Genesis 17 and Acts 5
God tells Abram that his name is El-Shaddai — God Almighty, which reminds me of my mom listening to that Amy Grant song in the 80’s. Then God makes a covenant with Abram and changes his name. The Mark of the Covenant was circumcision — Abraham and each male in his household had to be circumcised. Not only members of his family, but also his servants.
Can you imagine being Abraham’s servant? He comes into your tent and tells you he needs you to work some overtime, watching the sheep tonight. Oh, and by the way, while he’s holding a knife, I’m going to need a little something else too.
I’m so thankful for Christ, his new spiritual covenant with us.
‘11When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. ‘
In reading Acts 5, we learn that Satan filled the hearts of Ananias and his wife Sapphira, and their greed, pride, and lying to the Holy Spirit led to their death. And then we learn that crowds are bringing all kinds of people to the Apostles, and the people are being healed. Then, reading verse 17, the high priest and his officials are filled with jealousy; the King James Version says they were filled with indignation. Regardless, their hearts were not filled with love. I once heard a pastor say the absence of love is not love. I felt that. We have to be mindful of what our hearts are being filled with. I love Paul’s prayer for spiritual growth.
‘14When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth 16I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 20Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.’