Genesis
Coming Home
Every human longs to go to their true home, the place they should have been born, but how do you get there? You have to leave the house of idols, deal with God, and deal with others.
Praise the Lord More Than His Gifts
Gifts are great as gifts, but can never replace the Giver. Throughout Genesis, God shows Himself to be the Giver of every good gift, but in this passage, we see the chaos that ensues when those gifts are used to replace Him.
Hope for Hot Messes
God is with us when we ruin our lives (and we’ve all ruined our lives). Despite the fact that Jacob unleashes a maelstrom of destruction in his life and the lives of his loved ones, God remains faithful to him and promises His abiding presence with him.
God’s Sovereign Grace
With Abraham now dead, God is still with the next generation, though as the story progress we find his favor cannot be bought. It is administered by sovereign grace, a doctrine simultaneously offensive and comforting.
Trusting God With Your Future
As we conclude the section of Genesis focusing on Abraham and read of his death, we see he had a hope for the future beyond even his death that we too share with him.
The Promised Land
As we inch closer to the end of Abraham’s story, we find the promise is progressively fulfilled, but sin and its effects are not yet eradicated. Yet through trust in God’s promise of land in the future, we can have hope alongside mourning in the present.
Who You Loyal To?
Who we’re ultimately loyal to is revealed by how we act, not what we say. God tests us to expose what it really is, so that our hope will be set fully on Him.
God’s Blessing by God’s Power
We’re told frequently to have hope for the future because we can do whatever we put ours minds to, but what happens when you come up against your flaws? Is there a hope beyond you? Here we see Abraham’s flaws reemerging, but the hope of God’s power fulfilling His promise remains.
Flee God’s Judgement By Trusting God’s Mediator
We saw last week that God is a God of grace, and this week we read that He is also Judge of all the earth? How can He be both? How can we survive His judgment? The answer is the mediator.
More Trustworthy than Doubts
Faith is powerful, but how do you handle it when faith and the evidence in front of you seem to conflict? Genuine faith can exist alongside genuine doubt, but God is more trustworthy than our doubts.
Live Before the Face of God
You can’t have real joy in life without loving relationship, and you can’t have a loving relationship unless you’re willing to be imposed upon. Here we see God’s incredible love, and the demand it places on us.
God’s promise: More Sure than Your Efforts
As we continue the story of Abram, we meet another barrier to faith in God’s promise of future blessing: Our own efforts and schemes. Once again, God’s promise proves more trustworthy.