Genesis 18:9-15  – “They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” ¹⁰ The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. ¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” ¹³ The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁵ But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God, something exploded in my spirit.    I believe it is a vital key or link to faith and receiving God’s promises.  In Genesis 18, we have the account of the LORD and two angels coming to Abraham on the way to Sodom.

The LORD declared that Sarah would have a baby the following year.   Sarah found it so astounding that someone past the age of childbearing would have a child, so she chuckled.   Don’t be too hard on her.   She was reasoning in the normal way.   We do similar things regarding the promises of God.  We rationalize based on our natural abilities or the conditions we face.

Although Sarah was not in the room, God knew. In verse 13, He asked, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying Shall I indeed bear a son, when I am old?” Sarah protested, trying to hide what she had done. We do the same; we put on our masks and pretend to be faith-filled. We say the words and deny our thoughts.   God Knows! God knows All, sees All, and hears All.

The question was: “Is anything too hard for God?”  That reveals the key to faith and reception of the Promise.

• First, they had to believe that God Is! 
• Then, they had to believe God could. 

Nothing is impossible with God. 

• Then, they had to believe God would do what He promised.

That enabled them to receive His Word as their guarantee that it was as good as done.   Faith is not something we create through our human reason.  Faith originates in God and is released to us through hearing God.   Hearing is developed through God’s voice.   The creator creates in us through speaking.

Hebrews 11:3 – “By faith, we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God so that what is seen was not made out of things which are invisible.”

In these last days, for us to participate in the promises and harvest, we must receive His provision in and by the Spirit.   As we truly embrace God’s reality and reliability, we can dare to believe that He not only can but will do what He says.   Then, we step out in that confidence, fully persuaded that what He said is a present reality.

We may not possess it, but we know it is.   The manifestation occurs after we have embraced the promise, not before.  We hear, then believe, then receive.   First, the blade, then the ear, then the full head in the ear.   The stalk, then the bud, then the fruit.  It is a progression, but the first is knowing God “Is” allowing us to believe He can, then that He will, and will for us and through us.  We have an assignment that can only be completed by believing!

God’s Word is as sure as God; banish all doubt and fear. Banish all thoughts of deserving or being worthy. Simply believe in Him, His purpose, and His expressed desire to use you!

I pray that you will have a victorious, faith-filled day and enter into His fullness today!

Genesis 12:1-3 – Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, Genesis 12 captured my attention.  Several things in Genesis 12:1-3 spoke to my spirit.   Almost an aside was that even in less than full compliance, the purposes of God transpired, and He blessed.   That’s not my focus, but a reminder that even in our human frailty and flawed character, God still uses us.

We know the account.  “And YAHWEH said to Abram, GO FORTH from your land, and your kin, and from your father’s house to the land which I will show you; AND I will make you a great nation, AND I will bless you, AND I will make your name great; AND you will be a blessing; AND I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse.  AND in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

Immediately, we notice the ANDs and the I WILLs.  Look at the command:

Good forth from.   You can’t get to the ‘Go To’ until you ‘Go From.’   There is a leaving before there is a cleaving.   There is an emptying out before there is a filling with.  We have to leave the old to get to the new.  We repent to receive.

Go from your land, the lifestyle, and the identity you have followed. Go from your kin, that with which you identify.  Leave behind that from which you get your significance.   Go from your father’s house, the influence of the old way of life.

Abram did not fully obey immediately.   He only partially left the land, stopping in Haran, which was still an idolatrous land.  He took his nephew and his father.  His sense of natural obligation was strong. It took the death of his father to release him to a more complete obedience.

God gave The Promise – I WILL show you, make you, and bless you.  The Promise must be the driving focus.   God gave The Protection – “And the one who curses you, I will curse.” Psalm 91 comes to mind. Then the Provision – I will bless you, and out of that blessing, the entire world will be blessed.

God’s Promises carry with them God’s Protection and Provision.   The fulfillment of the Promise is not dependent on our ability, but on God’s.  The Promise only needs our obedience to become a reality.  If we believe the Promise and embrace the Protection, we will enjoy the Provision.

We must Go Forth to Go In.   We leave to cleave.   We die to live.  We believe to receive.  We empty out to be filled.   We leave the land (old way).  We leave our kin (lifestyle of the flesh).  We leave our father’s house (influence of carnal ideology).  We go to the land (relationship) God shows us.

The Last Days Harvest and Revival, Renewal, and Restoration will be experienced by those who Go forth from the old and Go forth to the new.  Total surrender!  Leaving all behind to enter into God’s Promise!

God’s Promise is NOW!

LORD, help us to Go From so we can Go To Your Place of Promise!

Zechariah 11:7-14 – “So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders.  And I took two staffs, one I named Favor, the other I named Union.  And I tended the sheep.  ⁸ In one month, I destroyed the three shepherds.  But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me.  ⁹ So I said, “I will not be your shepherd.  What is to die, let it die.  What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed.  And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” ¹⁰ And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples.  ¹¹ So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord.  ¹² Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver.  ¹³ Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them.  So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter.  ¹⁴ Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I was stirred by a profound reality and reminder: God is long-suffering and merciful, but there is a limit beyond which He will not go.

In Zechariah 11:7-14, we see God’s desire and patience growing thin with shepherds who were either system followers or self-serving.  God declared He would destroy or remove them in one day.   In Malachi, God expresses His desire for our whole hearts, not just our possessions or performance.

His promise for obedience out of love and surrender was an open heaven.   Blessing and protection.  God’s blessings are always purposed for kingdom purposes.   We are blessed to be blessings.  We are equipped to equip.

In Acts, we find the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.   The purpose was not to make them have spiritual goosebumps but to ground them, open revelation and understanding, and empower them to be witnesses for Him and of Him.

The infilling of the Holy Spirit was transformational.  They moved from hiding in fear of man to boldly facing death.  They tapped into and entered another realm that experientially lifted them into the realized presence of God continuously.  They lived without fear and with confidence that no weapon could prevail and no obstacle or enemy could stop them.

They lived with a sense of supernatural power, divine favor, and open heaven provision.   Being saturated with God through the Holy Spirit transforms!  It enabled them to make Jesus real to others.  We need to realize that Jesus is only visible in the world through believers.  What they see and believe about Jesus is what they see and believe about us.  Christ in us, with us, and through us.

What do they see in us?

LORD help us to give you our hearts, not just our passion and performance!

Habakkuk 1:5-7 – “Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.  ⁶ You have sown much, and harvested little.  You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill.  You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm.  And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.  ⁷ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.”

As I read, prayed, and contemplated the Word of God today, I was reminded of the impending judgment on the world and the unshakable love and mercy of God.

Habakkuk was instructed to write the vision he received in plain language to make it easy to understand.  (Habakkuk 2:2).  Zephaniah heard a word in his heart to stand in awe of God, for the day of judgment was at hand.  (Zephaniah 1:7).

Haggai was warned of walking in disobedience, “You have sown much and saved little; you are never satisfied; you drink, but your thirst is not quenched; you put on clothes but can’t keep warm; and you put your money in bags with holes.”  (Haggai 1:6.)  Then the plea of God came, “Consider your ways.”   Do a self-examination.   The call was to repentance in order to be restored.

Zechariah saw the end times and the destruction to come.  Then, in Zechariah 10:1, we see God’s incredible long-suffering and love.  “Ask from the LORD rain in the season of the latter rain; and the LORD will make gentle showers, and give you the early rain which causes the grass to grow in the field.”

The field, Jesus said, is the world.  The rain is the Holy Spirit and the anointing.  The grass is the fruit of life.  There is a harvest at the end of the age, and to be a harvester, enjoy God’s bountiful blessings, and enter our reward, we must consider our Ways—repent of our wrongness.  Return to Him totally and BE His representatives in the earth.  We have a mission and a commission.

Do not stress over stuff, people, or politics.  Focus on Jesus and His commission.  Nothing else matters.

LORD, help us to ‘Consider our Ways.’   Please help us to surrender to you entirely!

John 13:34-35  – “I give you a new commandment—to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵ Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, several things clamped on my mind like a bear trap.   One of them was becoming one with God.  We talk about it, confess and profess it, but do we possess it? 

Why do I ask that?   Jesus said in John 13:34-35 that His “New” commandment was for us to love each other.    New?   He had said that before, and it was an integral part of the Old Testament teaching that we are to love God with our all and our neighbor as ourselves.    So, how was this “New?”

It is in the words, “Just as I have.”   That shifts it from the “philo” human brotherly love to “agape” God kind of love.     Just as is the key, and it is humanly impossible, without total unity or oneness with Jesus.  It requires total death to the flesh and transformation into Him.   Christ in us, through us, with us, and by us.

It is vine life!    It is surrendering total control of Everything to Him.  It is to have no desire that is self-focused.  It is full evidence of the new birth.

That’s why Jesus could say in John 15:7, “IF you remain IN ME, and My Words remain with you, whatever you ask shall be done for you.”   Your oneness with God and total death to the flesh eliminates wrong motives and desires, so your asking is God-centered and flows from God’s heart. 

Our part is obedience.   John 15:10. “IF you keep my commandments,  you will abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”   That’s the key, “Loving Just as…”

Are we totally surrendered to Him and totally dead to the flesh?    That’s easy to check.   Examine your thoughts, words, and actions.   Our Walk in His Word determines our Wind Up.  

My prayer is Psalm 51:10-12.  I desire a clean heart, right spirit, and life in His presence continuously.  Psalm 19:14 – “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O LORD, my helper and my Savior.”

To be a friend of Jesus is my ambition.   John 15:14 – “You are My friends IF you do everything that I command you.”   We cannot do that unless we are dead to self and one with Him.  For then He lives in us and through us.  

Are we one with Him?   The evidence is in Love.

Lord help us to manifest our oneness with You!