COTR CG Leaders Week 9 Devotional

Devotional #9 COTR Small group leaders February 10, 2019

BE THOROUGHLY EQUIPPED!

Be honest. Are there parts of the bible you skip over? Do yourself a favor, DO NOT skip over Genesis 5. If you are willing to read, study, pray and think, you will discover a goldmine of insight and blessing from our God! I almost skipped Genesis 5 or at least was thinking of how to minimize it. And right there, I made my first mistake.  When it comes to reading God's word, EVERY word counts in God's economy. Therefore, every word of HIS must count in mine!

God graciously reminded me of 2 Timothy 3:16-17:

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. "

If the Holy Spirit inspired the biblical writers to pen it, then I must know and treasure ALL of God's word! Mankind's limited understanding cannot authoritatively determine what is essential or not. It's not "my" perspective that I need God's word to agree with, but instead, I need my thinking to align with God's word! As humans, we need MUCH reminding that WE are not GOD! Only GOD IS GOD, and therefore, His word is absolute truth and completely able to bear the weight of being perfect wisdom and all-encompassing knowledge. Our human intelligence is limited, too subjective and always bending toward some level of error. Do you want to be made ready and "thoroughly equipped" to walk with Jesus and glorify Him? Read ALL parts of God's word. 

So, let's dig into Genesis 5…

Who begat whom. Begat. Begat. Begat. This word is based on the Hebrew word "yalad" (Strong's number H3205) which means "to produce or bring forth" specifically off-spring. Genesis 5 is first a listing of whom begat whom! Long and detailed, this lineage shows the promised "seed" that God promised would defeat the curse of sin and Satan and bring redemption to man (Genesis 3:15). Since Adam's sons fell short on carrying out God's saving lineage, God provided Adam and Eve with another son, Seth, whom God would use as a "do-over" seed line for humanity (Genesis 4:24-26). God set the redemption covenant on Adam/Seth's lineage all the way to JESUS CHRIST. God's grace is constant to man in the midst of his sin and rebellion, generation after generation.

This particular genealogy is vital for numerous reasons:

One, it is an authentic historical document of the early patriarchs from Adam in the garden to Noah and the flood. God ordained that these folks would LIVE LONG LIVES!! And, they bore SO many children, who bore many children, who in turn bore MANY children! God wanted the earth well populated and then allowed people to live very long lives so that HIS covenant promise would be told and retold to all generations. People's lives OVERLAPPED to a tremendous degree! Adam died at 930 years, passing away one generation or so (50-60 years) BEFORE Noah! Noah's father, Lamech, could have talked to Adam like a great, great, great, great, great, great (not sure how many greats but you get the point!) Grandfather. Accurate truth was handed down from one generation to the next by living relatives.

Reason number two: This earliest genealogy shows God's plans will NOT be thwarted. Such comfort in knowing and resting in the truth that He is God and we are not! God's sovereign purposes WILL prevail no matter what schemes of Satan seemingly interrupt. I find it incredibly reassuring that God ordained his patriarchs to live LONG productive lives to not only populate the earth as HE desired, but then those same folks lived overlapping lives, and no doubt shared with each generation from their EYE WITNESS account! These patriarchs actually "lived out" the truth of the fall in the garden, the murderous bloodline of Cain, etc. and then the hope of Seth's line….It was during Seth's early line that "at that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord." (See Genesis 4:26) God's people began to worship Him in more of a "corporate" sense…In that one statement, we see Faith budding in Seth's line! God made CERTAIN his plans to redeem man would go forward. If there is ONE truth for us to rest in and rely on wholeheartedly, it is the truth that our LORD GOD IS SOVEREIGN. That characteristic of HIS brings infinite HOPE TO US, to ALL that trust and hope in HIM! It's a "hope" that requires a faith step on our part. He invites us to trust HIM. Lean on Him. Rest on Him. OBEY Him. Look for Him to act, provide, to care for you and to grow you.

God wants us to trust Him. In Hebrews 11:6 God says: "And without faith, it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." If we want to be EQUIPPED to live for Jesus and to walk in greater intimacy with him, then we need to grow in the knowledge of Him and develop our "faith" muscles. God desires those muscles develop too, so HE WILL allow hard circumstances to touch our lives that require we "flex" those muscles fueled by HIS GRACE!

God desires that we trust him. Faith equates with trust. Faith means acting on that trust. Faith requires we rest IN that trust. The object of our faith is the ONE who WILL ENABLE our faith to grow by HIS GRACE. Jesus IS faithfully interceding for us in our moments of doubt and pain (see Romans 8:34). I think today of our Pastor, his family, and the entire "Cornerstone" building crew that need our prayers. They are trusting God for what seems an "impossible" task: bring the building construction in "on time" amid so many delays and weather-related issues. Are these difficulties too significant for man? Absolutely. Are they TOO BIG FOR OUR GOD? Most Definitely NOT!!

Dear brothers and sisters, we all need to "PLEASE" God by trusting God. As we repent of fear, unbelief, and resentment, we then receive everything we need that GOD IS. Trusting faith doesn't equate with not ever struggling nor does it mean maintaining a "perfect" unruffled peace. It DOES mean repenting of the sin and lies that bind us up and running back to JESUS and relying on His grace, mercy and sovereign ways, whether we understand them or not. THOSE steps of faith please GOD. Whatever heartache, difficulty, or doubt you are facing, your sovereign GOD is more than BIG ENOUGH to carry you through it to hope and peace. I'm in this with you. I am praying for grace to trust and believe and rest in God's loving Sovereign heart.

Your sister in Him,

Mary Kaye Abbott