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One of my favorite verses in the whole Bible is Genesis 28:16 —

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”
            Genesis 28:16

It just reminds me that I am so often unaware that God is with me, but he surely is. How very sad that I miss Him,

God came to Jacob in a dream to reassure Jacob that He was working behind the scenes to be faithful to the promise He had given Jacob’s father Abraham, part of which was “All the peoples on the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring…I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Genesis 28:14b and 15b) It is a reminder to me that God is in this place, where I am right now, and He is working to bless others through me and He won’t leave me until He has done what He has promised.

Surely God is in this place. Lord, help me to be aware of it.

If you’re reading through the Bible with us, you might find the following blogs by a friend who is also blogging as he reads. You’ll find that he’s much better at writing short blogs than I am.

 Click to read his blog on…

The Tower of Babel (Genesis 10)

The Beautitudes (Matthew 5) 

If you’d like to share your thoughts on a passage, e-mail me at sandy@ApprehendingGrace.com. Who knows, there might be a spot for you here.

In Genesis 12, Abraham lied about Sarah, telling the Egyptians that she was his sister. The king of Egypt, the Pharaoh, took Sarah into his harem. God sent a terrible plague on Pharaoh’s entire household.

In Genesis 20, Abraham lied about Sarah, telling the Gerarites that she was his sister. The king of Gerar, Abimelech, took Sarah as one of his wives. God came to Abimelech in a dream and warned him that he would die if he kept Sarah as his wife because she was already the wife of Abraham.

What strikes me is that our sins cause those around us to sin unknowingly. In both situations above, the kings would not have taken Sarah from Abraham and into their homes if they had known that she was Abraham’s wife. But Abraham allowed his fear to be the justification for lying instead of trusting God to come through for him. So he chose to sin instead of trust God. And in choosing to sin, he caused those around him to sin.

First, let’s get something straight. Sin is serious stuff and lying is a serious sin. Deuteronomy 25:16 says that God detests anyone who deals dishonestly. Proverbs 6 tells us that there are seven things that are detestable to the Lord and one of them is a lying tongue. Detests is a pretty strong word. The King James Version uses the words “are an abomination.” I am far from sinless, but I don’t want to knowingly do something that is detestable to the Lord, that is an abomination to Him. Nor do I want to be the cause of someone else’s detestable actions. Abraham lied. It caused those around him to commit other sins.

Is this relevant today? You bet! When we lie (even the white lies), we put those around us in a difficult position. If they don’t know we lied to them, they are likely to repeat our lie unknowingly or act sinfully because of the lie we told. For example, if I illegally download software then give it to someone telling them it is a legal version, when they use the software, they will be violating the law. When I illegally download music, all those around me are listening to stolen music.

Now suppose the person knew I was lying. That puts them in the position of telling others the truth, revealing my sin, or continuing my lie by lying themselves. That’s not an easy place to be. Let’s say I want to go to the movies with my husband this afternoon but I had previously told my mom that I’d visit her. Maybe I’ve considered this and think it’s more important today to take the afternoon and spend it with my husband. But I don’t want to disappoint my mom or hurt her feelings, so instead of telling her the truth, I tell her that I can’t come visit today because I have too much work to do. Having too much work to do seems like a better reason to skip visiting her than going to a movie instead. But it’s a lie. If mom talks to Phil and begins saying how glad she is that we’re busy at work, he is immediately put in the position of telling her that her daughter lied to her or lying himself to protect me.

Yes, these are small examples, but they are every day examples. You might say “what’s the big deal.” I say that the Lord detests a lying tongue. I don’t want to own or be what the Lord detests. AND, it’s not just about me. When I sin, I cause those around me to sin.

How much better to cause those around me to rejoice in the Lord because I am rejoicing in the Lord? How much better to cause those around me to serve the Lord because they see my joy in serving the Lord? How much better to cause those around me to live with integrity because they see that God honors those who live with integrity?

Our actions have consequences – whether for good or evil, what we do impacts what those around us do. Will you be challenged, as I am, to live righteously before God and others?

Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.
Genesis 8:20

After being in the ark for about six months, God released Noah from it. Verses 16 and 17 record God’s instructions: “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you-the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground-so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it.” Noah continued in his obedience and left the ark. That process is recorded in verses 18 and 19.

Then we get to verse 20: “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.”

The very first thing Noah did was worship God. He didn’t celebrate with his family. He didn’t run around enjoying the space he had after being enclosed and confined in the ark. He didn’t breathe deeply of the fresh air or go exploring the “new” world they had been deposited in.

He built an altar and worshiped God.

Lord, make me so appreciative, so grateful that the first thing I want to do is worship You. I confess that I am not always at that place.

What also fascinates me about this passage is that Noah’s offering to God was provided for by God Himself. Noah offered sacrifices and worship to God from the things God had instructed him to take with him into the ark six months earlier. We have a very forward-thinking and forward-planning God. Before He shuts us in (see yesterday’s blog), He gives us everything we will need to be able to worship Him upon our release!

God knows how important our sacrifice of worship to Him is to us. Did you catch that? Our worship to God is vitally important to our spiritual life – we don’t just do it for Him, we do it for ourselves as well. It keeps us focused on who our Deliverer is. And Noah, a righteous man, wanted first and foremost to reinforce to himself and his family that God was their Deliverer. To celebrate or enjoy his release first would have been to worship the deliverance more than worshiping the Deliverer.

Is it wrong to celebrate or enjoy our release after we have been shut in? Absolutely not…but what we do first reveals our heart. Are we thankful to our Deliverer or are we just ready to enjoy our deliverance? There is a subtle but significant difference. I’m afraid I often celebrate the deliverance before worshiping the Deliverer.

But just as He did for Noah, when God shuts us in, He will provide what’s necessary for us to worship Him when He rescues us. As you appreciate successes and victories in 2009, may you remember to worship the One who gives them first. Lord, as I enjoy successes and victories in 2009, help me to remember to worship You first. There will be plenty of time to enjoy the successes and victories later.

On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark…The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.
Gen 7:13, 16, 8:1

There are so many things I love about the story of Noah, but I’m going to focus on just two in this blog.

Shut In
Noah was a righteous man. He was also an obedient man. When God said “build an ark,” Noah built an ark. And a really big one at that. Then God said “OK, it’s time to enter the ark” and Noah entered the ark. Then God closed the door behind him. God “shut him in.” At that point, God removed all of Noah’s options. God placed him in a very uncomfortable place that would become his deliverance. Imagine all the animals and his family in cramped quarters for about six months! No place to escape the smell and the noise and the inevitable frustration.

Have you ever felt like you were going along just fine, pursuing God diligently and wholeheartedly when all of a sudden…BAM! For whatever reason, the bottom seems to have fallen out. You’re stuck in a place that seems too loud and too messy and way too frustrating. Has it occurred to you that perhaps God has shut you in for your own protection? Perhaps there are some things that God is dealing with on the outside while He has you safely shut in somewhere.

Don’t lose that “shut in” time by grumbling about your circumstances (you’d be grumbling about God) or struggling against God to get out. Use the shut in time to learn to trust God. Anticipate the time when God will release you. Allow God to work on you on the inside while He works on other situations on the outside.

Remembered
Verse 1 of chapter 8 is interesting: “But God remembered Noah…and He sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.”

Do you think that God ever forgot about Noah and the animals in the ark? Of course not. Scripture is abundantly clear that He never leaves us or forsakes us; that His eye is always on us. So why does Scripture say “God remembered Noah”? I think it was written like that for our benefit – to emphasize to us that God will remember us when He has shut us in…and not only will He remember us, but He will move on our behalf to release us. That’s the second part of the verse. God not only remembered Noah, but then he moved on Noah’s behalf to rescue him. What good would remembering be if no action were taken? Not much I think. God remembered Noah and moved on his behalf.

The story of Noah is written historically – in other words, someone is telling us about it after it happened. As I look over my own life with the Lord, my history with Him, I can see times when God shut me in. Sometimes it felt as if God had forgotten about me. But He hadn’t. Times of being shut in were always followed by times when God remembered Sandy.

What a faithful God He is! He shuts me in for my own protection, then when the time is right, He remembers me and moves on my behalf. That is a faithful God. And He’s not just faithful to me. He will be faithful to you as well.

If you’re feeling shut in right now, have confidence. God will remember you and move on your behalf…when the timing is perfect. (Notice in 8:13 that Noah stepped onto dry ground, not muddy ground.) Perhaps you know someone who is shut in right now – encourage them with these words: “God remembered Noah…and He sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.”

Tomorrow…my third favorite thing about the story of Noah.

1  Blessed is the man
    who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
    or stand in the way of sinners
    or sit in the seat of mockers.2  But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

3  He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
    and whose leaf does not wither.
    Whatever he does prospers.

4  Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff
    that the wind blows away.

5  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6  For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

Meditation: This Psalm tells me that I will be blessed if I find God’s Word to be a delight and if I meditate on it day and night. I will be like the tree planted by the edge of the river – strong, full of life and vibrant. I will grow good and healthy fruit and I won’t wither and die in good times or bad times. I will prosper. The Lord will watch over me. I won’t get blown away like chaff – I will be continually nourished and refreshed by the river. God is the River of Life. I want to plant myself beside Him. I want to sit at the River’s edge and take in His nourishment and refreshment.

Invitation: Scripture is clear that learning and honoring God’s Word leads to a blessed life. Will you join me in being a diligent student of God’s Word in 2009? Read more about it here.

(If you’re reading through the Bible with us, you’ve just jumped ahead a bit – Psalm 1 is part of the recommended reading for January 29. Feel free to mark it off as read on your January reading plan.)

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
      Philippians 3:13-14

The Apostle Paul’s words provide great content for meditation on New Year’s Day. “Lord, help me to forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead. Help me to press on toward the goal with purpose and faith.”

Forgetting What is Behind
Let’s not become entangled by memories of the past that keep us from pursuing the future. Those memories may be of failures, physical or emotional trauma, or successes. All can arrest our focus and keep us from looking forward. “Lord, keep me ever forward looking!”

Straining Toward What is Ahead
The word translated “straining” really means “to reach forth” or “to stretch forth.” I see that my previous prayer was a bit too weak! I don’t want to just be “forward looking,” I want to be “forward reaching.” “Lord, give me a pursuing heart that urges me forward in Christ Jesus. Lord, I don’t want to be satisfied with who I am today. I know that one of the prizes You have for me is more of Yourself – a life lived more in oneness with You. And that will make me a way better person than I am today. Papa, help me to grow in You in 2009.”

Happy 2009 all! May God bless you with His presence and keep you in good health throughout the year.