Radically Happy

Category: Devotional

  • Genesis 28:10-28:22 Ladder-Night Saint

    Haran… promise… blessing the clans of the earth… beyond Abraham… house of God… responds… returning home.. won’t trust Yahweh until… character or lack thereof.. disappointing… a price

  • Genesis 26:34-28:9 Daze of Wives and Roasts

    wife… grief of mind… earn the blessing? …mission impossible… skewed relationship… skilled liar… poor mimic… pay off… money, power, protection… missed birthright… rebellion… missed the point…

  • Genesis 26:1-26:33 Son of Abimelation

    a famine… again… the promise… tied to obedience… father’s lesson… passed down… sniveling… no shame… diverge… envy… resented… parting… strife… make peace… reconciliation… bless the peoples… living water…

  • Genesis 25:1-25:34 Family Plots

    again Abraham… another woman… inheritance… happy ending… his own people… intreating Yahweh… children struggled… enquire of the Lord… heel-holder… takes advantage… birthright… folly and cruelty…

  • Genesis 24:1-24:67 Rebeccan Call

    son’s marriage… senior slave… God’s promise… intriguing plan… testing God and the girl… hits the jackpot… on his master’s behalf… running… Yahweh… doesn’t name himself… hurry… blessing… rejoices…

  • Genesis 22:20-23:20 Tomb Realtor

    Sarah died… desolation… a tomb… permanent place… roots… gift giving… capitalism… everyone happy… recorded in detail… promised land… generations… strengthen relations… transformational economics…

  • Genesis 22:1-22:19 Moriah Carry

    famous test… only son… responds faithfully… extreme versus everyday… still small voice… life-changing… clung to promise… two irreconcilable truths… what faith is… together… nothing to lose… rewarded… integrity

  • Genesis 21:1-21:34 Laughter and Tears

    honoring Sarah… forgive and heal… laughter… mocking into mirth… to mocking… insecurity… dysfunctional family… no option… trusting God… water ran out.. promise and a well… water oath… everlasting God…

  • Genesis 20:1-20:18 Abimelation

    Abraham heads south… like last time… didn’t learn… still a babe… sense of propriety… slay righteous nation… blameless and lawful vs. moral… chance for redemption… Sarah’s feelings… Abraham’s intercession… restoration…

  • Genesis 19:1-19:38 Lot of Trouble

    two angels to Sodom… Middle Eastern hospitality… fears… homosexuality… violence towards strangers… courage or cluelessness… can’t live an isolated but righteous life… cinematic moment… consequences…

  • Genesis 18:16-18:33 Debating God

    death of Sodom… An odd question… staged for Abraham’s benefit… negotiating with God … to instruct Abraham… relational… interpretative framework for understanding God… postmodern commentary…

  • Genesis 18:1-18:15 Entertaining Angels

    Yahweh making house calls… a rich welcome… something was up… “Sarah thy wife shall have a son”… biological realities… laughable… neither ordinary biology nor extraordinary faith… God choosing…

  • Genesis 17:1-17:27 Abram = Abraham – Ha!

    … new name for God… from God… from personal to descendants… extends the covenant… cutting close to home… Sarah is included… beyond skeptical to laughing… God will get the last laugh…

  • Genesis 16:1-16:16 A Fateful Hearing

    …shameful…Sarai, barenness, Hagar… against God’s design… stupid idea… Abram’s fault… male responsibility… wife’s reckless scheme… God intervenes… hears affliction… listening and watching…

  • Genesis 15:1-15:21 From Despair to Heir

    the word of the Lord… vision… exalted father… mockery… does not chastise, corrects and comforts… Abram believes… radically centered… right relationship… judges everyone by the same standard…

  • Genesis 14:1-14:24 Raiders of the Lost Patri-Arch

    Nasty names… hanging with evildoers… fascinating contrast… alliance… trained… acts immediately… succeeds… Melchizedek… auspicious name, abrupt appearance… spiritual perspective… character of Abram… transformational thinking (and acting)…

  • Genesis 13:1-13:18 Parking Lot

    back to the beginning… speaking terms with God… remind us like a beacon… is wealth always a blessing?… cake-cutting… what value is wealth other than to provide for your family?…not whim, but sovereign choice…

  • Genesis 12:4-12:20 Altar, He Go

    Abram departed… the LORD appeared… an altar… God revealed Himself… Egypt… felt outside God’s protection… wrong on so many levels… becomes a curse… missed our chance to transform the world

  • Genesis 12:1-12:3 The Abrahamic Covenant

    Abrahamic covenant…idea of transformation… great responsibility… guilt…Blessed by being able to bless… happiness consists of fulfillment, other-centeredness, justice, and expansion… liberating rather than guilt-inducing

  • Genesis 11:10-11:32 The Death of Haran

    The generations of Terah (delay)…Abram (exalted father)…Lot… Haran is the death of Terah, as well as his station of delay… Terah is barely a footnote in history… chickened out and missed the blessing…