Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art

Money and Hypocrites, Matthew 6, Day 14, Jan 14,

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These are my daughters, Zoe and Irene. Irene, just 4, spontaneously started praying and thanking God for the Rhine Falls in Switzerland, seen in the background. She then realized that we were photographing her, but continued unfazed, with, however, the tiniest smile on her face. “She is praying as the hypocrites do,” Roy said, but I think God smiled too.


Matthew 6

 1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

That’s really scary. If we are righteous merely to be seen by other, we will have no reward from our Father in heaven.

I would say that the key word, the key principle, of the Sermon on the Mount is faith. Should we be good to receive praise from men, or be quietly good, and receive a reward from our Father in heaven?

Praise from men is immediate and gratifying. To believe that we will receive a reward from our heavenly father takes faith. Will it be now? Or later? What form will it take?

Personally, I would love to receive a reward from my heavenly Father, both in this life, and in the life to come.

And I am cool with any reward he gives me—whether the practical desires of my heart (travel, sufficient money, health, success in my work, an increasingly happy marriage, successful and Christian children) or more importantly, his spiritual gifts—joy, peace, love, contentment. And the former are worth little without the latter.

   2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

So, if you work for the praise of men, you do get a reward (or no one would do it.)

You’ve fooled people into thinking you are the real deal, and have got your reward from them in terms of their good opinion (in full).

You do not get the exponential blessings of the Father in this life, or later.


3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Again, the demand of faith.

Be generous, but don’t let a soul know what you have done. Nobody will be impressed with you.

But your Father who has seen what you have done secretly will reward you, openly, it says in some versions


    5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 

Hypocrite, play-actor, like the Greek actors who put a mask over their face when they were acting.

Don’t be a prayer-meeting bore. Don’t be a hypocrite. Don’t stand up and bore everyone with long-winded prayers, losing tracking of your audience in your display of your own compassion and wisdom. Don’t pray to be seen and to impress. Don’t worry about the impression you create when you pray. In fact, don’t pray in public without putting your prayers through the sieve of strict honesty. Are you addressing God or impressing your audience?

Will you have a reward? Will people be impressed with you? Yeah. You’ll have your reward, such as it is, in full. However, these prayers will never make it to your heavenly Father.

 But then  perhaps they were not intended to!


6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 

You do it in secret, when there are hundreds of lucrative, pleasurable, career-boosting things you could be doing instead of praying.

But God sees and values the time you have spent with him, and if, we choose to pray, in secret, he will give us a reward.

A reward!! From God!! That’s truly exciting. Whatever he may choose to give us.

Blessed is the one whom GOD rewards.


7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Let your prayers be short, brief, and to the point, since you are speaking to someone who knows your needs anyway.


   9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

   “‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name, 

May your name be revered.

 10 your kingdom come, 

Let us see your beautiful kingdom in our lives, and in the world around us.

 your will be done, 
   on earth as it is in heaven. 

Help me to do your will. And may it be done on earth as it is in your heaven. 

11 Give us today our daily bread. 

Give us what we need to stay full alive, in mind, body and soul

12 And forgive us our debts,
   as we also have forgiven our debtors. 

Wipe our sins off your books, as we wipe the sins of those who sin against us off our books.

13 And lead us not into temptation,

Protect us from temptation, for you know how weak we are. Temptation can also be translated as testing or trials.
   

but deliver us from the evil one.

The phrase tou ponerou can mean either evil or the evil one, Satan. ESV note, “The best protection from sin and temptation is to turn to God and to depend on his direction.”

And in particular, deliver us from the power of the evil one.

Here’s a longer blog post I did on The Lord’s Prayer.

http://theoxfordchristian.blogspot.com/2010/08/lords-prayer-superb-and-comprehensive.html

   14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

If we do not write off other people’s weakness, treachery, and perfidy, our Father will also hold our sins against us. And then, who would stand? 


    16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Do you want the rewards of God? Then fast–in secret.(This is a spiritual discipline I’ve never learnt!)

Live under the eyes of God. Do things to be seen only by God. Be rewarded by God.


    19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 

Elsewhere Jesus says,“Do not work for food which perishes, but for food which endures to eternal life.” We often have a choice as to whether we will spend our energy on things which will bring us more money, or things which will be rewarded in heaven (prayer and giving, for instance).

Do not pile up money, for there is a risk that your heart will be where your money is. Do not make your money your treasure. It can be lost.

Break your focus on your bank balance.  How?

I ask the Holy Spirit to come and flood my heart and mind and spirit when I find myself thinking too much about money—how much I have, how much I should have, how much I have coming in, how to make more.

Store nothing? That’s one way to live. I don’t have the stomach for that.  At present, when I find money entering my thoughts over-much I pray for the Spirit to invade my mind instead. If it becomes a serious problem, there is nothing like increasing one’s giving to break the hold of money on your mind.


20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 

Store up treasures—of love, of goodness, of good deeds—in heaven.


21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Your emotional life and love and desires will inevitably be caught up with what you treasure, whether it’s your bank balance or your God. Or success, or your blog or your writing or social/churchly success or the idol du jour.


   22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

If you focus on glorious things, your whole being will be suffused by light.

If you focus on unhealthy things, your soul, your spirit, will be in darkness. Oh no!!

Focus on the light instead. This takes a deliberate effort—a deliberate flipping out of the tape, and replacing it.


24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Serve, douleo, implies the work of a slave. A slave can only belong to one master.

We cannot love two things with all our hearts, with all our minds, and with all our spirits. So we have to choose. It’s either God—or money. Or all the things which come under the dominion of the devouring God Mammon—success, fame, wealth, reputation.

Oh Lord, Lord, Lord, let it be you. First of all, you are lovely, and you can fill my spirit with joy. Secondly, you can give me all the money I need, but money cannot give me as much of you as I need! Or any of you!

My Shield is God Most High. Psalm 7, Day 13, Jan 13,

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My Shield is God Most High

Psalm 7

    A shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning Cush, a Benjamite (who slandered him. According to the ESV Study Bible, the Psalm provides a vehicle by which those unfairly criticized and persecuted may call out to God for help.
 1 LORD my God, I take refuge in you;
   save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
2 or they will tear me apart like a lion
   and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
LORD my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me. Wonderful words of peace—hiding from one’s enemies in the Lion of Judah, the strong tower.

 3 LORD my God, if I have done this
   and there is guilt on my hands—
4 if I have repaid my ally with evil
   or without cause have robbed my foe—
5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;
   let him trample my life to the ground
   and make me sleep in the dust.
The Psalmist protests his innocence and asks God for protection. (NB, as children of God, we can request his protection even when we are not entirely innocent. And who is?) However, the ESV notes that this Psalm expresses the prayer of the innoncent one suffering from the malice of his enemies.

 6 Arise, LORD, in your anger;
   rise up against the rage of my enemies.
   Awake, my God; decree justice.
7 Let the assembled peoples gather around you,
   while you sit enthroned over them on high.
 8 Let the LORD judge the peoples.
Vindicate me, LORD, according to my righteousness,
   according to my integrity, O Most High.
9 Bring to an end the violence of the wicked
   and make the righteous secure—
you, the righteous God
   who probes minds and hearts.
 10 My shield[d] is God Most High,
   who saves the upright in heart. 
To run behind the shield of God is an option open us to us. And a very safe place it is.

 11 God is a righteous judge, 
   a God who displays his wrath every day. 
12 If he does not relent, 
   he[e] will sharpen his sword; 
   he will bend and string his bow. 
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons; 
   he makes ready his flaming arrows.
 14 Whoever is pregnant with evil
   conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment.
15 Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out
   falls into the pit they have made.
16 The trouble they cause recoils on them;
   their violence comes down on their own heads.
This is so true, both when I have been the one who have dug a hole for someone else, and when people have “dug a hole” for me.

 17 I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness;
   I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High.
And this is what the movement of prayer should be. We lay our requests before God, and then give thanks, and sing praises to him.

My Shield is God Most High. Psalm 7, Day 13, Jan 13,

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My Shield is God Most High

Psalm 7

    A shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning Cush, a Benjamite (who slandered him. According to the ESV Study Bible, the Psalm provides a vehicle by which those unfairly criticized and persecuted may call out to God for help.

 1 LORD my God, I take refuge in you;
   save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
2 or they will tear me apart like a lion
   and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

LORD my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me. Wonderful words of peace—hiding from one’s enemies in the Lion of Judah, the strong tower.

 3 LORD my God, if I have done this
   and there is guilt on my hands—
4 if I have repaid my ally with evil
   or without cause have robbed my foe—
5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;
   let him trample my life to the ground
   and make me sleep in the dust.
The Psalmist protests his innocence and asks God for protection. (NB, as children of God, we can request his protection even when we are not entirely innocent. And who is?) However, the ESV notes that this Psalm expresses the prayer of the innoncent one suffering from the malice of his enemies.


 6 Arise, LORD, in your anger;
   rise up against the rage of my enemies.
   Awake, my God; decree justice.
7 Let the assembled peoples gather around you,
   while you sit enthroned over them on high.
 8 Let the LORD judge the peoples.
Vindicate me, LORD, according to my righteousness,
   according to my integrity, O Most High.
9 Bring to an end the violence of the wicked
   and make the righteous secure—
you, the righteous God
   who probes minds and hearts.

 10 My shield[d] is God Most High,
   who saves the upright in heart. 

To run behind the shield of God is an option open us to us. And a very safe place it is.

 11 God is a righteous judge, 
   a God who displays his wrath every day. 
12 If he does not relent, 
   he[e] will sharpen his sword; 
   he will bend and string his bow. 
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons; 
   he makes ready his flaming arrows.

 14 Whoever is pregnant with evil
   conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment.
15 Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out
   falls into the pit they have made.
16 The trouble they cause recoils on them;
   their violence comes down on their own heads.

This is so true, both when I have been the one who have dug a hole for someone else, and when people have “dug a hole” for me.


 17 I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness;
   I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High.

And this is what the movement of prayer should be. We lay our requests before God, and then give thanks, and sing praises to him.

Angels in the Wilderness, The lingering promise. Genesis 16-18

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Carel Fabritis, Hagar and the Angel


Genesis 16
 1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
Attempts to take your destiny into your own hands without checking with God are very likely to be disastrous.
But what a hard counsel “Wait and be patient” is.
Oh, this sounds eerily and scarily familiar. Sarah getting impatient. Taking matters into her own hands.
When one has heard from God, the challenge is then to do what you hear him say. Even if all that you can do is wait. And pray.
“They also serve who only stand and wait.” John Milton.   

   Abram agreed to what Sarai said.
An impatient, dominant female, a pliant male. Patriarchs and matriarchs of the faith. Hope for us all!!

 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
   When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.
A woman’s worth equated with her sexuality, fertility (and age?) There is nothing new under the sun.
The human solution to Sarah’s barrenness creates new problems.

 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me.”
 6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
The weak male, the vengeful female. A mess! A not infrequent state of affairs.
Hagar, both sinner and sinned against. As Sarah was in this case. Be careful before you take sides.

 7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
   “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.
 9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
Take a deep breath, Hagar. You too are under God’s protection and blessing.
The goodness of God is part of his very nature.
A theophany. NIV: “Traditional Christian interpretation has held that this “angel” was a preincarnate manifestation of Christ as God’s messenger-servant.

 11 The angel of the LORD also said to her:
   “You are now pregnant
   and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
   for the LORD has heard of your misery. 
Ishmael means God hears. God has observed Sarah’s harsh treatment of Hagar.

12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; 
God’s promise. Ishmael will be strongly independent. He will not need to submit to masters.

   his hand will be against everyone
   and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
   toward all his brothers.”
 13 She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
The Lord hears. The Lord sees.
There is a lot of comfort in this. The Lord sees, the Lord hears.
Do not be afraid of the desert. You are more likely than not to encounter angels there.

 15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Genesis 17
 1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty;
The Hebrew is El-Shaddai, God the Mountain One. The name emphasized God’s power which will enable Sarah to conceive Isaac.

walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”
The language echoes what was promised to Adam and Noah. God’s original design for humanity will be achieved through Abraham.
The delayed promise. This is such sad and heartbreaking reading, yet who of us has not experienced it.  God promises, and promises, and promises, and you know in your heart that his promises are true, but you do not see it with your eyes.
Lifting weights increases one’s strength. Exercising faith increases one’s faith. Faith was Abraham’s instinctive spiritual gift, but this long wait in faith strengthens it.

 3 Abram fell facedown,
in reverence

and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”
Brilliant words. Though to a man of lesser faith, they could have seemed mockery. You, the father of no legitimate child, will be the father of many nations. You will be very fruitful.
Fruitfulness. That’s another of the blessings of Abraham, that we, children of Abraham because of our faith, can claim. And I do. Bless me with the fruitfulness which is part of your nature, Lord, and part of the nature of the world which you have created.
A new destiny, and a new name marking his new identity as a servant of God. Abraham means father of a multitude.

 9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
God is preparing the ground for the fulfilment of his promise.
Almost a unilateral covenant with just one requirement—that of circumcision.

 15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
 17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”
Abraham loves God, but he is finding it increasingly hard to believe him. He is offering him an alternative, almost saving God’s face.

 19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 
Let no one accuse God of not having a sense of humour. God hears Abraham’s laughter, and promises him a son called Isaac, “He laughs!”
God’s blessing of fruitfulness.

20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 
Why did God bless Ishmael? Partly because Abraham asked him to. Never estimate the enormous power of praying for our children.

21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.
And what has Isaac, who is yet unborn, done to merit the covenant which will be established with him, rather than with his brother? Precisely nothing!!
Romans 9:15 “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

 23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. 27 And every male in Abraham’s household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.
Quick obedience characterizes the heroes of the faith. Indeed, the demands of faith are often costly, so if you do not obey promptly, you risk not obeying at all.

Genesis 18
 1 The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 
One of the great theophanies of the New Testament.

2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
 3 He said, “If I have found favour in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”
   “Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”
 6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”
 7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.
Generous lavish hospitality—a trait of the one God blessed. It is instructive to see how those God blesses, who live under his favour, behave.

 9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.
   “There, in the tent,” he said.
 10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”
   Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
 13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
 15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”
   But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
Sarah did not believe. However, in the Lord’s goodness, she was punished neither for her disbelief not for her lie.
Instead, she received a wonderful, further revelation of the nature of God.
God asks her. IS ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR THE LORD?
And this, thank God, is a rhetorical question.
NOTHING IS TOO HARD FOR THE LORD.
Stop now and contemplate your life, and its perceived impossibilities.
 Nothing is too hard for the Lord.

Angels in the Wilderness, The lingering promise. Genesis 16-18

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Carel Fabritis, Hagar and the Angel


Genesis 16

 1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”

Attempts to take your destiny into your own hands without checking with God are very likely to be disastrous.

But what a hard counsel “Wait and be patient” is.

Oh, this sounds eerily and scarily familiar. Sarah getting impatient. Taking matters into her own hands.

When one has heard from God, the challenge is then to do what you hear him say. Even if all that you can do is wait. And pray.

“They also serve who only stand and wait.” John Milton.   


   Abram agreed to what Sarai said.

An impatient, dominant female, a pliant male. Patriarchs and matriarchs of the faith. Hope for us all!!


 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.

   When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.

A woman’s worth equated with her sexuality, fertility (and age?) There is nothing new under the sun.

The human solution to Sarah’s barrenness creates new problems.


 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me.”

 6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

The weak male, the vengeful female. A mess! A not infrequent state of affairs.

Hagar, both sinner and sinned against. As Sarah was in this case. Be careful before you take sides.

 7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

   “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

 9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”

Take a deep breath, Hagar. You too are under God’s protection and blessing.

The goodness of God is part of his very nature.

A theophany. NIV: “Traditional Christian interpretation has held that this “angel” was a preincarnate manifestation of Christ as God’s messenger-servant.


 11 The angel of the LORD also said to her:

   “You are now pregnant
   and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
   for the LORD has heard of your misery. 

Ishmael means God hears. God has observed Sarah’s harsh treatment of Hagar.


12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; 

God’s promise. Ishmael will be strongly independent. He will not need to submit to masters.

   his hand will be against everyone
   and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
   toward all his brothers.”

 13 She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

The Lord hears. The Lord sees.

There is a lot of comfort in this. The Lord sees, the Lord hears.

Do not be afraid of the desert. You are more likely than not to encounter angels there.


 15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

Genesis 17

 1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty;

The Hebrew is El-Shaddai, God the Mountain One. The name emphasized God’s power which will enable Sarah to conceive Isaac.


walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

The language echoes what was promised to Adam and Noah. God’s original design for humanity will be achieved through Abraham.

The delayed promise. This is such sad and heartbreaking reading, yet who of us has not experienced it.  God promises, and promises, and promises, and you know in your heart that his promises are true, but you do not see it with your eyes.

Lifting weights increases one’s strength. Exercising faith increases one’s faith. Faith was Abraham’s instinctive spiritual gift, but this long wait in faith strengthens it.


 3 Abram fell facedown,

in reverence


and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

Brilliant words. Though to a man of lesser faith, they could have seemed mockery. You, the father of no legitimate child, will be the father of many nations. You will be very fruitful.

Fruitfulness. That’s another of the blessings of Abraham, that we, children of Abraham because of our faith, can claim. And I do. Bless me with the fruitfulness which is part of your nature, Lord, and part of the nature of the world which you have created.

A new destiny, and a new name marking his new identity as a servant of God. Abraham means father of a multitude.


 9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

God is preparing the ground for the fulfilment of his promise.

Almost a unilateral covenant with just one requirement—that of circumcision.


 15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

 17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

Abraham loves God, but he is finding it increasingly hard to believe him. He is offering him an alternative, almost saving God’s face.


 19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 

Let no one accuse God of not having a sense of humour. God hears Abraham’s laughter, and promises him a son called Isaac, “He laughs!”

God’s blessing of fruitfulness.


20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 

Why did God bless Ishmael? Partly because Abraham asked him to. Never estimate the enormous power of praying for our children.


21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

And what has Isaac, who is yet unborn, done to merit the covenant which will be established with him, rather than with his brother? Precisely nothing!!

Romans 9:15 “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”


 23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. 27 And every male in Abraham’s household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

Quick obedience characterizes the heroes of the faith. Indeed, the demands of faith are often costly, so if you do not obey promptly, you risk not obeying at all.


Genesis 18

 1 The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 

One of the great theophanies of the New Testament.


2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

 3 He said, “If I have found favour in your eyes, my lord,do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”

   “Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”

 6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”

 7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

Generous lavish hospitality—a trait of the one God blessed. It is instructive to see how those God blesses, who live under his favour, behave.


 9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.

   “There, in the tent,” he said.

 10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

   Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

 13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

 15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”

   But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

Sarah did not believe. However, in the Lord’s goodness, she was punished neither for her disbelief not for her lie.

Instead, she received a wonderful, further revelation of the nature of God.

God asks her. IS ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR THE LORD?

And this, thank God, is a rhetorical question.

NOTHING IS TOO HARD FOR THE LORD.

Stop now and contemplate your life, and its perceived impossibilities.

 Nothing is too hard for the Lord.

The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, Day 12, Jan 12,

By

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY



    27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’[e] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 
Jesus focuses not on the law, but on the heart of the law.

29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
The absolute seriousness of sin. How lightly we can take it. And how seriously Jesus took it.

    31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’[f] 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
There is a lot to be said for Jesus’s hard line on divorce. People can change, people are infinitely redeemable. Many people who have stuck it out are now so glad they did, including we ourselves.
However, the unhappiness in an unhappy marriage is extreme, and so I am so glad that Jesus is the law-giver in these situations, not I.

    33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfil to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
The integrity of our characters should be such that our word is enough without our needing to take God’s name lightly.

    38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[h] 
We are reaching the sublime core of the Sermon on the Mount.
“An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind,” was Mahatma Gandhi’s comment on this.

39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person.
I keep coming across the saying of Jesus with a fresh sense of revelation. What? What?
I have so often thought it my duty to resist evil, because otherwise evil merely increases.
And what happens when evil becomes more evil? Extreme evil has a limited shelf-life because it is so contrary to God’s nature. Eventually, since evil is destructiveness, extreme evil destroys itself. Look at
Sodom, Gomorrah, Nero, Hitler, Stalin, Jim Jomes, David Koresh.
And on a micro-level? Well, evil people often do self-destruct.
And they are functioning under the eye of God who will keep their ability to do harm within limits.
And who will definitely bring immense good out of their evil intentions and attempts.
Confrontations take a huge amount of energy. When they are necessary, they should be embarked upon with gentleness.

If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.
If someone is taking advantage of you, let them.
You can only do this if you are convinced that you are under God’s eye, and he’s got it in control.
Whatever you do, be gentle. Whether you bow down to escalating demands or resist them, be gentle.

  42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
Live under the powerful eyes of God. Be gentle, be generous.
I now view these as a general principle: Be generous, rather than a specific directive.

    43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
“Hate your enemy”–contains the certain seeds of spiritual destruction. In fact, one’s spiritual disciplines, I think, should contain an examination of this—is there hatred in my heart? And then we need immediate treatment—prayer for the Holy Spirit to bathe, soothe and soften one’s heart.

 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven.
“Love your enemies”—a level of perfection I have not reached. The only thing that melts my heart towards my enemies is to visualize Jesus standing before my enemies, seeing them as they are, seeing the fragilities, weaknesses, pain, facades, pretence, wounds. And in a flash, I see something of what he sees, and my hatred and resentment begins to crumble.
“Pray for those who persecute you” is another very hard saying. However, one needs to do this for the sake of your own heart.
I love the fact of our Sonship and daughtership. That we are children of God.
“That you may be the children of your Father in heaven.” It sounds conditional. We are children of our heavenly Father, whether prodigals in a far country, or tasting all the abundance of his household. However, when we behave like him, we are truly his children, under his protection, drinking from his wells of rejoicing.


He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 
By treating even our enemies graciously, we share the very nature of God, who treats the good and the evil with equal goodness—because that is his very nature.

46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Jesus asks higher standards of us than merely being nice to those who are nice to us. He asks us to be absolutely perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.
Again, this is probably a rhetorical device. Give sin no quarter just as your heavenly Father has nothing to do with sin. Do not voluntarily continue in sin, just as your heavenly Father does not continue in sin.  



 20 Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,
   she raises her voice in the public square;
21 on top of the wall[d] she cries out,
   at the city gate she makes her speech:

 22 “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways?
   How long will mockers delight in mockery
   and fools hate knowledge?
23 Repent at my rebuke!
   Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,
   I will make known to you my teachings. 

24 But since you refuse to listen when I call
   and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,
25 since you disregard all my advice
   and do not accept my rebuke,
26 I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you;
   I will mock when calamity overtakes you—
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
   when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
   when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
 28 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
   they will look for me but will not find me,
29 since they hated knowledge
   and did not choose to fear the LORD.
30 Since they would not accept my advice
   and spurned my rebuke,
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
   and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
   and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
   and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
Wisdom promises that those who follow her counsel (follow the counsel of the Spirit of God) will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
Not heeding the wisdom of God conversely, can open you up to calamity, distress, trouble, and disaster. And this is true!!
The essence of wisdom in Proverbs is the fear of the Lord.

The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, Day 12, Jan 12,

By

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY



    27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’[e] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 

Jesus focuses not on the law, but on the heart of the law.


29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

The absolute seriousness of sin. How lightly we can take it. And how seriously Jesus took it.


    31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’[f] 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

There is a lot to be said for Jesus’s hard line on divorce. People can change, people are infinitely redeemable. Many people who have stuck it out are now so glad they did, including we ourselves.

However, the unhappiness in an unhappy marriage is extreme, and so I am so glad that Jesus is the law-giver in these situations, not I.


    33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfil to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

The integrity of our characters should be such that our word is enough without our needing to take God’s name lightly.


    38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[h] 

We are reaching the sublime core of the Sermon on the Mount.

“An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind,” was Mahatma Gandhi’s comment on this.


39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person.

I keep coming across the saying of Jesus with a fresh sense of revelation. What? What?

I have so often thought it my duty to resist evil, because otherwise evil merely increases.

And what happens when evil becomes more evil? Extreme evil has a limited shelf-life because it is so contrary to God’s nature. Eventually, since evil is destructiveness, extreme evil destroys itself. Look at

Sodom, Gomorrah, Nero, Hitler, Stalin, Jim Jomes, David Koresh.

And on a micro-level? Well, evil people often do self-destruct.

And they are functioning under the eye of God who will keep their ability to do harm within limits.

And who will definitely bring immense good out of their evil intentions and attempts.

Confrontations take a huge amount of energy. When they are necessary, they should be embarked upon with gentleness.


If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.

If someone is taking advantage of you, let them.

You can only do this if you are convinced that you are under God’s eye, and he’s got it in control.

Whatever you do, be gentle. Whether you bow down to escalating demands or resist them, be gentle.


  42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Live under the powerful eyes of God. Be gentle, be generous.

I now view these as a general principle: Be generous, rather than a specific directive.


    43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

“Hate your enemy”–contains the certain seeds of spiritual destruction. In fact, one’s spiritual disciplines, I think, should contain an examination of this—is there hatred in my heart? And then we need immediate treatment—prayer for the Holy Spirit to bathe, soothe and soften one’s heart.


 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven.

“Love your enemies”—a level of perfection I have not reached. The only thing that melts my heart towards my enemies is to visualize Jesus standing before my enemies, seeing them as they are, seeing the fragilities, weaknesses, pain, facades, pretence, wounds. And in a flash, I see something of what he sees, and my hatred and resentment begins to crumble.

“Pray for those who persecute you” is another very hard saying. However, one needs to do this for the sake of your own heart.

I love the fact of our Sonship and daughtership. That we are children of God.

“That you may be the children of your Father in heaven.” It sounds conditional. We are children of our heavenly Father, whether prodigals in a far country, or tasting all the abundance of his household. However, when we behave like him, we are truly his children, under his protection, drinking from his wells of rejoicing.



He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 

By treating even our enemies graciously, we share the very nature of God, who treats the good and the evil with equal goodness—because that is his very nature.


46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Jesus asks higher standards of us than merely being nice to those who are nice to us. He asks us to be absolutely perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.

Again, this is probably a rhetorical device. Give sin no quarter just as your heavenly Father has nothing to do with sin. Do not voluntarily continue in sin, just as your heavenly Father does not continue in sin.  



 20 Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,
   she raises her voice in the public square;
21 on top of the wall[d] she cries out,
   at the city gate she makes her speech:

 22 “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways?
   How long will mockers delight in mockery
   and fools hate knowledge?
23 Repent at my rebuke!
   Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,
   I will make known to you my teachings. 


24 But since you refuse to listen when I call
   and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,
25 since you disregard all my advice
   and do not accept my rebuke,
26 I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you;
   I will mock when calamity overtakes you—
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
   when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
   when distress and trouble overwhelm you.

 28 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
   they will look for me but will not find me,
29 since they hated knowledge
   and did not choose to fear the LORD.
30 Since they would not accept my advice
   and spurned my rebuke,
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
   and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
   and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
   and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

Wisdom promises that those who follow her counsel (follow the counsel of the Spirit of God) will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

Not heeding the wisdom of God conversely, can open you up to calamity, distress, trouble, and disaster. And this is true!!

The essence of wisdom in Proverbs is the fear of the Lord.

Wikio

Psalm 6. Both sinners and the righteous bounce back after prayer. Day 11, Jan 11

By

Gerrit van Honthorst
David


Psalm 6
Traditionally “a Penitential Psalm.”

 A Psalm of David.
 1 LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
   or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint;
   heal me, LORD, for my bones are in agony.
3 My soul is in deep anguish.
   How long, LORD, how long?
 4 Turn, LORD, and deliver me;
   save me because of your unfailing love.
5 Among the dead no one proclaims your name.
   Who praises you from the grave?
 6 I am worn out from my groaning.
  All night long I flood my bed with weeping
   and drench my couch with tears. 
David has sinned, and he is suffering. He is faint, in anguish, in agony, groaning and weeping. He asks God not to rebuke him or discipline him, but instead to have mercy on him. Why? Because of God’s very nature, his goodness and kindness. Hesed, in Hebrew.

7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
   they fail because of all my foes.
His enemies have brought him much sorrow. Note: One can be a man after God’s own heart, and still experience much sorrow because of your enemies.

 8 Away from me, all you who do evil,
   for the LORD has heard my weeping.
9 The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;
   the LORD accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish;
   they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.

I love how David bounces back after he prays.
This is the astounding movement of the Psalms which mirrors the movement and motions our soul goes through when we pray.
God hears our cry for mercy. He accepts our prayer. We know things are going to change. We know God has heard our prayer and is going to bless us.
There is a reversal. The Lord has heard the Psalmists’ prayer for blessing. His enemies will be troubled, as he was troubled. 
No one can hurt the soul of the one whom God loves. Through prayer, he will use reverses to strengthen himself, to grow more calm and peaceful.