God's Friends Act Like They Are Not

Two kinds of people in this world and sometimes you cannot tell them apart.

Genesis 20:1-5 Abraham moved south to the Negev and lived for a while between Kadesh and Shur, and then he moved on to Gerar. While living there as a foreigner, 2 Abraham introduced his wife, Sarah, by saying, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar sent for Sarah and had her brought to him at his palace.

3 But that night God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are a dead man, for that woman you have taken is already married!”

4 But Abimelech had not slept with her yet, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? 5 Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘Yes, he is my brother.’ I acted in complete innocence! My hands are clean.”

---

After the destruction of Sodom in the previous chapter of Genesis, Abraham is on the move again, we don't know why he moved or if he was in God's will but I have to wonder if maybe he was too close to Sodom and he couldn't bear the sight of the destroyed city and the family and friends that he lost. 

We do know that when he moves his insecurities come out, the last time that he moved was to go to Egypt during the famine that was in Canaan, that trip was the beginning of a lot of trouble that continues today.

You would think that he would have learned from the very serious lie and the extreme consequences. In his attempt to save his own life he jeopardized his promised son and his promised future including the lineage of the Messiah. 

It seems odd that he would be so insecure when he has such a personal relationship with God and such amazing promises. But it is a blessing for us to see that God's people have never been a perfect people that didn't mess things up.

The Bible makes it clear that there are two kinds of people in this world and sometimes you cannot tell which is which.

Abraham the troublemaker

Genesis 20:11 “I thought, ‘This is a godless place. They will want my wife and will kill me to get her.’

Abraham and Sarah didn't learn from the previous time that they told this same exact lie, King Abimelech looks more like God's friend than Abraham or Sarah, but God is gracious and steps in. God is the only one that can fix this mess and protect the lineage of Jesus.

The integrity of the king turns out to be far greater than Abraham imagined, his lie about Sarah and her willingness to go along with it caused a lot of trouble and tarnished the reputation of God's people.

How could the promised Messiah come from Sarah if she belonged to Abimelech? We can make a big mess of things with our little lies, the little half truth that Abraham and Sarah told had huge consequences that they never dreamed of.

Abraham the peacemaker

Genesis 20:17-18  Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants, so they could have children.  18  For the LORD had caused all the women to be infertile because of what happened with Abraham’s wife, Sarah.

Genesis 21:22-24  About this time, Abimelech came with Phicol, his army commander, to visit Abraham. “God is obviously with you, helping you in everything you do,” Abimelech said.  23  “Swear to me in God’s name that you will never deceive me, my children, or any of my descendants. I have been loyal to you, so now swear that you will be loyal to me and to this country where you are living as a foreigner.”  24  Abraham replied, “Yes, I swear to it!”

Abraham got right with God and he was restored to his position of ministry and blessing to those around him. He couldn't be a blessing when he was busy being a troublemaker. When we fall away from God and lose our peace with him we also lose our ability to fulfill God's desire for us to bless others.

It would have been very easy for these two powerful men to become enemies but they were able to have a peaceful relationship. First Abraham prayed for his new friend and later he made a peace treaty with him.

God's word shows us that the fulfillment of God’s covenant promise of an heir wasn't dependent on Abraham's success. Abraham put the promise in jeopardy, from a human point of view, several times. 

God's people have never been a perfect people and many times we act like we aren't his people. It is important that we look at the overall direction of our life instead of dwelling on the individual mistakes that we make.

Thank you Lord for using me despite my tendency to follow my old sin nature. Help me to overcome my fight against the world, the flesh, and the Devil so that I can be a blessing to those around me. I will only be successful with your intervention.

Stop Playing With Sin

We need to kill off the lusts of the flesh and the love of the world.

Colossians 3:5-9  So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you.

Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don't be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.

6  Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming.  7  You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world.   

8  But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.  9  Don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.

---

It is time to take action, those old ways of living need to go, if you are a Christ follower then you should realize that you can't follow him very far unless you agree with him about which direction that you are going in. Too often we try to keep one foot in the mud on the old path of sin and try to reach the straight and narrow path with the other foot.

We have to decide that our old sinful ways are holding us down and they are not worth carrying around anymore. It takes a deliberate act of obedience to combat our old sin nature, too many times we don't make up our minds about sin, we need to agree with what God says about our sin and get rid of them. My will and my desires for my lifestyle should come into alignment with what God says about my desires and my lifestyle.

Nail your old sin nature to the cross

Galatians 5:16, 24-25 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

It is sad that so many people that claim to be Christ followers don't seem to be following, instead of behaving like he would, they are holding on to the lusts of the flesh and the love of the world. God wants us to get serious with about the way that we behave and the things that we think.

God knows that we can't do it on our own, we have been living in the way that comes natural to us, we will need to have help from the Holy Spirit to overcome our natural tendencies. That is the work that the Holy Spirit does if we submit to him and give him control, with his help you can take on a new way of life successfully.

When the Holy Spirit is in control I can be sure that I am on the way down the right path, he will help me to overcome my natural human tendencies, my walk with God will not be complete without my submission to his guidance. 

Thank you Lord for the assistance from the Holy Spirit that helps me to live to please you.

I Am A New Creation

But there are changes that are still on the way.

Galatians 6:14-16 As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died.

15 It doesn't matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation.

16 May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God

---

There isn't any room in God's kingdom for a self-made man, a man that did it his way will be anxious to tell you how well he has done at overcoming obstacles and how great he is at making things happen, there is usually a lot of pride in that man's life.

The Apostle Paul was a self-made man, he had a lot of book learning, he had some great teachers and he had people that had great power that gave him the authority to go after Jesus followers and have them imprisoned or killed. We look at Paul and think that he is a big deal, look at everything that he did for the church and God's kingdom, before his conversion to Christianity Paul may have joined you in patting himself on the back, but not after the message of Jesus got through to him.

God's people are not marked by circumcision anymore, they are supposed to be marked by a new life, they should be a new creation, their world view is different, their way of thinking has changed. Is your life new, is it driven by new desires? (2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Peter 1:14-15)

God's people should be different.

Deuteronomy 18:12-13 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the LORD your God will drive them out ahead of you. But you must be blameless before the LORD your God.

There is an unseen battle going on every minute of everyday, God is looking for people that are set apart, people that will see past the lies of the devil and live a better life. Our sin nature is pulling us in one direction and the Holy Spirit is wanting us to go the other way.

I am making progress but I am still a construction project that isn't finished yet, I have a bright future in glory, that's where I will finally find my rest from the battle between good and evil, the future glory of God's people when we finally become all that we were met to be.

I need to use the power of the Holy Spirit in my life so that I can overcome the devil's evil schemes that come against me to trip me up, I need the Holy Spirit to work in me to give me the strength and the discernment to make the right decisions in my daily walk.

Luke 12:31 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need. 

Help me Lord to rely on you and to rely on the power that you give through the Holy Spirit so that I can become more like you.

Passion Fruit

Nail your old passions to the cross.

Galatians 2:20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 5:22-25  But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  23  gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

24  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there.  25  Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives.

---

As gruesome as it is, the cross was a necessary destination, there are two people that needed to be crucified: Christ and my old self.

The crucifixion of Christ was necessary, not for his own benefit but for my benefit. Jesus gave me eternal life and he taught me the extreme nature of love.

The crucifixion of my old man is necessary to show my love for Christ. As a believer, I have the Holy Spirit living in me to guide me, I don't want to do the things that the old man "enjoys." The Holy Spirit gives me power to live differently, I no longer want to live the life that is described in Galatians 5:16-21, that kind of lifestyle will not get me into my eternal home. (Romans 8:6, Galatians 5:21)
 
When you nail your old passions to the cross you should become passionate for the things that bring him glory, the fruit of the spirit should be my "passion fruit." Check out the awesome flavors of the fruit that the Holy Spirit will produce in your life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The fruit will give away your spiritual condition.

Matthew 7:16-20 You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act.
Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 19 So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire.
20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

I cannot hide my spiritual condition for too long. The choices that I make will prove who I am and who is in control or my life. The Holy Spirit wants to produce good fruit in my life but he won't bully his way in to do it. The spirit wants to lead me but he will never push.

Help me to nail my natural man to the cross and give the Holy Spirit complete control so that I can produce the fruit that will please you Lord.

Related articles

• Easy Faith And Great Faith (tillhecomes.org)

Paul Teaches About Our Struggle With Sin

scripture

Romans 7:4,14-15, 21-25 So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God.

14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.

21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

observation

The apostle seems like he has it all together since he lived so fully for God and yet here Paul explains to us how much that he struggles with the old sinful nature. We are a child of God and we have the desire and the ability to do the right thing but there is always going to be a struggle with our evil desires that keep fighting to control us and attempt to keep us in slavery. This temporary assignment on planet earth is going to have its difficulties just because it is so full of sinners and as a Christ follower it will be even more difficult as you strive to live against the natural tendency to live for your sinful self. All the desires that I had before I came to Christ and followed him are still there I will never be able to say that I have arrived until I arrive in God’s presence in heaven. I cannot give into sin and continue to live for self. I am able to “produce a harvest of good deeds for God.”

application

I will fight the good fight so that my Savior will be able to say well done.

prayer

Help me to continue to fight against my sinful nature and to truly live for you. I know how I should live but sometimes I fail. Thank you for covering my sin.