August 31, 2026; Genesis 18

Daily Dose of Hope August 31, 2026   Scripture: Genesis 18   Prayer:  Abba Father, We come to you today, grateful for your love and care in our lives.  Thank you for your presence and your peace.  Help us to gather our scattered thoughts and set aside distractions so we can focus on what you have for us today.  In the next few moments of silence, Lord, help me be still and know that you are God...We give you all the glory, Lord Almighty.  Amen.    Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan.  We are currently studying the book of Genesis, learning a lot about God's character and truth, but also realizing how people haven't changed much at all.    Today's reading is Genesis 18.  This is a fascinating chapter.  Three men come to see Abraham.  But we also know that the Scripture says that the Lord appeared to Abraham.  Thus, we can assume that one of the men was actually the Lord in human form.  The other two might have been angels.    It seems that Abraham knew right off the bat that he was in the presence of God.  He runs out to meet the men, he makes sure they are fed the absolute best.  We know Abraham had been in the presence of God before and so there must have been something about the men that Abraham immediately recognized.    I had some thoughts about this.  How often have we encountered God?  How often have we encountered his messengers, the angels?  Are our eyes open to see when a heavenly being visits us?  Think about Hebrews 13:2, which says not to forget to show hospitality to strangers because by doing so, some people have shown hospitality to angels without even knowing it.    The men tell Abraham that within a year, Sarah will be pregnant.  She laughs and God knows it.  He calls her on it.  I don't blame her.  Women in their nineties don't typically think of pregnancy.  But God had willed it and he makes it clear, nothing is too hard for him.  Do you believe that nothing is too hard for God, I mean really?   The Lord shares with Abraham that he plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their horrible wickedness.  It's obvious that Abraham is greatly bothered by this.  He moves into this negotiation with God.  Will God destroy those cities if there are fifty righteous men?  What about forty-five or forty or thirty or twenty or even ten?  God is patient and says that he won't destroy Sodom or Gomorrah if there are even just ten righteous people there.    God's justice is perfect.  He knew that Sodom and Gomorrah needed to be destroyed.  As horrible as they must have been, it's still hard for me to think about such destruction.  I just have to keep going back to that truth:  God's justice is perfect.  He always knows best.    Blessings, Pastor Vicki