God Tells Abraham He Will Make Him into a Great Nation God Makes a Similar Promise to Moses In the book of Genesis, we meet Abraham. God takes a special interest in Abraham and gives him a bold promise. He pledges to make Abraham “into a great...
Ishmael and Isaac: Two Half-Brothers Who Don’t Get Along There are many ways to solve family problems, but kicking out your son isn’t one of them. Last week we looked at the story of Cain and Abel. We examined the first case of sibling rivalry...
Should We Pray “If It’s Your Will?” We can learn to pray by following Jesus’s example, as long as we don’t misapply it When it comes to praying, there is no better teacher than Jesus. Perhaps that’s why many of his followers memorize the prayer...
God Seldom Reveals the Big Picture to Us—Just the Next Step God first comes to Abraham when he is still known as Abram. God tells him to leave all he knows and to go—somewhere—to a place God will later show him. The final destination is...
The Rise and Fall of Lot When Abram went to the land God promised him, he took Lot with him even though he wasn’t supposed to. Abram had to deal with the consequences of his decision. For Lot, there were consequences too. When he traveled with...
An Unlikely Example of Partial Obedience In the Bible, God told Abram (later called Abraham) to go to a new place. As he went, Abram was to leave behind his country, friends, and family. So Abram left, taking with him his nephew Lot. Abram obeyed...
In the book of Genesis, God gives new names to three people. In doing so, God is effectively saying, I’m giving you a new identity. You may see yourself according to your old name, but I see you differently. I’m giving you a new name...
One of the central characters in the book of Genesis is Father Abraham. God calls Abraham to move to a different place, a location that God would reveal to him as the journey progressed. Because of Abraham’s obedience and faith. God...
Abraham, the great man of faith, did not always act that way. Once, when fearing for his safety, he lied to king Abimelech, claiming that Sarah was his sister and hiding the fact that they were married. Assured by Abraham’s lie, Abimelech...
In the parable about the rich man and the beggar, Lazarus, Jesus shares an intriguing story. In it, both men die; Lazarus goes to heaven, but the rich man ends up in hell. Desperate to spare his family from the torment he is suffering, the rich...
