Controlling the Present, Managing the Past, Agreeing to a Future
A. Don’t Partner with Present Devils:
You will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living,
B. Leave the Devils of the Past in the Past:
Make sure that you do not take my son back there,"
C. Covenant for a Future Promise.
"Put your hand under my thigh. 3 I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth,
Genesis 24: 1- 9
1 Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. 2 He said to the chief [a] servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, "Put your hand under my thigh. 3 I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac."
5 The servant asked him, "What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?"
6 "Make sure that you do not take my son back there," Abraham said. 7 "The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father's household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, 'To your offspring [b] I will give this land'-he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. 8 If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there." 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.
I want to speak to you today about Controlling the Present, Managing the Past, Agreeing to a Future.
Every adult life has a present context that is rooted in the past. It is lived out in the present and should have a future hope. We all have victories and most of us have regret as well. We have things within ourselves that we are proud of and things that we are ashamed of. This holds true for our family heritage and our own personal sin propensities. What in Spiritual Warfare realm we call familiar spirits. Abraham takes control of these issues over his life. I believe he provides us with a wise pattern to follow in regards to living life within time.
I know that the Apostle Paul said forgetting that which is behind I press on to the high calling in Christ Jesus, but he also said I am a Hebrew of Hebrews of the tribe of Benjamin. He also exercised his present Roman citizenship when it was necessary. He controlled his present, managed his past, and was believing for a agreed future.
Abraham’s primary admonishment of his chief servant was that he not allow his son Isaac, or Laughter, to take a wife from among the Canaanites. The Canaanites of Abraham’s generation were a wicked people. This is the region of the world that gave rise to Sodom. Then, as now, kingdoms cultures affected one another.
Abraham’s people were not exempt from these sins either. They too were idolatrous and sinful. So why would Abraham send his servant back to his home, where the people were idol worshipers to get his son a wife? I hope we will track with me for a few minutes!!!! Because he was familiar with their spirit, he knew what his son would have to deal with. He was managing his past. Remember he said to his servant. “do not take my son back there!!!”
Principles to grasp from passage:
1. Don’t Partner with Present Devils
There are strong devils in the world we live in that our children should not be partnered to. “Do not let my son take a wife from among the Canaanites”
The Canaanites represent a present devil in the life of Abraham.
He would not partner with them.
As Christians we have to control influences in our lives and especially the lives of our children. This is absolutely possible. I am raising 7 children. We have never had cable TV in my home. My children have not died. We have some game systems but we control them. There are Canaanites in the Land. We can not be ignorant of the Devil’s devices.
I have a number of friends who are Liberian living in America. They have always been familiar with the spiritual realm around them. However, when they bring their children up in America they find they are dealing with a new kind of devil. Their children are exposed to things that they are not familiar with when they partner with the American devil, suddenly they are in the bondage of sin.
We have to protect our children from Canaanites. These are devils of the present, they are unfamiliar to us and will remain so if we do not partner with them. What I mean is that if we do not partake of the sin we will remain innocent of its fruit. I don't understand the high of heroin because I have never taken it for example.
2. Leave the Devils of the Past in the Past:
Abraham knew his own people and he dealt with the devil he knew
Familiar spirits are attached to generations of believers. The same spirit of lust that was on David was on his son Solomon. Isaac patterns of behavior of very similar to Abraham’s. Please do not despair. We have the victory.
If the devil is familiar with you and your family, can I say to you that you should be familiar with the devil attached to your family. If they have knowledge of you, praise the Lord you can have knowledge of them. Abraham said my son can have familiarity with the past of my family but just so much. I can bring the past in my family to be a blessing to my son but the curse is not following. “Don’t take my son into the land of idolatry” but bring the blessing of my line out of the past for my son. Glory to God!!!
I see there are patterns in my family that have devils attached to them that are unfamiliar to my children. Patterns of violence that took route from a WWII father who suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that may their way into my brother who then taught them to me. When you are in war violence is a strength; but when you hold your son by the neck against the wall because you are seeing a war the no longer exist, you have a devil attached to you. That son then will teach his son patterns of violence and the devils influence will perpetuate itself. Unless the Lord says, “come out from among them” “I am showing you a new land” a new way of being, a land where you will not teach war any more. I was taught to fight, but I did not teach my children. Why? Because I was breaking a generational pattern over their lives, as parents we can manage what we bring from our heritage to our children. Abraham is showing us how.
I could provide you with other illustrations of how sexual sin and addictions have also been defeated and broken off in our family line. It is time for us to manage our past. It is time to be set apart. That is what being Holy means. To be set apart. Let’s set our own lives and the lives of our children apart.
We can manage our past. We have a servant who goes before us. He is not like Abraham’s servant, He is a servant that is tempted in all was like we are but yet without sin. He is a servant at is the same yesterday today and forever. He is a servant that has victory in the past, present and future. He is the Alpha and Omega. He is Jesus. Amen!!!
3. Covenant for a Future Promise.
Abraham had his servant place his hand underneath his thigh. It was a covenantal act. He was giving his word. Abraham was old and dieing. He could not withhold wages, and entice by offering a bribe. He could only appeal to the man’s Love and integrity.
We have a covenant keeper who has made agreement with us by shedding his own blood. He said I can take your sin and remove it as far as the east is from the west. Your children do not need to know the sin of your past. You need not share it with them or expose it to them. However you should daily share a future hope, a future blessing, a promise of a resurrection of life and eternity. Yes also promise for fellowship with the living God in this life, a promise of a God that is for us and not against us, the promise of a God who is good to us even when we are powerless. Amen, A God who will help us Control the Present, Manage the Past, and has agree to give us a Glorious Future
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Monday, November 9, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Sarah's Holy Laugter II
The Birth of Isaac
1 Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac [a] to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." 7 And she added, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."
I have come to appreciate and admire the Life of Sarah a great deal. She is an awesome woman of God. Whether it is willing sacrificing her life for her husbands to the King of Egypt, in a very Esther like commitment, or standing with her husband on a 25 year promise, she is a woman of Faith. Hebrews 11:11 says “By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.” Sarah has the greater part of the faith walk that brings forth Isaac. My aged and wise mother often remarks about the connection between a woman’s pregnancy and the disposition of a child. Isaac is a child of joy. His name means laughter. I have put together an acronym below to detail the blessing and the commitment associated with the birth of Isaac. I hope it will provide some insight for you in regards to this tremendous woman and the character of God as well
L. Long-awaited
A. Acknowledgement of Faith
U. Understands the Impossibility of the Promise (verse 6)
G. Give pleasure to God
H. Honors those that stood with you in Faith
T. Treated as Holy (verse 4)
E. Eliminates Previous Mistakes
R. Remembers the Covenant Gen 17:19
Last time we left off with talking about how Sarah understood in her heart the impossibility of God’s promise. But she had waited, her faith was acknowledged and she believed in an impossible promise because it was made by God.
G. Gives Pleasure to God
That leads us the G. in our acronym. It gives God pleasure. God is so good so faithful, so loving, why don’t I want to just please him more. He is a God who has made us in His emotional image. He experiences sadness, grief, joy, excitement, anger. He is not detached because he is all knowing. He is passionate because he knows what he has made us to be. When we conform to his design it gives him pleasure. I feel like I need to take a few moments to support my above statements with scripture, but let’s limit our search to the topic at hand. Giving God pleasure;
1 Chronicles 29:17 (New International Version)
17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity.
We see here that God is please with integrity.
Hebrews 11:5 (New International Version)
5By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
In this case God was so pleased with the life of Enoch that we simply graduated their fellowship to heaven.
In the case of Sarah, God was please that she was willing. He was pleased that even as an old woman she desired to bless her husband and the community with a son. A son called laughter. (Isaac means laughter) He was pleased that she did not dismiss the promise even though it was long awaited.
Honors those that stood with you in Faith
Sarah said, “Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me” You absolutely know that Sarah had her detractors. Whenever you share a promise you have from God you risk ridicule. I remember when I was just a Four Square Deacon a man asked me what I thought the Lord wanted to do with our ministry. I told him that I thought we were to plant many churches throughout New England, especially targeting urban communities. In very a condescending tone he said “oohhh Apostle Don” The words stung. But by God’s grace we are working on 4th and 5th church plants.
Others, the majority in fact, were very encouraging to us, providing prayer and finances and coming to our meetings whenever they could. I look forward to laughing with them when God is close to finishing the work He has began with us. I can see friends of Abraham and Sarah exaggerating their new names. Sarahhhhh not Sarie. Abrahammm not Abram. They were reinforces of Faith in the promise.
T. Treated as Holy
Sarah was quick to have her baby circumcised. Yes Abraham had a little to do with it to. Our focus today is on the Mother of the Faithful not the Father. In our casual society we have lost much of the power of ritual and celebration. We don’t understand sacred times as we should. Sarah understood that her baby boy belong to God, that his supernatural conception was a message to the world, “the fulfillment of my promises means Joy to the World.”
It is a quote from the Spirit of God to my Spirit, it is not Holy writ but it is true. Friend do you see it, do you feel it. The fulfillment of the promise of a boy named laughter is the precursor to the promise of a boy named Savior (Jesus) a supernatural conception in an old women named Sarah paved the way for the promise to young women named Mary.
Luke 1:46-56 (New International Version)
Mary's Song
46And Mary said:
"My soul glorifies the Lord
47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
Sarah treated the boy as Holy, because he was Holy. To this day we Worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the people of the world are blessed through them. Glory!!!!
E. Eliminates Previous Mistakes
You know God is patient. Psalm 103 says that he does not deal with us as our sins deserve. The Hagar, Ishmael situation is an example of men taking a promise of God into their own hands and reaping a consequence. It was sin. However let us recognize a few things. Conception is in the hands of God. God wove Ishmael together in the secret place of Hagar womb. He protected the mother and the child when they could have died of thirst in the desert and he promised Abraham that Ishmael would be the head of 12 rulers. These are promises God has kept. The children of Ishmael have been a blessing to the world, in art, culture, and philosophy. They have also been at War as the Lord predicted. In regards to Sarah her enemy the living epistle of her error was taken care of, she no longer had to deal with Hagar or Ishmael. Please read their story in Genesis 21.
If you are Faithful and Honest, God will repair your mistakes as well. He will restore the years the Locust (of our own making) have eaten up. Joel 2.
R. Remembers the Covenant Gen 17:19
Genesis 17:19 (New International Version)
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.
Sarah heard this promise. She now knew that God had kept his promise. It was a covenant not a contract. In this case whose maker and sustainer was God himself. God is not a man that he should lie, but he keeps his promise for generations to those who are faithful to him.
1 Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac [a] to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." 7 And she added, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."
I have come to appreciate and admire the Life of Sarah a great deal. She is an awesome woman of God. Whether it is willing sacrificing her life for her husbands to the King of Egypt, in a very Esther like commitment, or standing with her husband on a 25 year promise, she is a woman of Faith. Hebrews 11:11 says “By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.” Sarah has the greater part of the faith walk that brings forth Isaac. My aged and wise mother often remarks about the connection between a woman’s pregnancy and the disposition of a child. Isaac is a child of joy. His name means laughter. I have put together an acronym below to detail the blessing and the commitment associated with the birth of Isaac. I hope it will provide some insight for you in regards to this tremendous woman and the character of God as well
L. Long-awaited
A. Acknowledgement of Faith
U. Understands the Impossibility of the Promise (verse 6)
G. Give pleasure to God
H. Honors those that stood with you in Faith
T. Treated as Holy (verse 4)
E. Eliminates Previous Mistakes
R. Remembers the Covenant Gen 17:19
Last time we left off with talking about how Sarah understood in her heart the impossibility of God’s promise. But she had waited, her faith was acknowledged and she believed in an impossible promise because it was made by God.
G. Gives Pleasure to God
That leads us the G. in our acronym. It gives God pleasure. God is so good so faithful, so loving, why don’t I want to just please him more. He is a God who has made us in His emotional image. He experiences sadness, grief, joy, excitement, anger. He is not detached because he is all knowing. He is passionate because he knows what he has made us to be. When we conform to his design it gives him pleasure. I feel like I need to take a few moments to support my above statements with scripture, but let’s limit our search to the topic at hand. Giving God pleasure;
1 Chronicles 29:17 (New International Version)
17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity.
We see here that God is please with integrity.
Hebrews 11:5 (New International Version)
5By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
In this case God was so pleased with the life of Enoch that we simply graduated their fellowship to heaven.
In the case of Sarah, God was please that she was willing. He was pleased that even as an old woman she desired to bless her husband and the community with a son. A son called laughter. (Isaac means laughter) He was pleased that she did not dismiss the promise even though it was long awaited.
Honors those that stood with you in Faith
Sarah said, “Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me” You absolutely know that Sarah had her detractors. Whenever you share a promise you have from God you risk ridicule. I remember when I was just a Four Square Deacon a man asked me what I thought the Lord wanted to do with our ministry. I told him that I thought we were to plant many churches throughout New England, especially targeting urban communities. In very a condescending tone he said “oohhh Apostle Don” The words stung. But by God’s grace we are working on 4th and 5th church plants.
Others, the majority in fact, were very encouraging to us, providing prayer and finances and coming to our meetings whenever they could. I look forward to laughing with them when God is close to finishing the work He has began with us. I can see friends of Abraham and Sarah exaggerating their new names. Sarahhhhh not Sarie. Abrahammm not Abram. They were reinforces of Faith in the promise.
T. Treated as Holy
Sarah was quick to have her baby circumcised. Yes Abraham had a little to do with it to. Our focus today is on the Mother of the Faithful not the Father. In our casual society we have lost much of the power of ritual and celebration. We don’t understand sacred times as we should. Sarah understood that her baby boy belong to God, that his supernatural conception was a message to the world, “the fulfillment of my promises means Joy to the World.”
It is a quote from the Spirit of God to my Spirit, it is not Holy writ but it is true. Friend do you see it, do you feel it. The fulfillment of the promise of a boy named laughter is the precursor to the promise of a boy named Savior (Jesus) a supernatural conception in an old women named Sarah paved the way for the promise to young women named Mary.
Luke 1:46-56 (New International Version)
Mary's Song
46And Mary said:
"My soul glorifies the Lord
47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
Sarah treated the boy as Holy, because he was Holy. To this day we Worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the people of the world are blessed through them. Glory!!!!
E. Eliminates Previous Mistakes
You know God is patient. Psalm 103 says that he does not deal with us as our sins deserve. The Hagar, Ishmael situation is an example of men taking a promise of God into their own hands and reaping a consequence. It was sin. However let us recognize a few things. Conception is in the hands of God. God wove Ishmael together in the secret place of Hagar womb. He protected the mother and the child when they could have died of thirst in the desert and he promised Abraham that Ishmael would be the head of 12 rulers. These are promises God has kept. The children of Ishmael have been a blessing to the world, in art, culture, and philosophy. They have also been at War as the Lord predicted. In regards to Sarah her enemy the living epistle of her error was taken care of, she no longer had to deal with Hagar or Ishmael. Please read their story in Genesis 21.
If you are Faithful and Honest, God will repair your mistakes as well. He will restore the years the Locust (of our own making) have eaten up. Joel 2.
R. Remembers the Covenant Gen 17:19
Genesis 17:19 (New International Version)
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.
Sarah heard this promise. She now knew that God had kept his promise. It was a covenant not a contract. In this case whose maker and sustainer was God himself. God is not a man that he should lie, but he keeps his promise for generations to those who are faithful to him.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Sarah's Holy Laughter Part 1
Genesis 21: Sarah's Holy Laughter
The Birth of Isaac
1 Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac [a] to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." 7 And she added, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."
I have come to appreciate and admire the Life of Sarah a great deal. She is an awesome woman of God. Whether it is willing sacrificing her life for her husbands to the King of Egypt, in a very Esther like commitment, or standing with her husband on a 25 year promise, she is a woman of Faith. Hebrews 11:11 says “By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.” Sarah has the greater part of the faith walk that brings forth Isaac. She carriers the child doesn’t she? My aged and wise mother often remarks about the connection between a woman’s pregnancy and the disposition of a child. Isaac is a child of joy. His name means laughter. I have put together an acronym below to detail the blessing and the commitment associated with the birth of Isaac. I hope it will provide some insight for you in regards to this tremendous woman and the character of God as well
L. Long-awaited
A. Acknowledgement of Faith
U. Understands the Impossibility of the Promise (verse 6)
G. Give pleasure to God
H. Honors those that stood with you in Faith
T. Treated as Holy (verse 4)
E. Eliminates Previous Mistakes
R. Remembers the Covenant Gen 17:19
L Long-awaited Promise:
The main character of Sarah’s promise is that it was long awaited. 25 years in fact. When I asked my congregation this question this message suddenly became very heavy, but I ask you the question anyway.
What long awaited promises do you have from the Lord that you are waiting for?
Do they grow dim as the years pass?
What has the Lord said to you?
I am not asking what you desire; I am asking what you know. Do you have an experience with the Lord in which you know in your knower that God has spoken to you about a promise, I pray you do!!! When we speak of a personal relationship with Christ, it is this level of communication that we are speaking about. Anything else is shallow religion. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice.”
Does the pressure of the promise keep you awake?
Does it have a social context associated with honor or shame as Sarah’s promise did?
It is difficult for us to understand in a modern culture the pressure placed on a women of her time to have a child. Even as a write this I am reminded of the women I know that suffer because they can not have children. The difference is that barrenness in our day is a private pain, but then it was a community shame.
Yet by faith Abram goes from being exalted father the father of nations, Abraham. Sarai, princess, becomes, Sarah, the princess of nations. The Promise is fulfilled and laughter is their portion.
A. Acknowledgement of Faith
When a promise is fulfilled it is an acknowledgement of faith. It demonstrates that God is with you and that you “weren’t crazy after all.
I feel I must take some time her to share the testimony of my family and God’s work in it. As a brave 29 year old man, I married a women recently divorced with 3 teenage daughters. Lora 16, Becky 14 and Melissa 12, I had two sons from a previous marriage, David then 5 and Brian 2. That is five and that is a lot. But after two years my wife wanted us to have a child together. Although I resisted at first, I consented to her having an operation that had some risk in itself and some risk if she were to conceive in the future. Two years after the operation to reverse Diane burned fallopian tubes she had not conceived. She was led to go on a 14 day water fast, as Hannah had. God honored that fast with the conception of John. We would find out three months into her pregnancy that John had down syndrome. When he was born he had to have several intestinal operations. Diane felt like she had failed to give me a healthy son. I was then and always have been delighted in our son John.
Our church, family, and friends were delighted in John. Diane was 37 at the time.
Then God began to give us names. I would wake up with a name; she would wake up with a name. In succession each before they were conceived God gave us the names of Daniel, Deborah, Timothy, and Emily. We became so confident in the voice of God that when we went home after the birth of Timothy we said to the mid-wife see you in 1 ½ years with Emily. God was faithful.
Yet there is a painful side to this story as well. I have never made good money as a social worker or minister. My wife was now 43. Many in the church no longer celebrated with us. Some family ridiculed us. We stopped sharing the joy we felt at the conception of our children with others.
It would take a few years but God would acknowledge our faith and finally others would laugh with us.
God provided us with a home. When we moved in we paid $85,000. When it was appraised at the time it was worth $450,000. It has 5 bedroom two baths and a large back yard. We had previously been squeezed into a three bedroom apartment in which my wife and I slept on a twin bed because the bedroom would not fit a full sized bed.
God had publicly acknowledged our faith. It makes me laugh out loud even now.
Stand on the Promises that you have from God. You will grow weary but do grow faint of heart. You may even bring forth and Ishmael in the process but remember, even Ishmael was blessed of God. The Lord knows our frailties and he will see us through them.
Understanding the Impossibility of the Promise
Have you ever been a witness to the tenderness of and elderly couple’s intimacy? The holding of hands, the soft look, if you have, you have beheld something beautiful. Abraham and Sarah were old. Not old and dieing but old in body and disposition.
By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he[a]considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
Hebrews 11: says they were as good as dead. . I believe this is a reference the Abraham’s sexual functioning. I can imagine them tenderly going to their bed chamber. A bedchamber that had not known pleasure likely for many years, yet, by faith, knowing the impossibility of the promise, they walk together to the marital chamber and were blessed with potency, pleasure, and a person named laughter.
What has God made impossible for you to obtain? For me it was a house to raise my children. Yes, I could have changed jobs, but the blessing was in walking out the impossibility.
God is Faithful. to Keep Long Awaited Promises, to Acknowledge the Faith We Have Walked In, and to reinforce the Impossiblity of the Promise that he made happen for us. Give God Glory and Praise for What He did in Sarah's Life. I pray you can give him Praise and Glory of what He has done in your life.
The Birth of Isaac
1 Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac [a] to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." 7 And she added, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."
I have come to appreciate and admire the Life of Sarah a great deal. She is an awesome woman of God. Whether it is willing sacrificing her life for her husbands to the King of Egypt, in a very Esther like commitment, or standing with her husband on a 25 year promise, she is a woman of Faith. Hebrews 11:11 says “By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.” Sarah has the greater part of the faith walk that brings forth Isaac. She carriers the child doesn’t she? My aged and wise mother often remarks about the connection between a woman’s pregnancy and the disposition of a child. Isaac is a child of joy. His name means laughter. I have put together an acronym below to detail the blessing and the commitment associated with the birth of Isaac. I hope it will provide some insight for you in regards to this tremendous woman and the character of God as well
L. Long-awaited
A. Acknowledgement of Faith
U. Understands the Impossibility of the Promise (verse 6)
G. Give pleasure to God
H. Honors those that stood with you in Faith
T. Treated as Holy (verse 4)
E. Eliminates Previous Mistakes
R. Remembers the Covenant Gen 17:19
L Long-awaited Promise:
The main character of Sarah’s promise is that it was long awaited. 25 years in fact. When I asked my congregation this question this message suddenly became very heavy, but I ask you the question anyway.
What long awaited promises do you have from the Lord that you are waiting for?
Do they grow dim as the years pass?
What has the Lord said to you?
I am not asking what you desire; I am asking what you know. Do you have an experience with the Lord in which you know in your knower that God has spoken to you about a promise, I pray you do!!! When we speak of a personal relationship with Christ, it is this level of communication that we are speaking about. Anything else is shallow religion. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice.”
Does the pressure of the promise keep you awake?
Does it have a social context associated with honor or shame as Sarah’s promise did?
It is difficult for us to understand in a modern culture the pressure placed on a women of her time to have a child. Even as a write this I am reminded of the women I know that suffer because they can not have children. The difference is that barrenness in our day is a private pain, but then it was a community shame.
Yet by faith Abram goes from being exalted father the father of nations, Abraham. Sarai, princess, becomes, Sarah, the princess of nations. The Promise is fulfilled and laughter is their portion.
A. Acknowledgement of Faith
When a promise is fulfilled it is an acknowledgement of faith. It demonstrates that God is with you and that you “weren’t crazy after all.
I feel I must take some time her to share the testimony of my family and God’s work in it. As a brave 29 year old man, I married a women recently divorced with 3 teenage daughters. Lora 16, Becky 14 and Melissa 12, I had two sons from a previous marriage, David then 5 and Brian 2. That is five and that is a lot. But after two years my wife wanted us to have a child together. Although I resisted at first, I consented to her having an operation that had some risk in itself and some risk if she were to conceive in the future. Two years after the operation to reverse Diane burned fallopian tubes she had not conceived. She was led to go on a 14 day water fast, as Hannah had. God honored that fast with the conception of John. We would find out three months into her pregnancy that John had down syndrome. When he was born he had to have several intestinal operations. Diane felt like she had failed to give me a healthy son. I was then and always have been delighted in our son John.
Our church, family, and friends were delighted in John. Diane was 37 at the time.
Then God began to give us names. I would wake up with a name; she would wake up with a name. In succession each before they were conceived God gave us the names of Daniel, Deborah, Timothy, and Emily. We became so confident in the voice of God that when we went home after the birth of Timothy we said to the mid-wife see you in 1 ½ years with Emily. God was faithful.
Yet there is a painful side to this story as well. I have never made good money as a social worker or minister. My wife was now 43. Many in the church no longer celebrated with us. Some family ridiculed us. We stopped sharing the joy we felt at the conception of our children with others.
It would take a few years but God would acknowledge our faith and finally others would laugh with us.
God provided us with a home. When we moved in we paid $85,000. When it was appraised at the time it was worth $450,000. It has 5 bedroom two baths and a large back yard. We had previously been squeezed into a three bedroom apartment in which my wife and I slept on a twin bed because the bedroom would not fit a full sized bed.
God had publicly acknowledged our faith. It makes me laugh out loud even now.
Stand on the Promises that you have from God. You will grow weary but do grow faint of heart. You may even bring forth and Ishmael in the process but remember, even Ishmael was blessed of God. The Lord knows our frailties and he will see us through them.
Understanding the Impossibility of the Promise
Have you ever been a witness to the tenderness of and elderly couple’s intimacy? The holding of hands, the soft look, if you have, you have beheld something beautiful. Abraham and Sarah were old. Not old and dieing but old in body and disposition.
By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he[a]considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
Hebrews 11: says they were as good as dead. . I believe this is a reference the Abraham’s sexual functioning. I can imagine them tenderly going to their bed chamber. A bedchamber that had not known pleasure likely for many years, yet, by faith, knowing the impossibility of the promise, they walk together to the marital chamber and were blessed with potency, pleasure, and a person named laughter.
What has God made impossible for you to obtain? For me it was a house to raise my children. Yes, I could have changed jobs, but the blessing was in walking out the impossibility.
God is Faithful. to Keep Long Awaited Promises, to Acknowledge the Faith We Have Walked In, and to reinforce the Impossiblity of the Promise that he made happen for us. Give God Glory and Praise for What He did in Sarah's Life. I pray you can give him Praise and Glory of what He has done in your life.
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