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)
FRIDAY, August 29th, 2008
UNBELIEVABLE!!! I spent the last hour writing all the details to each of you and then explaining the devotion and it was ALL DELETED!!!!! I am FRUSTRATED!!!! AAAHHHHHH!!!!
I will shorten this now: Sorry!
A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Kacey: Pastor is probably planning on renting a theater or two in Port Charlotte to use that Movie as an outreach!! Cool Huh!
Alex: Thanks for pwning me about my spelling!
NICK!!!!! I am so glad that you cam on here! Stay faithful! Love ya brother! Link 18
Bethany F:I will come to Lunch sometime soon: What lunch do you have?
Bethany B: I am so glad that God answered our prayers!! I am so thankful that you are so involved in our youth group now!! We should try to get Sarah on the devo blog!
Genesis 15
1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
2 But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3 Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”
4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.”
5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
6 And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
7 Then He said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”
8 And he said, “Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”
9 So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.
11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.
13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.
14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
15 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.
16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
17 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.
18 On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—
19 the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites,
20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
Ahh! I have to explain this all over again!! I hate stupid computers!
Well here it is: Abram is hanging out and God tells him: Abram, do not fear, I will be your shield! That is pretty cool stuff! Imagine hearing God say that to you!! Wowzers!!
Well, Abram was obviously thinking about something else, because instead of getting really excited about that... He starts questioning God and Gods faithfulness... let me explain...
Gopd promised Abram that He would be the father to many many nations! Well... that cannot happen unless He HAS A CHILD!!! So that is what He asks God....
God tells Abram: Yes, I am going to give you a child... Here is where Abram goes off the deep end.
He basically says: "Prove it" in verse 8.
Can you imagine asking God to prove what He has just told you? Abram has already seen God do so many WONDERFULLY AMAZING THINGS in his lifetime, and now Abram wants evidence that God is going to give him a child...
Ok, God decides to make a covenant with Abram. (I remember that pastor Chip preached a message about something like this)
When people would make a covenant in the olden days, one of the things that they would do is cut a bunch of animals in half and then walk between the animals... The idea was that if the animals could come back together and live again, then the promise would be canceled...
Well, that is what God does here... God shows himself as a burning torch going through the middle of those dead animal carcassas on the ground!! Gross! But I am sure that Abram got the point...
I dont know about you, but if I saw a floating torch burning and smoking and FLOATING through middle of a bunch of dead carcassas I would DEFINITELY BE BELIEVEING SOMETHING!!
Well, we often act just like Abram... we have seen God do so many faithful things in our life, but when God tells us to trust Him... many times we do not! Many times we ask God to prove himself to us in some way. When the truth is that he does not need to prove himself to us. We should jsut believe Him. He is God!!!!!
So unless you want to be smelling a bunch of dead animals... Like Abram :)
TRUST GOD!!!! HE IS FAITHFUL AND WORTHY OF YOUR LOVE AND TRUST!!!
I will shorten this now: Sorry!
A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Kacey: Pastor is probably planning on renting a theater or two in Port Charlotte to use that Movie as an outreach!! Cool Huh!
Alex: Thanks for pwning me about my spelling!
NICK!!!!! I am so glad that you cam on here! Stay faithful! Love ya brother! Link 18
Bethany F:I will come to Lunch sometime soon: What lunch do you have?
Bethany B: I am so glad that God answered our prayers!! I am so thankful that you are so involved in our youth group now!! We should try to get Sarah on the devo blog!
Genesis 15
1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
2 But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3 Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”
4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.”
5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
6 And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
7 Then He said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”
8 And he said, “Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”
9 So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.
11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.
13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.
14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
15 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.
16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
17 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.
18 On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—
19 the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites,
20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
Ahh! I have to explain this all over again!! I hate stupid computers!
Well here it is: Abram is hanging out and God tells him: Abram, do not fear, I will be your shield! That is pretty cool stuff! Imagine hearing God say that to you!! Wowzers!!
Well, Abram was obviously thinking about something else, because instead of getting really excited about that... He starts questioning God and Gods faithfulness... let me explain...
Gopd promised Abram that He would be the father to many many nations! Well... that cannot happen unless He HAS A CHILD!!! So that is what He asks God....
God tells Abram: Yes, I am going to give you a child... Here is where Abram goes off the deep end.
He basically says: "Prove it" in verse 8.
Can you imagine asking God to prove what He has just told you? Abram has already seen God do so many WONDERFULLY AMAZING THINGS in his lifetime, and now Abram wants evidence that God is going to give him a child...
Ok, God decides to make a covenant with Abram. (I remember that pastor Chip preached a message about something like this)
When people would make a covenant in the olden days, one of the things that they would do is cut a bunch of animals in half and then walk between the animals... The idea was that if the animals could come back together and live again, then the promise would be canceled...
Well, that is what God does here... God shows himself as a burning torch going through the middle of those dead animal carcassas on the ground!! Gross! But I am sure that Abram got the point...
I dont know about you, but if I saw a floating torch burning and smoking and FLOATING through middle of a bunch of dead carcassas I would DEFINITELY BE BELIEVEING SOMETHING!!
Well, we often act just like Abram... we have seen God do so many faithful things in our life, but when God tells us to trust Him... many times we do not! Many times we ask God to prove himself to us in some way. When the truth is that he does not need to prove himself to us. We should jsut believe Him. He is God!!!!!
So unless you want to be smelling a bunch of dead animals... Like Abram :)
TRUST GOD!!!! HE IS FAITHFUL AND WORTHY OF YOUR LOVE AND TRUST!!!
THURSDAY, August 28th, 2008
Hey everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Thursday! Tomorrow is FRIDAY and then you get a nice long weekend!! Woo Hoo!!
A Few Thoghts From YEsterday:
DAvid Deller: I think if you can pull the joker off then go for it, but don't do a cheesy imitation. I font have a clue who the other guy is. Personally I think you should get with Josh sandefur all night and You can both be the hulk. He can be the guy before the transformation and you can be the HULK!!!! Cool Huh??
Bethany: We did miss you, but I understand: How was volley ball practice today? By the way: Jessica Massey won for the girls and Jake Barnthouse won for the guys! It was pretty fun!
You should read over the first 10 verses, but dont get bogged down with them... They are simply explaining the army that went in to overtake Sodom, [and Lot]... I will explain the rest at the end.
Genesis 14
1 And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations,
2 that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
3 All these joined together in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him came and attacked the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim,
6 and the Horites in their mountain of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness.
7 Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and attacked all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazezon Tamar.
8 And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim
9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five.
10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; some fell there, and the remainder fled to the mountains.
11 Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way.
12 They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they were allies with Abram.
14 Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
15 He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.
16 So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people.
17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley), after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him.
Abram and Melchizedek
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.
19 And he blessed him and said: “ Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.
21 Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.”
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth,
23 that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’—
24 except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”
Well, what do you think about that? There is so much great stuff in this passage! My first thought is a follow up from yesterday: Lot was captured... WITH SODOM... If you play with snakes you are going to get bit. If Lot had never chosen to be close to Sodom he would have never been put in this situation. STAY AWAY FROM SIN!!!!
But... The cool part is that God always has a back up plan in spite of our mistakes... For Example: In this story we see that Abraham gets all of his "boyz" and they go... shall we say... lay the smack down? or maybe "they powned"!! all to find Abrahams little nephew, Lot.
God does the same thing in our life... maybe there is not an army of more than 300 people coming to our rescue, but God definitely has a plan to rescue us from our mistakes.
I can think of many times in my life where I have been one decision away from destroying my life... but by God's grace... He put a rescue plan into action!!
God loves you so much that He has a rescue plan for you! If you are off track right now, allow God to pull you back on track and and rescue you from your sinful decisions!!!
A Few Thoghts From YEsterday:
DAvid Deller: I think if you can pull the joker off then go for it, but don't do a cheesy imitation. I font have a clue who the other guy is. Personally I think you should get with Josh sandefur all night and You can both be the hulk. He can be the guy before the transformation and you can be the HULK!!!! Cool Huh??
Bethany: We did miss you, but I understand: How was volley ball practice today? By the way: Jessica Massey won for the girls and Jake Barnthouse won for the guys! It was pretty fun!
You should read over the first 10 verses, but dont get bogged down with them... They are simply explaining the army that went in to overtake Sodom, [and Lot]... I will explain the rest at the end.
Genesis 14
1 And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations,
2 that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
3 All these joined together in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him came and attacked the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim,
6 and the Horites in their mountain of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness.
7 Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and attacked all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazezon Tamar.
8 And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim
9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five.
10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; some fell there, and the remainder fled to the mountains.
11 Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way.
12 They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they were allies with Abram.
14 Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
15 He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.
16 So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people.
17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley), after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him.
Abram and Melchizedek
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.
19 And he blessed him and said: “ Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.
21 Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.”
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth,
23 that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’—
24 except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”
Well, what do you think about that? There is so much great stuff in this passage! My first thought is a follow up from yesterday: Lot was captured... WITH SODOM... If you play with snakes you are going to get bit. If Lot had never chosen to be close to Sodom he would have never been put in this situation. STAY AWAY FROM SIN!!!!
But... The cool part is that God always has a back up plan in spite of our mistakes... For Example: In this story we see that Abraham gets all of his "boyz" and they go... shall we say... lay the smack down? or maybe "they powned"!! all to find Abrahams little nephew, Lot.
God does the same thing in our life... maybe there is not an army of more than 300 people coming to our rescue, but God definitely has a plan to rescue us from our mistakes.
I can think of many times in my life where I have been one decision away from destroying my life... but by God's grace... He put a rescue plan into action!!
God loves you so much that He has a rescue plan for you! If you are off track right now, allow God to pull you back on track and and rescue you from your sinful decisions!!!
WEDNESDAY, August 27th, 2008
I will post my opening comment later on... :) have fun at school!!
COME TO CHURCH TONIGHT FOR OUR OLYMPIC FINAL EVENTS!!! IT WILL BE GREAT! YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS!!! TRUST ME!
Genesis 13
1 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South.
2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.
3 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
4 to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents.
6 Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.
7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren.
9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”
10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar.
11 Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other.
12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom.
13 But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD.
14 And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward;
15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.
16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.
17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”
18 Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.
This passage reminds me of the commercial where the two brother are about to eat a piece of bread with peanut butter on it. The mom says Bobby will cut and jimmy will choose. Well, you see that in this passage, Abram tells his nephew Lot: This here land is not big enough for the two of us... :) literally! So Abram tells Lot to seperate themselves from each other, and it gets even better... Abram tells Lot that he can choose whatever land He wants and Abram will take the leftovers...
Well, Lot (as we will see in the near future) seemed to be looking for trouble, so He checked out which land would be the best for him... He chose the land that was absolutely beautiful. (it looked like the garden of Eden) This land was Great! However it was also right next to the city of Sodom...
Lot chooses to build his family right next to the wicked city, and we can see how that decision effects the rest of his life. It is really a sad ending that we will read about soon.
It reminds me of Proverbs 4:14, 15
14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
If we are going to make sure that our life ends succesfully in Gods plan for our life, then we MUST AVOID SIN. WE MUST STAY AWAY FROM ANYTHING THAT COULD BRING US DOWN... That may mean a friend, that may mean a certain table at lunch, that may mean we have to get a new job, that may mean we cannot hang out with our neighbors...
But I guarantee you this, if you do not Avoid sin... it will find you, and at some point you will be more likely to give in. Think about Joseph... He LITERALLY RAN FROM POTIPHERS WIFE!
That is amazing! We too MUST RUN FROM SIN! and the people who lead us down a path of sin!
Dont be like Lot!
COME TO CHURCH TONIGHT FOR OUR OLYMPIC FINAL EVENTS!!! IT WILL BE GREAT! YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS!!! TRUST ME!
Genesis 13
1 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South.
2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.
3 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
4 to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents.
6 Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.
7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren.
9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”
10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar.
11 Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other.
12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom.
13 But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD.
14 And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward;
15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.
16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.
17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”
18 Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.
This passage reminds me of the commercial where the two brother are about to eat a piece of bread with peanut butter on it. The mom says Bobby will cut and jimmy will choose. Well, you see that in this passage, Abram tells his nephew Lot: This here land is not big enough for the two of us... :) literally! So Abram tells Lot to seperate themselves from each other, and it gets even better... Abram tells Lot that he can choose whatever land He wants and Abram will take the leftovers...
Well, Lot (as we will see in the near future) seemed to be looking for trouble, so He checked out which land would be the best for him... He chose the land that was absolutely beautiful. (it looked like the garden of Eden) This land was Great! However it was also right next to the city of Sodom...
Lot chooses to build his family right next to the wicked city, and we can see how that decision effects the rest of his life. It is really a sad ending that we will read about soon.
It reminds me of Proverbs 4:14, 15
14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
If we are going to make sure that our life ends succesfully in Gods plan for our life, then we MUST AVOID SIN. WE MUST STAY AWAY FROM ANYTHING THAT COULD BRING US DOWN... That may mean a friend, that may mean a certain table at lunch, that may mean we have to get a new job, that may mean we cannot hang out with our neighbors...
But I guarantee you this, if you do not Avoid sin... it will find you, and at some point you will be more likely to give in. Think about Joseph... He LITERALLY RAN FROM POTIPHERS WIFE!
That is amazing! We too MUST RUN FROM SIN! and the people who lead us down a path of sin!
Dont be like Lot!
TUESDAY, August 26th, 2008
Wow! Where was everyone yesterday?? Only 11 different people did their devotions! Can you believe it?? If you know someone who was not on the devo blog yesterday then call them up and tell them to GET ON HERE!!
So some of you have no school today?? Already? How did you manage that?
Thoughts From Yesterday:
Michael: I answered your question in my comments? Did you read them? I explained why God would change their languages for building a building. Go back and read it.
Everyone: I would encourage you to read my explanation of the passage. If you do not, that is ok, but usually I break down the passage and explain it to you in a way you might not have understood before.
Rachel: Great Job on the devos yesterday! I like your new picture too!
Bethany: Wow!!! You get to do 100 full court suicides tomorrow too?? Can I Come!!!!!! NOT! :)
Brooke: I think it is funny that you said... My "puppy" is about to have "kittens"... wow! That is scary! I don't even want to know! J/K!
Bethany: I am praying for you girl, I am sorry you are going through something tough! Let me know if I can help in any way!
Alex: I was about to tell Josh how good his devotions were then I read yours and... WOW!!!! GREAT JOB ON THE DEVOS YESTERDAY!
Rachel: You are exactly right! Thry found the people they could communicate with and they left and went to start their own city.
Josh L: DO YOUR DEVOTIONS AND GO TO BED EARLIER!!!!!
Genesis 12
1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4 So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.
6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.
7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.
9 So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.
Abram in Egypt
10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.
11 And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance.
12 Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.
13 Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.”
14 So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.
15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house.
16 He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
18 And Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.”
20 So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.
Wow! Can I just say: SIN MAKES YOU STUPID!!!! So the story starts off Great! We see that Abram is told by God to take his direct family and all of his belongings and go to a place that God will give him. Abram obeyed. God explained that Abram would receive many blessings for his obedience, God explained that Abram would be the father of many blessed nations!!
Every heard the song: "Father Abraham... had many sons" well, there you go"
So the story is going great, God commands, Abram obeys... WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENS NEXT?? There is a famine in the land... so what does Abram do? He turns to man for answers. The passage says nothing about Abram tunring to God for help through the famine. Abram simply decides to go to Egypt.
I don't know how to say this in the MOST APPROPRIATE way, so I will say this passage makes it clear that Abrams wife, Sarai, was hot! She was absolutely beautiful! I mean what kind of woman walks into a city and EVERYONE notices how beautiful she is, so much so that they go straight to the KING and tell him about her, and she ends up going to his "house".
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? What a coward? Abram let his BEAUTIFUL wife go to be with Pharoah so that he wouldnt be killed? I can tell you right now... You would have to kill me before I let you just take my wife away... and you better hope I don't get to you first!
Sin makes you SO STUPID... Abram was willing to give away his wonderful relationship with his beautiful wife, just so that He wouldnt get killed... can I explain it like this: GOD HAD HUGE PLANS FOR ABRAM!!! THERE IS NO WAY THAT PHAROAH WOULD or COULD HAVE KILLED ABRAM.
If Abram would have TRUSTED GOD... then he would have kept his beautiful wife for himself (the way God planned it in the first place). That is what happens when we stop trusting God and obeying Gods plan for our lives. We often cheat ourselves out of the great plan that God has for us!
We must not fall into this trap of tusting in our own plan, and in our own strength... even when times get tough, or scary: we must simply trust God and obey God! It will be worth it! Don't cheat yourself and your family by not trusting God.
So some of you have no school today?? Already? How did you manage that?
Thoughts From Yesterday:
Michael: I answered your question in my comments? Did you read them? I explained why God would change their languages for building a building. Go back and read it.
Everyone: I would encourage you to read my explanation of the passage. If you do not, that is ok, but usually I break down the passage and explain it to you in a way you might not have understood before.
Rachel: Great Job on the devos yesterday! I like your new picture too!
Bethany: Wow!!! You get to do 100 full court suicides tomorrow too?? Can I Come!!!!!! NOT! :)
Brooke: I think it is funny that you said... My "puppy" is about to have "kittens"... wow! That is scary! I don't even want to know! J/K!
Bethany: I am praying for you girl, I am sorry you are going through something tough! Let me know if I can help in any way!
Alex: I was about to tell Josh how good his devotions were then I read yours and... WOW!!!! GREAT JOB ON THE DEVOS YESTERDAY!
Rachel: You are exactly right! Thry found the people they could communicate with and they left and went to start their own city.
Josh L: DO YOUR DEVOTIONS AND GO TO BED EARLIER!!!!!
Genesis 12
1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4 So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.
6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.
7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.
9 So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.
Abram in Egypt
10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.
11 And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance.
12 Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.
13 Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.”
14 So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.
15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house.
16 He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
18 And Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.”
20 So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.
Wow! Can I just say: SIN MAKES YOU STUPID!!!! So the story starts off Great! We see that Abram is told by God to take his direct family and all of his belongings and go to a place that God will give him. Abram obeyed. God explained that Abram would receive many blessings for his obedience, God explained that Abram would be the father of many blessed nations!!
Every heard the song: "Father Abraham... had many sons" well, there you go"
So the story is going great, God commands, Abram obeys... WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENS NEXT?? There is a famine in the land... so what does Abram do? He turns to man for answers. The passage says nothing about Abram tunring to God for help through the famine. Abram simply decides to go to Egypt.
I don't know how to say this in the MOST APPROPRIATE way, so I will say this passage makes it clear that Abrams wife, Sarai, was hot! She was absolutely beautiful! I mean what kind of woman walks into a city and EVERYONE notices how beautiful she is, so much so that they go straight to the KING and tell him about her, and she ends up going to his "house".
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? What a coward? Abram let his BEAUTIFUL wife go to be with Pharoah so that he wouldnt be killed? I can tell you right now... You would have to kill me before I let you just take my wife away... and you better hope I don't get to you first!
Sin makes you SO STUPID... Abram was willing to give away his wonderful relationship with his beautiful wife, just so that He wouldnt get killed... can I explain it like this: GOD HAD HUGE PLANS FOR ABRAM!!! THERE IS NO WAY THAT PHAROAH WOULD or COULD HAVE KILLED ABRAM.
If Abram would have TRUSTED GOD... then he would have kept his beautiful wife for himself (the way God planned it in the first place). That is what happens when we stop trusting God and obeying Gods plan for our lives. We often cheat ourselves out of the great plan that God has for us!
We must not fall into this trap of tusting in our own plan, and in our own strength... even when times get tough, or scary: we must simply trust God and obey God! It will be worth it! Don't cheat yourself and your family by not trusting God.
MONDAY, August 25th, 2008
Hey Everyone! Today is the first day of the second week of School! Make sure that you guys give your all each day! You will be glad that you gave your best for the rest of your life. Whether you are at school, at work, at church, at home, or at the mall.: Give 100%, 100% of the time!
We had a great night last night! I am so glad that several of you came out to Jasons Deli after church with us! There were 28 people there! Wow! That was so fun!
A Thought From Yesterday:
Many of you did not write down your specific principles regarding vision. I trust that you did take the time to write them down on your own elsewhere. If you did not write them down, I want to encourage you to take a few minutes and do that. If you do not set the boundaries, then whenever times get tough, you will go farther than you intended because you werent thinking about har for you have gone... WRITE THEM DOWN SOMEWHERE!
Genesis 11
1 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.
3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.
4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
6 And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.
7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.
9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
Wow! What a great story. We see the descendants of Noah are all together and they decide to build a tower so that they could reach heaven. Their desire in this is to be closer to God, not in holiness, but in height. They figure that they can work their way to Heaven: They would simply build a glorified staircase that took them to heaven.
10 This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood.
11 After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
12 Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah.
13 After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.
14 Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber.
15 After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.
16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg.
17 After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.
18 Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu.
19 After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters.
20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug.
21 After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.
22 Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor.
23 After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah.
25 After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters.
26 Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Terah’s Descendants
27 This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot.
28 And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
29 Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah.
30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31 And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there.
32 So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.
We had a great night last night! I am so glad that several of you came out to Jasons Deli after church with us! There were 28 people there! Wow! That was so fun!
A Thought From Yesterday:
Many of you did not write down your specific principles regarding vision. I trust that you did take the time to write them down on your own elsewhere. If you did not write them down, I want to encourage you to take a few minutes and do that. If you do not set the boundaries, then whenever times get tough, you will go farther than you intended because you werent thinking about har for you have gone... WRITE THEM DOWN SOMEWHERE!
Genesis 11
1 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.
3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.
4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
6 And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.
7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.
9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
Wow! What a great story. We see the descendants of Noah are all together and they decide to build a tower so that they could reach heaven. Their desire in this is to be closer to God, not in holiness, but in height. They figure that they can work their way to Heaven: They would simply build a glorified staircase that took them to heaven.
There are several problems with that concept. First of all and most importantly WE CAN DO NOTHING TO WORK OUR WAY TO HEAVEN. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE!! We can only rely on the work of our savior Jesus Christ and His death on the cross!!
When we try to earn our way to heaven we will always fall short, just as the people in this story do.
The second lesson made clear through this passage is that we cannot rebel againt God and win! I have heard people say it like this: YOU CANNOT SIN AND WIN!!!
That truth is made clear in this passage.
God tells Noah and his family in Genesis 9:1 to multiple and replenish of "Fill the earth". This term gives the idea of spreading out and seperating themselves into different nations around the world. But we see that they create this city in Direct Disobedience to God... They build this tower expecting to build a giant metropolis for all of them to live together in.
Well, God has a solution for man's disobedience: Change their languages... Can you imagine this... one minute you are talking to your friend and everything is good, and then the next minute he cannot understand anything you are saying and you cannot understand anything He is saying. Everything sounds like people are just "Babbling" Hence the story of the tower of Babel.
These people were so confused that they could not finish the tower. So they found the people they could communicate with, and they went and "filled the earth" like they were supposed to do. Think about how great it would have been if they obeyed the first time... There would only be one language all around the world! If that were the case then I would have been able to understand what that Chinese guy was saying on TV last night during the Olympic closing ceremony!!!! Man!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, the key truth I understand in this passage, is YOU WILL NOT WIN AGAINST GOD!! Stay on track with him! Trust Him! Obey Him! Live for Him!
You can read the rest of the chapter if you would like to, but it is the geneology. Try to pull out your main application from verses 1-9. There is definitely enough good stuff in those verse to teach us something. The rest of the chapter is below.
10 This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood.
11 After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
12 Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah.
13 After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.
14 Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber.
15 After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.
16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg.
17 After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.
18 Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu.
19 After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters.
20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug.
21 After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.
22 Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor.
23 After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah.
25 After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters.
26 Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Terah’s Descendants
27 This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot.
28 And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
29 Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah.
30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31 And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there.
32 So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.
SUNDAY, August 24th, 2008
Can you believe that today is 200 total posts on our devotional blog! You are incredible! Thanks for staying faithful and keeping this online. If it wasnt for each of you teenagers, I am pretty sure this would not be going on still! I can not wait until we get to ONE YEAR!! That will be great!
Today if you were not in Sunday School, we missed you. Today we voted on whether we would continue with Genesis today or if we would do something else for the day. Most of the group voted to follow up with our sunday school lesson here on the blog today.
Today we continued our Sunday School Series on setting personal standards in your life. Today we specifically covered "setting a personal standard of vision". What do you watch? What do you look at? This morning we discovered how your heart follows the things that your eyes focus on.
Remember the illustration of driving down the road? Whever you look off to the right side of the road, you start drifting to the right side of the road. It can be very dangerous! In the same way, if we look at things that are outside of the boundaries that God has put in our life, then we will drift out of bounds as well. That is even more dangerous!!
This morning we talked about things we should not watch and then we talked about principles that would help us avoid looking at things that displeas God.
For todays blog, share some of your own principles of vision with the rest of us... maybe you have thought of something that we all need to be reminded of, so please share the standards that you have set regarding the things that you will watch.
Remeber: Take a few minutes and write these somewhere besides the blog so that you can always look back at them and be reminded of the personal boundaries you set for your life...
Psalm 101:3
"I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me."
My Principles of Vision:
1. I will not watch anything that causes me to think about inappropriate or immoral things.
2. I will only look at the opposite sex from the neck up.
3. I will not watch anything with nudity, or anything that encourages me to be immoral.
4. I will not watch anything that edifies the mutilation of mankind for which Jesus Christ gave His life.
5. I will not play any kind of video game that shows inappropriate or immoral conduct.
6. I will not watch anything that I would feel uncomfortable watching with my wife beside me.
7. I will not watch anything that I would not want my son watching when He is a teenage boy.
8. I will not watch anything that edifies and/or mocks sin. "Fools make a mock at sin" Proverbs 14:9
9. If I go to a movie theater I will check out the movie review before I go to see if it is appropriate. This is a great Christian site to check movies: http://www.pluggedinonline.com/movies/
10. If I go to a movie I will leave if ANY of my personal boundaries have been broken.
Thanks you guys! What are some of your personal boundaries? Make them tough, but not so rediculous that you will not stay true to them. (Example: I will never watch TV or a MOVIE again for the rest of my life!!!!) That might not be a good principle.
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