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Gen. 16:11-12 - The angel of the LORD said to her further, "Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has given heed to your affliction. 12 "He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone's hand will be against him;…" NASU
(Now I am not saying men should never listen to their wives. But I will say this, "Men, if your wife ever tells you to go and have sex with another woman don't do it.") God told Abe and Sarai, they were going to have a son (Their names would later be changed to Sarah and Abraham). Sarai and Abram were both old when they were given the promise by God. It is going to take 25 years for the promise to come true. He didn't say when the promise would be fulfilled. He simply said they would have a son. They must have thought He meant immediately and when it didn't happen immediately Sarai decided to formalize a plan of her own. Sarai decides she can help God by replacing His plan with one of her own. So she tells Abram to have a sexual relationship with her handmaiden, Hagar, and then she will raise the child as her own. This may have been accepted culturally but it surely wasn't going to work when it was in direct opposition to God's plan. I can't imagine anything going wrong with that plan, can you?
America's 911 was caused by the descendants of Ishmael. Last week the headlines read: More Than 130 Children Killed by Pakistan Taliban in School in Peshawar. Everyday there are new headlines about Ishmael and his descendants being a "wild donkey" or a "wild ass" (as one version translated this text) and fighting against everyone. They have bombed England, France, Pakistan, USA and the list goes on and on as this prophecy is fulfilled day after day. His hand is against every man and every man's hand is against him.
When God makes a promise believe it and don't put a time limit on it. If you think that God should act within a certain time frame does that make it so? God made Abram and Sarai a promise and 25 years later He fulfilled his promise. Sarai and Abe waited 11 years and when they were not the parents of this promised child they took matters into their own hands. Then after another 14 years or a total of 25 years God fulfilled His promise. If I can give you any encouragement today let it be this: God Always Fulfills His Promises and below are some I hope will encourage you. Ps 9:8-10 - And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity. 9 The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble; NASU Ps 34:15 - The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry. NASU Ps 34:19 - Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. NASU Think on These: When God allows a burden to be put upon you, He will give you the strength to carry it. There is one thing for which you should be thankful - only you and God have all the facts about you. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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Luke 2:15-16 - When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger." NASU
What some may not know is the meaning of Bethlehem. It means "house of bread". Jesus was the Bread of Life or the Bread of God that came from the "house of bread" to give spiritual life to the world. John 6:33 - "For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world." NASU John 6:35 - Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. NASU John 6:41 - So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” NASU John 6:48 - "I am the bread of life." NASU John 6:51 - "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” NASU When Jesus comes into your life He is able to completely satisfy your spiritual hunger.
The sheep that were offered on the altar were special as they were sheep without a blemish. When John the Baptist saw Jesus he said this about Him. John 1:29 - ...“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" John saw Jesus as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world and this Lamb was born in Bethlehem where a lot of other lambs were born that would sacrifice their blood. But only the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus, could totally atone for the sins of mankind. As you think about Jesus the Lamb of God, one thing you must know for sure and that is whatever sins you have committed can be forgiven through Jesus' sacrificial offering of Himself. His blood has been offered at the altar of God to pay for the sins of everyone. What this means for us today is that we can celebrate Christmas with JOY in our hearts because a Savior was born on Christmas day and we have allowed the Savior's blood to cover, to wash away or atone for our sins. If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior I would like to encourage you to do this today. If you are not sure exactly how to do this please reply to this email and I will personally help you.
What greater gift could anyone receive? Truly, Jesus is the Gift that keeps on giving. Think on This: Jesus really is the reason for the season. The greatest gift that could be given has been given. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Prov. 27:5-6 - Better is open rebuke than love that is concealed.
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.NASU
If we will be honest we have probably all had some really dumb ideas and very glad we didn't take it to the next step because if we had failure was right around the corner. A friend is one who looks you right in the eyes and challenges you or as verse 5 says, they will "openly rebuke" you. This Hebrew word for rebuke means to challenge, prove or reason. They will challenge you, ask you to prove it or ask you to reason with them on this?
Friends will challenge you and you may even feel like you have been knifed with their questions. One thing we can all use is a friend who tries to keep us from falling but if we do fall he is there to help pick us up. Your friends won't always agree with every choice you make but they will remain your friend. Friends listen to what you say and will not always agree with everything you say. But they always are there when you need them to listen. Hopefully, in your life you have at least one friend like this.
They will listen to what you are saying before they give you any feed back. Most of us all ready know what I am saying is true, but still we find ourselves being surrounded with the wrong type of people and listening to the wrong type of friend. As Christmas gets closer give yourself the best gift possible, a Great Friend. Think on These: It is best to test new ideas on old friends. If you were another person, Would you like to be a friend of yours? Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Judges 6:12-13 – ”The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.” 13 Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
Gideon was anything but valiant at this time. In fact, he was just the opposite. He is hiding from the Midianites as he is threshing the wheat. You wouldn't expect a valiant person to be hiding. The Lord tells him to tear down his father's idols and because he was afraid he does it at night so that he can't be seen. Tearing down these idols under the shadow of darkness so you can't be seen doesn't sound like a valiant man to me.
When something has happened to you or is happening to you now that you don't understand be patient. Give God time to complete His plan. Gideon didn't understand why God had allowed the Midianites to conquer the Israelites and not just once but on numerous occasions. The Israelites were living in fear at this moment of the Midianites.
The angel of the Lord tells Gideon that God has allowed this to happen so that He can use Gideon in a mighty way. There it is. The answer to our question in a nutshell, "Why has all of this happened?". It has happened so that God can use Gideon in a mighty way. Whatever you're being challenged with today and you're not sure why God is allowing it to happen try thinking this way. God is using you to conquer this in a mighty way.
Excuses are the first things to come out of Gideon's mouth as to why God is wrong. What excuses do you use when telling God you are not ready for your trial? Are you too old for this? Do you lack the education? You are financially not able? Your spouse will kill you? You will get fired? Yes, too many times we are just like Gideon. God wants to use us and we want to give Him excuses. Whatever test God is allowing to happen to you right now know this: If God brings you to it, God will get you through it. Psalm 46:10 says, "Be Still and Know That I am God." In other words He wants us to relax and trust Him no matter what situation challenges us.
Now what are you waiting for, stand up and tell God you are ready to be used by Him in a "mighty way". Lets go conquer our own modern day Midianites. Think On This: There are thousands of ways of pleasing God, but none without trusting Him. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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