WALKING WITH GOD

Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation.  Noah walked with God.  Genesis 6:9

         Noah did it.  Enoch did it.  Am I doing it?

         God is going in a certain direction.  I can’t walk with Him unless I’m going where He’s going.  He walks with His back toward sin and His face towards righteousness.  If I’m traveling alongside Him, I will also treat sin with hostility.

         God is moving in situations; in people I love, in churches I visit or attend, in strangers I encounter.  To walk with God is to discern where and how He’s working and then add my part to its progression.  I confirm what God is doing by noticing it within someone, giving words to what might be tenuous, and then encouraging that person to travel further in God’s direction.

         The work of God can be confusing for someone when it’s in its infant stages.  Like all of us, they wonder if it is God they heard.  They took a baby step and are timid to take the next one.  If I have God eyes and ears for that person, I can verbally pinpoint their fear and applaud how far they’ve come.  My engagement with them will give them the courage to take the next step.  I love the spiritual definition of friendship.  ‘To call out of the deep what is unknown to another.’

         To walk with God means we’re not hostile, God and me.  “Do two walk together unless they have agree to do so?”Amos 3:3 God goes where it’s messy.  Am I willing to get involved in issues that will take great wisdom to navigate?  God knows the power of His Word.  Do I?  Am I willing to stick my neck out when my only security for success depends on a word from scripture?

         I must be building where God is building; not tearing down what He wants to construct.  I must be willing to demolish what He hates; not continually patching up what He wants put to death.  I must love what He loves; not ridiculing what is dear to Him.  I must hate what He hates; not secretly embracing what is repelling to Him.

         To believe that I walk with God because one day in 1974 I became a Christian, is foolishness.  Walking involves one step at a time.  Every 10 seconds, a step is taken either physically or mentally.  Was it one God took?

Forgive me when I’m selfish, protecting what is good for me but out of step with You.  I do want to go where You go, always.  Amen

TWO QUESTIONS!

And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.  Genesis 6:6

God is unchangeable. He called His creation of man ‘good’ in the garden but later expressed that he was sorry He made him. Question #1.) Does God change His mind? If so, maybe I should be worried about my sin causing God to change His mind about me.

         The expression “I’m sorry!” means several things. I can apologize for doing something I knew was wrong, wish I could take it back and make the choice all over again. But the expression of being sorry can also mean something else. “I’m sorry you have cancer,” doesn’t imply that I did something to cause your cancer. It is an expression of regret that you are hurting.

         God is expressing sorrow over the way sin has destroyed the ones He loves.

         Question #2.) If God knew people were going to sin and break His heart, why did He go ahead and create them? In His omniscience, He knew this moment was coming.

         I think about being a mother. I wanted children. I grew up in the church and knew that babies are born with Adam’s fallen nature. I knew they would disobey, get into trouble, have difficult teen years, but the joy of our potential relationship outweighed the risk.

         God knew the ones He created would use their moral choice to sin greatly. Yet, He loved us from before the foundation of the world and considered the relationship He would have with His chosen ones worth it. In advance of our sin, He planned for Jesus to be the Lamb that would be slain to redeem us back to Him. The joy He would experience with us prevailed.

         I realize this morning that everything gets back to the cross. God made me. I sinned and He was sorrowful. But He provided Jesus. When I sin, I repent, and the relationship God values is restored.

Your love for me prevails.  It prevailed the day Jesus died and it prevails today with unbounding grace.  Oh my God, You are a gracious Father.  Amen

OUT OF NOWHERE?  NOT REALLY!

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  Genesis 6:5

         A husband and father of three flips out, packs his bags, and leaves for good.  Not seeing it coming, his family and friends say that it came out of nowhere.

         A young man in his thirties, raised in the best of Christian families, announces that he is homosexual and wishes to marry a new lover.  The family is heartbroken and just didn’t see it coming.  They also say that this came out of nowhere.

         Did Cain kill Abel out of nowhere?  Probably Adam and Eve would have testified that this was so.  Do all shocking sins, and less noticeable grievances against God, originate spontaneously?  God says no!

         Every evil deed originates from the heart.  Inside of each of us is a world of simmering thoughts.  Millions a day.  We each have our pet topics, the things we choose to think about more often.  Cain’s murder of his brother began long before the day he struck him.  Jealousy, rage, disgust, these are the longtime breeding grounds for the taking of a life.  A father or mother who packs their bags and leave their family didn’t do it on the spur of a moment.  Long-time unrest of the soul was the focus of this person’s thought life.  Daydreaming of life elsewhere had been their pastime.

         God saw the demonic fornication prior to the flood and declared it evil.  His condemnation was of things outward.  Then God commented on the hearts of the people and declared them evil as well.  That was of things inward. My actions and words today are the summation of my thoughts.  Jesus said so.  “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies.”  Matt. 15:18-19

         I can pray continually for someone’s behavior to change.  That doesn’t hit the mark for where the real sin exists.  I need to pray for their heart change, for their internal world that simmers with evil thoughts.  Man sees the outside but God sees the heart.  It’s the heart that needs transformation.  Change a man’s heart and his behavior will follow.

If I don’t like what I do, all my bad habits, take me to their source.  Show me my heart.  Amen

DEMONIC FATHERS

The sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.  The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them.  Genesis 6:2,4

         I’ve been praying for a while this morning so as not to write about this from some need to be sensational.  How does God feel about this part of our history?

The phrase ‘sons of God’ is found other places in scripture and most agree that it refers to the fallen angels who were cast to earth along with Satan, the leader of their rebellion.  These fallen angels saw the beauty of the women of that time and desired them.  Perhaps Satan wanted to pollute the gene pool to prevent the coming of the Messiah?

Angels always appeared as men so it should not surprise us that the angelic realm could disrupt God’s order of things and choose to engage sexually with mankind.  (We encounter angels unaware too, sent by God.  Angels can still take on human form.)

The Nephilim were the children of these unholy unions between demonic beings and human women and they were giants.  No wonder judgment was coming.  Mankind was no longer mankind but a strange mutation of the intermingling of two worlds.

Any of us who were raised in the church can be naïve and shudder at the thought that such a thing could be. But Jude said, “And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire.

Unless I take my head out of the sand and know, to what extent, Satan loves to take something holy and pervert it, I will be of little use when it comes time to take the Gospel to situations where profound evil exists.  It is possible for me to be holy while still being street smart.  Jesus was never shocked by evil but saw it in all its ugliness and dealt directly with it.  He didn’t relegate Himself to synagogue life.  I can assure you that kids in school see more evil than we are even aware of.

God is long-suffering, not wishing that any would perish, but that all would come to repentance.  While He waits and longs for new disciples of His Son, I must be engaged to passionately spread the news of the Gospel to those who are enslaved.

Do I feel like You feel as You look at my world today?  If not, wake me up.  Infuse my heart with Your emotions.  Amen

WHEN YOU’D SWEAR IT’S OVER!

When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah.  Genesis 5:28-29

         At four different points in my life, I’ve faced utter hopelessness.  It appeared at each that life was simply over.  Too much wrong.  Too much tragedy.  Too much evidence that a resurrection of any kind was impossible.  I swore it was the end.

         It is an awful thing for a human being to witness the degeneration of anything.  A marriage, a child’s future, someone’s health, failing business.  All self-efforts to save can amount to nothing.  The end seems inevitable.  And if one witnesses this slow death over a long period, God can appear powerless as His seeming absence reinforces the lie that He’s not going to do anything to rescue.

         God is never out of options.  Never.  God is never stewing, wondering how He will pull off a resurrection.  Never.  God never withholds to be cruel.  Never. God’s plan is never made at the last minute, in haste.  Never.

         The birth of Noah is proof of God’s faithfulness.  When the world was sinking into evil and lawlessness, how would God’s promise to Adam and Eve ever be fulfilled?  How would a Savior arise out of a world that God was going to destroy?  Certainly, it appeared that God was nullifying what He had guaranteed back in the Garden.  If we had lived in the days of Noah, watching evil reign on the earth, we would have doubted the ancient whispers of a God who spoke to our forefathers.

         In some cave or primitive dwelling place, a baby was born.  He was named Noah.  The meaning of this baby’s name was “comfort.”  God brought a baby to the scene, not a Red Sea deliverance.  God brought a nine-pound bundle of joy instead of a spirit of repentance to the whole of society.  God’s plan of redemption was ushered in without fanfare and the power of this tiny life would not be seen for hundreds of years.  Yet, God’s saving plan was in place.

         God is never inactive.  Never.  God is working on my behalf.  Always.  When I can’t conceive of a salvation to all that is wrong, He’s already planned it.  When I’m looking for an earthquake to prove His power, He often brings the answer in a baby’s cry.

In every place someone is fainting today, let them declare that You are the God of beginnings.  Amen

OH, HOW DIFFERENT!

Enoch walked with God after he father Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.  Genesis 5:22

        Various numbers have eternal significance in the Bible.  The number seven is one of them; forty is another.  The seventh place in a genealogical line is often significant and none more than in the lines of Cain and Seth. Lamech, from Cain’s line, perpetuated violence.  Wild and unregenerate, he was like his father – only worse.  Enoch, from Seth’s line, perpetuated righteousness.  True and unwavering, he was like his father – only better.  The righteous and/or unrighteousness propensities in family lines escalate.  Nothing stays the same because each generation plants seeds and a harvest results.  God put us in a sowing and reaping world.

         Oh, the beauty of Enoch’s life.  We only know two things about him.  He walked with God and God took him home and spared him the experience of physical death.  He walked with God as did his first father and mother in the Garden of Eden.  Enoch cultivated this same relationship and turned away from everything that would interrupt their intimacy.

         Life in the Garden of Eden is envied.  I long for perfection, but even more, I long for a fellowship with God that has no cobwebs caused by sin.  Because sin’s curse is so pervasive, I can give up on my pursuit of a relationship with God like the one Adam and Eve enjoyed.  I can just conclude that it’s not really possible.  Continue reading “Oh, How Different!” →

WHAT DID IT GET THEM IN THE END?

Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.  Cain knew his wife, and she conceived…. Genesis 4:16-17

         Cain was ambitious and after the murder of his brother, went on to accomplish some noteworthy things.  His achievements looked impressive, I’m sure, to those who lived in his times.  Cain never turned back to God.  He settled in Nod and built his own city.  That earned him fame among his people.  Ironically, we don’t remember Cain for his city but for his sin.

         Sin does not always appear sleazy.  Cain’s descendants were civilized.  They were craftsmen, even musicians.  But despite the skills, they were spiritually like their father.  They were restless and no amount of achievement could appease it.

         Eventually, their line of descendants included Lamech.  He became the first bigamist.  He dominated his wives, even with poetry.  He told them, in verse form, that they should live in fear of him because he was a murderer. He used his murderous reputation as a means of subjugating them.

         He also mocked God.  God had said that anyone who shed the blood of Cain would be avenged seven times.  Lamech boasted that he did not need God’s protection.  He would take revenge, not just seven times, but seventy seven times.

         We live in a world that celebrates great achievers.  Inventors, entrepreneurs, intellectuals.  We wrongly believe that education counteracts the rise of evil.  But was any civilization more educated than WWII Germany? Andrew DelBanco, a Columbia University professor, wrote a book called The Death of Satan.  He responds to our modern culture that seeks to find an explanation for atrocities like the Columbine Massacre.  “A gulf has opened in our culture between the visibility of evil and the intellectual resources to cope with it.”

         In the end, educated or uneducated, rich or poor, black or white, the only thing that matters is what we do with Jesus.  What will it profit a man if he changes the world with his invention but ends up in hell!  Cain speaks to us from beyond the grave.

Of whom do I fear?  Of whom would I feel inferior?  I fear only You and have made my peace with God through Your great love and mercy.  Oh Lord, let my faith live beyond my life – in the lives of my descendants!  Amen

SEAL, MARKING OR TATOO

“If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.”  And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.”  Genesis 4:15

         And orphan is one who must see to his own needs.  He is not under the care and protection of anyone.  As a child of God, I often live like, and feel like, an orphan.  I forget that God’s seal has been put on me for all eternity; a mark of ownership.  God has placed Himself in a position to meet all of my needs.

         Cain murdered his brother, Abel.  Now, God banishes him from his land and sends him away.  He fears retribution from the rest of his family and expresses his fear to God.  In the midst of judgment, God shows mercy to Cain and puts a mark on him that will prevent anyone from attacking him.  Theologians suggest that it is a tattoo of some kind.

         This is what a king does.  He decrees, wills, and seals it with a stamp of authenticity.  In the ancient world, a seal could be found on a ring, or it hung from someone’s neck on a string.  The seal was covered with ink and used like a present-day stamp.  A document might be sealed, or a seal might be put on the door of a house or tomb to show that it had been secured and visited by someone of authority.

         King Darius even put his seal on the stone that trapped Daniel in the den of lions.  It showed all who passed by that his purposes for Daniel’s execution couldn’t be changed.

         Lest I feel alone today, uncared for in any way, I need only remember that I am marked in a way that the whole spiritual world can see.  I’ve been stamped, imprinted with a seal that no one can revoke.  God has made sure that all my enemies know that I am His property and nothing can change my status.  Even though I sin, God is not tempted in any way to banish me.  I am not Cain!  Jesus paid the price for all my sins and gave me His Spirit as proof of my adoption.  I may often feel like an orphan but I am not!

         Does this change my emotional response to sin?  Oh yes!  Paul said, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”  Eph. 4:30   Why would I want to injure my relationship with the Spirit of God when His seal upon me is the most wonderful thing I’ve ever received!

The enemy can’t kill me, because I’m your property.  When He comes to accuse me and stir up hopelessness, I’ll remind him to take a good look at my mark of redemption!  Amen

WHAT’S MISSING?

Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.  Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden.  I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”  Genesis 4:13-14

         The pain Cain expresses has more to do with what he will suffer than what God has suffered.  There is no thought that God’s heart was broken when Cain killed Abel for doing something holy.  What’s missing in Cain’s response to God’s curse?  A real apology!  Cain never said, “I’m sorry.”  He only considers his own skin and the ways he will faint under his punishment.

         Do you know someone who expresses no remorse?  They are simply, because of the state of their heart, unable to recognize what their sin against another causes.  Many wives and husbands are cruel to each other.  Hurtful things are said and treacherous things are done.  When the one who feels betrayed speaks up, backs up, and expresses pain, remorse is absent.  But when the pain of consequences is felt, a token “Sorry!” is expressed.  There is an expectation that everything should be back to normal.  He, or she, fails to know the repercussions of his actions.

         All throughout Israel’s history, God qualified the kinds of tears they cried.  God laid out the ground rules from the beginning.  “Obey me and you’ll be blessed.  Disobey and you’ll be led into captivity.”  They did well under the leadership of righteous kings for short periods of time.  Eventually though, they regressed and began to worship idols, throw their infants in the fire, and act disgracefully toward their God.  The consequences were felt.  God used enemies, like the Babylonians, to take His people as slaves.  In their great distress, they cried out to God to deliver them.  But God said, in essence, “You are not crying because you agree with me about your sin.  You’re crying because you hate captivity.”  Is this not like Cain?

         I bring the message home to my own heart today.  How often have I said, “Father, I blew it.  I did ‘this’ and now I’ve lost what I treasured.  Forgive me.”  My apology was all about me, about what I lost.  I did not picture the face of my heartbroken Father.  Self-pity rather than remorse was expressed in my so-called apology.

Only You, LORD, can give me a true heart of repentance.  Amen

LAND AND THE BLOOD SHED ON IT

And the Lord said, “What have you done?  The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.  And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from you hand.”  Genesis 4:10-11

         Now, this is a message we don’t hear much about.  The land holds the memory of blood shed upon it.  The land, as well as people, can be cursed and found begging for forgiveness.

         The piece of ground upon which Abel was brutally murdered pulsated with the memory of the traumatic event.  God could perceive its cry.  That’s not surprising since He is also the One who says that the stones will praise Him.  He hears the sounds of earth that are undetected by men.

         Some time ago, I was invited to hold a Prayer Mapping Conference at a Christian retreat center.  My assistant, Elizabeth, and I were confused when we encountered some of the worst spiritual warfare we had ever experienced.  As I tried to teach, I could feel the swirling of evil spirits around my head.  It was hard to think, even get words out.  Our normal kind of warfare praying didn’t bring freedom.  After the first day had ended, God led Elizabeth and I to do a history of the retreat center, what it had been originally.  Providentially, God led us to discover that the very site we were sitting on had been the place where the Underground Railroad ended during the Civil War.  It was the stopping place where thousands of battered and wounded slaves got off the train.  Trauma still marked the place.

         We covered this in prayer, asking God to release the land from the effects of the memories.  We dedicated that land to God and asked that He bless now, in full measure, the ministry of the retreat center.  Teaching that day was a different experience.  The room was peaceful and the ministry fruitful.

         As Christians pray over their homes, we must also remember to cover the land that our homes sit on.  We never know, from history, what the ground remembers.  Isaiah, as well as many others, reinforced this.  “For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain.”  Is. 26:21

         How the earth and its inhabitants cry out for a redeemer!  And there is One.  We just need to ask our Redeemer, Jesus, to forgive and cancel the curse of sin.  Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant, and sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.  Hebrews 12:24

There are many ways for me to rule my garden.  Bringing freedom to the land is your mandate.  You promised to heal our land if there is repentance.  Amen