Genesis 18:17-19 Then God said, “Shall I keep back from Abraham what I’m about to do? Abraham is going to become a large and strong nation; all the nations of the world are going to find themselves blessed through him. Yes, I’ve settled on him as the one to train his children and future family […]
Read MoreGenesis 18:11-12 Abraham and Sarah were old by this time, very old. Sarah was far past the age for having babies. Sarah laughed within herself, “An old woman like me? Get pregnant? With this old man of a husband?” Three men arrived at Abraham and Sarah’s place. Abraham, as usual, was overflowing with hospitality and brought […]
Read MoreGenesis 16:13 She answered God by name, praying to the God who spoke to her, “You’re the God who sees me! “Yes! He saw me; and then I saw him!” People’s faith, my own included, can so quickly take a dive. Well, “quickly” is probably relative, since poor Sarai was already almost 75, and by […]
Read MoreGenesis 15:5-6 5Then he took him outside and said, “Look at the sky. Count the stars. Can you do it? Count your descendants! You’re going to have a big family, Abram!” 6And he believed! Believed God! God declared him “Set-Right-with-God.” If someone were to ask me to sum up Abram in one word, faith is […]
Read MoreGenesis 13:10-11 Lot looked. He saw the whole plain of the Jordan spread out, well watered (this was before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah), like God’s garden, like Egypt, and stretching all the way to Zoar. Lot took the whole plain of the Jordan. Lot set out to the east. When God commanded Abram to […]
Read MoreGenesis 12:7-8 God appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your children.” Abram built an altar at the place God had appeared to him. He moved on from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent between Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. He […]
Read MoreGenesis 12:4-5 So Abram left just as God said, and Lot left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot with him, along with all the possessions and people they had gotten in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan and […]
Read MoreGenesis 12:1-3 God told Abram: “Leave your country, your family, and your father’s home for a land that I will show you. I’ll make you a great nation and bless you. I’ll make you famous; you’ll be a blessing. I’ll bless those who bless you; those who curse you, I’ll curse. All the families of […]
Read MoreGenesis 9:20-21 Noah, a farmer, was the first to plant a vineyard. He drank from its wine, got drunk and passed out, naked in his tent. Oh no. After the struggle with Adam and Eve, one would have thought that we were now done with sin. But it was not over yet. Noah was […]
Read MoreGenesis 8:22 “For as long as Earth lasts, planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never stop.” After the flood, the world fell silent. The chaos of the waters had subsided, but the earth was empty, wet, and desolate. Noah and his family stepped out of the ark onto […]
Read More