truth and the Breastplate of Righteousness.  Prayer gives us the confidence to hold up the Shield of Faith and extinguish the fiery darts of the evil one.

My prayer for the New Year is that we would not let the evil one drag us into the pit of despair by reminding us of past sins.  I pray that we would, as Paul said, press on toward the mark of the true believer, forgetting what lies behind.  I pray that we would equip ourselves every day with the whole armor of God, not forgetting to pray without ceasing, so that our hearts would be strengthened and encouraged in our fight against evil, and that we would not falter or tire as one who has not been nourished multiple times daily.

"They call me Junior"

Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know me, Philip?  He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?  --John 14:9-10a

I have written before in this space about someone being described as "the spittin' image" of someone else, usually a parent.  I believe it is a derivation of "The Spirit and Image", a phrase that perfectly describes our Savior.

Today I want to show examples of men in the Bible who were known by their father's names.  In modern American society, someone who carries the exact name (first, middle, and last name) of his Dad would be referred to as "Junior".  We also might say that about someone who aspires to be like someone else, either intentionally or unintentionally.  For example, we might say of an aspiring football coach that he was "Vince Lombardi, Jr."  The phrase can also be negatively applied, as in calling a failed product an "Edsel, Jr." or "Son of Betamax".

In Jewish society in the New Testament times, the term used for "the son of" was not "Junior", but rather the term "bar".  (In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word was "ben"; you may have seen the Charlton Heston movie "Ben-Hur", whose name was Judah, son of Hur.  Readers of Robert Browning may recall a poem by the name of Rabbi Ben Ezra.  You get the idea.)  

One of Jesus's disciples was Bartholomew, which literally means "son of Tolmei".  Today we might refer to him as Tomei Junior.  This denotes familial connection.  In the same vein, Mark 10:46 tells of a man Jesus encountered who was blind from birth.  His name was Bartimaeus, or literally "son of Timaeus".  Today we might call him Timaeus, Jr. or even Timmy.  Again, there was a familial connection involved in these men's identities.

Honestly, I would like to be so identified with Christ that people would know me as "Jesus, Jr."  In fact, that is what we are called.  When Jesus ascended into heaven, His followers were called "followers of the Way."  Acts 11:26 says it was in Antioch where they were first called Christians, meaning followers of Christ.  Actually, it goes deeper than that:  the Roman suffix attached to the Greek word meaning "Anointed One" actually denotes ownership.  True Christians hold not only the name, but by making Him Lord they are true followers of Him, and by taking up their cross and following him "even unto death", they identify as slaves of Christ.  There is not only a familial connotation (as in, we are called children of God), but also a sense of ownership, or Lordship, in that we have committed to follow and obey Him.

When I was younger, I was known as "Rusty".  It was a reference to my fiery red hair.  Another person might be known as "Shorty" because of their stature.  Another example of a nickname using the Jewish "bar" (meaning son of) is when we are introduced to a man named Joseph who traveled with Paul.  This man was not known as Joseph, but rather by a nickname "Barnabas", meaning "Son of Encouragement". (Acts 4:36).  Rather than a familial connection, this use of the term "bar" denotes a characteristic by which someone is known.  This man Joseph was known as being calm and unflappable, a source of comfort, consolation, and exhortation.  In fact, the word translated "encouragement" in Acts 4:36 is the Greek word paraklesis.  As a reference, when Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to his disciples in John 14:16, He said, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever."  The Greek word for for "helper" or "comforter" is parakletos.

So we see that this Joseph, called Barnabas, was known by the root word that was used for the Holy Spirit.  I, too, want to be so full of the Holy Spirit that I can be a comforter and an advocate for people.  I would like to be known as an encourager, an exhorter, a consoler of His people.  God give me that ability, that mind-set, that temperament.  I could not be called by a better nickname.  I would gladly trade "Rusty" for "Barnabas."

There are people that are so evil, so wicked that even their own family does not want to associate with them.  These people might be disinherited by their fathers, so that they no longer represent the family name, and can not claim ownership to the family's possessions.  One such man in the New Testament was known only as Barabbas.  Literally, his name means "son of a father or master."  He may have been a bastard son of a slave woman.  What we do know is that he was a thief and an insurrectionist, maybe even a murderer.  He was as guilty under the Law as any man could be.  He is significant because when Jesus was condemned to be crucified, the Roman official called Pilate offered to release one of two people--either he would release Jesus, who referred to Himself as the "Son of Man" but was known by His followers as the Son of God (the Father); or, Pilate would release Barabbas, a convicted criminal, and one who was so wicked his own family disowned him. Yet Jesus died for this man as surely as He died for you and me.

Follow me here: we can identify with this nameless ne'er-do-well.  As good as we try to be, we all know in our heart of hearts that "there is none righteous, no not one." (Romans 3:10).  No matter how godly we aspire to be, "all our righteousness is as filthy rags." (Isaiah 64:6).  We are all sons and daughters of a father, the slave of a master called sin.  Yet the very Son of God Himself became a substitute for our sinfulness.  The Bible says, "He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21).

What word or phrase are you known by?  Who do you identify with, to the extent that you are known by that name?  O, that we would so identify with Christ that we are known by His Name.  "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are.  For this reason the world does not now us, because it did not know Him." (1 John 3:1).  Let us be known by Him, and by the world as His.

The Day of Discovery

He (Abram) went on his journey from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.  --Genesis 13:3-4

 I learned a new word today.  I love learning new things, making new discoveries. The word "anagnorisis" literally means discovery.  It is the point at which there is no more ignorance.  It is often used in the theatre to describe a Greek tragedy.  It is the point in the plot, especially of a tragedy, at which the protagonist recognizes his or her (or some other character's) true identity, or discovers the true nature of his or her own situation.  One example is when the character Oedipus learns that the king that he killed was his own father, and that the widow he married was in fact his mother.

It is the critical moment of recognition or discovery, especially preceding peripeteia; that is, a sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances, especially in reference to a fictional narrative.  We get the word "peripatetic" from this term, meaning related to walking; moving or travelling from place to place (itinerant).  It is often used in reference to Aristotle, who made his disciples walk with him as he taught them.

Long before Aristotle, however, we read of the life of Abraham, a peripatetic man who experienced peripeteia resulting in anagnorisis.  Let's look in Genesis 12 and 13 to see what I mean.  Abraham is always seen as a man of faith, who left his home country and followed God to a land promised to his descendants forever.  Before God changed his name to Abraham, however, we see how his faith was tested.

Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.  And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.  --Genesis 12:1-3

This is called the Abrahamic Covenant, a time where God made a solemn promise to make Abram's descendants into a great nation.  In the very next verse, however, we learn that "Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran."  Is it any wonder, then, that he took his nephew Lot with him on this journey?  Abram and his wife Sarai had no children of their own, and Lot was the closest male relative.  If Abram died childless, then his fortune and inheritance would go to Lot.

However, during the journey from Babylon (where Ur of the Chaldees was located) to Canaan (the future home of the nation of Israel), I believe God taught Abram some valuable lessons.  When they arrived in Canaan, the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land."

Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.  --Genesis 12:8

 Now, from here on the testings come.  Instead of settling there at Bethel, which means "The House of God," Abram traveled south to the Negev desert.  Not only did he find himself in a desert area, but the Bible says that there was a severe famine in the land.  I don't know if you've ever been to a desert and spent any time there, but during the dry season, food and water are scarce.  The vegetation could not support Abram and his family, much less his flocks and herds.  So he decides to go to Egypt.

I don't know whether God told him to go to Egypt; we don't even know that God led him into the desert.  God seems particularly silent during this period of time.  However, we do know that God was there with him all the while.  Anyway, our peripatetic protagonist makes the decision to go to Egypt, where there is water and vegetation enough for his family and his flocks.  However, when he gets there, he starts to worry.  The worry leads to a bad decision.

It came about when he came near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman; and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.  Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you."  --Genesis 12:11-13

Abram trusted God enough to leave his home and go to a land that God had promised to him.  However, Abram did not trust God enough to keep him safe in Egypt.  Sure enough, the princes of Egypt saw his wife, and she was so beautiful that they bragged on her beauty to Pharaoh.  She must have been a real beauty queen, because the princes thought she should be in Pharaoh's harem.  When Pharaoh saw her, he gave gifts to Abraham--sheep, oxen, donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys and camels.  God was making His word come true to Abram, fulfilling the covenant even when Abram strayed into a foreign land.

Giving gifts was a blessing, and God blessed Pharaoh for blessing Abram in that he did not take Sarai into his bed.  Stealing a man's wife was a curse, and God cursed Pharaoh and his household by sending great plagues upon them.  I find it interesting that this was a foreshadowing of events that would happen over 400 years later, when Moses called down plagues upon Pharaoh and the nation, so that when the nation of Israel left, the Egyptians sent them with gold and silver and jewels.  In the same way, Pharaoh did not ask Abram to return all the gifts he had given to Abram, but he did ask Abram to leave.

I think Abram saw God's hand in all of this, and his faith was strengthened.  Look at the first verse of chapter 13: "So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him."  Contrast that with chapter 12, verse 4, when we saw that Lot was placed in a prominent position, just behind his wife Sarai; now in chapter 13, Lot is mentioned last, almost as an afterthought.  I think that this is significant, because it showed how Abram trusted God: the promise of a great nation would be through his own seed, not through his brother's; he would share his inheritance with his own son, not with his nephew.

If we read further into chapter 13, we will see that Lot's servants and Abram's servants fought over grazing rights and water rights for their flocks and herds.  Abram brings Lot up to the altar he had built earlier, with Bethel on the west and the lush Jordan valley on the east.  Abram asked Lot to choose the place where he would go, and Abram promised that he would go the other direction, so that there would not be contention between their servants and their families.  Lot chose the blessing he could see--the green, fertile valley near the Jordan river.  Abram went west toward Bethel, the house of God.

I think that during this period, Abram's faith grew.  His trust in the Lord reached a turning point, and he shed a lot of his ignorance.  Abram garnered even more of God's blessing after he had made this choice.

The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, "Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.  I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered.  Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you."  --Genesis 13: 14-17

God walked with Abram, teaching him to grown in his faith.  Abram realized who he was, by God's grace.  This doesn't mean that Abram was perfect, that he would always trust in the Lord in all his ways.  We know that later Abraham would try again to say that Sarah was his sister in order to protect his life, not fully trusting in God to protect him.  We know that later Sarah would convince him to have relations with a servant girl in order to have a son, not trusting that God wanted the child of promise to be from both Abraham and Sarah.  Ultimately, however, we do see that God worked in all things for their good and His glory.

I hope that you are as encouraged by this as I am.  The more I trust God--trust in His promises, trust in His goodness, trust in His grace and mercy--the more He can use me to bring about His purpose to glorify Himself in me.

Damning With Faint Praise

Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,

And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer;

Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike,

Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike.

— "Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot" by Alexander Pope (1688–1744)

Say to God, "How awesome are Your works!  Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will give feigned obedience to you."  --Psalm 66:3

 Many of us grew up with the sage advice, "If you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything at all."  However, in real life nature abhors a vacuum, and when the gossipers ask us, "What do you think?" we grow uncomfortable in the silence.  We are either disingenuous and agree with the group, or we may try to hide our opposing views in clever talk.

One of my favorite stories from my late father was when he had just finished a visit with a family and their new baby.  I don't remember if it was at the hospital, where the church member had just given birth, or if the family had gathered at the new mother's home, but the question posed to the pastor was, "Isn't that the prettiest baby in the whole world?"  Truthfully, it was the ugliest child he had ever seen.  Not wanting to upset anyone with his true opinion, yet not wanting to lie outright, my father responded, "Yes ma'am, that is a baby!"

Unfortunately, there are times when our culture demands obeisance beyond potentially awkward social situations.  Standing up and speaking truth to power could be fatal, or at the very least unlawful.  It is in these situations that faith is severely tested.

When needs he must, yet faintly then he praises,

Somewhat the deed, much more the means he raises:

So marreth what he makes, and praising most, dispraises.

— "The Purple Island" by Phineas Fletcher (1582-1650)

I can imagine when Daniel and his friends were exiled out of Jerusalem in Babylon in about 610 BC, the pressure was immense for the Jewish exiles to conform to their new culture, including the religion of the king.  Thank God that Daniel did not pray to the king (see Daniel chapter 6).  I am certain that other Jewish exiles lavished false praise upon Darius in accordance with the law, hoping that God would see their hearts instead of their words and their actions.  Thank God that Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah did not bow to the image of Nebuchadnezzar (see Daniel chapter 3), although it would appear that they were alone in this conviction.  Other Jewish exiles must have either converted to the false religion, or haltingly, awkwardly bowed to the idol with much fear and self loathing.

There are regions in the world today where Christianity is outlawed.  Christians cannot openly gather in worship, sing hymns or spiritual songs, or evangelize.  Those who do are arrested, and might face beheading, being burned alive, or at the very least torture and imprisonment.

I believe the time will come when Christ reigns on Earth for a thousand years.  Yet even then, some who are alive during this time will not truly love Him.  They may outwardly submit.  Maybe they say all the right things, but their heart will be against God.  When Satan is loosed again after the millennium is over, these people will wage war on Christ-followers, even as the devil and his demons will wage war against heaven itself (Revelation 20:3, 7-9).  These, I believe, are the ones Jesus referred to in Matthew 7:21, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter."  Actions speak louder than words.

Today's culture teaches us to go along to get along.  Anyone who stands up and makes waves is ridiculed, derided, and shunned as a fundamentalist extremist zealot.  Very few of us are brave enough to stand up and influence the culture for Christ.  Right now, especially in America, the consequences are relatively minor--we risk our reputation, or a few friends.  The time will come when we would be risking our very lives.  This may be what Jesus meant when He said, "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much." (Luke 16:10).

Stand up for what is right.  Don't use clever words to try to dodge the question that the culture throws up at you every day.  Go all in, with your whole heart.  After all, that's what Jesus did.