A Mother’s Love

A Series on Living by Faith

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

Exodus 2:1-10; Hebrews 11:23

 [Hebrews 11 is a recounting of the Heroes of the Faith. Even though they never saw what they had been promised, each person is commended for living “by faith”. At the end of these commendations, Hebrews 12 tells us, “Therefore, because you are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses… throw off sin; run with perseverance; fix your eyes on Jesus”. In other words, live “by faith”.]

  

A mother’s love will lead her to defend her children no matter what the circumstance. I don’t have to look any further than my own Mom. The story is told in our family about the time when my Big Brother was driving her home to South Carolina from Michigan.

 

During the trip, my brother was stopped by a state highway patrolman for speeding. When the officer came to the window, my Mom leaned over, looked the officer in the eyes, and in no uncertain words, told him that he should be chasing real criminals, not innocent tax paying citizens.

 

Moses’ Mother was a lot like this. She actually risked her own life to protect him from Pharaoh. In order to understand how it came to this, we need to look at the back story.

 

Following the death of Joseph and his brothers, a new king of Egypt came to power and became the Pharaoh. He didn’t have the history with Joseph that the preceding Pharaoh did. Therefore, when the Israelites grew significantly in numbers, he saw them as a threat, and decided to enslave them, working them ruthlessly.

 

But the people of Israel continued to grow in numbers. So the Pharaoh told the Israelite midwives to kill all the baby boys. But the midwives feared God, and didn’t obey the Pharaoh’s orders. So then he gave the order to all of his people that, “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

 

It was into this world that Moses was born; it was into this world that his Mother defended him at the risk of her own life as mentioned in Exodus 2.

 

About this time, a man and woman from the tribe of Levi got married. ² The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw that he was a special baby and kept him hidden for three months.       NLT

 

It was more than her parental instinct that led Moses’ Mother to hide him from the killing order of Pharaoh. It was her faith that the God of Abraham; the God of Isaac; the God of Jacob; would ultimately fulfill his promise. The promise that He would lead the Israelites back to the Promised Land. Little did she know that her son, Moses, would be called to lead them.

 

The example of Moses’ Mother is still applicable for us today. We make decisions every day by faith, not knowing how the Lord will use us in fulfilling His perfect plan; not knowing how He will use us to demonstrate His love, grace and faithfulness; not knowing what great results might come by our small acts of faith.

 

 

 

 

Waiting

 A Series on Living by Faith
(Use the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 17:15-19; Genesis 18:10-14; Hebrews 11:11-13

 [Hebrews 11 is a recounting of the Heroes of the Faith. Even though they never saw what they had been promised, each person is commended for living “by faith”. At the end of these commendations, Hebrews 12 tells us, “Therefore, because you are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses… throw off sin; run with perseverance; fix your eyes on Jesus”. In other words, live “by faith”.]

  

It feels like I spend a lot of my time waiting. I wait for my computer to respond. I wait on hold to be transferred while the voice tells me, “due to the pandemic, wait times are longer than normal”. I wait in line at the grocery store; at the McDonalds drive through; at the traffic light. Nothing seems to happen when I want it to happen… so I wait.

 

Waiting! We don’t like it, but it’s a part of everyday life. We get impatient and we want to take control. We want to make things happen. We want to be in charge.

 

Despite the Lord’s promise for descendants to fill the Promised Land, Abraham and Sarah didn’t have any children for decades. Like most of us who don’t get what we want when we want it, they decided to take things into their own hands by having a child with their servant Hagar. Bad idea!

 

As a result, Abraham and Sarah grew tired of waiting for the Lord. So much so that that they laughed at the Lord’s promise of a son.

 

¹⁶ I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

¹⁷ Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”  Genesis 17 NIV

 

¹⁰ Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

¹² So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”                Genesis 18 NIV

 

And yet, in Hebrews we read that Sarah gave birth to Isaac, “by faith”.

 

¹¹ And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.            NIV

 

So if you ever find yourself in a situation where you are tired of waiting… then remember Sarah. Remember too that the Lord is faithful, and then… wait some more!

Why? Because sometimes living by faith means waiting by faith.

 

¹³ All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.   Hebrews 11 NIV

 

Here are a couple of other cute pictures that I found that I just had to add.

 

Too Good to be True

A Series on Living by Faith
(Use the link below to read the verses.)

Genesis 12:1-9; Hebrews 11:8-10 

[Hebrews 11 is a recounting of the Heroes of the Faith. Even though they never saw what they had been promised, each person is commended for living “by faith”. At the end of these commendations, Hebrews 12 tells us, “Therefore, because you are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses… throw off sin; run with perseverance; fix your eyes on Jesus”. In other words, live “by faith”.]

  

My Dad used to say, “If something sounds too good to be true… it probably is”. Turns out, he was a pretty smart man. My wife and I enjoy traveling, and in the past we’ve been a sucker for a sales pitch involving travel.

 

During a vacation to Mexico, we were promised a $200 voucher for a day trip of our choice. All we had to do was sit through a “brief presentation” at a new resort. We were told the whole thing would take only two hours; no pressure. Four hours later, with a knot in my stomach, they finally relented to our repeated answer of “NO”!

 

We’re not the only ones who are a sucker for a promise. It turns out that Abram was susceptible to a promise of something that sounded too good to be true. All he had to do was move to Canaan.

 

The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's home, and go to a land that I am going to show you. ² I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing.        NLT

 

Funny how the Lord didn’t mention the people who already lived there; who would need to be displaced in order to inherit the land. Nor did the Lord mention the impending famine; Abram’s conflict with Lot; having a child with his servant and the resulting family strife; and, when Abram finally did have a son of his own, the request to sacrifice him. Yes, it sounded too good to be true.

 

When I think back on my own life to when I made my decision to follow the Lord… there were promises. However, with them, the Lord didn’t tell me that living by faith would include struggles and sacrifice; pain and suffering. He didn’t tell me about our still born baby, or the multiple miscarriages; or pulling us out by the roots from a lifetime in Michigan to move to Ohio.

 

As believers in the Living God, we live by faith in His promises, and based on who He is; His character. You don’t need to know everything that lies ahead. You don’t need to know about the pain and suffering that the future holds. You don’t need to know about the temptations and trials that are around the corner.

 

 Let us live like Abraham did. Let us live by faith in what we do not see.

 

⁸ It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. ⁹ And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. ¹⁰ Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God. NLT

 

Sibling Rivalry

 A Series on Living by Faith
Genesis 4:1-8; Hebrews 11:1-4
(Use the link below to read the verses.)

 [Hebrews 11 is a recounting of the Heroes of the Faith. Even though they never saw what they had been promised, each person is commended for living “by faith”. At the end of these commendations, Hebrews 12 tells us, “Therefore, because you are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses… to throw off sin; to run with perseverance; to fix your eyes on Jesus”. In other words, to live “by faith”.]

  

Did you have a sibling rivalry growing up? I did. It was with my sister who is six years older than me. At the time, I had a very short, explosive temper, and apparently she knew how to trigger it. 

On one occasion, I remember throwing a table knife at her as she ran down the hall. Just as she slammed the bathroom door behind her, the knife stuck in the door. Not one of my better moments.

 

Sibling rivalries can lead you to do terrible things. Take Cain and Abel for instance. They were one generation removed from the Garden of Eden; from living in harmony with God; but also, from original sin. The result was the first recorded murder in the Bible. Here’s what led up to it.

 

³ After some time Cain brought some of his harvest and gave it as an offering to the Lord. ⁴ Then Abel brought the first lamb born to one of his sheep, killed it, and gave the best parts of it as an offering. The Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering, ⁵ but he rejected Cain and his offering. Cain became furious, and he scowled in anger.          GNT

 

 That anger led to Cain’s murder of Abel!

 

What else do we know about the two brothers? Cain was older, and was a farmer. Abel was a shepherd. They both brought offerings to the Lord, so they both believed in Him. Then why did the Lord accept Abel’s offering but not Cain’s?

 

It appears that Cain’s offering was more of an afterthought; something that he did out of religious obligation, or possibly out of competition with his brother. But for Abel, his offering came from the heart. He gave the Lord the best that he had. Hebrews describes the difference like this.

 

⁴ By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.  NIV

 

Abel’s faith was in what he had never seen. You can imagine that his parents, Adam and Eve, may have talked about life in the Garden of Eden, and what it was like to live in union with the Lord. They may have instilled faith in the promises of a redemptive God so that Abel gave his offering by faith.

 

Therefore, whatever we do, let us do it for the Lord; let us do it from a pure heart; let us do it by faith that the Lord has provided redemption through Jesus. And in living by faith, the Lord will be pleased with us.