He Knows My Thoughts

In Genesis 18, God appeared to Abraham and Abraham recognized Him! He saw three men approaching and he ran to greet them. He showed honor to God through his hospitality of food, drink and rest. Abraham was reminded of the covenant which God had established with him to make him a great nation. Sarah was hiding behind a tree listening and laughed to herself. Quietly...a secret rolling of the eyes...a "Yeah, right! Like that's gonna happen!" moment to herself.

Then God spoke up and asked Abraham why Sarah laughed. At that moment Sarah chose to lie to God. God Himself...face to face. She said, "I didn't laugh." But God said, "Yes, you did. You laughed."

Can you imagine?!! Lying to God and being busted for it! Lying probably came naturally to Sarah because Abraham has modeled it for her when he told her to say she was his sister. Instead of relying on the provision of the Almighty God, Abraham took matters into his own hands and lied. The truth came out...like it always does, and Abraham was sent away.

God knew Sarah's heart. He knew that she did not believe that He was powerful enough to cause her to become pregnant at her age. She knew that having a child was past and that God would have to fulfill His covenant some other way. Before God even appeared and spoke with Abraham, He knew that Sarah would laugh. But it didn't stop Him from giving her a chance at faith...at risking something great by believing in the sovereignty of the Almighty.

As Abrahams' guests prepare to leave, God lets Abraham in on His plans to destroy Sodom. God knows that Abraham's nephew, Lot, is there and He knows that Abraham feels responsible for him. Lot's father, Haran, had died and Abraham looked after him. So, even though they were living in different cities, Abraham's heart was for Lot.

"Abraham stood in God's path, blocking His way." Genesis 18:22 (msg)

WOW! Abraham blocked God. He stood in God's way. Not only does Abraham stand there, he begins bargaining with God for the city of Sodom. He asks for it to be spared for 50 righteous lives. When God agrees, Abraham goes for 45...40...30...20 and finally, knowing he is exasperating God, he asks for 10. God agrees.

Nowhere in this passage do we find God getting angry or impatient with Abraham. He converses with him and agrees on his numbers each time. At the conclusion, God headed on to Sodom and Abraham goes home.

I'm sure Abraham goes home sad because the reputation of a city precedes it. He knew what Sodom was like and I'm sure he had tried to protect Lot in the past. Abraham also knows that God will not allow His children to live in continual sin and will probably not find 10 righteous men. He probably spent the evening mourning his nephew Lot.

First thing the next morning, Abraham went to the place where he had met with God and looked out over Sodom. All there was to see was smoke coming up like from a furnace. He did not yet know that "When God destroyed the Cities of the Plain, he was mindful of Abraham and got Lot our of there before He blasted those cities off the face of the Earth." (Genesis 19:29 msg)

God knew Sarah's thoughts even when she lied to His face. God knew Abraham's thoughts even when he didn't ask for the very thing that he wanted. Not only did He know, but He cared. In spite of her unbelief, God gave Isaac to Sarah and in spite of Abraham's embarrassment of acknowledging that a family member was living in sin, God spared Lot's life.

Oh Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit
and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going
out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is
on my tongue, you know it completely O Lord. Psalm 139:1-4 (niv)

He knows my thoughts. He knows my heart. He knows my dreams and desires. He knows what I want to say and what I am ashamed to say. And, the best part of it all...He cares!

It matters to Him what I think. It matters to Him what I can't bring myself to say. It matters to Him that I find it hard to believe. It matters to Him that I so desperately want to please Him and am so afraid that I will fail Him. It matters to Him!

I matter to Him!

Jehovah Nissi - The Lord is my Banner

While in college I went through T. W. Hunt's study, Prayerlife. What an intense time of spiritual growth that was for me. One of the many lessons that have stayed with me is the names of God.

Names have always been important to me...perhaps because of my name, Gay. My parents gave me a beautiful name meaning "happy" and the world has distorted the meaning. In youth culture today my name simply means "stupid." As an adult, I can handle this. I am proud of who I am and noone can change who I am in God's eyes. I have learned that only what God says about me truly matters. However, it has taken me 40 years to be able to say this.

I started a new school in 6th grade and got teased mercilessly for my name. I hated it. I hated the way it made me feel, never knowing who was going to say something or when they would say it. Or how many people would be around to laugh at me.

For my 7th grade year I decided to go by my middle name, Anne. As a 12 year old, I didn't think through this very well. All my new teachers and the new students called me Anne, yet to everyone else my name was Gay. So confusing.

At the end of the year awards assembly I was to receive the award in math and I remember begging my teacher to call my name as Gay Anne Weatherall. She had such a baffled expression on her face. I tried to explain the situation and offered to write it down for her. Thankfully, she remembered. You see, I hadn't told my dad about my name problems and I knew he would be heartbroken or just plain mad if he knew I was going by Anne. Or trying to go by Anne.

So, when I learned the names of God I truly had a personal attachment to the lesson. I wanted to use His name correctly. The one that captured my imagination is Jehovah Nissi. The Lord is My Banner. He goes before me proclaiming that I am His. I am protected by His blood. I am redeemed. I am His friend.

Proverbs 2:11 (msg) states, "Good Sense will scout ahead for danger, Insight will keep an eye on you." Good sense, discretion goes ahead of me as I choose to search for wisdom and knowledge. My overactive imagination pictured Good Sense and Insight as the boy scouts carrying the banner that goes before me in the parade route. You know, the ones in the Rose Parade that declare the float winners. Or the dressed up soldier type guy that announces guests at presidential or royal events.

That's me. If you are a Christ follower, that's you. Christ is announcing you. He is preparing the way for you. He is sending out His army keeping danger at bay and protecting you as you travel the path He has prepared. The path specifically chosen for you.

As I decide that 2010 is the year I truly put forth sustained, genuine effort in writing Voice Lessons, I need the knowledge that God is Jehovah Nissi. He is my banner. Tears fill my eyes as I imagine Him speaking to and preparing the hearts of those I am going to contact for permission to tell their stories. He is getting me ready to work as I research for this project.

He is my Banner. He is making the path straight and secure. Praise You, Father for going before me.

Rainbows to Remember

Rainbows are gloriously mysterious. Light hitting water and placing on exhibit the wonder that is God's creation. Everyone loves to see rainbows, especially double rainbows. They are beautiful sights indeed and we stretch our necks to see if we can discover the end.

We can only imagine the perfection of that first rainbow that God placed in the sky for Noah and his family as they had endured eleven long months aboard an ark caring for every living creature from the earth. WOW! We can hardly make it with our extended family in one house for the Christmas holiday. Imagine 11 months with them coupled with all the noises and smells that Noah's floating zoo contained.

When they all came off the ark, the animals scattered and I'm sure the ladies started looking for a place to "nest," somewhere to cook and sleep and take care of the family. However, Noah's first thought was to build an altar to God. He wanted to share the gratefulness that he felt for the care and provision that God had made for his family. The sweet fragrance of that sacrifice had an effect on God and He came and spoke to Noah. (I just want to say that again.)

The sweet fragrance of Noah's sacrifice had an effect on God and He came and spoke with Noah.

Think on that. Noah's actions affected God's behavior. What if Noah hadn't honored God for delivering his family safely through the flood with an altar of honor and praise? Where would we be now? Would we know a rainbow? Our actions bring consequences to everyone around us. What we say and do effects others and even God, Himself.

Noah did make a sacrifice and God did come to speak with Him. God told Noah that He was setting up a covenent with him and everything living thing around him that He would never again destroy the Earth with flood waters. This covenant, a promise that cannot be broken, brought with it a sign of remembrance. God not only wanted Noah to have a mental knowledge of His covenant with him; He wanted Noah to have a visual image to associate with that covenant.

In Genesis 9:8-17 (msg), the word covenant is used seven times. Of those seven times, five of them are connected with the words sign or remember. God knows our limitations and He makes accommodations for them. He knows that our head knowledge becomes dim and gave us a visual reminder of the binding agreement that He made with Noah.

The day my family broke ground on our new home there was a rainbow overhead. I took a picture of it and thanked the Lord for His visual reminder of His covenant with me. Not only to keep the Earth from being destroyed by flood, but also to be my strength when I am weak. He promises to never leave me or forsake me. He promises to give His angels charge over me. He promises to one day come back for me, His bride.

I trust Him to keep His word and look forward to the visual remembrances He places before me.

"Holy! Holy! Holy! Is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!"

Clean Sweep

Last summer Kelly took a small group of students to the Purpose Driven Youth Leadership Conference in California. It was an amazing trip as we were challenged to grow in worship, through the various postures of prayer, and in finding our own personal Kingdom Assignment.

Strangely enough, the one thing I use most often with my own children is something we were told the very first day of the conference. We were asked to behave in such a way that we didn't make the hotel staff where we were staying or the PDYM staff at Saddleback sorry that we had come. We were encouraged to make those around us happy that we were there.

Today as I continue my Read Thru the Bible in a Year, I read Genesis chapters 5-8 and was reminded of this instruction. Unfortunately, God's creation made Him sorry that they were there. Chapter 6 verses 5 & 6 state, "God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil - evil, evil, evil from morning to night. God was sorry that He had made the human race in the first place; it broke His heart."

WOW! God was sorry that He had made man. His very own creation broke His heart.

"But Noah was different." Oh, what a great verse. God didn't like what he saw in His creation, but He loved what He saw in Noah. Noah chose to live in the world but not of the world. Enoch was Noah's great-grandfather, and although he was taken by God before Noah was born, I wonder if his legacy affected Noah. Twice in the four verses talking about Enoch, it states that Enoch walked steadily with God.

Steadily. Direct or sure in movement. Unfaltering.

What a way to walk with God. What a testimony for all Christ followers to strive toward. A life lived in that manner would definitely affect the family. I'm sure Noah's father and grandfather reflected the life of Enoch on Noah as he was growing up. And in Noah, God was not sorry. He was not sad that Noah was alive and He chose to preserve his life. Even in the midst of His clean sweep.

God chose to get rid of all evil in the world. He chose to rid the earth of all things that entangled creation and kept them from the abundant life that God had prepared for them.

Hebrews 12:1 states "Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses [Enoch, for example], let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perserverence the race marked out for us."

Let us make a clean sweep as we enter this new year. Prayerfully consider all those things that hinder your growth in Christ and choose to get rid of them. Name the sins that so easily entangle you. What is it that Satan uses time after time to trip you up and pull you away from the One who died for you? Get rid of that sin. Allow the blood that Jesus shed to wash that sin away and through your voice in prayer, defeat Satan. At the very mention of the name of Jesus, he must flee.

Make a clean sweep of Satan's hold on your life. Sweep him up and throw him out.

Make 2010 a victoriously clean year!