Genesis 17:1-14, "Your Name Shall Be Abraham" - a podcast by Benjamin Glaser

Good Morning!

Have you ever forgotten about God? Thought because He was taking too long that He had forgotten about you? Well, one of the great blessings of the Christian life is that while we in our weakness can sometimes doubt the goodness of the Lord and wonder where He is our Father will never forsake us. His promise is forever sure. In this week's passage from Genesis 17 we saw Jehovah remind Abram of His covenant promise, that He would be His God and that Abram would be the father of many nations. Yet, this comes in the context of the birth of Ishmael, who was born because of Abram's impatience with the sure word of God. He had turned to Hagar, instead of resting and trusting in what God had said would come from the womb of his wife Sarai. 

This encounter is another way that God shows us that while we may sin and fall short in obedience, our God has mercy on us because of His covenant assurance. We stand and fall not based on what we do, but what our loving Father has done in the sending of His Son Jesus Christ. Remember what Jesus told the disciples, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you". Our being called by Jesus out of darkness and into the marvelous light of the gospel of truth is grounded in the fact that our God never changes and that His promise is without fail. So as we go through this life and as we are tempted to forget what Jesus Christ has said to us and our obedience to His commands waver let us remember again His promise:

 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand."

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