August 26, 2026; Genesis 15

Daily Dose of Hope August 26, 2026   Scripture:  Genesis 15   Prayer: Today we pray an ancient prayer from St Ambrose of Milan, who lived from 337-397 AD...O Lord, who has mercy upon all, take away from me my sins, and mercifully kindle in me the fire of Your Holy Spirit. Take away from me the heart of stone, and give me a heart of flesh, a heart to love and adore You, a heart to delight in You, to follow and to enjoy You, for Christ's sake.   Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the daily Bible reading plan at New Hope Church.  We are currently doing a deep dive into the book of Genesis and this will be followed by a deep dive into Exodus.  Today's reading is Genesis 15.   In today's reading, God reinforces his covenant with Abram.  But I want to go to the very beginning of the chapter when God tells Abram, in a vision, to not be afraid.  Let's not forget that Abram just finished a major battle and he had every reason to expect an attack from one of the enemy kings.  But God tells him that He, the Lord, will be Abram's shield.  God is going to protect him.   And then there is this interesting dialogue between God and Abram about Abram's heir.  Abram tells God that while God has given him wealth and now protection, what good is any of it if he doesn't have an heir?  He doesn't hold in his frustration.  Abram is honest with God about his frustrations and fears.  Just FYI, we can always be honest with God about our frustrations and fears.  God knows anyway.   So, this is when God reinforces the covenant that he made with Abram.  God promises that Abram's descendants will be as plentiful as stars in the sky.  It is clear and Abram believes (he has faith in God), but he expects it to be soon.  Yet in the chronology of Abram's life, the fulfillment of this promise was still 15 years away.  God's timing is often very different from our own timing.   The chapter ends in an interesting way.  God has Abram fall asleep.  He then prophesies that Abraham's descendants will be in slavery for 400 years (we know this happens in Egypt) and that God will ensure that those descendants eventually gain wealth and be able to return to the land God promised them.    God's plan is in place.    Blessings, Pastor Vicki