This morning I read this particular portion of scripture out of The Message and it fell on me so afresh that I couldn’t help but share it you with you fine ladies on this Monday morning! I don’t think we should live in the past, but occasionally it’s good to remind ourselves how faithful He’s been in the past so that we can believe Him for the future.  God knows what He’s doing and sometimes, that’s good enough. If I may be a little bold, oftentimes in a blog post we can scan over the scripture references because we’ve read it so many times that we don’t feel the need to waste another second on it, but don’t sit this one out, read it slowly and let it sink into the marrow of your bones. And for the record, you’ll never waste a minute in God’s word, and neither will I. Something I have to preach to myself daily. I pray it encourages your Spirit like it encouraged mine.
“That famous promise God gave Abraham—that he and his children would possess the earth—was not given because of something Abraham did or would do. It was based on God’s decision to put everything together for him, which Abraham then entered when he believed. If those who get what God gives them only get it by doing everything they are told to do and filling out all the right forms properly signed, that eliminates personal trust completely and turns the promise into an ironclad contract! That’s not a holy promise; that’s a business deal. A contract drawn up by a hard-nosed lawyer and with plenty of fine print only makes sure that you will never be able to collect. But if there is no contract in the first place, simply a promise—and God’s promise at that—you can’t break it.
This is why the fulfillment of God’s promise depends entirely on trusting God and his way, and then simply embracing him and what he does. God’s promise arrives as pure gift. That’s the only way everyone can be sure to get in on it, those who keep the religious traditions and those who have never heard of them. For Abraham is father of us all. He is not our racial father—that’s reading the story backward. He is our faith father.
We call Abraham “father” not because he got God’s attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. Isn’t that what we’ve always read in Scripture, God saying to Abraham, “I set you up as father of many peoples”? Abraham was first named “father” and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, “You’re going to have a big family, Abraham!”
Abraham didn’t focus on his own impotence and say, “It’s hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child.” Nor did he survey Sarah’s decades of infertility and give up. He didn’t tiptoe around God’s promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That’s why it is said, “Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right.” But it’s not just Abraham; it’s also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God.”
Romans 4:13-25 (The Message)
And all the people said amen. I don’t know how your day, your week, your month or your year is going, but rest in the truth that God made and is making all things new and right through Jesus Christ. And that includes us. Our faith. Embrace God. Embrace what He’s doing. Embrace what He has done. Embrace what He is going to do. Whether you’re currently sitting in the valley or perched on a mountain top, “believe the One who brought Jesus to life when conditions were equally hopeless!” If you know Jesus as your personal Savior, rest in knowing that you are set right with God. And if you don’t know Him yet, what better time to take Him up on it than right now? If you’re looking for peace with God and you don’t fully understand what that means, we have a page on our website to help you. Nothing, and I repeat nothing, is too hopeless to redeem!
What a beautiful post, Lindsee! Thank you so much for reminding me to “embrace God”. This was just what I needed today.
Amen and amen! Thank you for sharing with us today and especially with a fresh Word from The Message. Sometimes the beautiful rewording of The Message can really speak fresh to us. Thank you. “When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do.” May it be that the same could be said of each of us! Wishing you a great week.
That is a beautiful passage and a such a fresh and inspiring translation. Thank you for sharing this Lindsee.
I have never read Romans in The Message and was surprised at how fresh it was. Thanks! Sometimes I just need to get out of my NASB and ESV.
And I chose the name Abraham’s Daughter because Abraham is my maiden name as well as my spiritual heritage.
I love this! I also love looking at Genesis 17 when God promises to be Abraham’s God and the God of his decedents in an everlasting covenant. Regardless of the land or not, just the fact that God loves us enough to be OUR GOD is the most beautiful gift ever. I am always amazed that the covenant includes me! All of us!
Thank you Lindsee!! God was talking to me about this, just this morning too! I am finding joy in the craziness of my life and believing that as crazy as it is, it is all in God’s plan! Abraham and Sarah’s situation seemed pretty unbelievable and yet God had it all under control! I will continue to believe His Promises!! He has my life and my family, all in His hands!! Thank you Jesus and Thank you Lindsee!!
Lindsee,
Thanks for sharing this! I am trusting GOD in some pretty heavy areas right now, and I needed this little reminder.
God is GOOD. HE is FAITHFUL, and HE KEEPS HIS PROMISES!
AMEN!
Thank you, Lindsee!
I needed this exactly right now. I was overwhelmed this morning in my prayer time with all of the things that I and my husband and my children are NOT. I felt that familiar feeling of despair and fear rising up. I cried out to God for help. Then after my prayer time, I chech my email to find your blog post, and through it God answering my prayer, “It’s not based on you, or your husband or your children — it’s all based on ME. BELIEVE, and don’t fear!”
Thank you, Lord. I choose to believe.
Thank you, Lindsee, for listening and sharing the ministry of the Word.
Lindsee, what a powerful message for this day. I am so glad you posted these verses from
the Message. What strength we can draw from this Scritpture. Thank you!! I’m ready for this day and whatever it holds for me. God is in this house!!
Patti, Clemmons
Enjoyed your post! I can do this thing! Praise God for His promises.
Beautifully said; thank you for your words. I’m sure I’m not the only one for whom this hits straight to the heart. But wherever we are in our journeys, I think we all need to be reminded of the pure and glorious gift, and reminded to trust in that gift. Thank you, God.
AMEN.
I so needed this today! I had haunting dreams all night last night about a very broken past – I woke up reliving things I can never ever change. I keep repeating to myself “God has rescued me from that! God has REDEEMED me from all that hurt and mess!”
And then to read this….Hallelujah. Confirmation from The Spirit!
Thank you, dear Lindsee.
What a beautiful portion of scripture! God’s promise vs. contract. Thank you, Message translation!
Thank you Lindsee; I needed this reminder to trust God and His way, and embrace God and His promises.(and thanks for the reminder to really take in the scripture- I’m so guilty of skimming!)
Yes! I love how different versions of God’s Word speak to us. Thank you for this post.
Whoops! Meant to say “different translations” not versions….
Thanks. I needed to read that today.
This was exactly what I needed to hear today. I am going to print it and re-read it again and again. Thank you Lindsee- well done.
We are working our way through Romans right now at church. It tends to be so heady. I love the Message and use it often to give me a different perspective.
Thanks for sharing!
O Lindsee dear, What a WORD!
I love the portion of where GOD calls Abraham ‘Father’, before he has any children, before he becomes a father.
Thank you Lindsee for being a faithful steward of your gifts/thoughts to us. You are an amazing woman!
I have sat & read and re-read this portion of Scripture. I love when GOD sends a Word over HIS well worn Teaching.
I am getting out other translations and getting more from our Father! Thank you dear sister for pointing us to HIM!
Thank you Lindsee! So precious to remember God promised and God did exactly what He promised. I needed this reminder today. HIS Word is always just what I need! God has promised and I need to believe my God to be God! Thank you LORD!
Thank you for a great word Lindsee! Blessings on you!
Perfect! Thank you for sharing this Word today.
i just finished a women’s heart dwelling place study THANK YOU BETH.So just how do I find peace with myself at age 60? I realize that the more I know the less I really understand. God has lead me through an extrodinary path in my life, I’m just not sure that today I fully fathom the why.
I can’t breath, I can’t bend over to pick weeds, I can’t even begin to figure out how I deal with this new reality that I am facing. At 40 lbs overweight I cannot do the things that I did with so much ease just a few years ago. For the woman who always cared or herself and took pride in her appearance, to suddenly see the wrinkled double chinned face in the mirror is devastating.
I lived a life that did not fair me well for old age. I smoked, used drugs, lived a hard and
grinding life. I think of myself swimming in a bikini, hiking the mountains, riding my bicycle, dancing for hours and going full steam ahead. I do not think of myself as the woman who is hooked up to oxygen at night, can barely make it to the trash in the alley without huffing and puffing, or finding the easiest thing is to just lay around and watch TV.
I live in the desert, wind, sand, sun. I work in a man’s environment with off-road vechicles, machoism, and flying testosterone. I came from the beach, sailboats, surf, and swimming with God’s creatures. I wanted to work in the airline industry, I worked in the medical field. I wanted to be a nurse a dream never fulfilled.
It seems that everyone else’s plans overtook my own. My first husband who had 35 jobs in the 13 years we were legally married changed his path as often as his pants. Me I just worked to make sure the bills were paid and that I was taken care of, since I had no doubt he wasn’t going to.
Now I find myself strapped to a business I never wanted in the first place, it wasn’t my dream, but once again I gave myself over to helping someone else find theirs. Before I could realize what I was doing I had a business in my name, was working in the middle of sand dunes and trying to cope with a very unhappy person.
At this junction it seems that all is going to crash to a very ugly ending. From the business which is not fairing well and will go belly up soon. The husband who is disillusioned with life in general, and has become bitter reverting back to his before Jesus days. Where does it all switch? Where do I see God’s plan for my life? Faith is all I have right now, and depending on the hour of the day it can completely wain.
Why could I have not figured all this out oh lets say when I was forty? I would have had time to steer this train to another track to avoid the wreck that is about to happen. I wonder if God’s purpose for me then was better and I just was to blind to see it. So now what? Does God change his plan for me? Can I have a few years of peace and try to accomplish this thing called relaxation? If my life holds very little time on this earth I want to not waste a minute of it. I want to see the Glory of this world with new eyes through him before I experience the beauty of eternal life with him.
I am touched by your honesty. Thank you for sharing. My heart goes out to you! God looks at our hearts. He does not use the same standards as we do. Yours is still beating and your honesty is refreshing. You sound like an amazing person. You are not done.
Jesus has done the most work in me when I have been the most hopeless. I am praying for you. p 20-24 in Believing God helped me so much because I felt I was too far in the minus to recover and then I discovered JESUS does make up the difference and more…Romans 4. The commentary Beth gives on these pages really encouraged me to keep going. I pray you will know HE can redeem every bit of your life. Believing that is hard for me but it is a hope that keeps me going.
Sending prayers to you, Kathleen. I know that hopeless feeling well…it’s an old “friend”. But I also know that just when it feels the worst, God sends a fresh breath. Sometimes, I don’t realize that’s what has happened, and sometimes it takes years for me to recognize those gifts. But they are/were there, and they are there for you as well. It strikes me that there is a vast sisterhood around the world on these pages, and in these comments (thank you Beth, Lindsee and all of Living Proof Ministries); know that we are all holding you tight.
We have to live by the word and enter into that supernatural life Christ has made available to us.Here are some phrases from the word that convey what I am talking about. Col; for you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God Eph; and raised us up with Him and seated us in Heavenly places in Christ Col; we have peace through the blood of His cross Cor; if any person be in Christ they are a new creation.Heb; without faith it is impossible to please Him.(unquote)We have to find our life and identity in the word. That’s why He gave it to us..blessings Ross Thompson for Kathleen
Romans 4 is HOPE in hopeless times to hopeless ones…I needed that reminder today, thanks! Love the Message version. Waiting on GOD’s timing is hard. Sometimes I try to do all the right things to “make the promises” come about now. It is frustrating to do the right things and not get the right answers or timing or the fulfillment in some way or in my control. It is all up to Him to take our part and make it something. I have a hard time trusting I guess. Roller coaster living is not Romans 4 living so I know I am not living it as I should but really don’t know how to live it any different. If trying could get me there, I would be there. It definitely isn’t by trying but receiving and I am supposed to have received so what is the problem. NOT SURE. Ugh. Any suggestions?
wow, right after posting I read this quote by AW Tozer:
“It is if God were saying, “What I AM is all that need matter to you, For there lie your hope and your peace. I will do what I will do, and it will come to light at last, but how I do it, is my secret. Trust me and be not afraid. AW Tozer.
Love this Lindsay Lou! I haven’t read from the Message in awhile but this fresh take excerpt makes me want to pick it up again. Thanks for the encouraging word sister!
Glad to see our world traveler is back at the ranch, I love to visit my dogs, I call them therapy dogs, because we talk about everything, and they always know just what to say! so attentive & in tune! It seems you all have a lot in common! Mrs. Beth and our siesta sisters! Thanks to you, I was just reading Breaking Free, Along with the others, on my Kindle; where you talk about feeling overwhelmed at how to live so God can be seen in our example! You all are such a blessing to my heart! I love you! xoxo Hugs & Prayers CB
Lindsay Lou, love your posts, you are such a blessing to my heart so so often, somehow I put the above on here not the most recent Beth at the homestead, anyway, so happy you are home too xoxo hugs & prayers cb
Thank you, Miss Lindsee, for the encouragement this morning:) ((HUGS)) to you Lindsee, have a blessed day.
So beautiful!! I am so happy you shared this! Very encouraging !!
So encouraging Lindsay. And all the people said Amen!