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Gen. 22:5-8 - Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you." 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" 8 Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." NASU
In Abe's mind he and Isaac were coming back after he sacrificed him. This is clearly written down in the book of Hebrews - Heb 11:17-19 - By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, "IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED." He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type. Abe believed God was able to raise people from the dead. What has your faith believed about God that sounds impossible?
Isaac was a type of Christ in that he carried his own wood to his sacrifice. What are we carrying today that we shouldn't be?
Jesus makes it very clear He is referencing His crucifixion when He states -"When you lift up the Son of Man…" This is a direct reference to His crucifixion. We are able to see that Jesus is telling us He is going to be crucified but He will not be alone when this happens. For Isaac it was the same his father was with him the whole time. Jesus was like Isaac He was on His way to being sacrificed yet He was not alone. Jesus' Father was with Him just as Abe was with Isaac. Another passage that very clearly informs us when Jesus is led to be crucified He will not be going it alone. In fact, it will be just the opposite His Father is with Him. John 16:32- "Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone ; and yet I am not alone , because the Father is with Me. When we go through the trials of life I want you to know we are not going through it alone.
God will provide for us what it is we need when we feel like we are being sacrificed in this life. The thing we have to do is allow our faith to be influenced like the faith of Abraham. We must never forget that God will provide. Think About These: Promises are only as dependable as the person who makes them. God has never broken one of His promises. I would say that makes Him very dependable. Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God. 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
I send this Pump Up out every year at this time for all my new subscribers. I have made some updates to it this year. May you have a very Merry Christmas.
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." 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. John 6:41 - So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” John 6:48 - "I am the bread of life." 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.” Jesus was and is the Bread of Life. If you are spiritually hungry Jesus is the One who can take away all of your hunger pains. If you have been wondering "What is my purpose?" Then look to Jesus for your answers.
The sheep 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 - The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “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 and would sacrifice their blood. But only the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus, could totally atone for the sins of mankind. I hope and pray you have allowed the blood of Jesus to wash away your sins.
What greater gift could anyone receive? Truly, Jesus is the Gift that keeps on giving. Think About These: Blessed are those who can give without remembering, and receive without forgetting. The Christmas season is only as meaningful as we make it. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Luke 18:38-42 - And he called out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" 39 Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He questioned him, 41 "What do you want Me to do for you?" And he said, "Lord, I want to regain my sight!" 42 And Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well." NASU
His Faith Led Him To Try Something This blind man was led by his faith to yell out for Jesus to have mercy on him. Where has your faith been leading you? No, seriously, where has your faith been leading you? Have you ever met a person who walked by faith? They are the ones that will try things others would consider crazy. His Faith Was Opposed This man was crying out to Jesus and those who were leading him were sternly telling him to be quiet. Do you understand the ramifications of their advice? If, he had listened he would have remained blind. You cannot expect people who don't have the faith you do to support you or even understand what you are trying to accomplish. If your faith is leading you to try something out of the ordinary and others are telling you to "forget about it". You are probably on the right path. You need to know your faith will many times be opposed by others just like this blind man's faith was opposed. All great plans are opposed and many times from the ones you went to for support. The blind man was "STERNLY" told to be quiet by those who were leading him. The ones who were supposed to know what they were doing and where they were going were 100% wrong. We have probably all read the saying, "The Ark was built by amateurs and the Titanic by professionals." Where Has Your Faith Led You? His faith led him to being threatened and ridiculed. The blind man was ordered to "shut up" but that didn't stop him. In 1978 I wanted to go to Bible College and as I shared my idea with other people I received a lot of negative feedback. I was informed (as if I didn't know) that I had a family. How were we going to survive? I was reminded I had been out of high school for years and I wasn't that great of a student while I was in high school. Faith Is Always Rewarded My faith led me to Eastern Christian College in August 1979 and I graduated in 1983. My family and I survived and pretty much every negative thing that was said to me about going to college NEVER HAPPENED. His Faith Was Rewarded The blind man and Jesus have an encounter and Jesus asks him, "What do you want Me to do for you?" He says, "Lord, I want to receive my sight!" In other words, his faith has led him here to ask Jesus for help. Have you ever wondered why those who were leading the way wanted him to be quiet? What were they thinking? It really doesn't matter what they were thinking because whatever it was they were wrong. Did you see what Jesus said? "Receive your sight; YOUR FAITH has made you well. "His faith was rewarded because he would not listen to the naysayers. His faith was rewarded. Has your faith led you to your reward? What Reward Is Your Faith Going To Bring You? No, I am serious where is your faith going to lead you? We don't just read the Bible and say, "Oh that was nice, good for him or her." The Word of God is for us and it is to challenge us to Step Up and Step Out on Faith. So get your faith in gear and get going. Think About These: Mankind needs a faith that will not shrink when washed in the waters of adversity and affliction. Feed your faith and doubt will starve to death. 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.
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.
What is your Midianite? What keeps barging into your life and kicking down your strongholds? 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". Let's go conquer our own modern day Midianites. Think About This: There are thousands of ways of pleasing God, but none without trusting Him. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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. |
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