Posted on

Visioneering: Picturing What God Wants You To Possess

Hold On To The Vision

God has placed in your heart a dream for what he intends your life to look like. Like Abraham’s dream, it’s a dream of a land of promise: close fellowship with God, life-giving community with other believers, and spiritual influence with the world. The dream is way bigger than what you are experiencing in the present; it’s way more than you need or even deserve — and it’s yours by Divine decree. But you first have to envision it, because you can’t possess what you haven’t pictured.

The Journey// Focus: Genesis 13:14-17

After Lot had gone, the Lord said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west. I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession. And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted! Go and walk through the land in every direction, for I am giving it to you.”

God has placed in the heart of every believer a dream and the desire for what he intends their life to look like—like Abraham, it is a land of promise: territory, influence, blessing that is theirs by Divine decree. And that promised land is way bigger than what any believer is experiencing in the present; it’s way more than they need or even deserve.

Yet God is a God of abundance, and his Son came to give the believer life more abundantly; life to the full!

Unfortunately, some of us have allowed God’s promise—the dreams and desires he has placed in our hearts—to be buried so deeply for so long that we have forgotten what our land of promise even looks like. God’s command to Abraham to look at the land, and even to walk the length and breadth of it before he possessed it, a great reminder to us that it is time to dig up what has been buried and envision it once again! As Abraham’s children (Galatians 3:29), God desires for us to experience his abundant blessing. If we are not, we are not living where God has called us to live.

Now of course, there may be a good reason why we are not currently living in God’s abundance. It could be that we are in a season of pruning, or tilling and sowing before the harvest. In that case, patience is called for. Or it might be that we are in a season of sin, and we are reaping the consequences of what we have sown. In that case, repentance is in order.

But sooner or later, God wants us to come into our land of promise. And an important first step is to call to mind the vision implanted in your heart for Divine abundance. Visible success for you will originate with the invisible realm of your soul. (See Psalm 37:3-4, John 15:7-8) Hebrews 11:1 reminds us, “faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:3 goes on to say that what is seen never begins with what is visible. Like Abraham, God places within you a heart full of treasure and talent, feelings and desires, in short, potential realities. And it could be that treasure has been buried for too long.

Dig it up today and visualize the future God has for you. One of the greatest acts of faith would be to dare to look ahead and imagine what you want to be, have and do! There is nothing wrong with that. That’s faith! God has placed it there; he has promised you land—a life of blessing. Now you’ve got to see it by faith before you can begin taking the steps toward it.

Do you have a dream that God has placed in your heart! Thank God, if it is there, he intends to fulfill it! Now cooperate with God and let vision become your victory!

Going Deeper: You will often notice, if you really look, that Christians who seem to live in God’s uncommon abundance, have the habit of viewing the end from the beginning—they get real clear about the future they believe God has for them. Perhaps you should do that, too. Envision what God has for you—then begin to marshal the spiritual resources to possess your promise through prayer, repentance, holy living and steps of faith.

Posted on

Two Roads Diverged

Decisions Decide Destinies

The battle over who is going to sit on the throne of my life is the ever-present contest in the core of the human soul. We might call it godship: who will be in charge—God or me? If my flesh wins out, I will seek the comfort of doing things my way; I will work to get fame for myself; I will seek to make me happy. But in the long run of life, and in eternity, I will get none of those. If I go with God, however, to sacrifice the comfort of my way for the adventure of his way, he has promised me the blessing of influence and success along the journey and the joy of receiving his smile throughout eternity.

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 12:1-2

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.”

Two roads diverged on the path to God…

What a contrast Abraham’s life is to those in the previous chapter who wanted to build the Tower of Babel. They wanted to keep themselves from being scattered in order to become famous. (Genesis 11:4) In this chapter, the Lord made a promise to the childless Abram—soon to be called Abraham, which meant, the father of many nations—that if he would trust the word of the Lord and step out in obedience to leave what was familiar in order to go with the unfamiliar of following God, then the Lord would scatter Abraham’s fame throughout the earth and make him a blessing to all the people on the planet.

Two roads diverged on the human path: stay on your own course to find wealth and fame—at least temporally, or go with God to gain significance and satisfaction—not only in time but for all eternity. Those who choose the risky road of faith will never be short on gratitude.

The battle over who is going to sit on the throne of my life is the ever-present contest in the core of the human soul. We might call it godship: who will be in charge—God or me? The humanistic mind says, “do it my way, protect what I have, and seek fame for myself.” The God-centered mind says, “if I let go of what I have in order to follow God’s voice, he will make me prosperous, he will give me success.” Joshua 1:8 famously backs up the assumption of the godly mindset: “Don’t let my Word depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night. Then I will make your way prosperous and give you success.”

The world’s logic is to “get all you can, then can all you get, sit on the lid, and spoil the rest.” God’s logic calls us to give it all away to follow him, and when we do, we will always have plenty to give away—he will make sure of it. That is the right-sided logic of God.

Rebellion says follow your own desires. Redemption begins when you follow what God desires.

Genesis is the story of contrasts: The rebellion of man at first dominates the narrative. It is first seen in Adam, then perpetuated through Cain, the Babel builders, and right on down the line. The human race seems hopelessly lost when we consider the self-centered lives of these rebels of the early chapters of Genesis. But the story takes a hopeful turn when human rebellion is interrupted by a few who were willing to listen to God, trust his call to the life of faith, and put the Lord’s desires ahead of their humanistic longing. Abel, Noah, Abraham—all imperfect men who, nevertheless, found favor with God and found God to be trustworthy as they stepped out into the unknown to hear his voice and follow his call. These are the true heroes of the human race.

Thank God, when we step out in obedience to follow the Lord, trusting that even in the unusual way he calls us to walk, risking faith to let go of selfish desires to take on eternal values, he fulfills the same promises to us that he made to the Genesis heroes: personal blessing, eternal fame and earthly influence—100% guaranteed.

Thank God for the steps of faith that he places before us.

Going Deeper: Has God brought you to a place where he is calling you to step out into the unknown to follow him? Perhaps it’s scary. That would be a normal human emotion. But turn your fear into a offering of thanks. Thank God for the opportunity to trust him, and the blessings of impact and success that he has said will follow. Then step!

Posted on

Is There A Tower of Babel In Your Life?

Saying "No" to the Good and "Yes" to the Best

Is there a Tower of Babel in your life—something that seems so good; something that makes sense to those around you; something that would advance your comfort, security and name?  Remember, what looks good to you may in fact be the enemy of God’s best for you!  Maybe it’s a purchase you are considering, a plan you are making, a relationship you are considering, or…you fill in the blank. Let me encourage you to simply ask, “God, what do you want?” Then, my friend, just do it!

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 11:4

Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”

“This will make us famous.” “This will keep us from being scattered.” Thank God, God doesn’t always give us what we want! He gives us what he wants, and that is incomparably better for us.

The problem with the Tower of Babel, which on the surface sounded good—unity, achievement, legacy—was that is smacked of human pride (“this will make us famous”) and of flat-out rebellion against God (“this will keep us from getting scattered all over the world.”)

God created man for his own glory, and mankind finds true unity, meaningful achievement, and the only legacy worthy having in bringing glory to the One who created them. God had commanded the human race to multiple and fill the earth in order to manage the creation on behalf of its Creator, and thus in their obedient stewardship of the planet, they would glorify the Creator in the midst of his creation. Babel represents the ultimate middle finger to God: we have a better plan; this is what we want; this is best for us.

Individuals, families, congregations, groups, communities and cultures must take great care that what they perceive as for the good of the whole may in fact be in direct rebellion to the will of the Creator. When what we do brings fame to ourselves and thwarts the will of God—a sin, by the way, which is not always easy to spot, yet more corrosive than all other sin—we have entered the rebellion of Babel.

At times, our rebellion and pride is so strong and so persistent the Creator says, “Ok, go ahead. Your will be done! See how that works out for you.” (see Romans 1:21-24) But at other times, the merciful Creator lovingly steps in and says “no” to our plans. And when he does, he is keeping us from the corrosive sin of pride and rebellion, showing us that his best is better by far than our idea of good.

Thank God when we hear the Divine “no!”

Is there a Tower of Babel in your life—something that seems so good; something that makes sense to those around you; something that would advance your comfort, security and name?  Remember, what looks good to you may in fact be the enemy of God’s best for you!  Maybe it’s a purchase you are considering, a plan you are making, a relationship you are considering, or…you fill in the blank.

Let me encourage you to simply ask, “God, what do you want?” Then, my friend, just do it!

Going Deeper: Are you getting the “no” from God? Rather than pouting or pushing forward with what you want anyway, stop and say “thank you” to God. He has just spared you from the consequences of Babel.

Posted on

Biblical Genealogies—Here’s Why You Must Read Them

Don't Skip The Begats

Reading Biblical genealogies is akin to reading from the phone book: an endless list of seemingly meaningless names. You will be tempted to skip past them, but don’t. You see, every name represents a story, and every person is significant in the history of God’s saving work and his redemptive plan for the ages—including yours. These genealogies are a reminder that you, too, matter to God and are a key part to his eternal plan, a gateway to the blessing he desires to bring to the part of Planet Earth that you occupy.

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 10:1, 32

This is the account of the families of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the three sons of Noah. Many children were born to them after the great flood… These are the clans that descended from Noah’s sons, arranged by nation according to their lines of descent. All the nations of the earth descended from these clans after the great flood.

Reading chapter 10 in Genesis may be, for some, akin to reading from the phone book: an endless list of meaningless names. Several times throughout scripture, we are treated to such chronologies, and often, if we were to be honest about our Bible reading, we would have to admit that we skipped over them or read them with zero retention. And writing a devotional on them? Forget about it!

Yet every name represents a story, and every person is significant in the history of God’s saving work and his redemptive plan for the ages. Read in context and with the purpose of the author in mind, these names serve as vital connectors to the past and key gateways into the future, giving us a glimpse into the mind of our merciful, gracious God. And more than anything, we are taught that the Creator is in control, and his sovereign plan cannot be disrupted, destroyed or deleted.

In this particular list, verse 32 gives us the author’s intention; he wants us to know how the human race got to where it was and what was about to unfold in the plan of God. From here on out in the Biblical narrative, humanity will be narrowed down to one man, Abraham, from whose family the entire earth will have the opportunity to find restoration to the plan of God:

“These are the clans that descended from Noah’s sons, arranged by nation according to their lines of descent. All the nations of the earth descended from these clans after the great flood.”

Interestingly, before Abraham is introduced in the next chapter, the nations of the earth that had descended from Noah numbered seventy. After Abraham, at the close of Genesis, the seed of this patriarch numbered seventy. (Genesis 46:27; cf. Ex 1:5) He who was taken from the nations has reached the number of the nations. Genesis has now revealed to us the ultimate purpose in God’s choice of Abraham: through his “seed” God’s blessing will be restored to “all people on earth” (12:3), for the number seventy represents the idea of completeness. (Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Abridged Edition: Old Testament, 2004.)

What is the point? God is never without a plan! Even when his creation goes astray, and thus his plan has seemingly gone awry, God is not caught off guard. He knew ahead of time what would happen, and while his heart is grieved at the rebellion of those whom he lovingly created, he graciously, mercifully offers a plan of redemption through a man, Abraham, by whose seed, Israel, a Redeemer, Jesus would come to rescue the world from the sin in which it had become hopelessly entangled.

Thank God for a planning Creator! And thank God his plans can neither be altered nor stopped. And while your name may seem meaningless among all the names in the table of nations, your story matters to God, and even down to the minute details of your life, God has fit you into his eternal plan—a plan that cannot be disrupted, destroyed or deleted.

Going Deeper: Are you having a moment of purposelessness and insignificance? Let it go! Those thoughts are lies from Satan. You matter to God and you are a key part to his eternal plan, a gateway to the blessing he desires to bring to the part of Planet Earth that you occupy.

Posted on

The Color Prism of Unbreakable Love

Every Time You See A Rainbow, God Does Too

Every rainbow you see from the point of view of earth looking heavenward is also seen by God looking down from heaven through the spectrum of colors to see what he has created. And as he peers through the manifold colors of the rainbow, he is reminded of his love, and his undying hope that what he created will love and honor him in return, and his unbreakable commitment to show mercy and offer grace until they do.

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 9:12-17

Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.”

We usually think of the symbol of a covenant—a wedding ring, a marriage license, a Memo of Agreement, the Bread and the Cup of the Eucharist—as a personal reminder of what we hold dear and to that which we have committed to another our life, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. These symbols can be powerful tools to keep that which is of utmost importance in the front of our mind and of the highest priority.

Here in Genesis 9, as God confirms his covenant with Noah, and by extension, to all of life on Planet Earth, we find that God actually does the same as we do. Or more accurately, when we observe the symbol and remember, we are simply doing what our Creator does. God set a rainbow in the sky as a regular reminder of his covenant to never again destroy life on earth by a flood. Of course, when we see a rainbow, we should look up and rejoice, for God is yet again providing the most splendid refresher of his sacred honor. A rainbow is a forever reminder of commitment as seen through the most colorful and beautiful prism of God’s love.

But did you realize that the very rainbow you see from the point of view of earth looking heavenward is also seen by God looking down from heaven through the spectrum of colors to see what he has created. And as he peers through the manifold colors of the rainbow, he is reminded of his love, and his undying hope that what he created will love and honor him in return, and his unbreakable commitment to show mercy and offer grace until they do.

Thank God, every time a rainbow appears in the sky, God is looking at it too, from the other side, and remembering what he loves enough to have sacrificed his very own Son to attain.

Going Deeper: The next time you see a rainbow, stop—literally, whatever you are doing, stop—and offer up thanksgiving to God for his steadfast, patient and enduring love.

Posted on

God’s Unseen But Unceasing Work On Your Behalf

He Won't Forget You

If you are feeling a little forgotten by God, thank God you’re wrong! The story of God remembering Noah’s family in the ark is an eternal reminder that God will remember you, too. And like Noah’s family, God will fulfill every single one of his promises to you at the proper time!

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 8:1, 20-21

“But God remembered Noah…Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and there he sacrificed…And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of Noah’s sacrifice.”

“But God remembered Noah…” And God remembers you, too! He never forgets his people. They are always before him, and his work on their behalf, while unseen, is unceasing.

I’m sure at times during Noah’s months of darkness and dankness in the Ark, he and his family wondered if God had shut them up in the ship and then shut them out of his memory as he got on to his many other duties of managing the universe. But God is faithful—he just can’t help himself. Fundamental to whom he is, God remembers the work of his hand, and he is faithful to finish the task at hand.

Isaiah 49:15-16 reminds us, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”

God can’t forget!

If you are reading these words today and feeling a little forgotten by God, thank God you’re wrong! Genesis 8:1 is an eternal reminder that God will remember you, too, and will fulfill every single one of his promises to you at the proper time! Psalm 138:8 promises, “God will perfect everything that concerns you.”

So trust! And as an act of trust, do what Noah did (Genesis 8:20) in response: build an altar of remembrance to the faithfulness of God. Whatever that altar looks like for you, erect a reminder in your life of the unceasing work of the unseen God on your behalf.

And like he was with Noah, I am quite sure God will be pleased with your act of trust as well.

Going Deeper: What can you do as an act of remembrance of God’s unceasing work in your life? Adopt a symbol, write out a prayer and post it where you can see it every day, paint a picture—do something that reminds you that God never forgets!

Posted on

A Brilliant Foreshadowing of Divine Mercy

God Is Always Making Redemptive Provision

In the Genesis account of Noah, God commanded that animals be brought into the ark that were approved for sacrifice. For what reason? The answer is simple, yet stunning: even at this point in redemptive history, God was already making provision for substitutionary atonement. He was making a way for guilty man to be absolved from his sin. That is still at the core of our gracious God’s heart, by the way — he wants you and me to live in freedom from our sin.

Going Deep // Focus: Genesis 7:1-2,5

When everything was ready, the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I can see that you alone are righteous. Take with you seven pairs—male and female—of each animal I have approved for eating and for sacrifice…So Noah did everything as the Lord commanded him.

Righteousness-unrighteousness…obedience-disobedience…judgment-sacrifice. This is the storyline of Noah and the Great Flood that came upon the whole earth as punishment for the exceeding wickedness of humankind.

The earth had steadily devolved from the moral purity into which the first couple was created to absolute and resolute evil in the hearts of their ancestors by the time of Noah. So bad was it that God, to be a just and holy God, had to wipe out the human race and start over.

As I read this story, I wonder if I would have been one of the righteous that God found among the evil people who inhabited the earth. I fear that I would not! At the same time, my heart explodes with gratitude because even within this sad account we can find glimpses and foreshadowings of the mercy of God. We find that Noah, the only righteous and obedience human, was instructed to take animals into the ark that God had approved for sacrifice.

What is the point? Just that at this point in the story, and at this point in redemptive history, God was already making provision for substitutionary atonement. He was making a way for guilty man to be absolved from his sin.

Even though the system of sacrifice in Noah’s day was primitive, and the one to follow under Moses would be ineffective and temporary until Jesus came as the perfect sacrifice, God had still made a way for unrighteous man to live before his holy presence in a pardoned state.

Thank God for his mercy! I deserve punishment, I get pardon.

Going Deeper: Today might be a day to lift up a song of thanks to the Lord. How about Amazing Grace. Everybody knows it…so belt it out, even if it is the privacy of your inner room.