What a wonderful evening we had last night! I enjoyed it thoroughly! Everything from the Ninja Warrior opening, to our very own personal Suncoast Youth Ninja Warrior, to the message about how Abraham was proved his love to God by obeying God and Trusting God! We must do the same!
Many of you were extremely transparent in your devotions yesterday. I am very thankful for that! Several of you mentioned how hard it is to stay faithful in your devotions. I agree. I have never been as faithful in my devotions in my life as I am at this moment.
I would encourage you to make it your first priority. Write it on your hand. Really meditate on the passage! any and ALL THE ABOVE are so important to maintain a faithful time in Gods Word!!
1 And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken.
2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac.
4 Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5 Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.”
7 She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”
Hagar and Ishmael Depart
8 So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.
9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing.
10 Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.”
11 And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son.
12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called.
13 Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.”
14 So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.
15 And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs.
16 Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.
17 And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.
18 Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.”
19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink.
20 So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
21 He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
A Covenant with Abimelech
22 And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do.
23 Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.”
24 And Abraham said, “I will swear.”
25 Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech’s servants had seized.
26 And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today.”
27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant.
28 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
29 Then Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?”
30 And he said, “You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that they may be my witness that I have dug this well.”
31 Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.
32 Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines.
33 Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.
34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.
This is a very busy chapter, and there are some VERY Important situations that we should take note of.
Although there are many different applications in this chapter, I want to look at two main points. First I want you to understand verses 8-20. WOW! This is incredible! Do you remember Ishmael? He is the son that Abraham had with Sarahs bondservant (Hagar). Well, If you remember correctly I explained that Ishmael is the direct ancestor to the modern day Arab people...
Isaac was the chosen son to carry on the lineage of Christ, but Ishmael was the son a a servant and He would be cast out of the family.
Have you ever seen Drama in your life? Well, I am sure that you have... I think it is interesting that we see Drama even here in the first book of the Bible. Let me explain: Verse 9 says that Sarah saw Hagar scoffing, or making fun of Her and her son Isaac... [ just so you know... dont ever mock the woman of the house... that is not a smart thing to do! [Trust Me!] :)
Well Sarah did not like that and so she kicked Hagaar out of their home. Hagaar left and had no place to go. She literally thought that she was going to die from dehydration in the middle of the desert. Hagar even went to the point of placing Ishmael under a bush to die so that she would not have to watch him die. THAT IS HEARTBREAKING!!
To be completely transparent, I will say this, but I want you to understand this is how deceitful the flesh is... My flesh tells me that it would not have been a bad thing to have Ishmael die right there under that bush, because then we would not have all of this global conflict between the Arab nations and the rest of the world. But THAT IS WRONG. Let me share the reason why: God, had mercy on Ishamel. God Loved Ishmael. God still loves Ishmaels descendants today.
There is a passage in the book of Colossians that says: Yes! God loves the chosen ones, but He also loves the sons of the bondservants. Who are we to judge them!
If God loves them, then we should love them as well and strive to share the gospel with the Arab nations and the Muslim nations around the world today.
I could go on and on about that, but I won't. I will just make all of my thoughts clear with this one sentance: If God loves and died for ALL MANKIND, then who am I to pick and choose who I like, and who I want to get saved, and who I want to go to Heaven. That is not my choice!
The second and final thought I want to share with you is this: Abraham could not be trusted by the King. Why? Because he was already dishonest. Abraham lost his character and integrity because of that decision. The results: It made it harder for people to believe him later on in life.
Be honest all the time, then you do not need to promise because the world will know that whatever you say is always the truth... The Bible puts it this way: Let your yay be yay and your nay be nay.
Be Honest!
I hope you got as much out of this passage as I did.... make sure you come back on tomorrow because it will be a great study on Abraham and Isaac. It is the same passage that I preached on last night about Abrahams trial in offering up Isaac for a sacrifice.
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16 comments:
wow, very long and interesting,
I know I'm going to sound silly, but Abraham had a son with the bond woman? And he has one with is wife?
I couldn't imagine the problems that would cause.
I would say it's very nice to see that God has proven his word, not only does he reassure Abraham constantly through many ways, but he actually shows him results, I couldn't imagine having that kind of relationship with God. To actually be able to hear him talk, and talk back, and make covenants, and just, I don't know, wow.
I also find it amazing that The bondwomands son, got thrown out, because Abraham obeyed his wife and God, and did as she asked, the son lived, and grew to be an archer, found a wife, and lived, and as far as I can tell, God was with him, so not only was he born out of marriage, and had problems of his own, God still accepted him, I find that amazing..
I couldn't imagine how it would feel to be a child out of marriage, I just recently found out that my sister, is only my half sister, because of some mistakes my mom maid, and I could understand how people would feel less.. just less, I dont know how, but just different, because of sitautions that they had no control over, but I can understand that noone should feel less for anything they have no control over, because they have no control over it, God wipes all slates clean, and the way things get changed is because of choices we make, we choose to love god, we choose to make the right choices.
And that's what counts.
Look here, Abraham got his land, he got his Wife, (didn't lose her or die in the towns he was in and lied) He had a son, which grew up healthy, and as far as I can tell he had another one? But one that was problematic because of who he had her with? Which grew up healthy and well, and with God everything in his life fell into place.
I will have to admit, that out of all my faults, one of the biggest that I can think of is that I may not actually trust in God as much as I should, I say I do, and I act like I do, and I live as I do.. but inside my head, my thoughts flow in different directions often more than not, why is this happening, can I really just "wam" here God be my Rock, and help me take care of this, because I know that if I don't have control of any situation, I need to Act with prudenance, and integrity and be as honest and patient and loving as I can in any situation, and let what is not in my control stay that way, because it's not for me to be control.
Sometimes its very easy to not understand, what is or is not in my control, I mean, why do people ask why so much? Because if it's something you don't know why why spend all the time trying to let it burden you so. Especially if it's things that really bring you down, emotionally and mentally, and spiritually.
Without giving anyone any details. I could say that at almost every day I can turn around and say, HEY! this isn't fair, I know i'm not perfect but why is this like this, why do I have to go through this, what did I do for this, me me me, I I I.
But the truth of the matter is, why ask why? Why not just pray for forgiviness where it is needed, and strength where it is needed, stay honest, and hopefull, but be weary that the situation is important, but trust in God and myself, and those I love.
It's not easy at times, that is for sure. But Abraham is probabaly one of the best examples, of how crazy and messed up you can be in creating harder situations for you and your family, and coming through in the end, shining like gold and so powerful in the word of God and his soldier.
If I could master giving everything to God and really honestly, just being as humble as I can, and open as I can, would I suffer as much as I have?
I have to say I think I wouldn't.. even if only I didn't dwel on things that were painful or not understandable. But if that's the case, why is it so hard to fight natural feelings, and 'the norm' of what I am use to try doing?
I dont' know, I just know that I take much encouragement from Abraham, because of what he went through, which I can say is much harder than anything i've gone through and hopefully ever will go through, but praying and trusting God is really the only answer, to fight that, is to fight ourselves, and everything we really want
I'm glad you're having a ton of fun Lee!
My Books a million Job has me on an official schedule, and It looks good. :)
almost 20hrs / week! :)
It's not going to be easy, but I really enjoy who I work with.
okay see you guys -Rob
Sometimes I judge people because of what they have done to me or others, but like that passage and what Paster Lee said, who are we to judge. Everyday as I grow in my faith even more, I learn to judge people less and less.
Pastor Lee, I've got to tell you something very important... and wierd. At school today in class we were in groups and were allowed to talk for the moment and all of the sudden, I had to take on a athiest and...get this... a satanist, at the SAME TIME!!!!!! That book I got at The Wilds said that when you share God and Jesus you have already won whether you bring them to Jesus or not.
Pastor Lee, during sunday school this week, may I tell everyone some advice on witnessing to the lost?
pastor lee i just got back from football and i whooped port charlotte im not kidding i was tackled so hard
That is so true when you said that we shouldn't choose who should go to Heaven! It's our job to witness to people no matter if we like them or not!
Wow, I wish I could have the courage that Michael has! That is so cool!
And the honesty thing, I need to work on that! It's not that I'm telling lies all that time, it's that when I say things, I don't always do them. It's kind of what you said last night, talk is cheap. I need to actually do what I say I'm going to.
So God gave them this child that Sarah laughed at but God promised her and she got it and I learned that we do need to be honest in everything even if its something little if were honest about it really makes you feel good and Abraham I think was beginning to obey God more then he was before which we just need to obey God in everything we do.
Basically this passage tells us not to be the hand of fate and decide if people should go to Heaven or Hell. That is a decision that only God can make. We cannot judge others because we too have sinned making us hypocritical.
wow I've got a busy schedule. I have to be at school by 6:30 to play music in the morning and then i have to stay at school until the football game is over. Then the next day I have practice from 9 AM to 9 PM o.0
Have I ever seen drama? What kind of question is that? lol Let us be frank it is allll overrrr our youth group and that is just a fact not a secret at all! Anyway I do understand what you meant by that Pastor Lee because it really is amazing to see that the stuff that is going on in our world today is similar or exactly the kind of stuff that went on in the Bible! Coincidence?? I think not!! lol!
And like how it refers to that idea on,” who am I to pick and choice who I want to witness to or not?" That is interesting to me because honestly and that seems to be what we are doing here, lol I think that there are times when I will look at someone find out that they do no my Savior but because of there appearance or maybe there attitude I do nothing to help them meaning I do not share with them that they can have eternal life.
Honesty is something that I have seen a lot of lately but wait not honesty I should say dishonesty! And you would not expect that to come from people in authority but trust me it happens and I am being honest by telling you this hahaha
We all have told a lie but and will always sin but God views that as disobedience and if we like Pastor Lee said Wednesday night at church, if we disobey God then we need to ask ourselves, "Do I really love God?" Because I must not is I am not going to keep HIS commandments! I pray that that is something I can do better in! OBEDIENCE! Most importantly to God but also my parents. God loves us HE doesn’t deserve that and we can't afford to live without HIM. IT JUST WON'T WORK! :)
So the key things in this passage are do not judge others, be honest with everything you say, witness to others and love those who God loves!(Which is everyone, and witness to those who are lost!) I agree with Kacey, im not lying all the time but I say things alot and forget to do them so I need to work on that and definitely witnessing to others! Great job by the way Michael! And also in this passage I realized once God had given Sarah a baby she beleived Him and we should just trust, obey, and believe in God the first time he tells us something! Lets remember to stay faithful and trust God with the plans He has for our lives!!! bye
So ive had so much homework i think i might drown in it.
Sorry for being on late, once again.
The first time ive been home since i left for the bus was like, 930 and had so much to do.
Tomorrow im thinking of going to genesis so if that works out, ill do these before i leave ☺
ew. i hate judgement; thats something, i dont really understand why, but i get the cold end of a lot of times at school.
Ive noticed that people see me and think id be a bad kid or a nasty type of person, and when they realize im not; it ends right there.
They automatically consider me to be fake or posing a ssomething im not, so i should DEFINITELY not be judging other people.
It does not feel good to have people do that to you,
so i should specifically be careful i do not do the same to others, in any aspect.
I guess i should think of witnessing more as pin the tail on the donkey; be blind to descrimination, and give it my best shot!
Why not?
better late than never. :)
I think witnessing should be like anything else, if you have the time, and the wisdom to share something wit h someone and you can, you should, because when we have extra of something, we should be more than willing to share it with our friends and our neighbors and fellow denziens of the Earth, and we have the most prized possession, knowledge, of salvation, and not only do we need to lead by example with integrity to everyone around us, but when people ask us, or people are eager to learn something we need to be willing to share that with others, even if they are not eager, but they are down and look lost, you can be an open light to them, if you apporoach them nicely and warmly, not being pushy but just offering some small wisdom, and tel them that you do care, that often opens up more than you could believe.
I will have to be honest.. This was about three weeks ago, I have never been attacked for being a Christian by someone more than this ever, on World of Warcraft, I was doing a run with five players, and one of the members in the group was in my guild, and I often say this at work or wherever I am, because I get offended by foul language, but esp when people say GD or JC. So after the third time, I asked this guy if he could please reframe from saying that, and he said, what are you one of those christians? I said, yes, and he started getting angry with me, and I said, look you can cuss, you can do what you want, i'm not trying to own you or anything, I'm just simply asking if you could respect my wishes, and just not say Gd or Jc, and then he started getting more angry trying to argue the bible with me, and I told him.. Look, I'm not looking for a fight, and I don't want to argue, so can we please stop, you obviously don't want to talk about this, and if you're only going to disrepect me and my beliefs, we don't need to do this, so he started saying, My dad is going to hell, because of what you believe, you and all your christians, I hate you and all this stuff, and I said, do you know for sure if he was saved? And he said he told me he wasn't. I thought to myself.. I don't know if I believe that but okay. and he was arguing that his dad was a pure athiest and he is too, and I was like.. that is very sad, and i'm sorry but then most likely yeah he is probabaly in hell, I can't tell you what's in his heart, or if he accepted Jesus, but if he did I couldn't see that he would lie to you about it, and he started to argue more about how christians are evil for thinking so many people are going to hell, and I said look, you obviously want to keep this up, so I will say this nicely. I don't know why you have such hate, but I will tell you this, a real bible believing Christian would not go up to you, or slander you, or cause you great disrespect, by telling you that everyone is going to hell, we can let you know the truth and give you wisdom, but it is not for anyone to judge others, and God will judge you, and i'm sorry if you believe things that go against that, but i'm not telling you you are evil, and that I hate you, I'm simply letting you know what I know and what I believe, I dont' wish to argue this with you, and I dont' want any problems.
He said, and I kid you not, at that point, he said, I hope you and everyone like you DIE, I want to kill you all. And I was like.. holy crap this isn't going any further.
I told him at this point, I'm going to put you on ignore, because I can't believe you are actually telling me I'm evil, and saying what your'e saying to me.
So I ignored him, and instantly he left the group in the middle of our raid, and got on another char, and started threatening me, which I just ignored that character..
But what surprised me, is even though that guy was pretty lost, not only did I not show him any anger, or feed his hate toward christians and Christ, but I showed him that christians can be respectfull even if people are so lost that all they feel is hate and anger.
Also everyone in my party, and my guild, started to stand up for me, saying that that he was a complete jerk and he needed to be kicked from the guild, I found out that almost half of the people in my guild are Christians, and some of the people that weren't Christians, were respectable, and liked how I didn't argue or throw anything bad at him, and could possibly be won over to Jesus.
I was surprisingly amazed, because I don't play much but about once a week, for a few hours, and I was thankful to have a guild, I am the GM, of people that are Christians, and even if they aren't, are respectable enough to understand that Christians do have rights, and that if they are being stepped on would defend them, and small battles like that, are ones that help show people how awesome Jesus is.
Because people want to listen and talk to people who show respect, use correct language, and are honest about what they believe.
I wanted to share this with everyone because I think it's important to know that you can't just point at someone and say, "I am going to save that person" you should say, I'm going to try to save that person, but I'm going to lead by the example, and try to save EVERYONE, because God and the holy spirit are what work the magic in peoples hearts, I'm mearly a tool for God, that with his grace, I can show people the correct way, and If I let myself follow his word, and I stick out, and try to abide by his word, I can sway people, and people will come to me, and I can create fellowship and help save people.
I think if we all are more vague in our dicsipleship, and helpfull with not just teh few people who we see are lost, but with everyone, then we would get a lot more good vibes, and input in our society.
Jesus, when he walked around preaching the word of God, he didn't just walk up to one person and say, "come follow me and be a follower of God", he walked around saying, "you all are children of God and you are all welcome to become more wise in his word, and become fellow disciples"
Becasue we can not choose who will be saved, and we cannot force people to want to be saved, and we cannot judge a few people who are so lost and angry, and try to force them, but what we can do, is be kind and unmoving, and strong, and show EVERYONE what we believe and why we believe it..
Sorry taht was so longa, and I have so may typos.. I've been up since 8am.. working till 1am.. So i'm a little tired. heh.. I hope you guys have a good night, and I enjoyed reading all of your comments.
Come on guys only 11 comments!!
This year at skool there was a lot of new kids from public skool and i thought they were gonna be really bad kids and i was judging them and i dont even know them yet... but then when skool started there were a few from the public skool that r not bad at all! I was really surprized, but i need to learn to not judge people @ all, even if i knew them or not. Because the only Judge is God. He will judge you one day.
ok so lets start out with thiis...everyone lies.its sad but true.once you have lied to someone they probably wont ever be able to trust you again.i knoow that since i have been a little tiny baby i have been told to never lie.its like the first thing your parents tell you and that why i think it so crazy that lying is so casual for all people.in this passage abraham had to do so many things for abimelech to trust him.he swore to him and gave him stuff.if he wouldnt have lied in the first place he wouldnt have had to do all of that.
This convicts me and reminds me of the decision I made at the Wilds to witness more, Im working on it but I need to always remember that God knows who will get saved, and its not up to me to choose who Im going to witness to. My dad won't promise anything unless he knows 110% that he can deliver. Very few promises he has made to me in my life because he doesn't want to breaak them, its a big thing. I've incorporated that concept into my life as well, I rarely ever promise things so I won't get people's hopes up and so that Im not "lying" when I don't fullfil my promised duty.
this one was great. it is still mind blowing how God gave them a child at such an old age normally that would be impossible. i would have been sad if i was Hagar and her son they had done nothing wrong and were cast out. Sarah didn't like having another sun with Isaac. it is great how God looked after Ishmael and Hagar.
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