Genesis 12

Genesis 12:7 (ESV)

Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this Land." So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

It's amazing to me how many times in the Old Testament when someone experiences a really powerful moment with God, they immediately follow it up with a really dumb or cowardly decision. Here we see Abram and Sarai go to Egypt and Abram lets the Pharoah have his way with Sarai just to save his own skin. God has just told him that through his offspring he would build a great nation, but he's more worried about what the man Pharoah might do to him than he is about being faithful to God or his wife.

As I'm typing this it hit me that we don't see as much of this behavior in the New Testament. In fact from the book of Acts and onward, we see extreme examples of boldness in the face of pain or death. What's the difference? Were the NT believers stronger in their faith than the OT believers? I don't think so. I think the key difference is the constant presence of the Holy Spirit. After Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in the lives of all believers, everything changes! Peter who showed cowardice by lying and saying he didn't know Jesus after Jesus was arrested, suddenly starts showing courage in the face of death. The other 10 disciples who ran and hid when Jesus was arrested all eventually gladly give their own lives to serve him. Why? Because they're walking under a new power now!

By the way, it's the same power we walk in. God the Holy Spirit also dwells in us and wants to guide us toward lives that are marked by faith and boldness. Make a choice today to embrace that power and the knowledge that right now, where you sit, God is IN YOU!