day no. 14,192: progressively stunted

Genesis 18:32-33
Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” 33 And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

This passage culminates in two different audacities. First, Abraham has the hutzpah to haggle His Creator down to the agreement that if 10 righteous are found amongst the urban hipcats of Sodom, God will spare them. The second is that there apparently were not even 10 righteous in that progressive city. For all of its modern charm and relevance, it lacked 1 thing… well, 10 things to be exact. There were no more than 9 righteous people in that entire metroplex. If there had been, it would have remained standing. But for lack of righteousness it was humbled. Posters promoting parades of pride flamed and flew through the cocky atmosphere.  For all their advancement, they had finally arrived at their terminal.

day no. 14,191: old school grace, new school wrath

Genesis 18:22

So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord.

 

Jesus dispatched the angels to the task of destroying Sodom. Jesus approved of its destruction. He did not show up thousands of years later to apologize for His grumpy old Dad. Jesus is eternal God. What God does, He does. What God says, He says. If you are prone to believing the lie that the OT was archaic, bloody and backwoods and that the NT is enlightened, gracious and revolutionary, you are reading them wrong. There is grace upon grace in the OT and there is plenty of blood and destruction in the NT. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

day no. 14,190 continued... no agenda is hidden before Him

Genesis 18:20

Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.

 

God is never a victim of a false report. He is not swayed by feelings or confused by spin. No agenda is hidden before Him. He personally and perfectly inspects and renders judgment. He always knows. No guilty will go unpunished. No innocent will go unavenged.

day no. 14,190: Laurelai is this many!

Lolo is 4, 4!!! You have been excited to turn this many for quite some time. You want to be a big girl in many ways and yet you also like being our tiny resident lady. You are a delight. You insist on getting a hug from me every morning I leave work -- so much so that some nights you wake up (recently around 4 am) screaming in your bed until I enter and you remind me to hug you before I leave for work. It is cute… and exhausting! You like sitting on my lap during family move night and you haven't decided yet whether or not you like tickles. You scream and ask me to stop when I do but you beg for them when I don't. I love you Laurelai. May you continue to grow in wisdom, stature (but not too much, I love that you're little) and favor with God and men. May you honor God, be honorable and receive honor in increasing, respective degrees. Here's to 4 and being so good at being this many!

day no. 14,189: chosen and commanded

Genesis 18:19
For I have chosen him, 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 to Abraham what he has promised him.

God chose Abraham for a task. Abraham's responsibility was to command his children and his household to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice. Abraham's responsibility was to respond to God's ability to do what He had promised by commanding those under his influence to do the same. May men of God hear this and be inspired likewise to do the same for theirs.

day no. 14,188: a stroll through the woods

Genesis 18:1

And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.

 

Do not miss this. The Lord appeared to Abraham on a hot day during the hottest part of that particular day. Abraham is hanging out on the stoop, trying to stay cool when God shows up at his house. Do not make a habit of assuming where and when God will appear. He does not always RSVP to the scheduled revival meeting, but He does sometime take a stroll through the woods apparently. Do not miss Him by looking only where you think He should appear. Look at what is in front of you, always ready to receive Him whenever He may decide to appear.

day no. 14,187: eagerly enduring difficulties

Genesis 17:22-23

When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23 Then Abraham… circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him.

 

Those who love God gladly and eagerly endure the difficulties required to draw them closer to Him.