As I look back on my life, especially at my fails, there’s one sin that most of these fails all have in common—impatience. A lot of us can say the same thing, can’t we?  Impatience gets us into so much trouble.

Do you want to strengthen and grow your puny patience muscle? I do. How can we do that? Let’s turn to Genesis 16:1-6.

IMPATIENCE SEPARATES FROM GOD

Impatience is essentially saying to God. You’re going too slow for my liking. Let me help you speed things up. That’s what happened with Abram and Sarai in verses 1-3.

• Abram and Sarai ran out of patience
• Abram and Sarai ran into sin

When we start speeding, we also start sinning.

But impatience not only breaks up our relationship with God, it also breaks up our relationship with others.

IMPATIENCE SEPARATES OUR FAMILIES

Look at the division that entered this family when impatience entered this family.

• Hagar v Sarai (4)
• Sarai v Hagar (5a)
• Sarai v Abram (5b)
• Abram v Hagar (6)

Impatience is weakness and weakens relationships, patience is strength and strengthens relationships.

LIVING THE BIBLE

That was a painful workout wasn’t it. Now, as with all hard workouts, we’ve got to let the muscles repair and rebuild. We can do so by remembering God’s patience: with the world, with his disciples, and with ourselves. Let God’s patience soothe you, slow you, and strengthen you.

Build your patience muscle by remembering the damaging weakness of impatience and the constructive strength of God’s patience.

This episode of Living the Bible lines up with Expedition 4: Day 3 in  Exploring the Bible Together: A 52 Week Family Worship Plan and Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids. You can catch up with previous episodes of the Living the Bible podcast here or subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcast.

When I was in my late teens and early twenties, I was not a believer. I was living a sinful worldly life. I was still going to church on Sunday, but I was ungodly Monday to Saturday. Actually, often on Sunday too.

There were times when my conscience stirred and I realized I had to stop living as I was doing. I would make promises to God. I promise to stop doing this or that bad thing. I promise to start doing this or that good thing.

However, no matter how many times, I made these promises to myself and to God, I couldn’t keep them. The weekend would roll round again, and the broken promises would join the growing pile of broken promises in my life.

I promised and failed, promised and failed. I needed something more than my promises. What was that? We find the answer in Genesis 15:1-6.

FAITH NEEDS GOD’S PROMISES

God assured Abram he was his shield and reward. He would protect him and provide for him (1). But Abram’s greatest need was a son (2-3). This was not just because he wanted to be a Dad, but because he wanted the world to have Gospel blessings through his children as God had promised (Gen. 12:1-5).

• God promised a real son (4): His heir would not be a hired servant but a real son
• God promised multiple sons (5): Wherever Abram looked (up at the stars or down at the sand) he was reminded of God’s massive promises

This promise was fulfilled physically in Isaac and the great nation of Israel. It was fulfilled spiritually in Christ and his spiritual descendants (Gal.3:16). It’s complete, total and ultimate fulfilment will be at the close of history when all will see Christ and his seed as a multitude greater than any man can number (Rev.7:9).

Our promises are shaky, but God’s promises are sure.

So, is having God’s promises enough? No, it’s not enough to have God’s promises, we need to believe them as well.

FAITH BELIEVES GOD’S PROMISES

• Abram believed God: The word for “believed” is literally “Amened.” Abram “Amened God.” The word means to lean your whole weight upon. Abram leaned on the promise of God and the God of the promise.
• Abram was justified by God: He was counted righteous because his faith was looking to the Christ who would secure the promises and fulfil them.

In John 8:56 Jesus said, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad”. Abram looked forward to the “day” when in Christ all the families of the earth would be blessed. That “day” commenced at the first coming of Christ, continues in the present, and will be consummated at the last day.

We’re not saved by making promises to God but by believing the promises of God

LIVING THE BIBLE

Believe God’s Christ-centered promises and be counted righteous by faith.

This episode of Living the Bible lines up with Expedition 4: Day 2 in  Exploring the Bible Together: A 52 Week Family Worship Plan and Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids. You can catch up with previous episodes of the Living the Bible podcast here or subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcast.

Nationalism has been defined as “identification with one’s own nation and support for its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations.” The first part of this definition is what we would call patriotism. Patriotism is a healthy desire to see one’s own nation prosper.

That’s all well and good. It’s the second part of the definition which turns patriotism into nationalism. If patriotism wants to see our own nation do well, nationalism wants our nation to do well and all other nations to do badly in comparison. While patriotism has many happy and unifying fruits, nationalism has many divisive and rotten fruits.

• It sets nation against nation
• It divides nation from nation
• It exalts one nation over another nation
• It eliminates other nations

In Genesis 12:1-5, we have God’s plan to unite the nations. We have an inspired commentary and explanation of these verses in Galatians 3:8-9. “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”

ALL NATIONALITIES WILL BELIEVE THE GOSPEL

“And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham” (Gal. 3:8a).

• God saves the Gentiles
• God saves the Gentiles by faith

Not all nationalities are equally sinful, but all nationalities are equally saved. 

ALL NATIONALITIES WILL BE BLESSED BY THE GOSPEL

…saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed” (Gal. 3:8b)

• Blessing will come from you
• Blessing will go to the world

God has given different blessings to different nations, but sends one blessing to all nations.

ALL NATIONALITIES WILL BE UNITED BY THE GOSPEL

“So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith” (Gal. 3:9).

• Faith unites with Abraham the man of faith
• Faith unites with all men and women of faith

False religion and unbelief divides the nations, but true Christianity and faith unites the nations.

LIVING THE BIBLE

Join with God’s plan to unite the nations by believing the Gospel yourself and by seeking the spiritual good not only of Americans but of all believers everywhere.

This episode of Living the Bible lines up with Expedition 4: Day 1 in  Exploring the Bible Together: A 52 Week Family Worship Plan and Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids. You can catch up with previous episodes of the Living the Bible podcast here or subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcast.

We are in great danger of being seduced by the world. When I say “the world,” I don’t mean planet earth. I’m using “world” in the biblical sense of everything that draws our attention away from God. It can be evil things like drink, drugs, gambling, stealing, etc. But it can also be good things like work, relationships, sport, politics, hobbies, etc. If these things are devoid of God or distract from God, they are “the world.

“The world” is everything and anything that displaces God as the center of our life, the foundation of our life, the end of our life (1 John 2:15-16). It could be science without God, art without God, music without God, travel without God, religion without God. It can use corporations, the media, movies, Hollywood, Instagram, politics.

We are in great danger of being seduced by that world. That’s why the world is some-times portrayed in the Bible as a prostitute (Hosea 1:2; Rev.17:5, 18).

• It’s very attractive
• It’s very popular
• It’s very deceptive
• It’s very dangerous

When we read Proverbs 7, we read about a prostitute seducing a young man to his dest-ruction. Of course, this can be literally true. It happens all the time. However, the prostitute is also symbolic of the world’s seductive danger. Solomon put this passage in the Bible to help us avoid and escape the world’s seductive charms. Let’s identify this great enemy so that we can avoid and escape it.

For more see my sermon notes here.

At the end of the year, schools issue reports on the progress of their students. Are they going backwards or forwards? Various subjects appear on the report card: English, Math, PE, Bible, etc.

God has a report card for every child. It says “Subject: Obedience to parents.” It has a verse written at the top:  “Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord” (Col. 3:20).

Though it’s a short verse, it’s a huge verse. It’s hugely challenging: is God really calling me to obey my parents in all things? It’s hugely transformative: can you imagine how many families and lives would be renewed if this verse was practiced? It’s hugely encouraging: it tells us a simple way to really please God, and who doesn’t want to do that?

Read more in my sermon notes here.

No matter how many times I’ve heard thunder and seen lightning it still makes me jump. Last night as I prepared this podcast, the thunder was thundering, and no matter how many peels I heard, the next one made me jump again.

If you’re like me, when the sights, sounds, and vibrations of thunder, lightning, and rain combine as they did last night, we cannot but think of God’s anger and his judgments. But at least we know each of these summer storms will be over in a few hours at the very worst.

But, imagine if you were Noah and you were in a boat, in the worst storm of divine judgment ever, and it went on for 40 days and 40 nights. Pretty scary, eh?

When it finally passed, Noah must have wondered, “Is there any hope for me. Is there any future for my family? God has been so angry and has executed such awesome judgment, is there any hope for the future? Will God ever stop being angry? Is God ever going to give us peace again? Is it worth building for the future if there’s no guarantee this won’t happen all over again? Is the future going to be just as dark as the past?

God knew Noah’s questions and answered them in such a way that gave him hope of peace and a future. But he also answered them in such a way that he can give us all peace and hope for the future. Let’s look at Genesis 9:12-17 to recover hope and rediscover peace

GOD PROMISES PEACE

After having disrupted nature in such a spectacular way, God promised peace for the natural world with two specific promises.

No more floods: In the ancient Near East, covenant treaties were made after wars between the warring nations as a first step toward embarking on peace. Here, after warring against sin, God made a covenant of peace in which he promised no worldwide flood ever again.

Reliable seasons: God promised a world of regular cycles – seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night (8:22). What a relief! Without this promise, the first cloud or spot of rain would remind Noah of the great deluge and arouse terror in his heart.

God initiated war on the world, but then initiated peace for the world.

Noah might have thought, “These are beautiful words, but they are just words. After all I’ve seen, will God give me something more reassuring than just words?

GOD PICTURES PEACE

God gave a rainbow to seal and picture God’s promise of peace. The rainbow communicated:

• God’s peace is confirmed: Covenants were sealed as proof of completion and commitment
• God’s peace is beautiful: The rainbow is the most beautiful sight in the whole of nature, so beautiful that most artists say the rainbow is impossible to paint.
• God’s peace is varied: It’s not boringly monochrome but spectacularly multi-colored.
• God’s peace is comforting: The same word is used for a battle bow, but here it is hung up and put away after the war, pointing away from earth.
• God’s peace is worldwide: It spans the whole of earth and bridges between heaven and earth.
• God’s peace calls to repentance: The Jews confess their sins when they see a rainbow.

God loves to promise peace and God loves to picture peace. Although we see that in Noah’s story, we see it with even more comfort and clarity in the New Testament, in the cross of Christ. There, in the New Covenant, God promises peace and pictures peace in a way that far transcends the Noahic covenant. The cross promises and pictures something far greater than natural peace between God and nature. It promises and pictures a far greater peace than just no more floods and reliable seasons. It promises and pictures spiritual peace between God and sinners. It promises and pictures no eternal judgment and reliable mercy.

At the cross, we see God’s peace confirmed, God’s peace is beautiful, God’s peace is varied, God’s peace is comforting, God’s peace is extended to the whole world, and God’s peace calls to repentance. God promised peace and pictured peace at the cross.

God initiated war on the Son of man, to offer peace to the sons and daughters of men.

LIVING THE BIBLE

Pray that God’s special gospel promises and pictures will give you peace in this world and peace in the world to come.

This episode of Living the Bible lines up with Expedition 3: Day 6 in  Exploring the Bible Together: A 52 Week Family Worship Plan and Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids. You can catch up with previous episodes of the Living the Bible podcast here or subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcast.