|
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
God told Abe and Sarai, they were going to have a son. There is the promise from God. Sarai and Abram were both old when they were given this promise from God. It is going to take 25 years for this promise to be fulfilled. 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 help God fulfill His promise 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 her plan, can you?
America's 911 was caused by the descendants of Ishmael. The radical Muslims who 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 scriptures I hope will encourage you. Ps 9:8-9 - 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;… Ps 34:15 - The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry. Ps 34:19 - Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. When God makes a promise simply wait for it. His timing is perfect and He never forgets. Think About 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
0 Comments
Gen. 50:20 - “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…”
In the above text Joseph is saying these words to his brothers who had sold him into slavery. What can be worse than having your own flesh and blood do something evil to you? Joseph’s brothers had sold him to the Ishmaelites (Gen.37:27) who in turn would sell him to the Egyptians to be their slave. Then the brothers would return to Jacob, their father, and purposefully deceive him by lying to him. Yes, it is true some people will do some very mean, wicked and cruel things not only to their siblings but to people they work with or people who are considered their friends. How are we to handle such situations?
First, there is the Permissible Will of God, second there is the Preceptive Will of God and lastly, the Purposeful Will of God.
In the story of Joseph recorded for us in Genesis, God permitted the brothers to sell him into slavery. When someone does evil to someone else it fits into God's permissible will. What the brothers did was not what God wanted or desired to have happen, but it is what He permitted. You will notice that God not only permitted it but He used it to elevate Joseph to second in command of all Egypt. God can turn an evil deed into something beneficial.
1 Corin. 11:26 - For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. I want to proclaim the Lord's death and so should you. When we proclaim His death it tells the world how much God loves us.
There was nothing that was going to happen that would have hindered Jesus from going to the cross. It was God's Purposeful Will that Jesus dies on the cross to atone for the sins of mankind. 1 John 2:2 - and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
Then prepare yourself for a "deer in the headlights" look, which will give you an opportunity to teach them this lesson. Think About These: When things get rough, remember: It is the rubbing that brings out the shine. The best way out of a difficulty is through it. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Luke 3:7-9 - So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? "Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ' We have
Abraham for our father,' for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. "Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." NASU
I have heard more than one teacher say, "You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. So make your messages palatable to the hearer." I always thought after I heard that, "Yeah, but I am not trying to catch flies. I am trying to convert people." John has no time for "fakes". I know a few Collegiate Wrestling Coaches and I have learned this much from them. They don't want any pretenders on their team. They want men who want to learn. Men who want to be the best they can be. If you want to just go through the motions then go somewhere else and do it, would be their thoughts.
In Matthew 3:7 we can see he's specifically addressing the Pharisees and Sadducees: "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" John's first point: he is telling them to Stop Playing Their Silly Religious Games. He calls them out when he says: "You brood of vipers." In other words, those that came in contact with them were poisoned by their teachings and the hypocrisy of their lives. Jesus later in His ministry will say it this way in Matt 23:15: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves." WOW! Jesus and John didn't waste their words. You didn't have to wonder: "What did they just say?" John's second point: to "Bear Fruit." He is saying, "If you think for one moment you are going to use the trump card that you are children of Abraham you're sadly mistaken." God is able to make stones turn into children of Abraham. John's third point: "Judgment is Coming." "The axe is laid at the root of the trees" is John's way of saying, "Judgment is coming." He goes on to say, "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." So let me ask you are you bearing any good fruit? You might be thinking I am not sure. What exactly is good fruit? Here is what Jesus said in Matt 10:42 - "And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward." It could be as little as giving a cup of cold water to one of these little ones. I believe the "little ones" are those who are new to Christianity. The newly converted.
He probably would not have to change his message at all: 1. Stop Playing Silly Religious Games 2. Bear Fruit 3. Judgment is Coming We can do this. We can bear good fruit today. Think About These: God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts. The Gospel of Jesus Christ breaks hard hearts, and heals broken hearts. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Why Some People Will Perish
2 Thes. 2:10-12 - "…and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. NASU
If you want to avoid getting in trouble with God then have a love for the truth or His Word. We can see that Charlie Kirk had a love for the Word of God or truth and yet it cost him his physical life. Why did it cost him his life? The answer is because the coward who shot him hated hearing the truth. It has been said there are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. There are plenty of people who don't want to believe the Word of God, but I can tell you this killing people who do believe will not make it any less true. So all you have to do is look around and you will see plenty of people who do and do not believe the Word of God is truth. What is really important is what do you believe?
John 4:23-24 - "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth ; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." God is seeking us to worship Him in "spirit and truth". The only way for us to find out what it is that God wants from us is to study the New Testament. If you say you are a worshipper of God then you will listen to Jesus. Jesus is very clear that God will not accept any type of worship. One's worship must be done in the spirit and according to His Word, which is "truth". In John 18:37 - "…Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." This was Jesus speaking to Pilate. Right after Jesus says this Pilate asks Him that question that many still ask today: In verse 38 - Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, "I find no guilt in Him.
Revel. 21:8 - "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." The apostle John states in the book of Revelation that the following types of people will be sent to the lake of fire and they are 'the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars,…" Cowardly comes from the Greek word "deilois" which means timid or faithless. Unbelieving comes from the Greek word "apistois" which means disbelieving or without Christian faith. Abominable comes from the Greek word "ebdelugmenois" which means to be detested. Your actions will make you detestable in the eyes of God. Murderers come from the Greek word "phoneus" which means to slay or the unlawful killing of a person. Whoremongers come from the Greek word "pornos" which means prostitute. Sorcerers come from the Greek word "pharmakeus" which means a drug or spell-giving potion. Idolaters come from the Greek word "eidololatres" which means a worshipper of images. Liars come from the Greek word "pseudesin" which means deceitful, erroneous or untrue. If in your lifestyle you are practicing the things above you will be guaranteed to be an adversary of God and therefore will find yourself ending up in the lake of fire. The apostle Paul gives us a list of things not to participate in also. Gal. 5:19-21 - Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. The key word to understanding these verses is "practice" in the Greek it is "prassontes" which means to perform repeatedly or habitually. It doesn't mean you do them once or twice. It means that these are apart of your lifestyle.
I encourage you today to be a friend of God and not one of His enemies. Believe the "Truth" about Jesus and become one of His disciples. Think About These: It is pretty hard for the Lord to guide a man if he hasn't decided which way he wants to go. God still speaks to those who take time to listen. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Gen. 42:21-22 - Then they said to one another, "Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us." Reuben answered them, saying, "Did I not tell you, 'Do not sin against the boy; and you would not listen? Now comes the reckoning for his blood." NASU
Many years later there is a famine and Jacob sends his sons to Egypt to buy grain. When Joseph sees his brothers, he recognizes them but they don't recognize him. Joseph has them placed in prison and accuses them of being spies. He leaves them in prison for three days. He tells them they must leave one of the brothers in prison, travel home and bring their younger brother to Egypt to prove they are not spies.
We probably all have done some thing in our past that periodically comes back from time to time to haunt us. The two best ways I know to overcome a guilty conscience if you have hurt someone:
After their father, Jacob, dies the brothers send a message to Joseph asking him to forgive them. Gen. 50:16-17 -"Your father charged before he died, saying, 'Thus you shall say to Joseph, "Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong."' And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father." The brothers asked Joseph for forgiveness and it was granted to them by him.
During those times I remind myself I am not the same person that Gary died and was buried March 2, 1975 in the watery grave of baptism. Jesus was and is the perfect sacrifice. He atones for the sins of mankind. The best way to defeat your guilty conscience is to be born again. I am not perfect now but thank God I am not what I used to be nor am I what I want to be. I want to do what 2 Pet. 3:18 says, "…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Like the sign says, "Under Construction: God isn't finished with me yet." Christians are under construction. God is working on us. We are a work in progress.
You may have done something that hasn't hurt anyone but yourself so you don't have to ask for anyone's forgiveness. You simply need to learn how to let yourself off the "guilt hook". You do have to learn how to forgive yourself. People have told you, "To let it go." You wish you could but everything you've tried isn't working. So what should be done in those situations? I would say, "You need to remember what God has done for you and that is He has forgiven you, so forgive yourself."
I like this saying, "When the devil wants to remind you of your past, remind him of his future." God is going to CRUSH him one day and so it says in Romans 16:20 - "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you." If you want to dwell on something dwell on what God has done for you and what He will do to the devil. Think About These: The head usher to happiness is a well-kept conscience. Your conscience is not the voice of God; it is a gift from God. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
Archives
November 2024
AuthorGary A Serago. Categories
All
|
RSS Feed