August 28, 2026

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“When He had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.” (Genesis 17.22)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

I wonder how many times we believe that our conversations with God as negotiable. I know that many times our prayers and conversations with God are about things we want or need, or think we want and need, in our lives. We rightly pray for the spiritual and physical and mental welfare of others but enter into negotiations that make our prayers sound conditional as if we are making a trade or bargaining for an answer as if God is Monty Hall or Drew Carey in “Let’s Make A Deal.” What if we talked and prayed with God in seeking what it is He knows we want and need for every situation so that wisdom, peace, comfort, courage and resource are provided under His direction and provision. We are not stepping back and saying, “Jesus, take the wheel,” (sorry, Carrie Underwood) and leaving it all to God to do for us and we give nothing to the process except for a “wait and see; then get mad when what we still expect doesn’t happen.” God created us with partnership in mind.

In the Genesis, chapter 1, the partnership was complicated. The Godhead created male and female (of everything, not just people) and with humans They created them with a specific image in mind that mirrored who They were. Who were They? It was the heavenly realm partnership of Father, Son, Holy Spirit and the angels. Angels are not sit around beings. They are active and deliberate and purposeful for the Kingdom of Heaven. This is why David wrote in Psalm 8, “What is humankind, that You are mindful of them; You have created them just a little less than the angels.” How much less?” Just a little less. The gap is a fine line and we just don’t realize it. Our partnership is complicated.
We are part of a great team in being members of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven. We are created to be collaborators and not solo operators. So, God created humanity in Genesis 1 with Heaven in mind. Male and female, man and woman, to be husband and wife and legacy makers for generations to come to honor God by being all they are meant to be for, with, through and in each other.

In Genesis 2, and yes I know I have reviewed the two creation stories many times but it seems that we need to understand why there are two as one, God created “male” first. I say “male” to help those who are still vocabulary challenged by the word “man.” The unique aspect of “man” as we discover him in Genesis 2, is that the characteristics of both male and female are found in him upon creation. He was made from the dust of the earth. He was formed and fashioned with the construct in his DNA (thus why God took a rib from Adam’s side next to his heart.) But what makes Adam, and thus Eve, alive and unique was not the dust of the earth from which they were made but the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit, His ruach, which was breathed into them. In that case, we have to know that God fully intended practical and spiritual partnership in the community of the Kingdom of God on earth as it in Heaven. Thus, the “two as one” plays out with God and Adam, Adam and Eve, and most importantly God and “Adam and Eve.” Even in the temptation story, Adam was not distant from Eve. He was in close proximity. He was not in full partnership with God or Eve and thus he was, himself, broken or a partnership breaker.

Mighty ones of God, these are important factors to consider as we live out our daily lives. Each day has its function and purpose (most importantly to our greater partnership, of course, is the Sabbath, which God made for the specificity of celebrating and recognizing our created partnership with him. What we do not give mind to, we will soon lose contact with in our everyday lives. All of this to demonstrate the power of the verse of today: “When He had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.” Why is this important? Because God listened to Abraham’s request. It was his way of remaining conditional showing his connection to family without giving full respect to God. He turned the conversation into an “if, then” or “if this, then that.” We do not succeed when we operate on our own terms. Perhaps we do in the moment or in short-term (up to the point of death), but God will always have the final word. He is the creator, sustainer and ultimate determiner. It is a process of accountability which He taught His Son so that when He was confronted with the responsibility of eternity, He would be fully equipped. Jesus has the last word! There are no if, ands or buts. So, in this verse, after God listened to Abraham and responded gracefully but truthfully, God walked away. There would be no more discussion. How we as humans love to linger as if holding on will give us some hope of “my will not Yours be done.” Jesus demonstrated the efficacy of that spiritual knowledge for Himself and all others (believers or not) as He prayed in the Garden facing crucifixion and the sacrifice for our salvation, “Not My Will but Yours, Father, be done.” We are all made children of God. He is our Father. He made it possible for us to be alive. Why would we want to deny or wrestle that truth from His hands and believe we will survive?

TODAY’S PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness endeavor, but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.