Two Truths and a Lie
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Do we have a grasp of the difference between forgiveness and repentance? Forgiveness at the cross. Repentance allows forgiveness to be received.
Forgiveness is once for all. Past, present and future.
Repentance is every day.
Inseparable but different.
10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.
11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance,
12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live.
13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.”
14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
15 And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
16 And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
18 So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.”
20 And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.
Abram was in the act of going. ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to a land I will show you.’
God did not say it would be a straight shot. Or easy. Or fast.
That kind of command wouldn’t get a very positive response today would it? We want to know the details. The timeline. The risk. And if it doesn’t turn out to fit our expectations, we pitch a temper fit.
There was a famine in the land:
Sometimes God used famine to judge:
Famines were a natural, cyclical event seen in the lives of Abram, Isaac and Jacob(Joseph). God used them to move all three. To Him, it was part of the process. To Abram it was likely seen as an interruption to the process.
Every felt like God had you on a path and all of a sudden the path crooked in a way you didnt expect? I’ll admit it has happened a few times in our life. But let me tell you what I have learned through those: The sooner we can accept that it is HIS CROOK, that He designed it, the sooner we can embrace His will for our life.
And when we can embrace HIs will for our life, peace. There is nothing better than knowing He has arranged your circumstances. That He has caused your boundaries to fall in pleasant places.
Sometimes (maybe all the time) that means we have to refuse to meddle. We have to sit on our hands and zip our lips and let God act. He promises He will.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
God definitely used famine to judge:
If I am willing to let theses two be in the context they were intended I will see that it is God who works in providing the desires of my heart. He will give…He will act. It is often my job to sit on my hands and zip my lips and let Him.
Should I work? Absolutely. Should I let Him work? Double absolutely. Should I know the difference? Can I talk to Him? Can I listen? Can I digest His word every day? If I will, the difference will be clear.
Abram’s reaction to the crook in the road:
Truth is concealed - they were willing to tell a half-truth, but a half-truth is half something else. And if its not a truth, it’s a lie. So they were willing to tell a half-lie.
Deception is intended - when we deviate from the truth we fall into the original trap set by the deceiver in the garden. His line to Eve was to question what God actually said. Then to add to it so that deception was the end result.
3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
Danger lurks - the danger for adam and eve was death. Death in the form of separation from God. When we deceive, the same result is ours. Separation. Sin separates from God. And it separates from each other.
Danger lurks
This thing that drives this deception is fear.
Fear causes irration-al
It is a liar
Should NOT be our source of motivation
Fear is the opposite of faith
Fear is the opposite of faith - when we let fear replace our faith in God. When we lose sight of the fact that God is, in fact, in control; using everything that happens for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. FROM FEAR!
When the shadow you see in the dark strikes fear in your heart, then you turn on the light and see what is making the shadow the fear goes away. The truth of what you are seeing dispels the fear. It sets you free from fear.
Fear is sin - told us that anything that doesnt come from faith is sin. Fear never comes from faith.
So what are you replacing faith with? He just wants you to believe in Him. To trust Him. To surrender to Him. Faith.
But we so often replace faith with something else. Usually our plan. Sometimes we try and replace faith with nothing.
He is big enough to hold the whole world in His hands. That very simple song holds TRUTH. But when I try to hold the world, it crushes me. So I commit myself to the Lord. I trust Him. I let Him act.
Will you do that today?