SATURDAY, August 30th, 2008

Hey There You Guys! What Happened Yesterday?? Where was everone? Everyone just decided not to do their devotions the same day or something. Well, you missed a good passage. Try to stay faithful each day. I know it can be hard, and there are always exceptions, but make Gods Word a priority to show God that He is worth it!

A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
David: Great Job Witnessing man! That is not very easy, but there are always great rewards!! I would love to hang out with you this weekend. Let me know what your plans are and I will try to work it out.
Rob: I enjoyed yesterday very much! I hope that things are changing! Did you find a house yet? :)
Michael: I am SO THANKFUL for your faithfulness!!
Rachel: I will tell Bethany that you are trying to get a hold of her.
Bethany f: Rachel is trying to "get a hold of you" :)
Jonathan: You were really sick? Why didn't you call me? I would have brought you some chicken noodle soup!! :) Ha! Well, I did not think of the 12 days of Christmas yesterday, however, I have been singing Christmas music for the last week!
Mallory: Are you going to the Rays Game today? I wish that I could go!!!!! We have praise team practice :(...
Ryan: Good to see you on here man! Yes, it definitely is weird how the cut up animals!!!

Genesis 16

1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar.
2 So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.
3 Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan.
4 So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The LORD judge between you and me.”
6 So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.
7 Now the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.
8 And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”
9 The Angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.”
10 Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.”
11 And the Angel of the LORD said to her: “ Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has heard your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man’s hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”
13 Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?”
14 Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.
16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

Wow! This is a story in the Bible that has had a DIRECT IMPACT on your life. In this story we see that Abram and Sarai still did not believe that God would give them a child. Because of this unbelief, They decided to take matters out of Gods hands and take them into their own hands.

So, Sarai decides that she will tell Abram, her husband, that He can go have sex with Sarai's handmaid so that they can have a kid together and "then God's promise will be fulfilled"... NOT!!!

That is not what God promised!!

Here is how Abrams disobedience DIRECTLY AFFECTS US TODAY.... Ishmael was the son the was born unto Abram by Sarai's handmaid Hagar... Ishmael is the father of the Arab people today. We will continue to study this in the next days, but it is clear that Ishmael, is the father of the Arab people today...

Wow! Did you see how that one verse says that "His hand shall be against every man and every man's hand shall be against him... Well that still is going on today. In fact: We see that Isaac and Ishmael and both the beginnings of the Jews and the Arabs, which fight TO THIS DAY!!!!

I bet you didnt realize that Bible was that relevant to the War in Iraq! WOW!


Well, we see that even though Abram makes a mistake and then they make a double mistake by giving Hagaar a hard time: God still loves Hagaar and finds her and tells her to go back to live with Abram and Sarai again!

What a wonderful UNCONDITIONAL LOVE!! I am so thankful for it!

I think the second lesson is this: You never know how much ONE BAD DECISION will effect your life and the lives of people for the next thousand years!! That one poor choice by Abram has caused more wars, and destruction than any other decision He made in his lifetime!

The end of sin, IS DEATH (and DESTRUCTION)