Daily Inspirations

  Good morning. So what did God reveal to Abraham ? The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know. Then the men turned away from there and went down towards Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the Lord. Abraham came near and said, “ Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked ? ” Why did Abraham care, and how did he know there were any righteous people living in Sodom ? It was because he knew that his nephew Lot was living there. Abraham then bargains with God. He goes from supposing that 50 righteous people were living there down to 10. “I will not destroy it on account of the 10 “ . As soon as he had finished speaking to Abraham the Lord departed, and Abraham returned to his place. It was a sure thing, right ? He knew Lot and his family were there, and surely there were a few more righteous...

 Good morning. Then the men rose up from there, and looked down towards Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off. The Lord said, “ Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed ? For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him “ . James called Abraham, the friend of God. He was so special to God, that God was going to tell Abraham what He was about to do to Sodom. The Bible also says that God will do nothing without revealing that to His prophets. Father help us to be so close to You that You would reveal to us what You are about to do.

  Good morning. They said to him, “ Where is Sarah your wife ? And he said, “ There, in the tent. “ “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son “ . Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing. Sarah laughed (just like Abraham did when he heard the word) to herself, saying, “ After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also “ ? “Is anything too difficult for the Lord ? At the appointed time (God always has an appointed time to do everything. He ’ s never early and He’s never late) I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son “ . Sarah denied laughing. It ’ s easy to be critical of Sarah, but we would be the same way also. If God said that He wanted to do something great for us, we would be skeptical too. Father help us to believe You when You tell us that You want to do something great (or even some...

 Good morning. Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. Ishmael his son was 13 years old when he was circumcised. The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. When he lifted up his eyes and looked, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth. “My lord (A title of respect, not necessarily that he thought it was the Lord), please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and I will bring a piece of bread, that you may refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have visited your servant “ . And they said, “ So do, as you have said “ . Abraham told Sarah to fix bread cakes, and he took a tender and choice calf and gave it to the servant to prepare. This was all common courtesy in that day. Suppose you lived in the middle of nowhere and had not seen anyone for weeks or months; y...

  Good morning. As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him and will make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly (still very true today). He shall become the father of 12 princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year. [My Bible says that the apostle Paul cites the choice of Isaac and not Ishmael as one proof of God ‘ s sovereign right to choose to save by grace alone.] When He finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham (which sounds like God was physically present with Abraham). Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those with him, every male in his household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day, as God had said to him. [My Bible points out that Abraham was characterized by prompt obedience.] Father help us to be characterized by prompt obedience to You.

 Good morning. Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed (later Sarah also laughs), and said in his heart, “ Will a child be born to a man 100 years old ? And will Sarah, who is 90 years old, bear a child “ ? So it ’ s not impossible to have a child ( Ishmael ) at 86, but it is at 100 ? Oh that Ishmael might live before You ! After 14 years of things the way that they were, Abraham believes that that is the way they should have been, and is not looking for anything else. He wants God to take the current situation and “ make it work “ . But God said, “ No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac (which means, he laughs), and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him “ . The New Testament talks about different people being accepted or rejected based on God ’ s choice , not on circumstances, and Isaac was God’s choice. Father thank You that You work out things the way You want them to work o...

 Good morning. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. Every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants. An uncircumcised male shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant. As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah (princess) shall be her name. I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her. And so Abraham, the mighty man of faith, said “amen”! Right ? We will see tomorrow. Father even though we think things are settled, we should always look to You for changes that should take place.

 Good morning. I will make you exceedingly fruitful (again at this point he only has one child), and I will make nations of you and kings will come forth from you. I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant, which you shall keep between Me and you and your descendants after you; every male among you shall be circumcised . Ouch! As is pointed out in the New Testament, God ‘ s promise to Abraham came before both circumcision and the Law of Moses. Father, even when You require something of us, it pales in comparison to what You give us in return.

 Good morning. When Abram was 99 years old (that made Ishmael 13), the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty (El Shaddai); walk before me and be blameless. I will establish my covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly“. 13 years after he had a son, Abram may have been thinking everything was hunky-dory. God may make us a promise, but that does not mean that we can do anything that we want; we have to walk before Him blamelessly. Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, “As for Me, behold; My covenant is with you, and you will be the father of a multitude of nations”. At this point in time, God was saying that His covenant was with Abram and not with Ishmael. “No longer shall your name be called Abram (exalted father), but your name shall be Abraham (father of a multitude); for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations“. For 86 years when anyone asked him his name, he replied “exalted father“, even though he had ...

  Good morning. To Hagar: “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count. You are with child, and you will bear a son; and you shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has given heed to your affliction. He will be a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him (what a comforting thought); and he will live to the east of all his brothers“. Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees (Beer-lahai-roi)“; for she said, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him (seems to verify that the angel of the Lord was the pre-incarnate form of Jesus)“? Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him. If Hagar had not gone back, who knows what would’ve happened to her and Ishmael? Father thank You that this is the first day of the rest of our lives, and it will be the greatest we have ever experienced!

  Good morning. And so Sarai said, “I guess I should not have given you Hagar for a wife“, right? Hardly: “May the wrong done me be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight. May the Lord judge between you and me”. Abram said, “Your maid is in your power; do to her what is good in your sight“. So Sarah treated her harshly and she fled from her presence. The angel of the Lord (possibly Jesus in His pre-incarnate form) found her by spring of water in the wilderness; by a spring on the way to Shur. “Where have you come from and where are you going“? “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarah“. “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority“. We will continue this tomorrow. Sometimes God tells us to do things that are counterintuitive to what we think we should do.

  Good morning. Abram had lived 10 years in the land of Canaan [My Bible reminds us that Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran to come to the land of Canaan.], Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. She conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight. Having children was extremely important for women in that day and age. Those that did not have children were looked down upon as being cursed by God. This would also mean that Abram’s heir would come through Hagar, not Sarai. Of course this child would make sure that Hagar was taken care of. These are some of the reasons that Hannah was so upset because she did not have any children. This makes her gift of Samuel to the Lord that much more magnificent. At this point Sarai was extremely sorry that she had made the suggestion to Abram. Even though we may be extremely sorry that we did something, it does not mean that there are no...

  Good morning. When the sun had set, it was very dark, and there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces (the animals Abram had cut in two). On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram (previously He had made a covenant with Noah and his descendants). To your descendants I have given this land. From the river of Egypt (the Nile) as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. Wow, that is exciting! There was a problem – Abram had no children, meaning no descendants. What can we do? Sarai had a plan. She had borne Abram no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. Behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children (yeah, blame Him). Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her“. And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. This is what we do too often – try to help God fulfill His promises. Father thank You that when You make a promise to us, we don’t have to figure out how to fulfill it – You wil...

  Good morning. When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and terror and great darkness fell upon him. God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. The way this is translated, the 400 years seems to modify the enslavement, but does it in fact modify the time they will be in the land? After all, Exodus says they left Egypt 430 years to the day after they entered it. Or perhaps God starts counting the 400 years when Joseph went down to Egypt as a slave. But I will also judge the nation whom they serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace, you will be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete“. They were in Egypt for many years before the enslavement of the book of Exodus began; so it seems...

 Good morning. I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it. He said, “O Lord God, how may I know that I will possess it“? It’s easy for us to say to Abram, “God told you, so you should have known that it would happen“! God’s response seems strange to us. Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. What’s with this three year old business? My Bible says that it was the prime age for a sacrifice. Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds. The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. We will continue this tomorrow. Father help us to trust in Your promises no matter how impossible they may seem.

 Good morning. This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he will be your heir. And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them. So shall your descendants be“. God was not saying that the number of his descendants would be exactly the same as the number of stars. [My Bible says that more than 8000 stars are clearly visible in the darkness of a Near Eastern night.] And now an extremely important verse that is quoted in the New Testament: then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. Abram was old and childless, so it was a great leap of faith to believe what God said would happen. Even though righteousness only comes from Jesus indwelling you, God counted it the same as, since Abram was not able to believe in Jesus. Father thank You that we have the same faith as Abraham, the believer.

  Good morning. After Abram trusted God to recover his nephew Lot along with Lot’s possessions and met with Melchizedek, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great. Abram had a lot of possessions, which was great; but especially in those days not having a son to inherit everything was a great disappointment. One would rather have very little and have a son, than to be very rich and not have a son. O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus (it is possible that this is the servant that went to seek a wife for Isaac)? Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir. [My Bible says that documents demonstrate that a childless man could adopt one of his own male servants to be heir and guardian of his estate.] What about Sarai? In those days, women did not have the rights that they do today. Abram would just have to trust ...

  Good morning. Melchizedek King of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. Where did he come from? Why did Abram pay any attention to him? [My Bible points out that the bread and wine was normal, and did not necessarily mean that it was the communion meal.] He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth; and Blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand“. He gave him a 10th of all. The book of Hebrews discusses this meeting in detail. It is quite possible that this was the pre-incarnate Jesus. The king of Sodom tried to get Abram to take his share of the goods recovered from the other kings; but Abram had sworn to God that he would not take anything from the king, for fear he would say that he had made Abram rich. He only took the shares of Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Father thank You that You are with us whether in person or in those around us.

  Good morning. Then a fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew. He was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol (you’ll see this word again when Moses sends out 12 spies into the land of promise) and brother of Aner, and these were allies with Abram. When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house (not hired men), 318 (that shows his great wealth), and went in pursuit as far as Dan [My Bible reminds us that it was not named Dan at that time, but only after the children of Israel occupied the promised land]. Abram defeated them, and brought back all the goods, and also his relative Lot with his possessions. Then after his return, the king of Sodom went out to meet him. Tomorrow we will see Abram’s amazing encounter with someone most special. Father when we trust in You, we can overcome all odds.

  Good morning. Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you. God also told Joshua that “every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses”. Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord. After some time, four kings got together and made war with the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, and three other kings. And these came to the Salt Sea. [My Bible says that the Dead Sea whose water contains a 25% concentration of chloride and bromide salts, makes it the densest large body of water on earth.] These kings also took Lot and his possessions and departed, for he was living in Sodom. Tomorrow we will see how this turns out. Father continue to go with the reader and his/her family. Help them to see You in everything that happens.

  Good morning. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. At this point in time, Lot did not have a wife, did not live in a house, and had many animals. Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord. Now that Abram is all alone: The Lord said to Abram after Lot had separated from him, “now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered”. A little boy was visiting his grandmother, and they went to church on Sunday. The pastor preached about we all came from dust, and we will all return to dust when we die. That afternoon the little boy was playing on the bedroom floor. He looked under ...

  Good morning. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left. Would we have done that – giving someone else first choice? Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere – this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah – like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt (they had just come from there) as you go to Zoar. On the surface, it was the best choice possible. Unbeknownst to both of them disaster was coming from the Lord. That is why we need to base our decisions on what God tells us to do, not just on what looks best to our eyes. So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other. Father help us to trust You in making our decisions, that You would never tell us to do something that would be detrimental to us.

  Good morning. Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. It does not say whether he had them before he went down into Egypt, or if he obtained them there. Being a part of Abram’s family, he was blessed when God blessed Abram. The land could not sustain them while dwelling together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together. There was not enough water and grass for the livestock. There was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Perhaps there was some unspoken resentment on Lot’s part. So Abram said to Lot, please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers (kinsmen). Tomorrow we will see how this situation was resolved. Father thank You that You bless us so richly that sometimes we don’t know what to do with all of it.

  Good morning. Then pharaoh commanded his men concerning him (Abram); and they escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him. So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him. Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold. Again this was probably from Pharaoh’s dowry. He went as far as Bethel (meaning house of God) , to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. Abram had left because of a famine, and he returned safely, much wealthier than when he left. We call on the name of the Lord when we are in trouble; but do we call on it in thankfulness when He answers our prayers? Father thank You that You do hear our prayers and answer us, not always as quickly or in the way that we wish.

  Good morning. When Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptian saw that the woman (Sarai) was very beautiful. Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. Therefore he treated Abram well for her sake; and gave him sheep and oxen and donkeys and male and female servants and female donkeys and camels. This was probably as a dowry for Sarai. But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his house with plagues because of Abram’s wife. Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, she is my sister, so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her and go“. It is most likely that during this time Hagar was acquired. Father help us to not turn to deception to try to work things out, but to rely only on You.

  Good morning. There was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. Remember that there was a famine when Joseph was in Egypt. When he came near to Egypt, he said to his wife, “I know that you are a beautiful woman; and when the Egyptians see you, they will say this is his wife and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you“. The Bible is honest about the “flaws“ of its heroes. No matter what you have done, God can still do great things for you and through you. Father thank You that You see us for what we can be, not for what we have been.

  Good morning. Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem (we will see this name again later), to the oak of Moreh. The Canaanite was then in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land“. So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. The Lord appeared to him several times during his life. Some think that it was Jesus in His pre-incarnate form. After having a spiritual experience, building an altar to the Lord was common in the book of Genesis. Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel [My Bible says that it was just north of Jerusalem], and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai (a place in the book of Joshua) on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. He continued on toward the Negev (a dry waste land towards the south, mentioned numerous times in the old testament). Father help us to go everywhere that You want us to ...

  Good morning. Last time Abram received this great promise from God. So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. How many of us would have argued with God first before we went? He was already at “retirement“ age, but he was just getting started. Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan. [My Bible says that wealthy people in that ancient world always had servants to help them with their flocks and herds. Not all servants were slaves; many were voluntarily employed.] The word acquired and things that happened later seem to imply that some were slaves. In today’s world, that would mean that we should “cancel“ Abraham. But of course we’re not going to. Father thank You that Abram obeyed You without question. Help us to b...

 Good morning. The days of Terah were 205 years; and he died in Haran. He started out going in the right direction towards the land of Canaan, but in the end he stopped short of the goal. If it had been you or I instead of Abram, would we have stopped short also and stayed in Haran? After his father died, the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives 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 make your name great; and so you shall 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“. What a tremendous promise God made to Abram! The good news is that we are a result of that promise. Father thank You that we can rely on all the promises that You have given us!

  Good morning. Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. That would mean that Milcah was Nahor’s niece. Sarai was barren; she had no child. Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran (Abram’s brother), his grandson, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there. [My Bible says that in Hebrew the name of the town is spelled differently from that of Abram’s brother.]  In Acts chapter 7, Stephen says that God appeared to Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia and told him to take his relatives and come to the land that He would show him. So they were going in the direction that God called Abraham – Canaan. Who knows, if his father had made it to the land of Canaan, Abraham may never have received the p...

  Good morning. [My Bible says that it gives a 10 name genealogy of Shem.] We will only list Eber and Peleg because they will be mentioned later in the Bible. They began having children earlier and did not live as long. We take up the list again when it gets to Terah, father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. It then gives the generations of Terah. Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. [My Bible says that Ur was possibly in northern Mesopotamia, but more likely the site on the Euphrates in southern Iraq that has been excavated. It reveals a civilization and culture that reached high levels before Abram’s time.] We will continue this tomorrow. Father thank You that You know us by name, just like You knew these people by their names.